| Learning Money Matters in action - case studies |
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Essential finance skills for schoolgirl mothers at Moat House School, Stockport
Preparing for the financial complexities of the world of work is a momentous task for today's teenagers and if they are a teenage mother or soon to be one, acquiring personal finance skills is even more important. So, when Moat House School, Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) in Stockport was planning a 'Preparation for Working Life' course, a personal finance education day came top of there list.
At the Stockport PRU, the majority will be going to college and will qualify for an Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) as well as other benefits. Giving the students the skills and knowledge to manage their own money and increase their knowledge of the financial aspects of the world of work is invaluable for their future.
pfeg North West Consultant, Brian Wainwright, worked with teachers to devise a timetable taking the pressure off lesson planning for the teachers and pointing them in the right direction for accessing resources. The day incorporated a variety of practical activities as well as input form visiting speakers from a local bank and credit union to develop personal finance skills and offer pointers on how the girls could seek further advice if they wanted it.
Financial and creative skills were put to the test when the girls put their newly acquired knowledge into designing a nursery on a budget of £700. The students had to decide upon all aspects of the room from choosing colour schemes and the amount of paint needed using a 'paint calculator', to comparing the costs of cots and curtains using real life websites.
Brian Wainwright said, "The Finance Day provided the girls with important information about bank services and opening bank accounts. They were also shown how banks and credit unions can help them to manage their money and strike a balance between spending on essentials as well as being able to afford some pleasures in life. The 'Design a Nursery' activity enabled the girls to put these lessons into practice and they became very good at carefully costing the essential items to enable them to provide the luxuries they wanted."
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"It's important to make sure we don't get ripped off" Brookfields School, Cheshire
Deciding whether to buy the latest trainers or spend the weekly budget on groceries are crucial issues that sixth form students at Brookfields Special School, Cheshire, will need to face when they have left full time education. Weighing up needs versus wants and personal budgeting are just a few of the topics that North West Consultant Sue Moulton, helped teachers at the school to develop in their lesson planning.
Money management skills are crucial for the sixth form pupils in coping with living independently and ensuring they develop and maintain self esteem and create a positive future for themselves within their local community.
Out of the 83 pupils aged 2-19 at the school, including 10 who attend the sixth form, around half have autistic spectrum disorders and a small proportion have severe and complex learning difficulties. With this in mind, lessons were tailor made to the students' needs so that they could relate to the types of situations they will encounter on a daily basis. The FSA's Colossal Cards were an excellent stimulus to introduce the students to different coin nominations and to examine what credit cards are and how to use them. A vitual tour of the Bank of England reinforced the pupils understanding of keeping money safe and researching local banks and comparing what services they offer will equip students with the skills to open their own bank accounts in the future.
A senior teacher at the school said, "A lot of work on coin recognition had already been completed and I felt a greater understanding of basic money management was needed especially for the more able students. The discussions with the pfeg consultant gave me the opportunity to reflect on current and future provision and enabled me to be more creative in applying and extending the curriculum with my post 16 students. I found the pfeg website extremely valuable."
The school is continuing its work in financial capability over the next twelve months to develop its resources and a 'Money Week' for its KS3/4 and 5 pupils is already planned. |
Making insurance fun at Verulam School, Hertfordshire
Teachers at Verulam School, an all boys' comprehensive school in Hertfordshire, felt that their pupils were acquiring a rather blasé attitude towards their personal finance especially as most of them come from a fairly economically advantaged area.
They deciced to embark on enhancing the long term financial capability of year 7 and 8 pupils using topics identified by the pupils themselves. Surprisingly, top on the list of topics was insurance which provided the teachers with a challenge to deliver personal finance education in a fun and innovative way. With the help of pfeg Consultant, John Chapman, two teams of six teachers (one for each year group), were drafted in to deliver the chosen material. This enabled hard pressed teachers to feel more confident about their delivery as each teacher would be delivering one topic and could refine the session structure to suit their own teaching style. The teachers decided to focus on the theme of pet insurance and internet sites which give quick quotes for pets and this idea quickly progressed to other activities. For instance a rather dull look at insurance jargon was replaced by a fun true and false quiz looking at celebrity insurance of their own body parts for example David Beckham's legs. An unexpected but useful development of the project included Sixth Formers helping the teachers in the delivery of the materials which not only helped to increase confidence of the teachers it was a great benefit to the younger pupils and themselves.
As a result the teachers felt that their levels of competence and confidence in delivering personal finance education had increased and Sixth Form pupils were encouraged to think about their knowledge and skills.
One teacher said:
'Support was comprehensive and was what we needed as I was new to providing this and so were many of the staff. I relied on the consultants expertise and knowledge of the resources available to get this up and running and I am now in a position to reproduce this programme again.'
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Making money matter and meeting special needs at Sheringham Woodfields School, Norfolk
Teaching personal finance in a way that will engage pupils and stay in their memories is a challenge in itself but when there are other issues at stake, like countering anxiety and addressing learning difficulties it can be a daunting task. Not so at Sheringham Woodfields School in Norfolk where teachers have been working with pfeg, under its Learning Money Matters initiative, to help their 6th form college students with moderate learning difficulties, make sense of managing money and have fun at the same time.
The sixth form manager was concerned that the school was not providing the students with the information to become as financially independent as possible. She wanted the school's programme to be relevant and engaging and requested advice, resources and training from pfeg for both herself and the other staff members. A pfeg consultant assisted the school in designing two days of activities to encourage financial capability. Throughout the three days support the consultant was able to build on the close personal relationships the students enjoyed with staff to enable them to improve their financial skills and participate in the activities without anxiety.
One activity was the construction of a board game specifically for Sheringham Woodfield students which includes photographs of local shops. The game enables students to reinforce their skills in saving, spending and handling real money and to recognise their local area. It takes them around a board where they collect an allowance at the bank then make purchases or save money during each round. The students are encouraged to help each other whenever possible and for everyone to be actively involved. The board game has continued to be used in the school and two students are currently busy creating a new set of more complicated rules.
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Learning to earn at Cramlington Community School, Northumberland
In June 2006 430 Year 9 students, aged 13 and 14 from Cramlington Community School, a large mixed comprehensive in Northumberland, took part in a 'Learn to Earn' day as part of the school's multicultural week.
Throughout the day students took part in a number of activities focussing on wants and needs; cultural diversity; spending and priorities; the consequences of having too much or too little money; and understanding value for money and shopping around.
With help from a pfeg consultant lesson plans and activities were designed to fit into QCA PSHE framework and the DfES Guidance for Financial Capability. Resources were sourced from local high street commercial outlets and Oxfam and others were devised specifically to deliver the identified learning outcomes of the day.
Based on the success of the collapsed timetable day the school is planning similar days in the future.
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Making it all add up at Balderstone College, Rochdale
For most people it is fairly obvious that maths and money skills go hand in hand - but making the mathematics of money relevant to every day life is a bit more complex than just doing the sums.
In Rochdale the mathematics teacher at Balderstone College, has been giving Key Stage 3 students aged 11-14 lessons in financial education as part of the mathematics curriculum. 12 lessons have been designed and delivered in the school as part of a pfeg pilot project on functional mathematics.
The lessons focus on the mathematically rich elements of financial education - but make them relevant to pupils' direct experience. The lesson modules focus on a range of topics from the money side of leisure activities to using money to make money, personal transport and independent living. Financial complexities such as interest rates and percentages; credit, debt and loans are all explored within these contexts and engage the pupils more effectively.
The students' feedback on the lessons has contributed to policy development of financial capability within mathematics.
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Balances, budgets and banking at Lady Lumley's school, Pickering, North Yorkshire
It's never too early to teach children and young people how to manage their money - especially if they are going to live full adult lives, without the problems of debt.
Independent charity pfeg (Personal Finance Education Group) has been set up with just this aim in mind and has regional offices throughout the country, sending trained consultants into schools throughout England to offer teachers free support, advice and resources in teaching personal finance education.
In 2006 it was chosen by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to implement the secondary schools strand of its National Strategy on Financial Capability and was awarded £15million over 5 years to assist England's secondary schools in bringing financial education to life.
One school to benefit from the free resources pfeg offers is Lady Lumley's School in Pickering where 11-14 year olds have been learning about the importance of banking, budgeting and balancing their finances in a series of one hour lessons.
A targeted assembly helped pupils understand why financial know-how is an important skill for them both now and when they leave school. They then followed up with specific lessons on needs versus wants - and how to pay for them; bank accounts; spending and saving and even mobile phone tariffs.
The pupils were so enthusiastic they ended up saving for and buying a goat for an African village.
The assistant head teacher said "We want students to be much more financially aware. When I was at school I can't remember doing anything like this. I have nothing to suggest that there are lots of our students in debt but what we are doing is educating them so that as they move into the world of work they can manage their finances to make sure they do not get themselves into debt".
Pupil Tom Brickman said he was in favour of financial education: "it eases your worries because you understand it more and it doesn't seem as scary".
pfeg's regional director in the North East, Pam Eccles said "It's helping them understand what financial information they need and then how to apply it……..The important thing is to let people know how to manage their financial situation". Financial education has certainly reaped dividends at Lady Lumleys. As one teacher sums up "To be absolutely honest, I cannot think of anything that didn't work. It has met so many of our needs that we're keen to continue".
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Would you like to share your story of teaching personal finance? If so please fill in this form and email to catherine.shirley@pfeg.org. Thank you.
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