Case Study No. 33: Developing awareness of community diversity within a special school: Sundridge ESBD School, Waterlooville, Hampshire

This short case study (4 pages) describes how the school made full use of the professional development support available through pfeg’s Excellence and Access project to build personal finance education into a learning programme while taking account of students’ own experiences. Some of the project activity can be viewed on the short video available for download below. Sundridge School caters for boys aged 11 - 16 with social, emotional, behavioural and learning needs, and is situated in Waterlooville in South Hampshire. Many of the boys at the school have a limited experience of life beyond the immediate location in which they live. As a consequence their first-hand experience and understanding of other cultures can be minimal. Many pupils have not travelled overseas and have little awareness of minority community groups living in their local area. The pupils were aware of the Indian take-away, Chinese and Italian restaurants in the locality but not of the associated culture of financial traditions of the communities which the establishments represent. It was to try to bridge this gap between an awareness of food outlets the boys had seen locally, and the culture that lay behind their doors, that the school embarked upon the project within Excellence & Access.