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Let's Get Functional

Let's Get Functional is a free resource, available online and on CD, to help aid teaching functional skills to students aged 14-19 through personal finance contexts.

This resource uses three real life contexts to enable students to build their functional skills in Mathematics, English and ICT through personal finance. It is aimed at subject teachers of 14-19 year olds and supports both level 1 and level 2 learners.

The first, and most comprehensive context is ‘What went wrong with the prom’, which follows a group of pupils trying to convince their head teacher to let them have a prom after last year’s disaster, supported by film and audio clips.

The second context is ‘Visitors from overseas’ which guides learners through planning a trip for their demanding visitors arriving from abroad, with only so much money to spend. This context is supported by fake ‘facebook’ style profiles of their visitors.

The third context is ‘Insurance – who needs it?’ - the ICT and Maths content looks at the way holiday insurance is calculated, based on such variables as age and level of excess. A simulation website is provided with accompanying spreadsheet showing exactly how those quotes are created. The English content looks in detail at extended warrantees and their benefits or otherwise.

A fictitious freesheet, the ‘Consumerham Advertiser’ gives a wealth of information which can be used by pupils to source items and services appropriate to all three contexts.

There are 4 short films where the authors advise teachers of how best to use the different elements of the resource.

All the Let’s Get Functional content has been designed to be downloaded and used locally and is made up of Word and PDF files for each context, supported by the materials mentioned above.

COST FREE
FORMAT CD, Website, Download
PUBLISHED01/11
PHOTOCOPIABLE Yes

SPONSORMoney Advice Service

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Suitability

Age range

14 - 19 year olds
Key stages 4 & 16-19 in England
Key stages 4 & 16-19 in Northern Ireland
Year groups S3, S4 & 16-19 in Scotland
Key stages 4 & 16-19 in Wales

Secondary Key Concepts

Career (PSHE Education EWBFC 1.1)
Capability (PSHE Education EWBFC 1.2)
Risk (PSHE Education EWBFC/PWB 1.3)
Economic understanding (PSHE Education EWBFC 1.4)
Relationships (PSHE Education PWB 1.4)
Competence (Mathematics 1.1)
Applications and implications of mathematics (Mathematics 1.3)
Critical understanding (Mathematics 1.4)
Rights and responsibilities (Citizenship 1.2)
Identities and diversity: living together in the UK (Citizenship 1.3)

Secondary Key Processes

Self-development (PSHE Education EWBFC 2.1)
Enterprise (PSHE Education EWBFC 2.3)
Financial capability (PSHE Education EWBFC 2.4)
Critical reflection (PSHE Education PWB 2.1)
Decision-making and managing risk (PSHE Education PWB 2.2)
Developing relationships and working with others (PSHE Education PWB 2.3)
Representing (Mathematics 2.1)
Interpreting and evaluating (Mathematics 2.3)
Critical thinking and enquiry (Citizenship 2.1)

Secondary Range and Content

Knowing about a range of economic and business terms including the connections between markets, competition, price and profit (PSHE Education EWBFC 3)
Personal budgeting (PSHE Education EWBFC 3)
Wages(PSHE Education EWBFC 3)
Taxes(PSHE Education EWBFC 3)
Risk and reward (PSHE Education EWBFC 3)
Social and moral dilemmas about the use of money (PSHE Education EWBFC 3)
The effect of diverse and conflicting values on individuals, families and communities and ways of responding to them (PSHE Education PWB 3)
Calculations and manipulations with real numbers (Mathematics Number and Algebra 3.1)
Presentation and analysis of large sets of data (Mathematics Statistics 3.3)
How information is used, including information from the media and from pressure and interest groups (Citizenship 3)
The rights and responsibilities of consumers, employers and employees (Citizenship 3)

Origin of resource

This resource was produced in England and meets the requirements of the English curriculum. All Quality Mark resources are designed for use across all UK countries, although they may be more suited to the country where the resource was produced and as such may need some adaptation.

Relevant subjects

Relevant topics

Suitable for gifted and talented

Teacher would be able to extend more able students through using extension ideas provided.

Suitable for special educational needs

Students with severe learning difficulties would need considerable LSA support.

Level 1 and 2 differentiation is clearly identified.

Assessor's comments

This is a very lively and engaging resource which addresses many aspects of personal finance in a way that is very relevant and meaningful to students. The resource has been carefully crafted and clearly annotated to show how it fits within the National Curriculum and with ample workable opportunities given for assessment.

‘Let’s Get Functional’ will undoubtedly be well received by teachers. Level 1 and 2 learners are supported. The video clips have been skilfully constructed to get their messages across in a concise and appealing way.

Similarly the resource sheets are age and ability appropriate and could easily be tweaked by the teacher to suit the specific needs of their students.I love the Consumerham Advertiser as this promotes pupil research skills rather than spoon feeding relevant information.