‘Economic wellbeing' currently makes up a fifth of the ‘Every Child Matters' aims and outcomes, approximately half of the secondary PSHE curriculum and is expected to feature prominently in the revised primary curriculum due later this year. Bodies such as the Financial Services Authority and pfeg (Personal Finance Education Group - an independent charity) are also playing an active role in promoting the teaching of financial capability.
Despite its increasingly recognised importance, a recent survey of 31,000 primary and secondary schools, conducted by Nationwide Education in March 2009, found that only 49% of schools teach personal finance on a regular basis. Although teachers agreed that money management was a vital life skill for all pupils, they were unsure how to weave the subject into a timetable already bursting at the seams. Many teachers did, however, feel that the flexibility of the new literacy and numeracy strategies provided scope for incorporating personal finance and that it provided an excellent starting point for theme-based learning.
Glyn Bishop, Headteacher at Normanton Common Primary School, is an inspiring school leader who, together with his staff, recognises the importance of beginning personal finance education from an early age. He suggests: "Our financial attitudes and habits begin to be embedded when we're very young. It's vital that we equip children with an understanding of the value and role that money has to play so they can develop a sensible attitude to managing it. This really is a fundamental part of their education."
The survey also showed that besides realising the need for teaching financial capability within the curriculum, teachers also felt strongly that parents had a joint responsibility in consolidating the learning by putting it into a real-life context. One primary school teacher remarked: "Children need good role models. If parents were using everyday opportunities to teach their children basic personal finance facts, then teachers would find it so much easier to build on these foundations."
The survey was consistent with robust findings from existing research that teachers still feel that they lack the confidence, tools and support to teach personal finance.
A number of resources have been developed by companies to address this gap in knowledge. At the forefront of this is Nationwide Education, part of Nationwide Building Society's commitment to the community. Nationwide Education is a free web-based resource designed for classroom use on interactive whiteboards, or personal use on PCs at school or home. The site features comprehensive programmes for pupils aged 4 through to 16. These programmes use a wide range of educational tools - stimulating interactive games and stories; fun activities; and downloadable fact and work sheets - taking learners through all aspects of financial capability (e.g. budgeting, saving, borrowing, financial terms and careers).
Caroline Hallatt, Head of Corporate Responsibility at Nationwide says: "Our aim was to take what could potentially be a rather dry subject and bring it to life, making it really easy for teachers to marry to their curriculum and also a fun and exciting learning experience for pupils."
The solution - In response to thorough ongoing research involving teachers, parents, pupils, financial experts and the government, Nationwide have put together an engaging resource that ensures an age-appropriate evolution in learning through the key stages of development. Starting with the 4 to 7 year olds, there's an interactive story about two children saving money to buy a pet. 7 to 11 year olds can then play an interactive boardgame containing mini animated games, quiz questions and skill-building challenges. Programmes for 12 to 14 and 14 to 16 year olds, launched in March, include the Money Matrix game, a fully interactive multimedia resource containing a range of different quiz questions, case studies, filmed vox pop scenarios and challenging games for teams or individual players.
The interactive resources for each age group are accompanied by fact sheets, work sheets and a glossary to help pupils (as well as their teachers and parents) sort their ‘arrears' from their ‘AERs'! Pupils are encouraged to relate the information to their own lives, and their own saving and spending habits. In September, the learning tools will progress to the next age group, 16 into adulthood.
Mr Bishop says: "Since using Nationwide Education within our school, we have seen a marked improvement in pupils' core understanding and enthusiasm for the topic."
To address the concerns of teachers and parents about teaching personal finance, the website contains detailed guidance notes and helpful hints about how to develop children's learning. All the resources have been specifically designed to link directly to the curriculum across the whole of the UK including personal/social education, mathematics, literacy and a wide range of other UK curricula areas.
Ms Hallatt says: "We couldn't be more proud of Nationwide Education's success. It has received pfeg official accreditation and we've had extremely positive feedback from teachers all over the UK. As well as using the programmes with the whole class and encouraging pupils to further explore them with parents, many teachers have found the flexibility of the resources ideal for developing the skills of able, gifted and talented pupils and those with special educational needs."
The status of personal finance education looks set to grow even more in the near future. If today's adults had benefited from being taught financial capability at school, we may have been looking at a very different economic climate. For the country to reap the long-term benefits, we must ensure that the economists, businesspeople and consumers of the future make wise choices. Personal finance education may be schools' most important ‘investment' in their pupils' future.
All resources are free at: www.NationwideEducation.co.uk
