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Help pupils become financially resilient

Measuring Impact and Success

You might consider:

  • pupil interviews to demonstrate a sound understanding of how to manage money and what mismanagement of money looks like
  • pupil testimonials describing how the knowledge they have gained has helped them personally to manage their finances or think about living within their means and saving
  • pupils’ knowledge assessment (tests, quizzes, scenarios).

Remember in each case to describe the impact of your actions (that is, what difference they made) and not just what you did.

Overview

 

Financial literacy is fundamental to a young person’s repertoire of strategies for keeping themselves strong and secure in the face of adversity. Economic adversity continues to be the single biggest cause of emotional and psychological distress in adults.

‘Economic hardship is associated with parental stress and depression which leads to more inconsistent, unsupportive, harsh, and punitive parenting practices. These reduced quality parent–child interactions, in turn, are associated with emotional and school problems in children’ (Conger et al. 1994; McLoyd et al. 1994).

According to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) the following are key indicators of vulnerability:

  •     resilience – low ability to withstand financial or emotional shocks
  •     capability – low knowledge of financial matters or low confidence in managing money (financial capability).

Learning to budget within your means is an essential life skill. Schools should therefore teach financial awareness so that their pupils can manage their money and avoid falling prey to pay-day loans and the possible debt problems of using a credit card.

Starting young, children in EYFS can learn to understand the notion of money in small world activities. They can develop their numeracy skills using pretend coins and notes. Older pupils can be given the knowledge they need to understand the value of money, learn to save and manage spending. Sixth form students will require specific guidance about how to manage on a student finance loan, how to apply for it and the dos and don’ts of applying for credit.

Being financially resilient will help young people to ride the fluctuations in economy as they get older.

Intentions

Intentions are actions you intend to take in order to improve your provision in this benchmark. Choose three intentions to focus on.

To meet this benchmark, your school should devise a coherent, age-appropriate curriculum to support pupils’ financial literacy. Consider at each age and stage what necessary skills are needed to help them become more money aware. Reflect on the financial education planning framework for secondary pupils suggested by the PSHE Association.

Try to make the key knowledge and vocabulary explicit to pupils throughout the course. They should become familiar with different terms and understand what they mean, for example, ‘credit’ and ‘debit’.

For younger pupils, including children in the early years, consider how you might introduce the concept of money from a young age. For example, in the small world role play areas, children can use toy money to buy things from the shop. In mathematics, pupils can develop their understanding of the denominations of notes and coins and how to make calculations using word problems.

Top tips

  • Consider helping pupils in primary schools understand concepts of profit and loss by organising a ‘buy and sell’ project.
  • Implement the idea of having secondary school pupils run a school snack shop.
  • Make links with national organisations and banks supporting financial literacy in schools.

Further resources

Banks, such as Barclays and The Post Office, have a long tradition of working alongside schools to develop financial literacy among children. By installing a bank in the school for pupils to deposit money and save, you will be teaching them important life skills:

  • how to manage money
  • how to save for something they can’t yet afford
  • how to budget.

Top tips

  • Identify a pupil group to organise and run the replica bank, where pupils can save their money.
  • Link with your mathematics curriculum when applying number knowledge (compound interest, etc.).

Further resources

This is a wonderful way for schools to form partnerships with financial institutions. Many large banks now have outreach departments that facilitate this type of education.

Consider building in a visitor programme, where pupils can receive important advice about saving and understanding risk. This is most suitable for older primary pupils and secondary pupils.

You may consider whole afternoons or days dedicated to money management. The mathematics (and business) department may want to get involved too. Invite guest speakers from financial institutions to inform pupils about how to save, invest or manage money.

Top tips

  • Let stakeholders know who your partners are and what their key messages are on your school website.
  • Involve governors who may have community links and skills that may support this intention.
  • Don’t forget to involve pupils with SEND specifically, as these pupils are at most risk from fraud and financial problems.

Further resources

Parents can support pupils at home with money management and financial awareness. It is helpful to share key messages with parents about what pupils have been learning about in school. There is also the added benefit of sharing the money management knowledge.

Research shows that pupils are most at a safeguarding risk when parents experience financial problems. This is because it exacerbates any existing stresses in the family. Providing parents with the same information pupils receive about money management benefits everyone.

Here are some activities to suggest at home:

  • When your child wants something, explain how much it costs and work out how long it might take to save to get it. For those lucky enough to receive pocket money, work out how long it might take for them.
  • When you’re shopping with your child, help them work out what the price of something might be if they had a sale percentage off the RRP. Or when looking to buy an item, such as washing tablets, ask which would be the cheapest based on the number of capsules in the box. Challenge your child to achieve the cheapest shop for the same items.
  • Open up a savings account for your child to manage (from age 13 years).
  • Consider additional chores (other than the ones they should be doing to help the family) around the house or for extended family members and offer payments that they could save or put towards something they want.

Top tip

  • Publish your school’s financial literacy curriculum on your school website to show parents what pupils have been learning about.

 

This intention can yield several benefits. By setting up an enterprise day, you will not only be reinforcing your pupils’ knowledge and understanding of the process of developing, selling and making profit from an idea or product, but it can also develop other life skills such as teamwork, problem-solving and creativity.

Older primary and secondary pupils can design, market and sell different products to meet different needs. If their product isn’t popular, they’ll need resilience to adapt and change to make it sell. It can be great fun if shaped around ‘The Apprentice’ format. Hold fun quizzes and competitions to test your pupils’ financial literacy.

Younger children can also get involved in creating a marketplace in the classroom. They can bring in items they want to ‘sell’ (with the support of their parents) or help make cakes for sale in the market. Using pretend money, children can develop the notion that products are worth money.

Further resources

 

This intention aims to help pupils develop the skills to manage money in a safe school environment. Create a team of pupils (rotate teams half-termly to make sure all can participate) who will manage the various sales and reordering of items in school as well as fundraising activities.

Although many schools are cashless these days, the physical items for sale in schools, such as stationery, textbooks and snack items remain available for purchase. Involve the pupils in selling, calculating sales and managing orders. The types of activities that may involve money could include tuck shop, stationery purchases, fundraising activities, such as cake and craft sales, and secondhand toy sales.

To be successful in this exercise, pupils will have to understand what things cost, what will sell and make profit and how to organise a campaign by involving others.

Consider how much each pupil might have in a virtual bank and each purchase is deducted from their account. Pupils can earn money to put in their virtual bank, through rewards and helpful duties – this allows everyone to make money and spend on school items if they wish.

If pupils decide not to buy anything in their time at school and just deposit virtual money, when they leave they can get a voucher of the equivalent amount that can be spent in a shop of their choice. This might create a great incentive for pupils while at the same time teaching them how to manage money, spend and save sensibly.

Top tips

  • The business manager of the school could work alongside the team.
  • The team could also plan and organise different fundraising activities for the school or for charity.
Reflection

Think about ways you might include the following:

  • Inform parents about the knowledge and skills being taught.
  • Consider how pupils can save for items they want to purchase.
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