Small Change a collection of filmed rehearsed improvisations for use
in secondary schools, is the result of partnership working between
Glasgow City Council, the Citizens Theatre and the Scottish Centre for
Financial Education, which is part of Learning and Teaching Scotland.
The aim of the project is to help develop the financial capability of
secondary school pupils as part of their general education.
Activities such as those described in this resource give pupils
opportunities to carry out tasks, to develop problem solving skills, and
to do this in a very creative and enjoyable way. The idea of teaching
children about money through drama was welcomed by the schools
involved in developing the resource.
Developing each individual’s financial capability, from early years
through to 18, can enhance life chances and choices. It can help all
children and young people achieve the four capacities of Curriculum
for Excellence, particularly in becoming responsible citizens and
effective contributors to society and at work, with an informed sense
of their roles in the world. One of the main aims in developing the
activities in Small Change was to do exactly this.
Learning and Teaching Scotland
The Optima, 58 Robertson Street,
Glasgow G2 8DU
Customer Services: 08700 100 297
enquiries@LTScotland.org.uk
www.LTScotland.org.uk
Small Change
Learning about money through drama
www.LTScotland.org.uk Learning and Teaching Scotland
© Learning and Teaching Scotland and Citizens Theatre Limited
First published by Learning and Teaching Scotland 2009
ISBN 978-184399-173-1
Contents
Introduction
03
Part 1 About the Project
06
Part 2 Using the Scenes from the DVD
08
Logbooks
17
Part 3 Acknowledgements and Contact Details
28
Part 4 Glossary of Financial Terms
30
Appendix
Financial Education and Curriculum for Excellence: Making the Connections
32
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SMALL CHANGE
3
Introduction
The title – Small
Change
Financial capability does
not necessarily need to be
achieved as a result of
enormous changes to our
lifestyle. The first steps to
improvement can be small
steps – little differences
on which we can build.
Therefore our title reflects
the fact that this general
approach to ‘small change’
can make a difference to
attitudes and behaviours.
This resource may be used in conjunction
with other partnerships evolving in the
school community, for example school
savings accounts with banks and/or credit
unions. It seems a logical ‘next step’ for
schools who have examined the important
part played by finance in our lives to make
savings accounts available in school for
young people who wish to access these
services. Providing such a service may also
help to increase the financial capability of
school staff and parents by encouraging a
community savings ethos. If you would like
any advice on how to contact a bank or
credit union to set up savings accounts for
your establishment, please contact one of
the financial education development officers
– you can access the email addresses via:
www.LTScotland.org.uk/financialeducation.
About this resource
This is a set of teacher support materials to
accompany the DVD of rehearsed
improvisation scenes filmed at Bannerman
High School in Glasgow with a class of S3
drama students.
DVD
The accompanying DVD has four
scenarios – two of which have scenes
showing alternative approaches to the
situation in which the characters find
themselves. There are therefore six scenes
for viewing and teachers may choose to
view some or all of the scenes before
embarking on discussion and other
follow-up activities. These support materials
are not prescriptive in any manner and it
is hoped that they may offer suggestions
which teachers will then adapt, in their usual
creative manner, to the school community
in which they function. It is recommended
that teachers using this resource do some
research into services available in the
immediate area of their school and the
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wider community. Having the background
knowledge and contact details of local credit
unions and money advice centres which can
be accessed by the school’s community can
be a great benefit. Students can also be
encouraged to carry out such research.
This resource could be used to kick-start
Money Week activities and/or as part of a
‘interdisciplinary task’ within Curriculum for
Excellence where the focus is on increasing
the financial capability of the school
community. It could also be used in
conjunction with another Learning and
Teaching Scotland drama resource for
financial education: Tackling Debt.
Included in this pack is a blank logbook for
pupils, which was created by a teacher in
the pilot. This was used by PSE pupils and
their teacher to record their spending in one
particular week and then reflect upon how
wise and essential their spending had been.
This can be reproduced for use in classes.
Learning and Teaching Scotland would
welcome contributions from teachers and
young people using this resource and,
following distribution of the pack, it is
hoped that examples of quality experience
in using the sketches will be shown on the
Financial Education website:
www.LTScotland.org.uk/financialeducation.
This resource could
be used to kick-start
Money Week
activities and/or as
part of a
‘interdisciplinary
task’ within
Curriculum for
Excellence where the
focus is on
increasing the
financial capability
of the school
community.
SMALL CHANGE
Teachers’ notes
These teachers’ notes comprise:
Part 1 – About the Project
Part 2 – Using the Rehearsed Improvisations
Part 3 – Acknowledgements and Contact Details.
The materials complement the DVD and
offer some suggestions on how schools
might make use of this resource. The ideas
given in this set of support materials are
suggestions on how teachers from different
subject areas in the curriculum might use
the DVD and want to take forward some of
the financial issues raised by the students of
Bannerman High School.
In the context of Curriculum for Excellence,
this resource has been viewed as an
opportunity to address the experiences and
outcomes from various areas of the
curriculum: expressive arts (drama), social
studies, literacy, numeracy and health and
wellbeing (please see Appendix).
This resource can be used in English
departments in conjunction with texts to
support and develop discussion of themes
and issues in the English classroom. There is
a great degree of overlap in the areas of PSE
and drama and therefore there tend to be
few distinct ideas given specifically for either
area. The support materials offer the
opportunity for a variety of departments to
use the resource to meet the varying needs
of the school community.
There follows some general advice on
financial education and ideas for using each
scene.
INTRODUCTION
Who is this resource
for?
It has been produced with the following in
mind: whole school managers, senior
leadership teams and project leaders, in
addition to classroom teachers. The resource
can be used to focus attention on financial
attitudes, behaviours and responsibilities, for
example it could be used to stimulate
discussion and involvement of the students
in the whole school vision. Young people
could be encouraged to focus on
understanding that schools have to function
within a local authority budget, or to focus
on examining the effect that vandalism in
schools has on the spending power with
in education.
Pupils (perhaps Pupil Council members)
could be encouraged to participate in an
exercise where they prioritise spending for
part of the school budget. This could lead
the students to a greater understanding of
the role of the school bursar, AFA
(administration and finance assistant) and
school business manager, and the
management structure of schools in dealing
with financial issues. An investigative
project may be a useful way forward, with
young people being given a specific area to
research in groups. One of the tasks could
be to interview the school bursar, AFA and/
or business manager to report back on their
remits, budget and role, and how these are
integral to the successful running of the
school.
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Part 1 – About the Project
Background
Aim
Small Change, a resource
based on a collection of
filmed rehearsed
improvisations, is the
result of partnership working between the Financial
Inclusion Department
at Development and
Regeneration Services in
Glasgow City Council,
TAG, Employability and
Enterprise officers (through
Glasgow’s Determined
to Succeed Team) and
the Scottish Centre for
Financial Education, part
of Learning and Teaching
Scotland.
The aim of this project was to show how
drama can be a useful means of exploring
some of the areas of finance which touch
our lives and how the way we deal with
situations impacts on our relationships,
quality of life, health and wellbeing,
prosperity and opportunities. Following the
viewing of the scenes constructed and
performed by the S3 drama students of
Bannerman High, students can then have
the opportunity to discuss values, and to
create their own dramatic performances,
monologues, rehearsed improvisations etc,
thus allowing their creativity to lead their
focus on the financial matters which they
encounter and will continue to encounter
throughout their lives.
It is also important to emphasise that the
teachers and pupils of Bannerman High
School who initiated the project and piloted
the materials are equal partners and have
lent their own particular expertise to the
final product.
SMALL CHANGE
Planning
Before this project began, it was important
to look at how financial education was
already being taught to the young people
of Bannerman High School. Members of
the team from TAG (part of the Citizens
Theatre) visited the school and spoke with
the Pastoral Care Team, pupils and staff
regarding the financial education being
taught within the school. They learned
about the partnership working which
already existed with Greater Easterhouse
Money Advice Project and the savings ethos
being promoted by Greater Easterhouse
Credit Union Savings Scheme.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
This scheme was already running within the
school to foster a savings ethos among the
young people. The team also took advice
from Castlemilk Law and Money Advice
Centre to gain further information about the
type of issues which might be useful to raise
in this project. These organisations provide
practical, direct and up-to-the-minute
information. When the members of the
team from TAG were satisfied that they
had a clear picture of some of the knowledge the young people had already gained
through their education, they began to
formulate a plan of how their own project
was going to take shape. An ideal scenario
was that all students of drama in the school
would benefit from the partnership working
with TAG. A visit to the Citizens Theatre,
for all 250 students of drama in the school,
was arranged. During this visit, the students
were able to take part in a special workshop
where they learned about the techniques
used in the theatre with sound, lighting,
costume etc. They also had the opportunity
to view a performance of a Shakespeare
play on stage. In these ways the crosscutting nature and benefits of the project
began to emerge.
Drama sessions
Subsequently the TAG team provided four
sessions for each S3 drama class in the
school, delivered weekly. They created a
fictional family in which every member
struggled with some aspect of financial
capability. Each session focused on a
different family member and the choices
and challenges they faced. The scenes on
the DVD accompanying this package were
created as a result of that process of
practical exploration by the young people.
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Part 2 – Using the
Scenes from the DVD
In this section you will find
suggestions for using the
rehearsed improvisations
but most of the ideas are
transferable and flexible.
Follow-up activities
contribute to developing
the four capacities of
Curriculum for Excellence.
It is hoped that the young
people in secondary
schools will have the
opportunity to explore
a broad range of issues
which will continue to
affect their own
personal development
throughout their lifetime.
Some general points
about using the
scenes
It may be useful to show the scenes from
the DVD and leave the young people to
decide how best they feel the resource
SMALL CHANGE
can be used in their particular school
community. A group of young people from
across a range of year groups could be
consulted (eg via Pupil Council members) to
ascertain the most appropriate year groups
with whom to use the resource in school.
Sensitivities
It should be remembered that young people
from different social and economic
backgrounds will have varied experiences
of dealing with money and it is essential to
remember this in the process of teaching
about money and related discussion. It is
also important to recognise significant
religious and cultural values and attitudes
and always to be sensitive to the experiences
of the young people and their families. It
might be helpful to take advice from
community groups regarding your approach
to teaching and learning about finance.
Again, it might be useful to show the DVD
to the Parent Council or wider Parent Forum
and then use the resource in line with the
responses received from both young people
and parents. It is useful to alert parents to
the fact that their children will be focusing
on the area of finance in school.
Understanding and empathising
Hopefully, there can be some dialogue
between parents and students to help the
young people understand the issues
associated with budgeting for domestic life.
USING THE SCENES FROM THE DVD
The sharing of values between students and
their parents or carers will be important in
supporting and extending the financial
capability of the home and in leading to
strengthened family relationships. It is hoped
that through use of this resource, families
can gain a mutual understanding and a
positive attitude to the challenges of
budgeting in family life.
More information about Small Change,
related support materials and ideas
from schools using the resource can be
accessed via the Learning and Teaching
Scotland website: www.LTScotland.org.uk/
smallchange.
Addressing the issues embedded in the
scenes themselves will lead to further
discussion and debate about values,
relationships, abuse of power etc.
For useful websites to use in conjunction
with this resource, please refer to our
website: www.LTScotland.org.uk/
financialeducation.
worked together to ensure that their
students gain an understanding of financial
issues and increase their financial capability.
Every department has had a part to play –
from the Modern Languages department
examining exchange rates to Social Studies
looking at the debts of developing countries.
For more details on how schools have
worked with Money Weeks, please refer to
our website: www.LTScotland.org.uk/
financialeducation.
Such activity in schools has encouraged and
supported the development of the four
capacities.
English
Texts which bring up many of the issues
associated with financial capability are listed
below. This list presents texts for a variety
of ages and stages although it is particularly
suitable for use in Standard Grade Courses.
• Abomination – Robert Swindells
• Buddy – Nigel Hinton
Use across different
areas of the
curriculum
In Curriculum for Excellence, a
‘interdisciplinary task’ is one where teachers
from a number of disciplines across the
curriculum are given the opportunity to
work with one another to plan and organise
an event for young people. A typical
example of a ‘interdisciplinary task’ is
‘Money Week’. A number of schools and
centres (from early years to secondary) have
run very successful Money Weeks.
In secondary schools this has involved
interdisciplinary working. Teachers have
• Divided City – Theresa Breslin
• Fleshmarket – Nicola Morgan
• The Goalkeeper’s Revenge – Bill Naughton
• Henry’s Leg – Ann Pilling
• Holes – Louis Sachar
• Kes/Kestrel for a Knave – Barry Hines
• Millions – Frank Cottrell Boyce
• Our Day Out – Willy Russell
• Sailmaker – Alan Spence
• Stone Cold – Robert Swindells
• Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stevenson
• The Witness – James Jauncey
• Most of the works of Charles Dickens
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Teachers of English may wonder how they
can best use this resource to address the
needs of their students. There follow some
suggestions. However, teachers usually have
their own distinct and creative approaches
to learning which best suit the students they
are working with in their school community.
While the English class provides the ideal
setting for a group to reflect on their
personal experience with finance, there are
obviously a considerable number of sensitive
issues surrounding this topic. Students
should therefore be encouraged to exercise
discretion when alluding to their own family
circumstances.
The DVD could be used in an English class as
a stimulus for the following.
•
Personal writing – be aware of the
sensitivities and issues of young
people writing about money and family finances. This may not be something which should be shared with other pupils in class.
•
Discursive writing – Scene 1: Cash in Hand could be developed and used in the writing of an essay entitled ‘Qualities of a Good friendship
– Discuss’ or an alternative essay title could be ‘The Wants and Needs of Society – Discuss’.
• Persuasive writing – young people could be asked to express, in essay form, their own opinions regarding aspects of finance, and the effects these may have on the lives/health and wellbeing of individuals and their family unit. To support what they write, evidence must be
gathered through research activity. This can also lead young people to be more discerning when they are exposed to marketing materials.
SMALL CHANGE
•
Reading for information – to support young people’s awareness of the uses of language, for example phrases such as ‘You could already have won’ in junk mail.
•
Solo talk – one school carried out a
survey at their local shopping centre of how confident people in their
community feel with regard to their financial capability. Through the
medium of solo talk, students had the opportunity to reflect on their findings and report how they felt about the financial situation of their local community.
•
Group discussions and collaborative/
co-operative tasks – responsibilities we all have/what we value in our society.
Drama and PSE
Through taking the opportunity to work in
partnership with TAG, Bannerman’s staff
and students had an enriching experience
which allowed them to use and extend their
creative and aesthetic talents to investigate
situations relating to their own personal
development. Drama became a medium
which allowed young people to deepen their
understanding of financial issues and the
manner in which financial capability
permeates every area of life. Bannerman’s
students seized the opportunity to express
their own ideas, thoughts and feelings
through their creative work in expressive
arts. This project led those involved into
addressing many of the draft experiences
and outcomes for Curriculum for Excellence.
Please refer to website:
www.curriculumforexcellencescotland.
gov.uk
USING THE SCENES FROM THE DVD
TAG Financial
Workshops:
Abbreviated Session
Notes
Each workshop addressed
a new financial situation
within the family, involving
a different set of
circumstances; we then
examined the
consequences using a
variety of drama
techniques.
Lesson planning
Session 1 – Cash in Hand
Below is TAG’s plan for the first session of
work with the S3 drama students. You may
find this a helpful structure in planning how
you might approach the other rehearsed
improvisation scenes with your own
students.
This session looks at:
Introduction (5 minutes)
•
This is a practical look at having money, not having it and how that makes people feel. Over the course of four sessions we’ll be looking at a fictional family who have a variety of difficulties with money. This week we’ll look at the daughter, Toni, who constantly borrows from her best pal, Sam. Her situation could just as easily be one a boy finds himself in – so Toni could be Tony.
Optional – Ask the pupils
• Without looking – how much money have you got in your pocket/purse?
• How important is it to have a rough idea of what you’ve got?
• Do people who have no idea how much they have tend to be less
organised with money?
• Why? Why not?
•
We’re going to be looking at Toni, the daughter of our family, who doesn’t really consider how much money she has on her, or the
consequences of that.
Warm-up (5 minutes)
•
Focus exercise or game of your choice – for example, what would you do if you had £100/£1000/
£1 million?
• needs versus wants
• what happens if you borrow money you can’t pay back
• emotional aspects of money and not
having it
• lying about money
• consequences of actions.
Decision circle – would you lend?
(5 minutes)
Imagine you are in this situation – you are at
the cinema with your best friend and a
couple of others. Your best pal needs cash
to get drink/ice cream etc. They have already
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spent what they had earlier on in the day.
Would you lend them the cash, if you
had enough?
•
What did Toni spend cash on before getting to Cineworld?
•
What do you think she actually
needed?
Don’t put your hands up, but on a count of
three, everyone shows their decision by one
of these hand gestures:
• Yes – open palm flat – in an offering
gesture
• No – hand up to suggest ‘stop’
• Don’t know – rock your hand from side to side to suggest ‘maybe’.
What would that decision depend on?
Toni’s point of view (8 minutes)
Toni’s budget = £15.00
(NB – This monologue would be best read
by the teacher in the role of Toni/Tony.
Alternatively the pupils can read it for
themselves, or one of them could read it
to the rest of the class. It’s written from a
girl’s point of view but can easily be adapted
to make Tony a boy going out with his
best mate. The references to types of food
bought and titles of DVDs etc should be
updated/adapted to suit your own needs.)
Toni’s spending before going to
cinema:
‘I was in the town, right, and I had £15
from my mum. We were all going to see ‘I
am Legend’ with Will Smith. I’d been in the
town earlier on with Sam and I’d got a Big
Mac – I was totally starving. We also went in
HMV. I got the DVD of Casino Royale. Sam
couldn’t get what she was looking for. Have
you seen Casino Royale? I think Daniel Craig
is brilliant.
When we were at the pictures everyone was
getting Pic ‘n’ Mix. I wanted a massive bag.
Anyway, I was skint so I asked Sam for two
pounds. She was a bit cagey about it but I
knew she had enough cash. I’d seen it.’
• How much did Toni start out with?
SMALL CHANGE
Big Mac
£3.20
HMV
£6.00
Total
£9.20
Cash Toni must not spend:
Cinema ticket
£4.50
Bus fare home
£1.00
Total
£5.50
Bearing all this in mind, Toni has only
30p left for all the snacks she wants in
the cinema.
She wants a big bag of Pic ‘n’ Mix
sweets = about £5.00
•
What do you think happened when she asked for cash from Sam?
•
Toni is ‘downsizing’ – she asks Sam for a couple of quid but actually needs about £5.
At this time, teacher could arrange
a Circle Time activity to encourage
students to share their attitudes and
feelings.
USING THE SCENES FROM THE DVD
Sam’s point of view (5 minutes)
(NB – This monologue would be best
read with the teacher in the role of Sam.
Alternatively the pupils can read it for
themselves, or one of them could read it to
the rest of the class. It’s written from a girl’s
point of view but can easily be adapted to
make Sam a boy going out with his best
mate. All references could be updated/
adapted to suit your own needs.)
‘We were all at the pictures, ready to go in,
right, and then Toni goes ‘Sam, lend us £5
to get sweeties.’ I couldn’t believe it. This
happens all the time ’cos she knows I give
in, but I’d already said I wasn’t lending her
anything again after last time. What
happened was, Toni got a lenny a fiver and
I never got it back. When I asked, she said
she’d never borrowed it – which was total
rubbish! Either she’s a liar or she’s got a
brain like a goldfish.
Anyway there we were in the queue and
she’d got a huge bag of Pic ‘n’ Mix and
she asks for a fiver! Toni’s my best pal but
I can’t keep bailing her out. She knew I
needed that money for my mum’s present.
On the other hand, I didn’t want to look
stingy, know whit ah mean?’
• Why do you think Sam has lent Toni money so often in the past?
• What happened recently that changed Sam’s attitude?
•
When do you think Toni knew she
didn’t have enough cash to pay for what she was about to order – ie did she know before she got in the queue but just expected to sponge off Sam, or did she just discover it when she looked in her purse to pay?
Big scene at the cinema – paired
role play (20 minutes)
In pairs you are going to improvise what
happened when Toni asked for the money.
Show us if Toni got the loan or not. First of
all discuss the following.
•
What can Sam do? She wants to keep Toni as her best pal but not lend the cash she’s asking for. What are her options?
•
What might Toni say to persuade Sam? Think of all the tactics she might use – which is the hardest for Sam to resist? Remember you don’t want to fall out with Sam.
• Both characters – remember the
history of borrowing in the
relationship.
Pairs improvise and then look at some of the
scenes.
• What are the most effective tactics used by both Sam and Toni?
• What’s the long-term effect on their
attitude towards each other and their friendship?
If time permits:
Under pressure, Sam lends Toni the cash on
condition that it is paid back in the next two
days. Sam needs the money to buy a
birthday present for her mum. Toni promises
to pay the money back on time.
• Which is worse?
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Toni gets the money but on the way to
school spends it all on celebrity magazines
and sweeties. She reckons she can stall Sam
and pay her back later in the week. Toni
avoids Sam all day but is confronted by her
on the bus on the way home and gets a real
showing up in front of everyone.
• Improvise the scene on the bus.
Abbreviated session notes for TAG’s
other sessions in
school – including
monologues
These monologues have
been included to support
you in creating your own
ideas for monologues. It
can be very helpful to look
at how the individuals
involved may be feeling
and how relationships are
affected by attitudes to
finance.
You may also wish to look at how
self-esteem and self-confidence are affected
by our spending power. Monologues are
a useful tool in aiding examination of how
emotions are tied into behaviour with
money and spending.
SMALL CHANGE
Session 2
This session revolves around Ryan, the
younger brother. This character is used to
look at what makes us want things we don’t
need and can’t afford, and where this can
lead – the power of advertising on a young
person. Ryan wants an item that his parents
can’t afford. They have a difference of
opinion about whether his demands should
be met. This situation involves the emotional
power that money can have.
As a follow-up activity, students could spend
some time examining the techniques of
advertising and how they are finely tuned to
appeal to human psychology. Students could
work on creating their own advertisements,
allowing them the opportunity to investigate
how people are manipulated by companies
who need our spending power to gain
financial success for the company and its
employees.
Session 3
In this session we meet Stevie, the dad. His
monologue concerns his debt situation and
how he has been failing to deal with this
because he has been keeping it a secret.
There is the opportunity to interview Stevie
and to create scenes around the discovery of
the situation by his wife Shannon and
children. How do they respond? What effect
will this have on the whole family? Could
Stevie have handled the situation in a
different way?
Stevie’s monologue at the
start of session 3
I don’t know what to do. I’m ashamed
you’re seeing me like this but I don’t know
who else to talk to. I’ve got a letter from
the bank saying they’re taking me to court
USING THE SCENES FROM THE DVD
’cos I haven’t paid the mortgage for the last
two months, the Council Tax have frozen my
bank account and I’m expecting the gas and
electricity to go off any day now.
I lost my job a couple of months ago – that’s
why nothing’s been paid. Before that it was
a bit of a struggle but we managed. You
just do, don’t you? The weans have gotta
have new stuff all the time and Shannon’s
always using they store cards. She lives and
breathes to shop, y’know? We had a lot of
stuff on hire purchase but who doesn’t? I
got by and everyone was happy.
Then they kicked me out of work and since
then debt’s got out of control. I got one of
they consolidated loan things for the Visa,
Barclaycard, store cards, stuff like that, but
the interest’s terrible. I’m not even
scratching the surface of what I really owe.
And of course Shannon’s still using the
cards. I never told her I’d lost my job –
carried on going out the house in the
morning and coming home for dinner. Kept
thinking I’d get more work before it came to
this. It’d make her ill if she knew the mess
we’re in.
But now so much stuff’s going to have to
go back, telly, washing machine, phones,
DVD. You name it. Even the motor and the
X Box. And I’ve got this letter about going
to court. What am I going to do?
Session 4
The situation here is a more positive one,
where Shannon, the mum, wins a
considerable amount of money. She wins
enough to clear the debts referred to in
session 3. How will the family use their
new-found wealth? Everyone has a different
opinion. To help the improvisation, each
family group gets a shopping list of what the
family want and a list of their current debts.
It is important to focus on how likely it is
that a Prize Draw or a ‘lucky win’ will ‘save
the day’ for those experiencing financial
difficulties. Looking at the statistics
regarding how many people have ‘wins’ – it
is useful to remember that this happens to
only a very low percentage of the
population.
Shannon’s monologue at
the start of session 4
So I’m working full time now in Asda and
Stevie’s signing on and still looking for work.
We’ve managed to keep the house, thank
God. Went to this money adviser guy who
was really helpful and got us through the
crisis.
We re-negotiated the mortgage so we’ll be
paying it off for like the rest of our lives, but
at least we’ve got the same roof over our
heads. Council tax has gone right down now
Stevie’s on benefits.
Got a meter for the electricity – I’m
constantly sending Ryan down to the garage
to get more of them power cards. They
seem to last like 5 minutes and then we
get plunged into the dark ages. I spend my
whole life telling Toni to ‘Turn it off!’
Borrowed my dad’s portable telly, s’like that
big. Washing clothes in the sink – look at
my hands. Cut up all the credit cards … still
in total debt.
Kids don’t bring anyone back now. Ryan
still bugs us for stuff. Toni just sulks. Stevie
and me struggle through. Sometimes I feel
so angry with him. Sometimes I feel guilty.
Most of the time I’m just knackered.
On the next page is an example of a Pupil
Sheet focusing on the family budget, which
you may wish to use as an introduction to
discussion and research activities.
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Family budget – Stevie, Shannon, Toni and Ryan Wilson
What they owe What they want to buy
Gas/electricity
£400.00
Plasma TV
£1000.00
Council tax
£100.00
TV licence
£140.00
Phone bill (unpaid)
£150.00
Games console
£200.00
Credit card (consolidated loan)
£6000.00
2 mobile phones (Pay As You Go)
£100.00
Interest on loan
£1710.00
Second-hand car + tax + insurance
£5000.00
Washing machine
£300.00
Laptop
£200.00
iPod + video
£200.00
2 week holiday for 4 in Spain
Total
£10140.00
Total
£3000.00
£10140.00
Through carrying out some research, can you find many of the things you want at a more reasonable cost? For
example, look in your local supermarkets at offers on electrical goods.
Numeracy across learning
In using the following log books, teachers
may wish to show particular sensitivity in
dealing with young people as their sources
of income are likely to be diverse and the
amounts of money involved in different
families may lead to criticism and comment
from other pupils.
SMALL CHANGE
The first two log books are examples of
records which might have been kept by Toni
and Sam. The third example of a log book is a
blank version which teachers may wish to
distribute to their class to allow the students
the opportunity to examine how they spend
their own money.
17
SMALL CHANGE
LOGBOOK
Name: Toni
Class: 2B
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What do I have to do?
•
Each day, for one week, write down each thing you buy (for example, bus ticket, lunch, sweets, cinema ticket … ) and how much you’ve spent.
• If you run out of space, write it on another piece of paper.
• There are also five questions to think about at the end.
• Start with today (even if it’s not Monday!) and go through the whole week day by day.
Monday
Bought
Spent
Lunch – Baguette
£4.00
Bus to school
50p
Bus home
50p
Total: £5.00
Tuesday
Bought
Spent
Lunch – Pizza
£2.50
Magazine
£3.50
Bus home
50p
Total: £6.50
Wednesday
Bought
Spent
Lunch – Chips
£1.50
Crisps
30p
Juice
50p
Total: £2.30
Thursday
Bought
Spent
Lunch – Chocolate bar
45p
Total: £0.45
SMALL CHANGE
LOGBOOKS
Friday
Bought
Spent
Lunch – Baguette
£4.00
Bus to school
50p
Bus home
50p
Total: £5.00
Saturday
Bought
Spent
4 subway tickets
£4.40
Make-up
£15.00
Lunch – Baguette
£2.00
Burger Meal
£4.00
Pick ‘n’ Mix
£6.00
Cinema ticket
£4.50
Total: £35.90
Sunday
Bought
Spent
Total: £0.00
Final total: £55.15
For next class
• Are you surprised at how much you spent?
• When did you spend the most money?
• Why do you think that was?
• Which of the things you bought did you need?
• Which of the things you bought did you want?
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SMALL CHANGE
21
SMALL CHANGE
LOGBOOK
Name: Sam
Class: 2B
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What do I have to do?
•
Each day, for one week, write down each thing you buy (for example, bus ticket, lunch, sweets, cinema ticket … ) and how much you’ve spent.
• If you run out of space, write it on another piece of paper.
• There are also five questions to think about at the end.
• Start with today (even if it’s not Monday!) and go through the whole week day by day.
Monday
Bought
Spent
Lunch – Fuelzone
£1.15
Total: £1.15
Tuesday
Bought
Spent
Lunch – Fuelzone
£1.15
Chocolate bar
45p
Total: £1.60
Wednesday
Bought
Spent
Lunch – Fuelzone
£1.15
Crisps
30p
Total: £1.45
Thursday
Bought
Spent
Lunch – Fuelzone
£1.15
Make-up
£3.00
Total: £4.15
SMALL CHANGE
LOGBOOKS
Friday
Bought
Spent
Lunch – Fuelzone
£1.15
Total: £1.15
Saturday
Bought
Spent
Subway Discovery ticket
£2.50
Lunch – Sandwich, juice
£2.00
Cinema ticket
£4.50
Total: £9.00
Sunday
Bought
Spent
Magazine
£1.00
Total: £1.00
Final total: £19.50
For next class
• Are you surprised at how much you spent?
• When did you spend the most money?
• Why do you think that was?
• Which of the things you bought did you need?
• Which of the things you bought did you want?
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SMALL CHANGE
25
SMALL CHANGE
LOGBOOK
Name:____________________
Class: ______
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What do I have to do?
•
Each day, for one week, write down each thing you buy (for example, bus ticket, lunch, sweets, cinema ticket … ) and how much you’ve spent.
• If you run out of space, write it on another piece of paper.
• There are also five questions to think about at the end.
• Start with today (even if it’s not Monday!) and go through the whole week day by day.
Monday
Bought
Spent
Total: _______
Tuesday
Bought
Spent
Total: _______
Wednesday
Bought
Spent
Total: _______
Thursday
Bought
Spent
Total: _______
SMALL CHANGE
LOGBOOKS
Friday
Bought
Spent
Total: _______
Saturday
Bought
Spent
Total: _______
Sunday
Bought
Spent
Total: _______
Final total: _______
For next class
• Are you surprised at how much you spent?
• When did you spend the most money?
• Why do you think that was?
• Which of the things you bought did you need?
• Which of the things you bought did you want?
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Part 3 – Acknowledgements
and Contact Details
Learning and
Teaching Scotland
Learning and Teaching
Scotland (LTS) has a remit
that actively promotes a
climate of innovation,
ambition and excellence
throughout the Scottish
education system. The
Scottish Centre for
Financial Education (SCFE),
as part of Learning and
Teaching Scotland, takes
the view that the resource
Small Change helps to
meet this requirement.
Our remit also encourages
working with key partners
and the partnership that
has been established
with the teachers and
pupils involved in the
SMALL CHANGE
pilot, TAG, Glasgow
City Council’s Financial
Inclusion Department
(at Development and
Regeneration Services) and
Glasgow’s Determined to
Succeed Team has been a
very innovative and
exciting one. We are also
sure that the
interdisciplinary approach
to developing pupils’
financial capability,
through their engagement
with the situations
developed in this resource,
will be very
successful. If you wish to
contact any member of the
SCFE, please find contact
details on the website:
www.LTScotland.org.uk/
financialeducation.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND CONTACT DETAILS
TAG
TAG is part of Glasgow’s Citizens Theatre and
regularly tours high quality professional
theatre productions for children and young
people to venues and schools in Scotland and
beyond, as well as providing a comprehensive
range of participatory project work and
training.
TAG regularly collaborates with a broad range
of project partners using drama to explore
issues. The company received the Best Show
for Children and Young People Award for
David Greig’s Yellow Moon at the Theatrical
Management Association Awards 2007.
To discuss working with TAG, please contact
Martin Travers (Head of Citizens Learning and
TAG) on 0141 418 6243 or
email martin@citz.co.uk
Acknowledgements
The Scottish Centre for Financial Education at
Learning and Teaching Scotland is extremely
grateful to all those who have contributed to
the development of this resource. Thanks are
due to the members of the Working Group
formed to support the development of these
support materials:
Alasdair Watt – Development and
Regeneration Services, Glasgow City Council
Sam de Smith – English Department,
Bannerman High School, Glasgow
Christina McLean – Drama Department,
Shawlands Academy, Glasgow.
An enormous thank you to the Employability
and Enterprise Officer for the Bannerman
Learning Community and all students and
drama staff of Bannerman High School who
contributed to this resource. They showed
great enthusiasm and were very generous
with their time in the creation of this project.
Thanks also go to the Senior Leadership Team
of the school in being so accommodating in
allowing the SCFE access to the school, staff
and students.
Thanks also to members of Glasgow City
Council’s Determined to Succeed Team who
gave up their time to attend Working Group
meetings.
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Part 4 – Glossary
of Financial Terms
APR – Annual Percentage
Rate
This is used to calculate the amount of
interest you will pay each year for your loan.
The higher the APR, the more interest you
will pay. It is wise to check the APR for any
loan, credit card or store card. Some are 10
per cent whereas others are 15 per cent or
even 30 per cent.
Auditor
A person who audits accounts.
Bank loan
A loan made by a bank which is repaid with
interest on, or before, an agreed date.
Consolidated loan
This type of borrowing may be a good
option if the creditor has a lot of smaller
debts. This loan can be secured against
property, which is a cheaper option, or it
can be unsecured. Debt counsellors would
normally advise that the borrower should
seek professional independent advice on
how best to manage their debts, deciding
whether or not to go for a consolidated loan
or simply to reduce expenditure over a
period of time.
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Co-operative
It is owned and controlled by its members.
Each member has one vote. Any profit made
is returned to members through dividends
shared out.
Credit card
Credit cards are useful ways of paying for
goods. You can use them in shops and also
when buying online or over the phone. As
they are loans, you have to pay an amount
of interest depending on the APR of the
card. Each month you must make a
minimum payment. If you only pay this, then
the debt will increase as the interest charged
is usually more than the minimum payment.
The credit card will have a limit – this is the
limit of how much the company will lend
you. You still have to pay it all back as well
as the interest.
Debit card
This card allows you to buy goods or get
cash with the money being taken from your
bank (current) account.
Dividend
A pro-rata share in an amount to be
distributed – an amount paid to
shareholders of a corporation out of profits.
GLOSSARY OF FINANCIAL TERMS
Doorstep lender
Interest
These legal organisations offer short-term
loans, usually for amounts between £50 and
£500. The money is delivered to their
customer’s door and the repayments are
collected in the same way.
A sum paid or charged for the use of money
or for borrowing money.
Insurance
This can be for your car, life, credit card,
store card, home, building, contents etc.
This is ‘coverage’ by contract in which one
party agrees to indemnify or reimburse
another for loss that occurs under the terms
of the contract.
Store card
Store cards are useful for paying for goods if
you shop a lot at the same store. Some
people use them when they do not have
enough money to pay for the goods. As
they are loans, interest has to be paid and
some of these cards have a high APR, which
means paying back a lot more than the
goods cost – especially if you need a long
time to pay. The more store cards you have,
the more of a problem this can be.
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Appendix – Financial
Education and Curriculum
for Excellence: Making the
Connections
Financial education and the
resource Small Change are
closely linked with many of
the draft experiences and
outcomes of Curriculum for
Excellence. These links are
strongest within the areas of
numeracy, expressive arts,
English and literacy, and
health and wellbeing.
Building the Curriculum 3 states:
‘The OECD noted that if a curriculum is operated as a rigid structure, the time
available for learning will be for subjects
and not students. The experiences and
outcomes are grouped under the headings
of the curriculum areas: expressive arts;
health and wellbeing; languages;
mathematics; religious and moral
education; religious education in
denominational schools; science; social
studies; and technologies. They describe
learning which has a clear purpose at
levels from ‘early’ to ‘fourth’, as set out
later in this document. They describe
stages in the acquiring of knowledge and
establishment of understanding and
support the development of skills and
attributes. They are written so that, across
the experiences and outcomes, children
and young people have opportunities to
SMALL CHANGE
develop the attributes and capabilities for
the four capacities. They can be applied in
a range of contexts which will be
meaningful and relevant to the children
and young people and so offer a degree
of personalisation and choice which can
give children and young people a sense of
ownership of their learning. The
curriculum areas are therefore the
organisers for setting out the experiences
and outcomes.’
‘Experiences set expectations for the kinds
of activities which will promote learning
and development.’
‘Outcomes set out what the child or young
person will be able to explain, apply or
demonstrate.’
‘All are designed to encourage a range of
effective learning and teaching
approaches.’
The overarching cover paper for the draft
experiences and outcomes contains the
following statement:
‘The experiences and outcomes provide
for progression and seek to convey the
values, principles and purposes of
Curriculum for Excellence. They build on
the best of existing guidance while
introducing areas of change. They are
designed to express an approach to
learning that is clear to the teacher
APPENDIX
experiences that will enhance learning,
and outcomes that are meaningful to the
young person.
Most importantly, the draft experiences
and outcomes should have an impact on
classroom practice and learning. As a
result, practitioners should have the
opportunity to engage with young people
in purposeful and worthwhile tasks,
activities and events that contribute to
their personal development and learning.’
Financial competence
As a result of learning experiences, young
people should be able to:
• keep financial records
• analyse financial information
• assess value for money
• prepare and use budgets
• make informed financial decisions.
Financial responsibility
Financial capability
Financial capability1 is broken down into four
main components:
Financial understanding
As a result of learning experiences, young
people should be able to demonstrate an
understanding and appreciation of:
• sources of income
• the nature and role of money in
society, including foreign currency
• taxation, spending, saving and
investment
• credit and debt
• financial services/products and
advisory services
• consumer rights, responsibilities and
protection
• the impact of advertising, ICT and the media.
1
As a result of learning experiences, young
people should be able to:
• take increasing responsibility for making decisions with respect to themselves
• analyse the potential impact of financial decisions made by others on society and the environment both locally and globally
• analyse the potential impact of their
financial decisions on other people and the environment both locally and globally.
Financial enterprise
As a result of learning experiences, young
people should be able to:
• evaluate potential risks and returns
• use financial and other resources in an
innovative and confident manner
• apply knowledge and skills creatively in a range of situations.
Financial Education in Scottish Schools: A Statement of Position (1999)
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Furthermore, in the Financial Services
Authority’s Financial Capability: Establishing
a Baseline (2006), John Tiner, Chief
Executive, FSA (2003–7), writes in the
Foreword:
‘In a world in which individuals are
increasingly required to take responsibility
for their financial affairs, people need to
be able to manage their money well. This
report, the product of a survey of over
5300 people, assesses the ability of the UK
population to do so.
The Financial Capability Survey’s main
purpose is to establish a baseline measure
of financial capability in terms of how well
people:
SMALL CHANGE
•
make ends meet
•
keep track of their finances
•
plan ahead
•
choose financial products
•
stay informed about financial matters.
Young people can improve and develop
their financial capability as defined above,
while learning through using the resource
Small Change, and teachers could give
young people the opportunity to address
the various experiences and outcomes for
Curriculum for Excellence.
The pfeg Quality Mark
shows that this resource
meets the pfeg quality
standards. At the time
of issue the resource
contains educational
benefits and accurate
financial information.
For further information
visit www.pfeg.org