Scottish Centre for Financial Education
Financial Education in
Scottish Primary Schools
Money Week
Financial Education in
Scottish Primary Schools
Money Week
Scottish Centre for Financial Education
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
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.
Please visit www.pfeg.org for further information.
This version of Money Week has been produced in 2006 for Scottish education by
Learning and Teaching Scotland under licence from pfeg
© pfeg 2006
ISBN-13: 978-184399-135-9
ISBN-10: 1-84399-135-7
ii
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
Contents
Rationale and background
1
Section 1
What, why and how? 3 3
3
3
4
What is Money Week?
Why is Money Week important? How, can this resource help?
What's in it for you?
Section 2
Meeting the needs of the curriculum 5
A Curriculum for Excellence
School policy
Promoting financial inclusion 5
5
5
Section 3
Running a Money Week: a step-by-step guide 7
Step 1 – Initial stages Step 2 – Planning Step 3 – Delivery Step 4 – Sharing success and achievements, and reflection on future developments
7
7
7
7
Section 4
Management issues
9
9
9
9
9
10
Planning for financial education
Roles and responsibilities
Budgeting for Money Week
Financial capability – whole school strategic development
Inclusion issues
Section 5
Making connections to enterprise in education 11
Involving parents
Involving visits and visitors
Enterprising learning and teaching strategies
Values and citizenship
11
11
11
11
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
iii
Section 6
Learning outcomes, activities and curriculum links 12
Early years activity – Snacks for All Primary 1 activity – Pound Shop
Primary 2 activity – Vending Machines
Primary 3 activity – Jam Jar
Primary 4 activity – Buy a Bike
Primary 5 activity – Keeping Accounts
Primary 6 activity – Cost of Living
Primary 7 activity – Phone a Friend
12
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16
18
20
22
24
26
Section 7
CD-ROM
29
Section 8
Resources
Useful websites
Printed materials
31
31
32
Section 9
Acknowledgements
iv
Standard Life and Money Week
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
35
35
Rationale and background to the resource
In December 1999, the Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum, now Learning
and Teaching Scotland (LTS), published Financial Education in Scottish Schools – A
Statement of Position.1 This document describes how managing money is one of the
most important and challenging features of everyday living and outlines a minimum
entitlement within this area of the curriculum. Whether as employees, employers, selfemployed persons or voluntary workers, people need to:
•
•
•
•
understand key financial and economic ideas
be skilled in managing their financial affairs
recognise the importance of using financial resources responsibly
be able to operate in a confident and enterprising manner.
Continuing social, economic and political change over the last six years has
meant that the development of financial capability is even more pressing. Issues
surrounding pensions, insurance and increasing levels of personal debt mean that
there is a greater need for individuals to take a more active and informed interest in
their own financial future.
The Scottish Centre for Financial Education was established in 2002 to promote
financial education for early years, primary schools and secondary schools, and
across a wide range of curriculum and subject areas. It is hoped that this resource
will promote a greater understanding of the problems and issues that everyone needs
to address.
This resource has been based on an approach taken by Dunblane Primary School
in which financial education was the focus of a themed week entitled Money Week.
This followed comments made by Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Education that while
number and mathematics were being taught effectively, children did not show any
real understanding of the value of money. The school then carried out an audit of the
curriculum which revealed that explicit teaching of this life skill was not taking place
and that there appeared to be insufficient teaching resources for developing financial
capability available in the school.
Staff awareness of the issues surrounding financial education was raised and a
programme was planned, delivered and reviewed using ideas adapted from Money
Counts (BEAM Education for the Financial Services Authority, 2000). The experiences
gained from this approach are central to the advice given here. In addition to the
advice on running a Money Week, there are also resources that will enhance learning
and teaching.
Money Week complements other resources and advice given by Learning and
Teaching Scotland in this area of the curriculum. Details of these are available on
www.LTScotland.org.uk/financialeducation.
1
Scottish CCC, Financial Education in Scottish Schools: A Statement of Position, 1999.
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
Section 1
What, why and how?
What is Money Week?
Money Week is a themed week where every class does some work on issues related
to money. This involves a whole school approach to planning, preparation and
delivery and enables the school to link all aspects of the curriculum to the week’s
central theme of developing financial capability. It is also an opportunity to include
visits to the local community and visitors coming into school, including parents,
business people and others.
Why is Money Week important?
Money Week promotes financial capability, which is an essential life skill for everyone.
The ability to make sound financial decisions is key to identifying and making best
use of the opportunities in a fast changing world. Financially capable young people
should be able to:
•
•
•
manage the increasingly complex financial choices and decisions people face throughout their lives – at work, at home and in their leisure time
undertake financial planning that will lead to future financial well-being – in a climate of flexible labour markets, multiple working environments, lifelong learning, short-term contracts and greater longevity
successfully manage a range of financial transactions – such as using credit and debit cards, coping with student loans, buying goods and services online and dealing with taxation.
How can this resource help?
This Money Week pack provides a step-by-step approach to running a successful
themed week in your school. It offers a range of support materials that can be
adapted to suit your needs, all of which are included on the accompanying CD-ROM.
The pack is designed to:
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support the management and coordination of a Money Week
provide staff development resources
assist in the involvement of parents, parent teacher associations and school boards
provide additional information on financial capability
offer an extensive range of ideas for curriculum-based activities to use during
the ‘week’.
The pack is intended to be flexible. You can choose how to use the materials. For
example, you can:
• follow the guidelines provided for planning, organising and running a Money Week, selecting from the range of activities which have been supplied as a starting point for designing your school’s Money Week programme
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
•
•
•
use the resources to develop your own ideas for an event focusing on financial
capability, e.g. a Money Day; a weekly Money Slot such as an assembly programme; a parenting skills workshop on budgeting
dip into the pack to find information and signposts to other useful resources
focus on materials for developing financial capability in a specific year group.
What’s in it for you?
A successful Money Week will:
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enhance teaching and learning programmes throughout the school – it is a
chance to be creative and innovative, and to have fun
raise pupil, staff and parental awareness of the need to develop and teach
financial capability
help to increase staff expertise and confidence in delivering finance education
across most, if not all, areas of the curriculum
enable staff and pupils to recognise where financial capability is already being
addressed in the curriculum
provide an opportunity for sharing good practice and developing useful resources.
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
Section 2
Meeting the needs of the curriculum
A Curriculum for Excellence
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
develop the four capacities of A Curriculum for Excellence2, particularly in becoming
responsible citizens and effective contributors to society and at work, with an informed
sense of their roles in the world.
Activities to develop financial capability, where outcomes not only benefit others but
also encourage a sense of responsibility to the community and society as a whole,
help children and young people to understand the connections between enterprise
and active citizenship.
Because children learn through all of their experiences, the curriculum needs to
recognise and complement the contributions that these experiences can make. This
is particularly the case in financial education, where many attitudes are based on
what the children experience at an early age.
School policy
Research has shown that young people on leaving school feel that this area
of education has not been sufficiently developed to meet their needs. Senior
management, as with other aspects of a school’s provision, will want to consider
its policies and practices for financial education in relation to A Curriculum for
Excellence, National Priorities, education for citizenship and enterprise in education.
The statement on numeracy published by the Scottish Executive3 recognises the
importance of financial education in raising attainment and in tackling issues of
inclusion and lifelong learning.
Promoting financial inclusion
By promoting financial understanding, competence, responsibility and enterprise
in their pupils, primary schools are setting the foundations to assist in tackling the
problems of financial exclusion. Being financially excluded means being cut off from
the services and benefits of the financial services industry and being unable to make
informed choices.
Financially excluded households are not able to give children the
experience of managing money that others take for granted. There
is evidence to suggest that such children go on to be financially
excluded themselves.’
Money Counts, FSA, 2000
2
Scottish Executive, A Curriculum for Excellence: The Curriculum Review Group, 2004.
Scottish Executive, National Statement for Improving Attainment in Numeracy in Schools, 2002.
3
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
Section 3
Running a Money Week: a step-by-step guide
The following guide is offered to schools as a suggested approach to developing a
Money Week.
Step 1 – Initial stages
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Raise staff awareness.
Audit existing practice – where does financial education happen in our school? (Detailed audit tool included on CD-ROM.)
Look at available resources – who/what might be useful to involve and at what stage? Make links to enterprise in education.
Identify a suitable week for running the event.
Negotiate budget with appropriate stakeholders.
Agree roles and responsibilities.
Share information with Parents’ Forum/PTA/School Board. (PowerPoint presentations are available on the CD-ROM.)
Step 2 – Planning
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Identify themes from Money Week at each class/year group.
Involve pupils in publicising Money Week plans via school newsletter to
parents/carers.
Run a workshop for parents – raising awareness and initiating parental involvement.
Contact potential visitors – via pupil invitations.
Ask staff to highlight the curricular areas to be addressed and include these in the planning documents.
Step 3 – Delivery
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Involve pupils at every stage, for example meeting visitors and organising resources.
Check arrangements with visitors (carried out by pupils if possible).
Invite parents/carers to an open afternoon.
Enjoy your Money Week!
At the end of the week have an initial evaluation by pupils, parents and staff.
Step 4 – Sharing success and
achievements, and reflection on
future developments
•
•
•
Share success with all stakeholders and send ‘thank you' letters to all visitors.
Hold a staff meeting to review the Money Week experience and plan the next steps to identify opportunities where financial capability can be developed within the existing curriculum.
Identify priorities for School Improvement Plan next session.
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
Section 4
Management issues
Planning for financial education
The position paper on financial education takes the view that young people’s
entitlement to financial education can be secured within the current curriculum.
This resource gives suggested activities across all curricular areas. An audit tool is
included on the CD that can be used before and/or after a Money Week is carried out.
Roles and responsibilities
Ensure a senior member of staff has responsibility for Money Week and consider
the role of parents and the wider community in helping to develop pupils' financial
capability – before, during and after the event.
Budgeting for Money Week
Schools do not necessarily need additional funding in order to run a Money Week.
However, where the event involves displays of work, inviting visitors to the school, pupil
off-site visits or classroom enterprise activities, these may require a small budget.
Financial capability – whole school
strategic development
The launch of a Money Week will alert both parents and staff across the school to
the importance of developing financial capability in all children and young people.
By raising their awareness and increasing their understanding of what is meant by
financial capability, teachers can see where financial education is already taking
place and/or can be further incorporated into the existing curriculum.
The next step is to encourage staff to consider where opportunities for developing
financial capability can be included in their existing programmes and practice. By
auditing these activities across the school, perhaps at the end of a school year, both
managers and staff can gain a clear overview of where and how financial education is
being developed.
Future Money Weeks should take into account the higher level of skills and
knowledge that pupils have gained since the last time and can be used to address
specific issues that have arisen.
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
Inclusion issues
Children and young people from different social and economic backgrounds will have
varied experiences of dealing with money. However, regardless of background, all
children and young people will benefit from advice on coping with financial matters now
and in the future. It is important to recognise significant religious and cultural values
and attitudes. The UK banking system is not universally acceptable. Take advice from
local community leaders if you consider that this may be an issue in your area.
10
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
Section 5
Making connections to enterprise in education
Involving parents
Opportunities to involve parents in a Money Week can include:
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inviting them to help organise the whole week or particular activities within it
asking for volunteers to help in class during some of the activities
enlisting parents to support any fundraising activities
inviting parents to an open afternoon to view work developed during the week
where appropriate, asking parents to complete evaluation sheets or feedback forms. (A PowerPoint presentation on the CD-ROM is useful in this respect.)
Involving visits and visitors
Money Week provides an ideal opportunity for:
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starting or building upon business partnerships in the local community
showing children how the financial capability skills and knowledge they are learning in school are applied in the wider world
tapping into the financial expertise of business and local community partners
encouraging children to invite and thank visitors, either by letter or phone
asking children to take responsibility for organising some aspects of a visit, for
example finding out the cost of hiring a coach; comparing the price of different
packed lunches or drinks.
Enterprising learning and
teaching strategies
Money Week should include opportunities for children to:
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develop the confidence to make informed judgements and to take calculated risks
participate in real-life activities which encourage the development of skills and
competences relating to financial management
understand the impact of financial decisions on themselves and on others both
locally and globally
appreciate rights and responsibilities as consumers and producers
develop core and other generic thinking and learning skills.
Values and citizenship
The activities in this resource allow children to participate in activities, make decisions
and work with the wider community as active citizens.
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
11
Section 6
Learning outcomes, activities and curriculum links
Early years activity – Snacks for All
Learning outcomes Resources on CD-ROM
Children will begin to: Snacks for All vocabulary sheet
•
•
recognise the coins and notes that
we use
understand the exchange of coins and
notes for goods
The initial activity
You will need: A selection of real and/or pretend coins – both to handle and as a
labelled display on the nursery wall. (See reference to mega money on page 32.)
Discuss with the children the daily snacks which they have. Explain that they
are going to visit a shop and buy food for their snacks – a different group to ‘go
shopping’ every day.
Discuss the snacks which they particularly enjoy and explain that on the day they visit
the shop they will also prepare the snack and will invite someone from home to come
and share it with them.
Money Week extension activity
Use paper plates and plasticine to ‘make’ snacks and pretend to sell them to
one another.
Starter discussion points
What will we use to pay for the food we buy for the snacks?
What happens to the money after we give it to the shopkeeper?
Can you name different types of coins and notes we will use to buy our food? (Those
named can be used for display purposes.)
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Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
Curriculum suggestions – Snacks for All
Children may be given opportunities to:
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interact with the shopkeeper, where appropriate
invite parents/carers in to share snack prepared by their child
discuss dietary needs, e.g. bread, vegetables, and fruit, and compare prices of these to prices of luxury food
items from other countries, e.g. star fruit, gateaux – why may food from abroad be expensive to buy?
Communication and
language
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discuss a weekly snack menu – each day could have
a different title, e.g. Marvellous Monday, Terrific
Tuesday, etc.
use digital camera to record their visit to the shop/van
(for display)
using preferred choice of medium, draw themselves preparing the snacks (for display)
Knowledge and
understanding of the world
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describe the sequence of events resulting in the
snacks being ready to eat
talk about working in a shop – what sort of things does
the shopkeeper do?
if possible experience using a modern ‘till’
use penny coins to count up to 10
match coins to display on wall
discuss time sequence involved in visiting shop
– planning list, getting there, etc.
set up correct number of places at snack table
prepare a book about working in a shop
Expressive and aesthetic
development
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after visit, role-play at being shopkeeper/customer
use a variety of instruments to create mood music for shops – soft, loud? What kind of shop?
practise serving food using plasticine ‘food’
serve snacks to visitors
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working with plasticine food, use a range of tools to create texture on food
wash hands before touching food
practise using a knife safely
plan walk to shop
after walk, draw a map of where the shop is in relation
to nursery or other early years setting
Emotional, personal and
social development
Physical development and
movement
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
13
Primary 1 activity – Pound Shop
Learning outcomes Resources on CD-ROM
Children will begin to: • recognise the coins and notes that we
use
• understand the exchange of coins and
notes for goods
• talk about things that they may want to
spend their money on
Pound Shop vocabulary sheet
The initial activity
You will need: £1 coins, real or pretend, a real £1 coin; a money box containing
enough plastic £1 coins for each child to have at least five; a class shop with all items
labelled as costing £1.
Set up and introduce a class shop to the children. Explain that it is a special shop
where everything costs the same price: £1. Some of the group might have been to a
local pound shop and could talk about it. Draw the children’s attention to the fact that
most shops have differently priced items. Show the group the large £1 coin. Let the
children handle the real £1 coin and talk about its colour and size, its markings and
value. Children need experience of working with real coins, so use these whenever
possible for money activities. Ensure you explain to the children that £1 coins are
valuable and should be kept somewhere safe, and that while they are working in the
class shop they will be using plastic pretend £1 coins.
Ask each child in the group to count out five £1 coins from the money box.
Encourage them to start by counting out their own coins and then to help each other
in checking the number. They can then go and buy things in the shop.
Money Week extension activity
Hold a cake sale in class – four cakes for £1.
Invite parents to contribute goods and help run the event.
Starter discussion points
How will you know how many coins to give to the shopkeeper?
How many items will you be able to buy for £5? How did you work it out?
How will the shopkeeper know what things you have paid for? Discuss the use of
receipts and till rolls.
What do shopkeepers do with the money that you give them?
What can you buy in a real shop for £1?
Can you think of a safe place to keep our £1 coins?
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Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
Curriculum suggestions – Pound Shop
Pupils may be given opportunities to:
Language
Listening and talking
Reading
• interact as a either shopkeeper or customer
• keep a class diary describing what it’s like to work in
the shop
Writing
• design posters for shop focusing on layout
Mathematics
Number
Mathematics
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•
•
Problem solving
• sale time – two items for £1 – what will you buy?
Science
• experiment to discover which substances clean coins
(e.g. cola)
Technology
• design and make a money box to save your money in
People and place
• interview adults at home and in school about which shops they like best and why
People in the past
Art
• collect information from adults at home and in school about their shopping experiences as children
• design posters using black and one primary colour
Music
• sing a selection of money-counting songs
Drama
• drop £1 coins into a tin – what can you hear?
use the sounds of coins to make music
• role-play at being the shopkeeper and/or customer
PSD
• discuss why we raise money for charity
Enterprise in education
• visit local shop, supermarket or van
decide what to spend the £5 on in the shop
add and subtract mentally numbers 0–5
collect receipts from a variety of shops and display in order of totals
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
15
Primary 2 activity – Vending Machines
Learning outcomes Resources on CD-ROM
Children will begin to: • recognise the coins and notes that
we use
• understand the exchange of coins and
notes for goods
• talk about things that they may want to
spend their money on
Vending Machines vocabulary sheet
The initial activity
You will need: a selection of real and/or pretend coins, cardboard boxes,
sellotape/glue and paints to make a money machine.
Discuss with the children whether they have ever put any money in a machine such
as a payphone or ticket machine. Did they have to put the right coins in the machine,
or did the machine give change? Collect information about the type of things the
children got from the machines. Who has bought crisps, sweets or a drink from
a machine? Have any children bought tickets or stamps from a machine? Some
children might have put money in a rides machine in a shopping centre.
Talk to the children about the importance of putting the right coins into a machine.
Display the coins to help them with identification. Ask questions, such as ‘What coins
would you put in the machine to buy a toffee bar that costs 15p?’ ‘What coins could
you put in a machine that costs 20p a ride?’
Then suggest that the children write some instructions for a machine of their own
invention. These might include: ‘You can only put 5p and 10p coins in this machine’,
‘No 2p coins allowed’, ‘No change given’ or ‘Pencils cost 8p from this machine’.
Money Week extension activity
Design and make a Money Machine for your own bedroom – what will it dispense
and how much will each item cost?
Starter discussion points
How do machines know what coins you’ve put in? Might they sift the coins by size?
By weight?
What happens if you don’t have enough money for the machine?
How do you know what money to put in a machine?
Can you get money from machines?
The parking ticket costs 50p and I’ve put in a 20p coin. How much do I still need to
put in? What combination of coins would you use?
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Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
Curriculum suggestions – Vending Machines
Pupils may be given opportunities to:
Language
Listening and talking
Reading
Writing
Mathematics
Number
Mathematics
Problem solving
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question the school community about the types of vending machines they have used/seen and what types they would like in school
interpret information from questionnaire (see People and place entry)
write a set of instructions on how to use their vending machines
compile questionnaire (see People and place entry)
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set up a money exchange counter, e.g. children exchange 10p coin for two 5p ones – variety of exchanges using 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p coins
produce a graph based on information gathered in the questionnaire (see People and place entry) on the most popular types of vending machines
make decisions linked to Technology activity
Science
• investigate how a simple money machine might work (forces and motion)
ICT
• use digital camera to take photograph of their vending machines for a wall display
Technology
• in groups of three to four, convert large cardboard box/es into a money machine
People and place
• compile questionnaire to collect information on vending machines in local community and/or nearest town/city
• locate and identify machines on appropriate map
People in the past
• ask their friends and family what they bought from vending machines when they were young
Art
• make pencil drawing of vending machines they have created – clearly labelled to show how they work
Music
• use variety of percussion instruments to create the noise their machine would make when in use
Drama
• take part in a scenario as part of an assembly presentation – using their money machine – with accompanying percussion sounds
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
17
Primary 3 activity – Jam Jar
Learning outcomes Resources on CD-ROM
Children will begin to: Jam Jar vocabulary sheet
• understand that people have different
standards of living in different countries
• understand that there are consequences
to having more or less money
The initial activity
You will need: a jar containing an amount of money, such as £4.23, and including a
few foreign coins. Tell the children that the class has been given a jam jar of coins to
sort out and spend.
Suggest that it might be best if they count the money to find out how much there
is in the jar before they decide what they should do with it. Give different groups of
children handfuls of money from the jar to sort out and count. Then encourage the
children to find a way of combining their separate totals to find out how much there is
altogether, such as adding the pounds first, finding amounts that add up to 10p, and
so on. They should identify foreign coins if they can.
Money Week extension activity
Design and make a money box for a friend or famous person which reflects their
hobbies and/or interests and would encourage them to save.
Starter discussion points
What should we do with the money and what would be the best way to decide?
There are lots of different coins in here. What would be a good way to count them?
Is there a way we could check our final total to make sure that really is the
correct amount?
You could raise ideas about different types of charities and other worthy causes.
If we shared the money between two charities how could we work out how much they
would each have?
Is there any money in the jar that you don’t recognise? Where does it come from?
18
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
Curriculum suggestions – Jam Jar
Pupils may be given opportunities to:
Language
Listening and talking
Reading
Writing
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•
•
•
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discuss which charity pupils would like to raise money for
gather information, from a variety of sources, on
various charities
design posters advertising a charity event to raise money for
chosen charity
write a newspaper report on a famous charity event from
the past
Mathematics
Number
Mathematics
Problem solving
• sort and count money collected for charity
(linked to Technology activity)
Science
• investigate some scientific breakthroughs which have been made as a result of people giving money to charities
ICT
• use the internet to research different charities, famous charity events, scientific discoveries supported by charitable donations
Technology
• design and make charity boxes that reflect the charity they
have chosen. Use when collecting money
People and place
• identify on world maps the countries which require financial
aid and the currency of each country
People in the past
• investigate some famous charity events from the past, e.g.
Bob Geldof and Band Aid/Live Aid/Live 8
Art
• produce pencil drawing ‘photograph’ to support news paper report
Music
• listen to music written especially for a charitable event,
e.g. Children in Need, and compose a song/rap for their
charity event
PSD
• discuss the conditions some children in other countries are experiencing
Enterprise in education
• decide on fundraising event for chosen charity, e.g. non uniform day, bad hair day, etc.
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
19
Primary 4 activity – Buy a Bike
Learning outcomes Resources on CD-ROM
Children will begin to: • appreciate the need to budget
• understand that we may need to save if
there isn’t enough money for everything
we want, or have to buy
• plan and think ahead
Buy a Bike vocabulary sheet
Budget sheet
The initial activity
You will need: Dice marked £100, £100, £75, £50, £50, £10; a copy of the Budget
sheet (CD-ROM resource file) for each pair of children.
Remind the children of how to add and subtract amounts such as £100, £75, £50 and
£25. Discuss saving for something you really want, such as a bike, and how you have
to think ahead to take account of all the other things you need to spend money on.
Then play the Buy a Bike game. Children work in pairs. Give each pair a budget sheet
on which to work. The aim of the game is to accumulate £50 for food, £100 for a
bike and enough savings to pay the ‘emergency charge’ at the end of the game. The
game is played in four rounds representing four weeks.
The teacher rolls the money dice four times. Each time, the children write the amount
in their earnings column, then decide how they are going to allocate that money. They
can split the sum of money as they choose across the three columns (food, bike, and
savings). They record the amounts on their sheet. After the fourth round, the children
add up the totals of all four columns.
The teacher rolls the dice again. This represents the ‘emergency charge’. This
emergency charge could represent an emergency that means something to the
children, such as breaking a window with your football and having to pay to replace it;
leaving your coat on the bus and having to buy another; or wanting to take your mum
out for a surprise meal. Each pair of children must subtract the emergency charge
from their savings total.
Money Week extension activity
In groups of three to four, extend the game to play with larger amounts. Incorporate
chance cards with different options for debts and earnings.
Starter discussion points
How did you keep track of your spending as you went along?
How did you plan ahead for your known and unknown earnings and spending?
20
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
Curriculum suggestions – Buy a Bike
Pupils may be given opportunities to:
Language
Listening and talking
Reading
Writing
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•
•
•
make a presentation to class on chosen bike and reasons for choice
use catalogues to price a wish list of items for themselves
and their family
investigate the costs of bikes
report on change of shopping habits (linked to People in the
past activity)
•
•
•
•
add/subtract £HTU (hundreds tens units)
use money dice and devise ways to keep running totals and
record results
investigate the costs of three different bikes. Look at range
of costs; choose an expensive, a medium priced and a
cheap bike
discuss choice in terms of best value, i.e. price, guarantee,
home delivery, flexible pay arrangements
Mathematics
Number
Mathematics
Problem solving
Science
• investigate what makes a bike go faster, go slower and stop.
Is it better to buy an expensive bike?
ICT
• compare printouts from some internet shopping sites
showing the price of bike accessories
Technology
• design and make a savings notebook for themselves and for
child aged 5 – they will differ in content and appearance
People and place
• use a map of the local area to locate shops, arcades, and
supermarkets, etc. which supply luxury goods. Indicate on map
People in the past
• interview adults who lived in the local area as children. Gather
evidence on how shopping habits have changed. Investigate
and collate a timeline showing the development of the bike
Art
• draw bikes for the timeline
Music
• rewrite ‘The Wheels on the Bus’ to become ‘The Wheels on
the Bike’ and teach to younger children
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
21
Primary 5 activity – Keeping Accounts
Learning outcomes Resources on CD-ROM
Children will begin to: • understand how to keep money safe by
putting it into a bank
• understand the importance of keeping
financial records
Buy a Bike vocabulary sheet
Bank statement
The initial activity
You will need: Bank statement sheets – one per child (CD-ROM resource).
Discuss with the children how shops, businesses and people keep track of how
much money they have. Talk about accounts and ledgers. In early counting houses,
ledgers were so called because they were kept on the ledges beneath windows
where the light was good and it was possible to read the figures.
Nowadays people have bank accounts, so records have to be kept of the money
going into and out of the customer’s account. The bank will send the customer a
bank statement, on a regular basis, which shows all the transactions. Explain the
following aspects of the bank statement:
On a blank bank statement the date of each transaction is shown.
A description is given of what happened – the transaction.
Money paid into the account is in the left-hand (credit) column.
Money taken out of the account is in the right-hand (debit) column.
The balance column shows the running total of how much money there is in the account.
Children complete bank statements. They will need to make up an account number.
Tell them they have £10 to put into their accounts, and then £2 per week pocket money.
Ask them to fill in their bank statement showing their spending or saving for a month.
Money Week extension activity
Design and make a safe to keep your valuables in.
Starter discussion points
Where will you write the £10 credit?
How will you subtract any money that you spent?
How can you check that your calculations are right?
How much did you have in your bank account at the end of the month?
Can you explain the difference between debit and credit?
Discuss how modern banking is computerised so that statements are electronically
generated – and many people can now access their account details via the internet.
22
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
Curriculum suggestions – Keeping Accounts
Pupils may be given opportunities to:
Language
Listening and talking
Reading
Writing
-
•
•
•
•
•
find out about the history of a local bank/building society by
inviting a member of staff to visit their school
collect and read information about a local bank
read the story of – or extracts from – A Christmas Carol by
Charles Dickens
draw up a bank statement for a friend and ask another pupil
to check it
compile a set of questions to ask a bank employee for a
people in past comparison activity
•
•
•
add/subtract money on statements, checking results with a
calculator
design a simple electric alarm for their model safe
design and print a bank statement
Mathematics
Number
Science
ICT
Technology
• in groups of three to four, use cardboard boxes to design a
cashpoint machine
People and place
• use a map of the local area to locate financial institutions, e.g.
building society, cashpoint machine. Indicate on map
People in the past
•
•
Art
• design uniforms for bank staff using your school name as
the bank
Music
• some banks use music to advertise – write your own jingle
using your school name as the bank
Drama
• role-play at being employee/customer
Enterprise in education
• find out about the skills and abilities you need to work in
a bank
PSD
• discuss ways to keep money safe
investigate the history of some banks or building societies
use the information gathered from A Christmas Carol and
a visit to a bank to compare how bank employees are treated
today compared with Scrooge’s approach. Also compare
clothes worn to work
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
23
Primary 6 activity – Cost of Living
Learning outcomes Resources on CD-ROM
Children will begin to: • think about personal life choices
• recognise needs and wants, and
prioritise
what gets first call on a limited supply
of money
• understand that the cost of living varies
across time and place
Cost of Living vocabulary sheet
Cost of Living activity sheet
The initial activity
You will need: Cost of Living activity sheet – one per child (CD-ROM resource).
Display amounts such as £4.50, 70p and 89p, and ask the children to say which
amount they think would cover the cost of a bus fare, a cinema seat, a pair of
socks, etc. Make sure that the prices you write on the board are within the children’s
experience and reflect local prices.
Give each child an activity sheet listing three variations of the cost of household
expenses such as rent, food, fares and clothing. The three variations should give a
luxury or high price, a middling price and the basic price of the item. Then allocate
a budget to each child, explaining that they cannot exceed this budget. They should
then decide which option to choose for each category in order to keep within their
specified budget.
Money Week extension activity
Plan a holiday for yourself and a friend – you must have food and shelter but after that it
is up to you how you want to spend your money. Your teacher will tell you your budget.
Starter discussion points
If you had to choose to spend your money either on going out or on buying some
clothes, what would you do?
How much does it cost to have a takeaway meal? Is it always cheaper to buy a
takeaway than to have a meal in a restaurant?
What sort of calculations did you do to work out the cost of living? How did you check
your calculations?
24
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
Curriculum suggestions – Cost of Living
Pupils may be given opportunities to:
Language
Listening and talking
-
•
•
•
•
discuss needs and wants in each other’s collages (see
Art entry)
find appropriate information from the internet, newspapers
and catalogues on house prices
plan a menu for a special family meal
design an advert selling a house in a city or rural area
Problem solving
•
•
•
•
estimate prices, bus fares, etc. for your holiday
use supermarket websites to price the special menu you
have planned
decide on a budget and, in pairs, make a list of needs and
wants for your classroom
using a catalogue, work out how much it might cost to clothe
a 7-year-old for a year
ICT
• use the internet to investigate food prices
People and place
• compare house prices in a large city and rural area. discuss
why one is more expensive than the other
People in the past
•
Art
• design a collage with two headings – ‘needs’ and ‘wants’
– using pictures from catalogues
Music
• compose raps about ‘my needs and wants’
Education for citizenship
• discuss the Government Budget – who is responsible for it
and how does this person inform the public?
PSD
• discuss the need to keep within budgets and the possible
consequences if we don’t
Reading
Writing
Mathematics
Number
invite someone from the local community to talk about what
their life was like during World War II. Use this information to
compare prices then and now – were people’s needs and
wants different from today?
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
25
Primary 7 activity – Phone a Friend
Learning outcomes Resources on CD-ROM
Children will begin to: Phone a Friend vocabulary sheet
• think about making personal life choices Mobile phone offers
• understand the difference between
good debt (planned and manageable)
and bad debt (unplanned or
unmanageable)
• assess best buys in a variety of
circumstances
• discuss how spending money and our
satisfaction from the purchase can vary
The initial activity
You will need: mobile phone offers – one between two (CD-ROM resource) and
adverts from a variety of publications.
Discuss with the children the cost of using a mobile phone. You will need to consider
the relative merits of buying pre-pay phone credit in advance, or receiving bills for
the calls you have made. (Note: be aware that receiving bills for calls is not an option
available to children under the age of 18.) Then ask each pair of children to look at
different mobile phone offers and get them to calculate which would be the best
choice for them. They will need to be able to justify their choice to the rest of the
class. You could use a plenary session to vote on the best phone offer.
Money Week extension activity
Use a display to share information gathered about mobile phones with the school
community.
Starter discussion points
Why might a phone company offer a free phone?
How can we work out the monthly rental if the phone company bills us every quarter?
If you wanted to avoid getting into debt, would it be better to have a phone bill once a
month, to have a phone bill every three months, or to buy pre-pay credit?
Are you going to spend more money on phone calls if you have a mobile phone, or if
you use a public phone?
Can you explain how to calculate the cost of a 12-minute phone call at 90p a minute?
Can you find the cost per minute for a 16-minute call costing £2.24?
26
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
Curriculum suggestions – Phone a Friend
Pupils may be given opportunities to:
Language
Listening and talking
Reading
Writing
-
•
•
•
justify choice of phone to the rest of the class
find appropriate information from the internet, newspapers, and catalogues on varying prices of phones, calls and texting
write an advert for a mobile phone offer
•
•
•
calculate the cost of using various providers to decide value
for money
make ordered list of the cost of international calls from Britain
using catalogues, choose a mobile phone for an older
member of your family or a friend – justify choices
Mathematics
Number
Mathematics
Problem solving
Science
• investigate the properties of materials you could use for your
mobile phone protector. Discuss which material would be
most effective and why
ICT
• design a mobile phone bill – include the price of calls, texting,
line rental and VAT
Technology
• in pairs, design an object that will protect a mobile from
damage during sporting activities – how much will it cost?
People and place
• investigate the cost of international calls around the world.
Using a world map add lines linking Britain to other countries.
Attach label with call price
People in the past
• investigate the invention of mobile phones and how costs of
phones and calls have changed/developed
Art
• display linked to People in the past activity with world map
Music
• choose a favourite tune for ring tones
Drama
• as a provider of mobile phones convince your potential
customers why they should buy your model
Education for citizenship
•
•
PSD
• discuss keeping your phone safe from theft, damage or loss
explore insurance provision and protection for mobile
phones; discuss what Value Added Tax is and how the
government uses it
explore methods of payment other than cash and any
consequences involved, e.g. credit card charges
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
27
28
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
Section 7
CD-ROM
Many of the resources required to carry out the activities are available on the CDROM that is included with this resource. Each of the activities has a vocabulary sheet
to assist the children to understand some of the technical terms used. In addition
to the vocabulary sheet for each activity there are other resources required for each
activity.
The following is a summary of the resources contained on the CD-ROM.
Early years
Primary 1
Snacks for All vocabulary sheet
Pound Shop vocabulary sheet
Primary 2
Primary 3
Vending Machines vocabulary sheet
Jam Jar vocabulary sheet
Primary 4
Primary 5
Buy a Bike vocabulary sheet
Keeping Accounts vocabulary sheet
Budget sheet
Bank statement
Primary 6
Primary 7
Cost of Living vocabulary sheet
Phone a Friend vocabulary sheet
Cost of Living activity sheet
Mobile phone offers
Also included on the CD is an audit tool that schools can use to find out where
financial education is being delivered in each class in the school. This will assist
teachers and managers to plan a coherent programme across all year groups that
meets their needs.
For staff development purposes and for ensuring the support of parents, two
PowerPoint presentations are provided on the CD that may be useful at meetings
leading up to the Money Week.
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
29
30
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
Section 8
Useful resources
Websites
Primary teachers may find the following resources and contacts useful.
www.LTScotland.org.uk – Learning and Teaching Scotland
This website is a ‘one-stop shop’ for information on Scottish education. All of the
activities of LTS are covered here and it includes pages on the work of the Scottish
Centre for Financial Education.
www.pfeg.org – Personal Finance Education Group
This is an excellent site for finding out about and accessing resources. There are
sections on resources for 5–14, Standard Grade and post-16.
www.fsa.gov.uk – Financial Services Authority
The Financial Services Authority is the independent body that regulates the financial
services industry in the UK. One of the aims of the FSA is to promote public
understanding of the financial system.
www.bbc.co.uk – BBC on the internet
There is a section on BBC learning dedicated to financial information.
www.channel4.com – Channel 4 learning on the internet
Channel 4Learning produces many programmes that can be used in schools.
www.fairtrade.org.uk – Fairtrade Foundation
This website gives a lot of information on the importance of fair trade for producers in
the third world.
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
31
Printed materials
The following printed materials may also be useful.
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools: Building on
Existing Practice, Learning and Teaching Scotland, 2005
This resource is offered to schools as interim advice while A Curriculum for
Excellence develops. It is for early years and primary and will help promote an
understanding of the problems and needs that arise when managing money in a dayto-day environment. The document is available on the LTS website at
www.LTScotland.org.uk.
Money Counts, Financial Services Authority, 2000
Money Week uses many of the scenarios used in this earlier publication. However, the
other examples may still be useful in developing a Money Week.
Mega Money, Financial Services Authority
These large coins may be useful in illustrating some of the activities in Money Week.
The resource also includes a range of activities and games for young people in
the early years of primary school. Mega Money is available from BEAM Education.
Contact details are as follows:
BEAM Customer Services
Delta Place
27 Bath Road
Cheltenham
GL53 7TH
Order line: 01242 267945
E-mail: beamorders@nelsonthornes.com
Colossal Cards – Financial Services Authority
These large laminated cards, designed to represent non-cash forms of money
such as credit cards and cheques, are also excellent visual aids and the resource
handbook includes teacher-led activities to introduce young people to the wide
range of ways in which money can be represented. These are available from BEAM
Education (see Mega Money for contact details).
32
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
The Red Box, The Inland Revenue, 2002
This resource produced by Customs and Excise and the Inland Revenue is an
excellent introduction to government income and expenditure. This can be ordered
free from www.redbox.gov.uk.
Maths Counts, Norfolk Education Advisory Service, 2003
This resource is based around 10 games focusing on supermarket shopping. Two
games are suitable for early years, while the remainder can be adapted. For more
information contact:
Norfolk Education Advisory Service
The Professional Development Centre
Woodside Road
Norwich
NR7 9QL
Understanding People in Society: Society and You, Citizenship
Edition: Pupil Book, Hodder Education, 2004
ISBN 0 34081 441 1
This book was produced for the Scottish curriculum. It is a very useful resource,
focusing on education for citizenship and covering topics such as ‘Fair Play’, ‘Money,
Money, Money’ and ‘Developing Countries’.
Understanding People in Society: The World and You, Citizenship
Edition: Pupil Book, Hodder Education, 2004
ISBN 0 34081 442 X
This is a companion book to Society and You mentioned above. This is aimed at
young people in P7–S2 and examines topics such as ‘Rich World, Poor World
– Should it Concern us?’ Further information on this and the previous resource can be
found at www.hoddereducation.co.uk.
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
33
34
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
Section 9
Acknowledgements
Learning and Teaching Scotland acknowledges the very significant contribution of
Roz McEwan, Depute Headteacher at Dunblane Primary School, for sharing her
original ideas about Money Week and for co-writing the support materials for use in
Scotland. Learning and Teaching Scotland is also grateful to the Financial Services
Authority and pfeg for developing this resource for England and for sharing their
ideas on Money Week with us.
Learning and Teaching Scotland acknowledges pfeg as the copyright holders of Money
Week, and we thank them for giving us permission to adapt it for use in Scotland.
Standard Life and Money Week
For over a decade Standard Life has been committed to working
in partnership with education and the community. The initiatives
we support and the programmes we implement reflect our overall
Corporate Community Investment policy, which is an integral part of
our business.
As a Group, we focus our education and community activities on four
themes:
•
•
•
•
Working Life: helping people develop the core skills and knowledge they need for this important stage in their life
Financial Life: supporting education initiatives to help people
develop their financial capability
Healthy Life: working to enhance and promote healthy living
Strengthen Life: Supporting the well-being of disadvantaged and vulnerable groups.
When considering how we could support the development of financial
capability we had two clear aims. Firstly, we wanted to support the
development of the right attitudes and behaviours for dealing with
financial matters. Secondly, we wanted to take a proactive rather than a
reactive approach. After completing our research it became very clear
to us that, in order to achieve these objectives, our focus needed to be
on primary-school-aged children.
We believe Money Week’s innovative approach provides a perfect fit
with our aims. We are delighted to be sponsoring the publication and
distribution of this resource for use in primary schools across Scotland.
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
35
36
Financial Education in Scottish Primary Schools
Learning and Teaching Scotland, The
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