The Financial Fairy Tales Blog

Six schools across England and Scotland are celebrating after winning awards at this year’s RBS Personal Finance Education Awards for Schools, the only awards to recognise those schools that teach students all-important money management skills in an innovative and successful way.

Taking home awards at this year’s event, which was held at Altitude 360 in London, were winning:
– For the Best All-Round Approach to PFE Award (primary): joint award for St Budeaux Foundation Church of England School in Plymouth and Westdene Primary School in Sussex.
– For the Best All-Round Approach to PFE Award (secondary): St Luke’s High School in East Renfrewshire.
– Best Teacher Award (primary): Ms. Eveline Dawson at Waltham Leas Primary in Grimsby.
– Best Teacher Award (secondary): Miss Helen Kemp at Humphrey Perkins High School in Loughborough.
– Best Student Award: Students at Roseberry Sports and Community College in Durham.

Judges from across the education and finance industries were impressed by the range of creative approaches schools have adopted to engage students in money management. Entries showcase a variety of activities from the entrepreneurial – challenging students to set up and run a business from scratch and make a profit – to the practical, teaching students about the real value of money through lessons like “What would you do with £1 million?” and showing them the impact that money they have raised can make in developing countries.

Other school programmes recognised in these awards included a peer mentoring system where a select group of students acted as ‘money experts’ for their fellow pupils, offering advice and giving presentations in assembly. Each category winner is awarded £1,500 for their school, and individuals also received a prize such as a laptop.

Founded by The Royal Bank of Scotland Group in association with PFEG (Personal Finance Education Group), the RBS PFE Awards are open to entrants from across England, Scotland and Wales. This year marks the fourth year of the Awards, which recognise best practice and build on RBS’ 17 year heritage in personal finance education.

Primary School Winners

St Budeaux has taken a very progressive approach to learning about PFE, from encouraging good money habits in students, to teaching them how to save and budget, and ensuring they understand the real value of money. During their ‘Money Week’, activities included seeing the difference that money they had raised made to families in Haiti, working with a poet to explore finance creatively through writing, and trying to make a profit selling products from an initial £5 budget.

Westdene Primary has built a programme of activity that appeals to children of all age groups; singing songs with younger groups, creating board games that encompass winning and losing money, and debates among groups on topical issues including “Why pay tax”. Through its strong PFE programme, the school has developed many interesting ways to raise financial awareness.

Secondary Schools

St Luke’s High School, East Renfrewshire has adopted a creative approach to delivering PFE across all year groups. Topics covered in the money lessons vary according to year group and range from ‘What would you do with £1million?’ to ‘Jobs in the real world’, and also covers off practical applications such as how to pay for a holiday and other ‘big’ purchases.

The MoneySense for Schools programme has recently re-launched its website with brand new interactive resources. You can access the new website here: http://moneysense.natwest.com/schools. All resources are accredited by PFEG for their quality and impartiality.