Teaching kids about money and budgeting is more important than ever as the cost of living rises, warn top personal finance teachers
Teaching kids about money and budgeting is more important than ever as the cost of living rises, warn top personal finance teachers.
Personal finance courses are not currently required in primary schools, and not all secondary schools teach it. But millions of children live in households where debt is a problem and rising bills put even more strain on budgets.
Nick Redfern is a primary school teacher at Powers Hall Academy in Witham, Essex, and winner of an Interactive Investor Personal Finance Teacher Award in 2021.
Valuable lesson: Personal finance courses are not currently required in primary schools, and not all secondary schools teach it.
He says: “Personal finances are so vital, especially in the current economic climate. Look at what’s happening with energy prices and the cost of living. We need to give students tools to solve these problems as they get older.
He says one of his most popular lessons is about debt, adding: ‘It resonates with a lot of students, and I have to stop a lot of them from recounting their experiences of how their parents are coping with debt.
“Children need to understand these problems, which they already encounter at home.”
Danny Topping is a teacher at Blackpool Sixth Form College and also an award winner. It says: “The teaching of personal finance is supposed to be covered in the Personal, Social, Health and Economics (PSHE) courses. It often receives less attention than it deserves among many competing priorities. The rising cost of living is creating a crisis in many communities here. Financial education couldn’t be more vital.
The hunt for Interactive Investors to find the UK’s 2022 Personal Finance Teacher of the Year begins tomorrow. A prize of £25,000 will be shared between the winners’ schools. Parents, guardians or pupils should email [email protected] with the name of the teacher they wish to appoint and the name and address of the school by 8 July. Teachers will be asked to submit a lesson plan and supporting statement by July 22. .
They can also nominate themselves and the first 250 teachers to submit these details will receive a £50 Amazon voucher.
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