Investment sector comes together to support financial education for primary school children
The Just Finance Foundation (JFF) has today announced the creation of a Supporter Group which draws together leaders from organisations across the investment sector to significantly improve access to high quality financial education in the early years of education.
Members include representatives from: abrdn, BlackRock, JP Morgan Asset Management, Janus Henderson Investors, Hargreaves Lansdown, M&G plc, Schroders and Brooks Macdonald. The new group will enable these firms to pool their collective strategic thinking and funding to help build financial resilience across the UK.
Evidence suggests that financial education is most effective when children are developing their first behaviours and values towards money. However, only one in three children currently access any form of financial education at primary school. The group will support JFF’s embedded school programmes which train teachers and support staff to deliver a diverse range of curriculum linked resources to engage students with financial education from a young age.
JFF Chair, Sir Douglas Flint, said: “I am delighted that so many leading firms from across the sector have come together to help us reach more young people and improve financial literary across the UK. Financial education is an area in which the investment industry is perfectly positioned to have a positive and lasting influence. Our goal is to ensure that all primary aged children have access to strong values based financial education as standard nationally. I look forward to working with the Supporter Group to achieve this.”
Patrick Thomson, CEO, EMEA, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, said: “Our industry has an important role to play in introducing financial skills in the early years of education, so that people can reach their goals in later life. This is key in building resilience for future generations to come. It will be a pleasure to work with the Just Finance Foundation to make sure children across the UK are set up for the future with the necessary financial values and expertise to thrive.”
Sarah Melvin, Head of BlackRock’s UK Business, said: “Financial literacy is more important than ever to help people manage their money and plan for the future. That’s why we’re excited to be working with the Just Finance Foundation and the other firms involved in the initiative, to provide primary school children with the skills and knowledge to confidently manage their finances in later life.”
JFF resources, developed by teachers for teachers, train and equip them with the information, strategies and understanding they need to embed financial education within the existing curriculum. Lesson plans and practical activities are flexible and easily adapted by teachers for children of every ability and all backgrounds.
JFF has already served 65,000 children in mainstream schools, pupil referral units and schools catering to children with specialist educational needs and intends to reach 10% of all primary schools by 2025.
For more information about joining the Group, please contact Sarah Wallace, Director of Programmes & Innovation at JFF sarah.wallace@jff.org.uk
To request that JFF contact your school to discuss the programme, please contact enquiries@jff.org.uk