What does the PSHE curriculum have to say about financial education in primary schools?
Why do we need to teach children about money?
Financial education is an essential life skill, yet most children in the UK leave school without a strong foundation in money knowledge, skills and confidence. In primary schools, financial education is typically covered within the Personal, Social, Health and Economic education: the title itself shows that we need to make sure our children learn about money and the many choices and risks around using it. But how well does PSHE prepare young learners for real-world money management? Keep reading to explore how financial education fits into the PSHE curriculum for primary schools and how we can support you to fill any gaps.
Research carried out by the Money and Pensions Service shows that children develop financial habits by age 7. This gives us, as educators, the moral imperative to start teaching money lessons early and arm students with the full set of life skills they will need to successfully negotiate through their financial futures.
What do children need to learn?
The PSHE association separates learning into three core strands, one of which is ‘Living In The Wider World.’ Financial education is found in two subsections of this strand – they specifically address Economic Wellbeing. The first subsection focuses on money and the second focuses on aspirations, work and career. The learning within these sections is clearly focused on helping children acquire the skills and knowledge they need to deal with financial challenges in adult life.
Early Years and Key Stage 1
In KS1, children are introduced to:
The basic concept of what money is
The choices we can make around saving, spending, and looking after our money
The difference between wants and needs
They also learn about the links between jobs and pay, the different jobs people do and the strengths and interests people have which could lead to doing different jobs.
Key Stage 2
In KS2 the learning is taken on further. Children learn about:
What influences the choices we make
The way money impacts on our feelings and emotions
Risks and ways to keep money safe
Concepts such as ‘value for money’
Jobs and careers are explored in more detail through the skills needed for different paths, children are encouraged to think about the sorts of things they might like to do themselves as they get older.
How can Lifesavers and Milo’s Money help?
Resources such as Milo’s Money for Early Years and KS1, or Lifesavers for KS1 and KS2 help schools to structure their approach to imparting these important life skills. They form a context for teaching which engages children and helps them to articulate their thinking and learning.
Milo’s Money provides children with an attractive and relatable model in the form of Milo, a young dinosaur with little experience of money. An engaging set of characters in the book make the learning accessible and fun. Children love to put themselves in the position of Milo and think about what they would do in his circumstances.
Lifesavers enables children to think through tricky concepts in lessons that involve high-quality speaking and listening activities. Children engage with the learning by using the ‘Five Big Questions About Money,’ which gives children an opportunity to rehearse their responses to real life money scenarios in a safe classroom environment.
What next?
Both resources fully satisfy the objectives laid out in the Economic Wellbeing strands of “Living In The Wider World” and are clearly linked to each objective to help teachers with their planning and reporting. Engaging with financial education as part of your school’s PSHE curriculum will have an important and long lasting impact on your children. These are life skills which will fully prepare children for learning more as they grow older and for the decisions they will need to make.
If you would like to find out more about Milo’s Money, click here.
If you would like to find out more about Lifesavers, click here.