Autumn term saw Team Up deliver it’s new and improved Financial Literacy workshops at St Angela’s School in East London, kindly facilitated by staff at Lancashire Insurance.
The idea behind this initiative is to bring together Team Up’s cohort of hard working pupils with working professionals from in and around the city; to share their expertise of the workplace and deliver our bespoke curriculum, designed to equip pupils with the skills and knowledge they will need in the near future when making decisions about their personal finances.
A report by The Money Advice Service found that only 60% of young people keep track of their spending and that some financial behaviours can be established as early as age 15. With these figures in mind there is clearly an opportunity to further support our young people in making informed choices and in preparing them for the future. Team Up is committed to helping its partner schools add value to what is already offered through our work in raising academic attainment; not only to expose pupils to career and study options, but also help our funders foster meaningful insight into our work and how their support translates into outcomes for young people.
This term’s workshops had 5 members of staff from Lancashire Insurance deliver two bespoke Financial Literacy sessions to 68 Year 8 and 9 pupils, delving into the topics of Budgeting and Risk and Reward. Our professional volunteers each had the chance to work with a small group of enthusiastic pupils, with each having the opportunity to: debunk financial jargon, practice functional skills, hear from the experts and question them on all things careers, business and finance.
Following up with pupils afterwards: 90% of pupils said they enjoyed the sessions, 86% said they would go on to use the skills they have learnt and 84% of pupils were more confident in understanding and using the main skill from their workshop.
Our wonderful facilitators felt they enjoyed the day and found the opportunity to engage with pupils interesting and nostalgic, being able to share their experiences and measure them against the rigours of what is expected of pupils today.
Team Up hopes to build on this successful endeavour by: increasing our roster of modular bespoke sessions to cater for all age groups, further exploring the often daunting aspects of personal finance, offering as many schools as possible the opportunity to take part in our workshops and forge more connections between our stakeholders to fully take advantage of our collective knowledge and expertise.
For more information about running a financial literacy workshop at your school contact darren.pilbro@teamup.org.uk