Chris visited Southfield Park Primary School in Epsom to see how students are taking advantage of an award-winning money skills programme.
The workshops are part of a mission to increase financial capability from a young age, and create positive attitudes to saving. The ‘Kickstart Money’ project is delivered by the charity MyBnk and funded by a coalition of 20 financial services firms.
Research by the Money Advice Service has found that early intervention is key and that behavioural attitudes to money are formed by the age of seven. Only one third of parents talk to their children about money, and there is a significant lack of financial education provision in schools for children in the UK.
Chris joined 9-11 year olds as they tackled everything from understanding the value of money, and deals to needs vs. wants and saving.
Schools who want to take advantage of MyBnk’s free expert-led financial education lessons are urged to contact info@kickstartmoney.org.
Chris said:
“This is a great initiative that tackles the root cause of some of the most pressing issues in society today. It goes right to the heart of one of the big challenges for people growing up in our area.’’
Jane Goodland, responsible business director of Quilter plc, and KickStart Money lead said:
“Some people may think that being good with numbers automatically equates to being good with money. While basic numeracy skills are helpful for budgeting and saving, many of our financial habits are in fact motivated by our attitudes and behaviours learned at a young age, and not by our ability to do complex maths.”
KickStart Money aims to get to children when those behaviours are learnt for the first time, and through visits such as today’s we’re hoping politicians will see the benefit and be encouraged to add financial education to the curriculum in primary schools.”
