Pupils give advice on money management

The Todd lane North School near Preston has become one of only nine schools to gain Accredited Centre status for the DebtAware Money Management Programme.

This comes after pupils from the high school successfully delivered the programme to more than 400 children in local primary schools.

DebtAware is a programme designed by national debt charity Debt Advice Foundation, which teaches children how to avoid unmanageable debt and establish money skills for life, before bad financial habits are formed.

The lessons and supporting materials have all been created by young people, - initially by students at Chorley’s Southlands High, which are then taught to primary school children by selected school pupils known as Money Mentors, making it a peer-to-peer programme.

Money Mentors Ethan Cain, Adam Shamsuddin, Luke Hampton and Josh Baldwin are the first Money Mentors who have taught all six modules, and received special certificates at the accreditation ceremony for their efforts.

Ethan Cain, 15, said: “It is genuinely fun and rewarding to watch the children enjoy learning about a subject that is so important. It`s nice to know that the children will grow up with a knowledge of how to use their money responsibly.”

Academy headteacher Gaynor Gorman said: “ “Younger children have loved being taught by Lostock Hall students and our young teachers have relished the opportunity to try teaching in a real life situation.

“All done whilst reinforcing the importance of budgeting and applying numeracy skills to the world they live in.”

She added: “ Congratulations to all the students and staff involved they deserve this award for all the hard work and enthusiasm that they have put in and continue to do so.”

The successful education programme, pioneered in Lancashire, will shortly be celebrating its third anniversary with more than 8,000 children enrolled from 120 schools across England and Scotland.