Paul Street, from Just Finance Foundation, talks about the positive impact school savings clubs can have.
Learning about money and the importance of saving has never been more important. Research has shown that children begin to acquire habits around money by the age of seven years. This means that from these early years, we have to consider what children are exposed to in our society, and what values and understanding might be filtering through to them about money. Our increasingly cashless society means that young children have very little experience of actually handling money in the same way as we might have done when we were younger. Part of the excitement for many of us when growing up was being able to empty a piggy bank and count all the coins inside. This helped to develop an understanding of money, the value of the coins and the importance and benefits of saving.
Here at Just Finance Foundation, we work with primary schools to help them develop a great understanding of money for the children in their care. We do this by providing free classroom resources created by our delivery team, with many years of primary teaching experience behind them. The resources help children to acquire the skills they will need to access a more secure financial future.
A key opportunity we provide for many schools is access to a school Savings Club. The Savings Clubs provide a wonderful opportunity for children to handle real money, save it in their account, and watch those savings grow over time. To do this, we partner schools with a local Credit Union. All the savings accounts are held by the Credit Union and the school becomes a venue for children to make their deposits. Children love bringing along their real coins and notes and depositing them in their accounts, recording transactions in their personal bank books and keeping track of their savings.
Schools taking part are able to enjoy even more about the process by recruiting children into banking roles. Children are trained to be cashiers, handling the deposits made and helping younger children to record their savings.
For many of our Savings Club schools, this process becomes a well-supported and exciting part of the school week. Savings Club day is an event which children love to be a part of. Being a member is celebrated within the schools, children are often rewarded for being ‘regular savers’. In many schools, the cashiers take part in assemblies to encourage other children to get involved, teaching their own peers about the value of savings.
The educational opportunities are huge, nothing beats the practical application of actually doing something real. We know that children learn best when they can get involved, physically handle things, learn by doing. This provides all the aspects needed for helping children to develop the valuable and important habit of saving. We consider the Savings Clubs to be a vital part of what we do and a key tool in helping children to develop fully and flourish in a society where financial messages are all around them.
Find out more at www.justfinancefoundation.org.uk
If a school savings club isn’t available, a home-based version would work well. Encourage children to choose a money box – it could be a simple jam jar – choose a day for deposits and talk about their progress. What matters most is creating a safe space for children to make regular choices with their money, building confidence that can last a lifetime.
Access a free to download guides and activities for parents to help you talk about money and saving at home: www.justfinancefoundation.org.uk/supporting-families-to-talk-about-money-at-home
