Back to school!

posted by Kate - 10:44 05/11/10

As the recession continues to bite and people see their money stretching  further and further it is more important than ever that children start to learn about managing their money and the value of saving as early as possible. Working with the Association of Financial Mutuals d2 Digital continue to use their expertise and creativity to develop yet another outstanding game following on from the success of http://www.funtosave.org/, a site for 5-7 year olds; to develop http://www.savingsquad.org/a virtual town for 7-11 year olds to explore.

So I set off to test it out and it was with a little trepidation that I arrived at school on Thursday morning. After all it had been 8 years since I last stood in a classroom! I needn’t have worried, like riding a bike, it all came flooding back and it was the most amazing feeling. I remembered all the things I loved about teaching, the enthusiasm and natural inquisitive of the children, the dedicated staff, the school building and I even had a glimpse of the school dinners! They looked very yummy indeed.

It was a particularly special day as I was going to be working with an old colleague Steve at what had been my old school, but is now known as SS Osmunds and Andrews RC Primary school, in Bolton. It was an inspiring experience watching a group of 9 year olds working on a website created by our very own d2 team. They navigated around http://www.savingsquad.org/ confidently, chattering naturally as they did. They had all been on the site at home and had shown their parents who thought teaching about money and saving was a great idea. It was fascinating to watch and listen. One mum had told her daughter that it was good that she was now learning that money doesn’t grow on trees! One of the boys told me that the site had made him think about his own pocket money and how he spent it.

The children genuinely enjoyed using the site. They loved its interactivity and they each had their favourite section. What I did notice though was the majority of them were loathe to spend their money once they had earned it and preferred to save. One did consider buying a pet for his avatar, he wanted a dog, he couldn’t have one at home but thought a virtual pet would suit him well- if he could just part with his earnings!

It was a morning well spent and a great experience for us all and I think Jo the reporter from the Mail would agree. In fact you can read about it yourself here http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1325158/Pupils-add-wealth-knowledge.html