High School pupils teach children about debt

Lostock Hall Academy has recently become one of nine schools to gain Accredited Centre status for the DebtAware Money Management Programme.

Pupils from Lostock Hall Academy have successfully delivered the programme to over 400 children in their local primary schools.

Mr Gornall, Mathematics Teacher and Programme Leader said;

“The programme has been incredibly successful with our local primary schools. It is fantastic to see our students confidently and gracefully teach the lower years about such an important topic that does not appear on the national curriculum.”

The lessons are taught to primary school children by selected school pupils known as Money Mentors, making it a peer-to-peer programme.

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

Ethan, 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.”

Gaynor Gorman, Lostock Hall Academy Headteacher said of the accreditation;

“DebtAware Money Mentors is a fabulous way to not only engage young children in the real value of money, but through training and support, our Year 9 students have experienced being a teacher. The 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.

“This is something that can only be of benefit and we are proud to be one of the first secondary schools to take this on board in the way that we have. It is something that we want more of as we move forward, ensuring our students have the skills and knowledge to make the most out of life. Congratulations to all the students and staff involved they deserve this award for all the hard work and enthusiasm that they’ve put in and continue to do so.”

Visit our programme page to view our work with secondary schools