Suffolk Building Society and ITFC Foundation tackle financial education in Ipswich schools
In partnership with Ipswich Town Foundation, the charitable arm of Ipswich Town Football Club (ITFC), Suffolk Building Society has delivered a series of financial education workshops to secondary school pupils across Ipswich, helping young people build their confidence and understanding of money management.
As the new school term begins, the two organisations are looking to build on the success of the programme, extending its reach to support even more local schools, teachers and pupils during the coming academic year.
Kicking off with good budgeting skills
According to research from the Centre for Social Justice, 24 million adults are not confident managing their money, highlighting the importance of helping young people develop good financial habits and an understanding of money from an early age.
To bring the subject to life, Suffolk Building Society created a new budgeting card game that challenges participants to plan how they will spend their money, balancing essential costs such as household bills with the things they might prefer to spend money on, such as takeaways, gym memberships and new clothes. As the game progresses, students have to navigate unexpected costs that can crop up in real life, requiring them to rethink and adjust their budgets.
Nathan Wade, Head of Membership, Suffolk Building Society said: “Much like everyday life, where a boiler can break down unexpectedly or a car can fail its MOT, the game introduces its own financial curveballs, from a rent increase to having to replace a mobile phone. We all face costs we haven’t planned for, and that means having to rethink our finances and make decisions about how we afford the things we need, as well as the things we want.
“The game makes budgeting feel real. It encourages young people to think about their choices, understand that plans sometimes have to change and work out what they would do when the unexpected happens.”
Get your school on the ball with money
The sessions, which are tailored to the needs of each school, combine face-to-face learning, presentations and interactive tasks covering topics such as managing money, creating a budget, saving, borrowing and interest rates. The aim is to help pupils become more financially savvy and make informed decisions about their money, including the consequences of taking on debt.
Local schools can apply for a financial education workshop delivered by Suffolk Building Society and Ipswich Town Foundation, or request the materials to run a session themselves.
The free resources include a lesson plan covering money basics, budgeting, saving and debt, supported by a presentation, worksheets and a printable version of the popular budgeting card game for teachers to use in the classroom. The materials are designed for high school pupils.
Budgeting workshops score with local teachers and pupils
A participating teacher commented: “By offering an interactive experience with real-world examples of money management, we’ve seen pupils really engage with the financial education sessions provided by Suffolk Building Society. As a teacher, it’s been exciting to see the pupils ask thoughtful and probing questions about how they can budget in the future.”
A participating pupil commented: “It was really good to think about what we do with our money. When we are older, we need to think about everything that could happen and make sure we can buy things that we need, and then after that we can enjoy buying the stuff we want.”
Sophie O’Brien, Education & Employability Officer from Ipswich Town Foundation, said: “Our aim is to make a positive difference to the lives of people in our community, and we’re really pleased to have partnered with Suffolk Building Society to help young people develop these vital financial skills. We hope the sessions will give pupils greater knowledge and confidence when it comes to managing their money, both now and as they move into adulthood.”
Nathan Wade from Suffolk Building Society, continued: “The feedback from the sessions has been overwhelmingly positive, and it has been an absolute pleasure to go into local schools and work directly with pupils. We’ve been really impressed by how engaged they have been and how quickly they’ve got to grips with thinking about money differently, including how to budget for their needs, priorities and unexpected costs.
“We’re looking forward to working with more schools over the coming academic year and would love to hear from teachers who think their pupils could benefit from a similar session.”
Photo, from left to right: Sophie O’ Brien, Education & Employability Officer (ITFC Foundation), Robert Peace, Head of Education (ITFC Foundation), Charlotte Davis, Branch Manager (Suffolk Building Society).
