George Tsounias introduces My Personal Finance Skills, the PFS’s relaunched pro bono scheme
We are excited to introduce My Personal Finance Skills, the new name for our pro bono initiative, which delivers financial education workshops to schools across the UK. A recent survey conducted by the Money Advice Service (2018) revealed that 72% schools would like to improve their provision of financial education.
Previously, this programme centred around the Discover Fortunes game and this was always the starting point of this wider initiative. During the past few months, an initial series of four financial education workshops focusing on themes relevant to students has been developed, ready for the new school year.
So far, more than 700 members have become Education Champions and since January 2019, Education Champions have collectively delivered sessions reaching 5,000-plus students.
Financial education workshops
Our financial education material is aimed at students aged 15-18 and workshops have been designed to fit within a typical one-hour school timetabled lesson.
Resources will enable Education Champions to deliver standalone workshops aimed at raising the financial competency of students. The content has been created in collaboration with Young Money, a trusted knowledge provider, supporting schools and colleges for more than 15 years.
All resources come with presentation guides and Education Champions will be expected to complete our simple financial education signoff process before conducting their first workshop.
We ask that you:
- Read through the presentation guide;
- Ensure the full training webinar has been viewed;
- Complete a dry run and return a self-assessment feedback form.
The themes covered in our first series of workshops are:
- Moving on from school – student finance, earning, tax, NI, pensions;
- My future finances – enabling students to develop their understanding of the value of everyday expenditure;
- Making decisions and risk – how students’ attitude to risk can influence their financial choices;
- staying safe – identifying financial scams.
This programme will also see the continuation of the popular and interactive Discover Fortunes sessions.
Quality-marked
Our financial education materials have received The Financial Education Quality Mark and are supported by the Money Advice Service, following assessment by an independent panel of experts. The quality mark is designed to give Education Champions the confidence that the materials they are using are of the highest educational value, contain accurate information, and are relevant to young people.
Our financial education materials were also piloted in schools with students, receiving a 100% approval rating. More importantly, all workshops showed an increase in student confidence level with the topics.
George Tsounias is relationship manager of education at the PFS
Want to become an Education Champion?
Joining the network
Becoming an Education Champions has never been so easy.
Step 1 – Register your interest
Step 2 – Become an Education Champion and receive more information
Step 3 – Contact a local school or be matched with a local school
Support and resources
We provide full support from initial registration through to conducting your first session in a school. As well as training webinars, our resources come with facilitator notes to enable you to conduct successful and rewarding sessions.
No school contact?
We are working on a national school engagement campaign to be able to match Education Champions with schools in their local area. For those that already have contacts, we provide materials for direct contact.
What is the commitment?
We understand everyone has commitments so, whether you can do one or 10 sessions per year, your support is greatly appreciated. Become an Education Champion in your region today by contacting:
volunteers@thepfs.org or visiting: thepfs.org/my-personal-finance-skills
