Press Release
Date: Thursday 21 September 2006 (NR/25/06)
Financial Education to be part of Northern Ireland Curriculum
Ensuring young people have the financial understanding to cope with the challenges of everyday life, is set to become a statutory part of the Northern Ireland Curriculum.
This was the key message as the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) launched two new resources to support the teaching of financial capability through Maths.
Speaking at the launch, Patricia Roe , CCEA’s Curriculum Officer for Maths commented:
“Financial capability is an essential life skill. Without the ability to make sound financial decisions, today’s young people are unlikely to have the skills to cope with the financial strains of everyday life and work situations. Therefore we are delighted that the Department of Education has decided to take on board our advice and incorporate this as a statutory component of the Northern Ireland Curriculum from September 2007.
Maths is one of the key subjects in which personal finance education will be taught under the revised curriculum and finance provides a context, to develop mathematical skills and understanding, with which all learners are familiar, such as shopping and owning a mobile phone.”
Also speaking at the launch, Alastair Mathews, Director of Policy at Personal Finance Education Group (pfeg ) said:
“These resources were originally developed in Scotland and in England to meet the needs of mathematics teachers who wanted to include some financial material into their teaching. They help bring mathematics alive and show young people how important financial understanding is in real life. They have now been adapted to the Northern Ireland context and should prove very helpful in teaching finance within mathematics and personal and social education. I am delighted that both resources carry the pfeg quality mark.”
Jim Lally, Director of the Scottish Centre for Financial Education at Learning and Teaching Scotland added:
“Learning and Teaching Scotland and the Scottish Centre for Financial Education are delighted to collaborate with colleagues in Northern Ireland to support financial education and we are very pleased that CCEA has adapted 'Talk Money, Talk Maths' for use in Northern Ireland schools.”
Resource 1
Talk Money, Talk Maths is a mathematics resource for the 11-14 age range originally developed by Learning and Teaching Scotland. As a result of sharing practice through the work of the Schools Project Working Group, CCEA has been able to adapt this resource for use in NI.
Resource 2
Developing Financial Capability Through Mathematics – Planning Your Holiday is a mathematics resource also for the 11 – 14 age range which utilises the familiar context of planning a holiday to support learning and teaching activities to develop financial capability. Thanks to Falcon Holidays and Direct Holidays who kindly gave permission to reproduce some of their brochure pages in the resource.
Both resources have been accredited by pfeg and carry the pfeg quality mark.
pfeg is an educational charity helping teachers to young people develop the confidence, skills and knowledge in financial matters to take part fully in society. pfeg offers a range of advice and resources suitable for pupils of all ability levels, as well as reflecting different social, economic and cultural backgrounds. pfeg supports UK teachers working with children and young people aged 4 to 19.
Learning and Teaching Scotland is the lead organisation for the development and support of the Scottish curriculum.
Media enquiries to Ruth Maguire on (028) 9026 1216, Mobile 07796947993. E mail rhmaguire@ccea.org.uk
ENDS
Note to Editors
CCEA is the Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment.
CCEA places learners and those who have a concern for their educational and personal development at the forefront of its thinking. CCEA's mission is:
"To enable the full potential of all learners to be achieved and recognised"
What we do
CCEA is a unique educational body in the UK , bringing together the three areas of curriculum, examinations and assessment.
Advising Government – on what should be taught in Northern Ireland ’s schools and colleges.
Monitoring Standards – ensuring that the qualifications and examinations offered by awarding bodies in Northern Ireland are of an appropriate quality and standard.
Awarding Qualifications
– as Northern Ireland’s leading awarding body we offer a diverse range of qualifications, such as GCSEs, including the new GCSE Double Award specifications in vocational subjects, GCE A and AS levels, Entry Level Qualifications, and Graded Objectives in Modern Languages.
- CCEA also offers a range of Awards and Certificates in Education, Training and Skills (ACETS) targeted at learners who want to get
the knowledge, understanding and skills needed
to hit the ground running in the world of work.
