Programs Profiled Here: MyBnk-in-a-Box and Money Twist
Website
Countr(ies)
United Kingdom
Grade Level of Students Participating
6-12
Number of Students Participating per Year
Over 135,000 young people from more than 750 schools and youth organizations have participated since 2007
Year Organization Began
2007
Relationship to the public education system
Works within and independently of the public education system (ex: as an independent education provider within schools and colleges, and reaching vulnerable communities in youth organizations, social services, housing associations and prisons)
Organization’s Vision and Mission
Vision: A financially literate and enterprise driven generation.
Mission: To empower young people to take charge of their future by bringing money and enterprise to life.
Brief Description of Program Activities
MyBnk-in-a-Box: For ages 11-16, this independent, youth led, in-school and online banking scheme runs throughout the year. The bank allows for large-scale school involvement, with structured incentivized savings and loans challenges available to various year groups.
Trained MyBnkers (students) open the day weekly with support from MyBnk staff and school mentors (teachers) and facilitated joint team meetings. MyBnkers track all accounts online, and customers (students) can log in to check their balance and set savings goals.
The school will choose or recruit 10-15 students to be the MyBnkers, and program staff will spend a day training them to run the MyBnk-in-a-Box in the school. This will include learning how to run the online system, ensure their tills ‘balance’ and creating a promotional campaign in the run up to their big school bank launch. MyBnk facilitates the launch by arranging a high profile visitor to come into the school to speak to the students, as well as taking photos and inviting media.
Two school-based challenges are launched out of this project:
- The Savings Challenge: A time-bound challenge which targets a selected year group and gives them the opportunity to win prizes based on the frequency of their saving.
- The Loans Challenge: An entire year group workshop where students work in teams to apply for an enterprise loan. Winning teams receive further workshops to bring their idea to life and sell at a real marketplace (within their school or local community)
Money Twist: Money Twist involves writing, presenting, drawing, math and problem solving. The program employs real life case studies, games and videos and popular culture, enabling students to explore and form their own opinions regarding their relationship with money. Activities cater to a variety of learning styles, with many extensions and ability variations. Three interactive sessions building young people’s knowledge around basic finance and helping them engage with money.
There are content variations according to age group – KS3 (11 – 14 yrs) and KS4/5 (14 – 18yrs), as well as a highly interactive ‘Sporty’ variation of the Money Twist program.
- My Money - (a) For 11-14 year olds: History and functions of money, security features of notes, currency and exchange rates, (b) For 14-18 year olds: Tax, pay slips, national insurance, government spending, minimum wage, auto enrolment pensions and careers.
- My Choices - (a) For 11-14 year olds: Budgeting, youth employment, minimum wage, needs and wants, shopping deals, risk and saving (b) For 14-18 year olds: Needs and wants, lifestyle choices, budgeting, household costs, insurance, pensions, investments, risk and saving.
- My Future - (a) For 11-14 year olds: Interest, current and savings accounts, ethical banking, flow of money, consumer choice and future of money, (b) For 14-18 year olds: Interest, banking terms, current and savings accounts, flow of money, consumer choice, forms of payment, borrowing, credit and debt.
Duration: 3x100 minute workshops. Can be delivered over 2-3 separate sessions.
Sporty Money Twist: Sporty Money Twist is a blend of active games and discussion that seeks to communicate financial message in a fun and effective way. Two sessions give young people the opportunity to ‘play’ with financial education:
Program Content: Intrapersonal Competencies
Money Twist program aligns with the UK National Curriculum for citizenship and PSHE (personal, social, health and economic) education.
Other competencies include: responsibility, initiative, self-reflection, financial self-efficacy, entrepreneurial mindset and forethought
Program Content: Interpersonal Competencies
Teamwork, problem solving, communication, self-management and leadership [based on Journey to Employment (JET) and Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) employability frameworks]
Program Content: Cognitive Competencies
Developing mathematical fluency by applying arithmetical and graphical methods to the world of finance.
Problem solving, financial mathematics, interest, percentages, statistical representation, depreciation
Program Content: Attitudes and Values
The program seeks to empower young people with the life skills to live independently, tackle debt, form positive habits like saving, as well as examine their behaviors towards and relationship with money
Program Content: Pedagogy/ Active Engagement of Students
MyBnk combines activities with discussions, personal experiences, story sharing and creativity. Some of these young people have low self-confidence around money management and lack the ‘soft skills’ needed for enterprise, so the program seeks to challenge negative attitudes, and builds self-belief and aspirations that help them move forward financially.
Additional Notes
Money Twist is based on Ofsted financial education guidelines and references the OECD PISA and UK financial capability strategy frameworks. The content maps into the financial literacy parts of the National Curriculum. It can be implemented for financial capability focus days, enterprise weeks, or can be built into a scheme of work over a number of weeks.
Money Twist has been given the UK's highest effectiveness rating for any youth financial literacy programme by the UK government's Money Advice Service.
Source of Information
1All information for this summary come from MyBnk’s website and a phone interview with its Education Director that took place in June 2016.
Prepared by
Ashim Shanker