A teaching unit to develop financial literacy is gaining traction with primary school teachers across the country as their students reap the benefits of improved money management skills.
Launched last year as part of a joint initiative between Rabobank and Garden to Table, the new resource, titled Deep Pockets, Hōhonu te Pūkoro, is a 10-lesson teaching unit which gives students the opportunity to learn about money through everyday garden and cooking activities.
The unit – developed after Rabobank and Garden to Table identified a gap in hands-on learning resources to support increased financial literacy – gives students the chance to handle real money and to make a real product to sell at a profit. The students get to make the financial decisions along the way and decide what to do with the profit they make.
By the end of the unit, students should be able to complete a product plan, understand how borrowing and investing money works, use financial terms and vocabulary and know what they mean, make and sell a product – including marketing and advertising, and write a basic financial report.
Students at Whangarei Intermediate selling the Kawakawa balm they developed as part of the financial literacy module.
Anwar Hussain Nadat, a year 5 and 6 teacher and team leader at Helensville Primary School in Auckland said he’d utilised the unit across term one and felt it was hugely beneficial for his students.
“Over the years, I’ve taught bits and pieces on finance-related topics, but it’s proven difficult to get the ideas to stick. The module really helped bring different financial terms and concepts together, and it had a clear structure which made it really easy for me to deliver,” he said.
“We had about 120 year 5 and 6 students doing the unit, and I think they’ve all now got a much better understanding of key financial terms and of how money works.”
For the unit, Mr Nadat said, the students decided to run a bake sale for parents at the end of the term. A goal to raise $1000 was set with the proceeds going towards ingredient costs for the school’s weekly Garden To Table food education sessions.
“We’ve done bake sales before, but there was a real purpose behind this year’s event as everyone could understand why we were doing it and what we were trying to achieve,” he said.
“After a bit of discussion about how best to get to our target, the students quickly figured out that if they could get hold of the baking ingredients for free, then everything they made at the sale would be profit, so we reached out to the parents and they donated the ingredients to get things started.
“We came up just short on our goal – raising $830 from the sale – but it was really great to guide the students through the whole process including making posters for the sale and getting them thinking about different tactics they could use to maximise sales on the day.
“After doing the unit, I’m now hearing students talking about the type of bank accounts they have and about how much interest they are earning. And parents are telling us they are now hearing their children use more of these terms at home as well.”
Jemima Sawyer, one of Mr Nadat’s year 6 students, said the module had given her a much better understanding about the financial aspects of running a business.
“As part of the module, we created expenditure sheets for the Garden to Table programme we run at school. This really helped us because for the first time we could see how much money it costs yearly to run, so we knew exactly how much we need to raise for next year,” she said.
“Given we were short of our $1000 target, a few of us got together to think about other ways we could raise funds. This was my favourite part, as we wrote a business plan and presented it to our Principal Mr Bennett to see if he could be one of our investors."
Mr Nadat said the lessons from the unit had also extended into other topics the class was now focusing on.
“For the first five weeks of term three we’re looking at percentages and decimals,” he said.
“I usually ask the students about how what we are discussing relates to real-life scenarios, so I asked where they could use percentages and decimals in their own lives. And the first thing that came up was interest rates and GST which we covered off in the financial literacy module.
“So the knowledge is still there and I’m sure these topics will also come up in plenty of other teaching units over the remainder of the year too.”
Holly Weber, a teacher at Whangarei Intermediate, said she’d used the unit with some of her students across term two.
“Our small eco warriors group embarked on a financial literacy journey inspired by our term topic, Puanga (the abundance of food). For their product, they developed a Kawakawa balm which proved immensely popular, selling out rapidly and generating a profit of roughly $100. This early success ignited the students' entrepreneurial spirit, motivating them to explore further and they are already planning their next batch,” she said.
“Upon returning to school in term 3, the group collectively decided to donate the profits to Open Arms, a local charity they are immensely proud to support. This experience not only fostered financial knowledge but also cultivated a strong sense of whanaungatanga (kinship).”
Garden to Table CEO Ani Brunet said other schools had also provided positive feedback on the module.
“Teachers are telling us that the students have really enjoyed the module and the fact they are working with real money and get to decide what they do with the profit has helped to keep everyone engaged. Some students have been really creative with the products they have developed – and we have also seen students give back to their communities,” she said.
“With NZ Money Month taking place throughout August, we are delighted to see teachers across Aotearoa incorporating this approach into the curriculum at their own schools.
“Children handle real money, so this module provides memorable learning moments with real-world problem solving. They learn to understand opportunities as well as risk, weigh up a range of options to make decisions as a team, and then learn to take measured risks – all skills that prepare them for life outside of school. One important part of the Garden to Table programme is connecting to community and giving back when you are able. The module includes identifying what you might do with the profit you make and how you could make your money have a positive impact on your community.”
Accessing the new resource
Given the importance of the topic, Ms Brunet said, Rabobank and Garden to Table had made the resource available to all schools nationwide.
“Garden to Table curriculum resources are available for our member schools. Given the importance of financial literacy, we and our principal partner Rabobank are delighted to offer this resource to all schools, and families across the motu,” she said.
Further information on the new teaching resource and a free download can be found on the Garden to Table website below.
www.gardentotable.org.nz/stories/financial-literacy-teaching-resource