Northern Bay College is located in the suburbs of Corio, Norlane and North Shore, a low socio-economic area of Geelong, Victoria. The College focuses on equity and inclusivity and is committed to catering for all learning needs and styles.
Financial literacy is one such need, identified by both staff and the students themselves, as being integral to achieving outstanding student outcomes. Sam Jacka, Lead Teacher of Year 7 and 8 provision at one of the College’s campuses describes the impact that Banqer High has had on his students.
Year 7 and 8 students benefit from real life financial lessons
Financial literacy had previously only been touched on at Year 7 and 8, “The students had jobs to do in school and would earn paper money, and we would deduct tax but without any real context or thought about the implications for the future.” Sam and his team were excited when they got a look at Banqer High.
The students could choose careers, share a rental, learn about the benefits of paying superannuation, make exactly the type of decisions that they would be facing in a few years.
The teachers could immediately see how smoothly Banqer High would integrate into their term two and three Education Research Project (ERP) on careers and business. The ERP maps to the Australian curriculum, covering not only numeracy but literacy skills such as writing resumes, and the humanities including civics, citizenship, business and economics.
Spread over four campuses with approximately two hundred Year 7 and 8 students, Sam and his Lead Teacher counterparts meet weekly to plan the release of each Banqer High expansion.
We were all very positive from the outset and Banqer High has turned out to have had an even greater impact than we expected.
Banqer High has reinforced the College’s commitment to student agency, “We supported students through the first module but now it is student-led. They are expected to spend a minimum of an hour a week working on Banqer High.” Northern Bay College students have one to one access to laptops that can be taken home, “It is their own responsibility to complete the structured lessons and to check in on their progress.”
It is the commitment that the students have demonstrated that has really blown Sam away.
Banqer High has the highest engagement levels of any program that we have done all year. The take up outside of school has been awesome. Every student is checking in daily and looking at the leader boards. I have some students who are doing two or three hours extra a week. They all clearly love the program.
Unlocking student potential with engaging financial education
Sam’s student cohort includes a high demographic of students who are currently below expected learning levels, “With some targeted pre-teaching, for example on percentages or on the vocabulary needed, all my students have been able to participate.” Sam has been particularly impressed by the rich conversations that have taken place involving the whole class, “We have had deep discussions about why some properties are worth more than others, about proximity to the city or beach, number of bedrooms, things that the students had not considered before. This led them onto a discussion about the advantages of renting or of sharing the cost of a house.”
Higher achieving students have gone beyond the questions in Banqer High, “Some students have been discussing high interest rate bank accounts and looking closely at the amount of money that needs to be deposited and the fees. They are learning to question!”
For Sam this is where the real benefit of Banqer High lies.
It provides all my students with the knowledge that they need to get a foot up in life. The students are getting real life lessons about finances, connecting the dots, and thinking about their futures and their careers. Banqer High has genuine educational value.
