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Papanui High has been using Banqer for several years and recently accepted sponsorship from the University of Canterbury Business School to support over 350 students using the platform. Used across Year 9 and 10 Commerce, the course is optional, but Papanui High sees about half the students sign up. Head of Commerce Justin Warren, believes Banqer is a big reason behind these numbers, as many have fond memories of doing Banqer in primary school.
Advocating for financial education at Papanui High School
Justin was the main driver behind implementing financial education at Papanui High School. When he joined the school, Junior Commerce wasn’t an option, and so there was no obvious home for the subject. To get around this, Justin cleverly incorporated financial literacy into a digital technology course by using 3D modelling to learn budget through building a house.
The school eventually launched a business studies class where students created products, set prices, and sold them during a market day. However, Justin noticed that this approach wasn't capturing students' interest, leading to a decline in enrollments.
“We have a big cohort of kids who don’t come from entrepreneurial backgrounds so they struggled to come up with an idea for a product. Many of our families are working class families who struggle with managing bills, managing rent and a lot of students had no clue about managing money. We realised kids were lacking in that skill base and the business studies course wasn’t meeting the need to teach these kids budgeting and money management skills.”
In response, the School revamped the class into a financial literacy course. Justin created this course himself using resources from his previous school, and various online tools and websites. However, he found many of these resources cumbersome and uninspiring.
Justin went searching for a solution that would engage students and meet the school’s goals of improving financial literacy. That’s when he found Banqer and implemented the program to huge success.
Student engagement and understanding soar with Banqer
After Banqer was embedded in Commerce, Justin saw course enrollments rise sharply and was amazed by the increase in classroom engagement. Students come to class, open their devices, log in to Banqer and dive into their work without being directed.
The students’ enthusiasm for learning is phenomenal. They are much more likely to engage with an online platform as opposed to pen and paper. They like seeing instant results, and seeing straight away how their decisions are having an effect.
Banqer was particularly impactful among disengaged students. One student initially enrolled in commerce due to parental influence. Though good with numbers, he lacked interest. Through Banqer, he could see the impact of his decisions on his growing wealth, and became seriously engaged.
As student financial literacy improved, Justin saw a corresponding positive shift in students' financial attitudes. Students understood that banks aren't just places to store money. They've learned about different bank account types, investing to grow money, budgeting, and the advantages of insurance. They're also more knowledgeable about borrowing money.
Students are thinking about the consequences of borrowing money, they understand that they have to pay it back with interest, and they are more aware of the risks of debt.
Prior to using Banqer, students were often misled by advertisements for instant finance and thought spending and borrowing had no consequences. Justin can shift this mindset by demonstrating the real-world implications of borrowing. He’s optimistic about his students' financial futures and hopes his students come back in a few years and tell him how Banqer helped shaped their decisions.
One thing that surprised Justin was the depth of learning available with Banqer. Initially, he thought it would be a straightforward program for students to learn about interest, but he discovered it offers multiple layers and detailed units for students to explore. “There’s so many layers to it, so much detail and so many different units for students to sink their teeth into.”
Practical financial education resources enhance curriculum fit
Justin says Papanui High School has found integrating Banqer into their program was incredibly easy:
Banqer lines up really well with the curriculum. We teach the financial literacy progressions which covers banking, saving, tax, and that lines up beautifully with what Banqer is doing. We didn’t have to change anything with our curriculum
Justin say his team finds the Banqer resources reduces their workload and fits well into their program. “They really complement what we do in class. We do banking, interest rates, compound interest, shares and investing and comparing returns from putting money into savings against other investments. It’s a really good tool to facilitate the content we already have, but is a more engaging way for students to apply their knowledge.” Justin encourages other schools to adopt Banqer too.
Definitely bring it in. It has made a big difference to our students. It has taught them some really important skills and increased our numbers massively for an option subject.
Justin highlights that making courses interesting and engaging is a challenge, as students often disengage with traditional teaching methods. However, with Banqer, students enjoy working independently.
Over the past few years, Papanui High has seen significant benefits from using Banqer in their commerce department. Justin notes that Banqer allows him to promote commerce as an exciting subject. “Commerce gets this reputation of being boring and number based, full of accounting but we can say hey its not just about that. Students look forward to the day they can use Banqer”
