Penrhos College, an independent girls’ school in South Perth, has introduced Banqer High into its Year 8 Penrhos Learner program. Dean of Student Learning, Laura Rutherford, shares how Banqer has brought real-world money lessons into the classroom, sparking student engagement and equipping girls with skills they can use beyond school.
Penrhos College first trialled Banqer High with its entire Year 8 cohort in 2024, before making it a permanent part of the program in 2025. Integrated into the school’s unique Penrhos Learner program, Banqer provides a hands-on way for students to explore financial decision-making. For Laura Rutherford, the driving force behind the initiative, the appeal lay in how the platform connects financial literacy with everyday realities.
“Financial literacy isn’t explicitly taught as a stand alone subject.” Laura explains. “ There are elements explicitly taught in Humanities and Social Sciences, Maths and Digital Technologies, but bringing it all together in a real world context has really brought the concepts to life . What I liked about Banqer High was how it gamifies real-life problems, almost in chronological order, you set up a bank account, you get a job, and then you start thinking about moving out of home.”
Embedding Real-World Scenarios in the Penrhos Learner Program
The Penrhos Learner program combines design thinking, study skills, digital literacy, and personal development. Banqer slotted naturally into this framework, encouraging students to connect their financial choices to broader life decisions.
Students might not all become entrepreneurs, but Banqer lets them imagine what they’d do once they start earning.
It gets them thinking about careers, debt, and the financial realities that come with those choices.”
Laura also explains why Banqer sits in Penrhos Learner rather than Humanities and Social Sciences. “If it was embedded within a HASS curriculum, the busyness of the rest of the curriculum could mean it doesn’t receive individual focus,” she says. “Having it explicitly here means nothing else takes priority over it. I like the fact that students touch on it once a week, come back to it the next, and have time to consolidate rather than rushing through it.”
Just as importantly, Laura values Banqer for the way it combines simulation with clear instruction. “I really loved the fact that Banqer High provides explicit teaching strategies such as the worksheets, resources, and videos,” she explains. “It’s engaging and fun for the students, but there’s also a structure that helps guide teachers through those real-world scenarios.”
This integration has also helped teachers from across subject areas engage with financial concepts. Laura set up detailed lesson plans and resources for non-specialist teachers, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. “We’ve had teachers from English, Maths, and Digital Technologies deliver the program, and they have said, ‘I wish I’d learned this at school,’” Laura shares. “That tells me the impact is felt beyond the students.”
Memorable Lessons and Student Success Stories
One standout moment came during the trial when Laura introduced the careers topic. Students were asked to create résumés that could realistically be used to apply for jobs.
We wanted to be really clear that: this is something that you could actually use in future to get a job.
The impact followed quickly. “Perhaps four or five weeks later one of the students came up to me and said to me, ‘Hey Mrs Rutherford, I used my résumé to get a job,’” she recalls. The student had taken her Banqer résumé to Boost Juice, submitted it, then followed up in person with the manager. Within a couple of weeks, she was hired.
Laura later heard from the same student that she had since moved on to another workplace. “It was just that one lesson for that student that was a real opportunity for them to get the skill of developing a résumé,” Laura reflects. “That’s not to say that wouldn’t have happened outside of Banqer High, but the understanding that it could be used to get a job and a career…that was a standout moment.”
Other lessons have sparked equally meaningful discussions. “When we looked at career choices, students were often drawn to high-paying jobs like law or medicine,” Laura explains. “What they hadn’t always considered was the debt that comes with those pathways and how long it takes to pay off. A lot of young people think, ‘Oh, I don’t have to pay that back until I’m earning above a certain amount,’ but that reality comes around very quickly. Banqer made those consequences explicit and gave them a chance to think more deeply about the long-term impact of their decisions.”
The Property topic also prompted real-life reflection. “We have a housing crisis in WA, and students often imagine moving straight into a big house with a pool,” Laura says. “Through Banqer they realised the reality might be sharing a house, which led to great discussions, especially when younger teachers shared their own experiences.”
From Classroom Engagement to Lifelong Lessons
Laura has noticed how Banqer sustains student interest well beyond the single weekly lesson. “Even though they only had one lesson a week, students were logging in every day on their own,” she says. “They were engaged because they could see their money building up, and that made it feel real.”
That level of engagement has carried into classroom conversations, with students debating financial decisions and challenging each other’s choices. “It’s brilliant when they start learning from each other,” Laura says. “They’ll say, ‘Why are you choosing that career?’ or ‘What’s your plan?’ Those are the kinds of discussions that make the learning stick.”
For Laura, Banqer’s value is also in giving all students a shared reference point. “If I tell my own daughters to save half their income, it’s just Mum nagging,” she reflects. “But when a whole class is going through the same process together, they’re much more likely to take it on board.”
Supporting Teachers and the Wider School Community
Implementing Banqer has been a collective effort. Teachers appreciated the structured weekly plans, while passionate staff developed additional resources to extend the program. Funding support came through the Penrhos College Foundation’s Helping Hands grant, ensuring Banqer could be rolled out to every Year 8 student.
“The Foundation very quickly approved and paid for Banqer to be part of the program,” Laura explains. “
They could see it was something that set us apart. A point of difference that other schools weren’t offering.
The school has also highlighted Banqer in its newsletters and parent evenings, where families consistently affirm its importance. “Parents often say, ‘I never learned this at school,’” Laura notes. “That’s what makes this program so valuable. It’s giving our students skills that last well beyond the classroom.”
