Intent
The finance curriculum at Deer Park School is designed to progressively develop children’s knowledge of our four pillars of financial understanding. We believe that key knowledge of money management, consumer choices, risks and emotions, and the role of money, is crucial in our overall intent to provide our pupils with the knowledge necessary to succeed and thrive beyond primary school. We intend to grow our children’s declarative and procedural knowledge within and between the four pillars of our finance curriculum, building a rich understanding of concepts and vocabulary, and accumulating a large store of specific knowledge that creates a foundation for the children’s financial experience beyond their education.
Implementation
The knowledge taught in our finance curriculum is structured into four pillars: 1) managing money, 2) being a critical consumer, 3) managing risks and emotions, and 4) the role money plays in our lives. This knowledge is taught from Years 1-6, with sequenced opportunities for pupils to revisit knowledge between year groups and topics in order to better retain this knowledge in their long term memory. The pupils learn finance through three unit topics taught over the course of the year, each of which draws their knowledge base from the four pillars set out in our curriculum. The final unit in each year group is an ‘enterprise’ unit, in which the pupils incorporate their learned knowledge procedurally, working with a range of stakeholders on a fundraising project to benefit their class, school, or chosen charity.
Impact
Over the course of their financial learning, the pupils develop detailed knowledge within the four strands of the curriculum. Their progress is assessed termly, focussing on knowledge acquisition and retention. The ‘enterprise’ unit each term informs teachers’ assessment of children’s procedural knowledge, and the application of this knowledge. Over time, our pupils develop a robust and domain-specific store of knowledge that equips them well for wider life and positive societal contribution. The scope of the children’s finance work beyond the national curriculum means that their knowledge in the subject is above average at the end of their primary school career, and that they are well prepared for further financial education at secondary school.