Year: 2024
Teacher: Mr Peter Tsambalis
School: Southern Cross Catholic College, Burwood NSW
Southern Cross Catholic School in Burwood, NSW, a vocational college, introduced a ‘financial wellbeing’ program for year 10 students in 2023, with the aim of closing the gap in their understanding of personal finance. The lessons were initiated by Peter Tsambalas, the entrepreneurship and enterprise coordinator at the school.
Peter says he believes it is crucial for young people to develop the life skills to be financially savvy.
“As a vocational college, we don’t teach subjects such as commerce or business, which means there is no opportunity for students to learn about important financial matters except through the maths curriculum,” Peter says.
“At the time, I had recently met some past students who had left school five years ago and who were struggling – they had university debt, they didn’t know how to budget and save, and they didn’t know how to get help to manage their finances.
“It really brought home to me how important it is for our students to learn these skills, in a way that they can relate to and engage with.”
Peter introduced financial literacy lessons, called My Money, My Future, which was met with an immediate positive response.
The lessons covered:
• careful budgeting,
• prudent debt management,
• saving and investing for the future, and
• ongoing financial education.
Peter used visually engaging presentation slides to showcase key concepts and information including images, graphs, and simple diagrams to enhance understanding. Students were given on a financial goals worksheet to guide them in setting SMART financial goals and developing action plans to achieve them.
The lessons also included interactive activities where students allocate hypothetical income towards various expenses to understand budgeting principles. Games and simulations helped students learn about basic investment concepts such as compound interest, interest bearing bank accounts, superannuation, and the sharemarket.
“The students were very engaged and they told me that they all went away with something useful. The teachers also said they wished they had been taught these lessons in school!
“I think the secret to success is to put it in terms that young people can relate to,” he says.
“To start with, we call it financial wellbeing, not literacy. In addition, I don’t talk about saving – that’s boring and you can see their eyes glaze over. Instead, I talk about spending, and the 80/20 rule. This gives students a basic framework where they spend 80 per cent of what they earn, and save 20 per cent. By switching things around – giving them permission to spend rather than saying they need to stop spending and save – the conversation is much easier and they are much more likely to understand how to put some money aside when they receive their pay check.”
He says there is no doubt in his mind that these kinds of lessons should be a standard part of the school curriculum in Australia.
“We are sending our children out into a complex world of taxation, superannuation, scams and debt, without equipping them with the skills to manage. We are creating pathways to university but not life skills.
“By prioritising financial well-being and taking proactive steps to improve financial health, students learn how they can improve their overall quality of life and achieve greater financial security and stability.
“This is particularly important at a time when many families are facing cost of living pressures. Unfortunately, many of the parents don’t have the financial knowledge they need so students aren’t learning good money practices at home.”
Peter says he found the Ecstra resources very useful, and has also used the MoneySmart website and other government material.
“I would love to see more schools introduce financial literacy lessons, so that we can start to foster a generation of Australians who are in control of their financial future,” he says.
Financial Literacy in Action with ‘Social Beans’
Year: 2024
Teacher: Emily Gosbell
School: Donvale Christian College, Victoria
In an increasingly complex financial landscape, equipping young Australians with practical financial literacy skills is more critical than ever. Recognising this need, Donvale Christian College in Victoria embedded financial literacy into a Year 10 semester based subject, spearheaded by business teacher and head of career and pathways, Emily Gosbell.
The subject is called Social Beans and is structured to mimic a social enterprise initiative which blended entrepreneurship with financial education, empowering students with essential skills to navigate real-world financial challenges.
The program went beyond traditional classroom learning, offering students a novel platform to explore the intricacies of running a coffee cart business, but also allowing them to gain hands-on experience with key financial concepts such as the pricing and using real-world information to work out the costs associated with making and selling coffee, while also learning barista skills.
Emily says It was a subject that has been embraced by students, staff, and leadership.
“The response from the school was really encouraging – and not just because we serve them coffee! In particular, students enjoyed the focus on managing the financial aspects of a business, from counting and tracking sales to dissecting sales to understand the target market and to predict the supplies that we will need and forecast sales.
“I think that many students believe that to understand finance they need to be good at maths. When they start to interact with financial numbers and track information, they realise that they can interpret and find meaning and actually surprise themselves. Often their confidence is low to begin with and exposure helps to build confidence and knowledge,” she says.
The Social Beans initiative involved 20 students per semester who worked in different business departments and who were assigned roles mirroring a real company structure, with financial specialists, marketing coordinators, human resources coordinators, and operations leaders working together to manage the coffee cart enterprise.
The students were responsible for running all facets of the business, including managing financial figures and working on pricing. The class decided to that all profits would be donated to a charity of the students’ choice, and they were determined to maximise their profit to maximise their impact.
The “Price Setting” part of the financial literacy lesson employed a range of interactive activities to solidify learning, led by Ms Gosbell. Students had to undertake a number of tasks, bridging theory and practice, including:
• Real-world cost analysis. Students researched supplier invoices, calculating the cost of goods sold (COGS) for various coffee options, such as working out how much to charge for different coffee sizes and variations, including milk alternatives and extra shots
• Price setting. Equipped with COGS data, students engaged in discussions about coffee markups, pricing strategies, and profit margins, weighing factors such as target audience. Students researched coffee prices from other vendors to compare what they could offer their customers and how their prices should sit in comparison.
• Target market. Students explored the concept of differential pricing based on customer segments, such as students and teachers, illustrating how market dynamics influence pricing decisions. Some students advocated, for example, charging more for students than teachers who could get free coffee in their staffrooms or drive somewhere else.
According to Emily, The Social Beans project has delivered significant benefits, describing it as being transformative for both students and staff alike.
“Students have started to develop a deeper understanding of core financial concepts like budgeting, cost management, and profit-making, as well as what it means to be entrepreneurial.
“For example, we have found that students love tracking sales data after each pop-up service because they enjoy comparing daily and weekly sales to understand what worked well and why.
“The charity element to the program is also very interesting. It meant that they become tremendously motivated and determined to ensure that the business maximises its profit potential.”
Emily says the aim is to expand financial literacy education beyond math classes to embed practical finance lessons across multiple subjects.
“I think it is important to give students opportunities to learn more about finance practically and to embed this into more subjects other than maths classes. Financial literacy skills empower and are essential for preparing our young people for their future.”
Entrepreneur Classroom Project
Year: 2024
Teacher: Mr Daniel Nevan
School: St Teresa’s Catholic College, Noosaville, QLD
St Teresa’s Catholic College in Noosaville on the Sunshine Coast introduced a classroom initiative five years ago to equip students with essential financial skills like saving money better, budgeting, debt management, superannuation and taxes.
Business and humanities teacher Daniel Neven recognised a gap in the education system and decided to provide hands-on business experience by introducing a new course, “Entrepreneur Classroom Project,” to enhance students’ understanding of financial concepts.
Dan says he had been struck by students’ need for financial education.
“I was placed to teach business to Year 9 back in 2019, and it was painfully evident that the education system was not meeting the needs of the students. Therefore, I decided the best course of action was to get hands on with business, and help the students create their first business to better introduce business concepts in an engaging way,” he says.
“The initial response was huge, and quickly went from one class a year to four. We now have 60 students participating across two classes, with classes held each semester.”
Financial planning and budgeting have been major components of the program. Students have learned to launch businesses, make sales, generate profits and implement budgeting measures. The program has emphasised important entrepreneurial financial concepts including:
• Bootstrapping: Starting and growing a business with minimal external resources, relying primarily on personal finances or operating revenue. It emphasises self-funding, frugality, and creative problem-solving.
• Cost to produce: Understanding the total cost incurred to manufacture a product or provide a service.
• Recommended retail price: Identifying the suggested selling price for a product to consumers.
• Shipping: Learning the process and costs associated with transporting goods.
Dan says students engaged with all aspects of the program.
“The ownership, creativity and freedom have meant we’ve seen students succeed where they traditionally may not have been enjoying success in other parts of their schooling.”
Dan has been surprised by students’ knowledge and understanding of finances. “After being a bit dismayed at their initial financial skills, I’m now continually surprised at the amazing ideas for businesses students produce and put into action,” he says.
Dan has adapted his course over time to suit the needs of students. “Continual feedback from each group going through the course means there has been revisions along the way to reach its current iteration,” he says.
As a testament to its success, students of the program have won Queensland’s Generation Innovation competition two years in a row in 2022 and 2023. The GI Challenge is an independently run entrepreneurship program for 15–21-year-olds from the Sunshine Coast and Noosa regions and it empowers young entrepreneurs to translate an idea into a viable business through mentoring, skills development and business connections in a collaborative environment.
St Teresa’s success highlights the importance of incorporating financial literacy into the education system. By teaching students key entrepreneurial skills and financial concepts, educators like Dan are empowering students to make informed decisions about their finances and future careers.
