EDUCATION Cash-savvy pupils are credit to school

SAVING their pocket money wisely has won pupils a prestigious award from the Credit Unions of Wales.

The cash-savvy children from St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Bridgend went to the Senedd to receive their prize from actress Ruth Madoc.

They were nominated for the School Partnership Award by Bridgend Lifesavers Credit Union after running a successful junior savings scheme over the past three years.

In total 140 children are members of the scheme – more than half of the school – and save their pocket money weekly.

The scheme, run by the children themselves, also helps improve their numeracy, literacy and social skills, teacher Ben Wooding explained: “Pupils and staff are absolutely overjoyed to have won the Credit Unions of Wales Award because not only do we derive a great deal of pleasure from running a junior savings scheme, but it also helps with the development and education of the children themselves.

“The Credit Union plays an important part in contributing to our ethos as a Catholic school.

“The weekly collection point is operated by a group of Year Five and Six pupils who spend every Wednesday morning running the scheme before bringing their findings into the maths lesson. That means we not only provide a saving club for the pupils but also use that as part of the curriculum. It is particularly important in today’s age to give children the hands-on experience of handling money, as most of us rely on contactless cards.

“The pupils save their pocket money for many different reasons, either to buy a new DVD or an Xbox game. Sometimes their parents send money with them to save towards a school trip – such as the visit to France next summer.”

St Mary RC School was one of six award-winners at the ceremony at the Welsh Assembly during which a video message was shown from Michael Sheen OBE, patron Unions of Wales.

Nicola Field, of Bridgend Lifesavers Credit Union, said: “The pupils benefit from not only being able to save each week but also from the financial education that comes with running the weekly collection.

“The school also incorporates this into their wider curriculum and use this as an opportunity to learn about credit unions and the importance of saving and have also used data from the collections in a number of mathbased lessons.

“Not only are they improving their numeracy and literacy skills but are also improving their social skills.” of the Credit