Source · Select Committees · Education Committee
Recommendation 11
11
Rejected
Paragraph: 44
Cross-curricular financial education lacks coherence without a dedicated co-ordinator.
Recommendation
A cross-curricular approach in which aspects of financial education are taught in various subjects across the curriculum helps pupils to understand its relevance in different contexts. It also has the benefit of offering students some form of financial education, whatever their subject preferences may be. This approach, however, can lead to a lack of coherence in what is taught between subjects. A financial education co-ordinator would provide their school with a more coherent programme of study and clarity over curriculum requirements.
Government Response Summary
The government declines to mandate or provide guidance for financial education coordinators, stating that schools are free to make such decisions themselves and referring to existing Maths Hubs. Broader curriculum changes will be considered following the Curriculum and Assessment Review.
Paragraph Reference:
44
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
It is up to schools to decide how to teach pupils about finance, and school leaders are best placed to decide how to deploy their school workforce in a way that best suits the needs of their pupils, teachers and setting. This means that schools are free to designate a teacher to coordinate their financial education across the school curriculum. The Department for Education funds the Maths Hubs programme, which is supported by the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Maths. There are 40 Maths Hubs providing school-to-school support focussed on maths subject knowledge and pedagogy training to all state-funded primary and secondary schools in England. They seek to harness all the maths leadership and expertise within an area, to develop and spread excellent practice, for the benefit of all pupils and students. The government currently has no plans to produce guidance to support the appointment and support of financial education leads. The CAR will seek to ensure that the curriculum and assessment system does not place undue burdens on education staff and, wherever possible, supports manageable and sustainable workloads for teachers, lecturers, support staff and leaders. The CAR will support the innovation and professionalism of teachers, enabling them to adapt how they teach the curriculum to their students’ lives and life experiences. This will support the government’s ambition that every child receives a rich and broad curriculum, taught by excellent teachers wherever they are in the country, to set them up with the knowledge and skills to thrive in the future. Ministers will take decisions on what changes to make to curriculum, assessment and qualifications, and the practicalities and timing of the reforms, in the light of the final recommendations from the review group this autumn. Ministers recognise the importance of giving schools, colleges and teachers sufficient time to plan and prepare for changes, particularly where they are significant. The government is legislating so that, following the CAR and the implementation of reforms, all mainstream state schools will be required to teach the revised national curriculum. This will give parents certainty over the core of their children’s education.