WIREDGOV

Established in 2008, the Welsh Financial Education Unit (WFEU) offers the training, information and educational resources that teachers need to deliver effective financial education to pupils in primary and secondary schools.

Following an evaluation of WFEU’s work in 2011, funding was agreed for a continued programme of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for 2012-13.The training is free and helps teachers equip learners with the skills they need to manage their finances and make informed financial decisions. Course tutors place an emphasis on making lessons fun, interactive and relevant to everyday life.

The recently published National Numeracy Programme (NNP) sets out the building blocks for financial education for all learners aged 5 to 14 and emphasises that numeracy skills should be taught right across the curriculum.

In line with the NNP, the emphasis of the 2012-13 academic year is on a cross-curricular approach to the delivery of financial education, as well as the development of a digital training resource for local authorities.

Feedback from schools has been positive, with teachers describing a recent CPD session at Mount Pleasant Primary School in Newport as “Skilfully delivered, very informative and useful, with an excellent variety of resources demonstrated.”

Education Minister, Leighton Andrews said:

“Financial literacy is an essential life skill. We have a responsibility to educate our young people in financial matters so that they are equipped to face the ever-increasing complexity of financial products and services.

“Last week, I launched our National Numeracy Programme which outlines the actions needed to drive up numeracy standards over the next five years, including the National Literacy and Numeracy Framework and National Tests.

“The Welsh Financial Education Unit is just one of the ways that we will support all teachers to become teachers of numeracy – helping them to demonstrate the importance and relevance of numerical skills in everyday situations.”

For more information on the training courses provided by WFEU, please visit the numeracy section of the Learning Wales website