Get money savvy with Financial Literacy Program
Financial literacy is an important life skill that all children need to learn, which is why we’ve partnered with the University of Newcastle to present the Greater Bank Finance Academy.
Meet Emma
As a program Ambassador, Emma will be visiting high schools in the coming months to use her real-life banking experience to deliver practical and relevant content around money management, savings strategies and how to make informed financial decisions.
Emma explains why she got involved and what she’s enjoying most about being part of the program.
Why is financial literacy important to you?
I have always been very good with my money and I can see where it has got me. I have also seen a lot of people since I started at Greater Bank that don’t have enough education around financial literacy and therefore this makes it hard for them to achieve the dreams they may have of owning their own car or home.
What have you enjoyed most about delivering the program?
I find the program very rewarding. Obviously there are students who are timid or shy and taking it all in and other students who are extremely engaged and asking a lot of questions. I always take it back to when I can remember learning Math in Year 7 or 8 – learning how to calculate interest, but I don’t ever remember being taught how learning this skill could help me in life. I believe this program facilitates a thought process with the students so they are much more informed about making good banking decisions and can work towards achieving their dreams.
What was your financial literacy ‘ah-ha’ moment?
For me this is teaching the students that if they have a mobile phone in their name they probably already have a credit report. Most have no idea and they have no idea about how to look after this credit report they didn’t know they had. It’s such a fantastic education piece for them.
Delivering these lessons can potentially help them to not have that awkward moment applying for a car loan and realising they have terrible credit score because they weren’t aware or educated enough around this.
Want to get involved?
Want one of the Finance Academy Ambassadors to visit your teenager's high school for FREE to develop their financial literacy skills?
Here's how you can encourage your school to get involved in the Greater Bank Finance Academy:
Express your interest
- Parents can send this website to your child's school to inform them of the program: www.greater.com.au/financeacademy
- High schools express their interest by emailing FinanceAcademy@newcastle.edu.au
- The University of Newcastle will provide further information and coordinate all logistics with the school
Content is Supplied
- The University of Newcastle will supply all lesson content to the teacher. This includes 4 core lessons, plus up to 3 electives chosen at school's discretion
- Teachers deliver lessons 1 and 3, plus any electives chosen
UoN and Greater Bank visit your school
- University of Newcastle and Greater Bank Ambassadors present lessons 2 and 4
- Ambassadors challenge students to think differently and provide real world examples of financial literacy in action!
Latest Financial Literacy News
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