Money Matters – a personal finance course for Junior Cycle
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) is delighted to offer Money Matters, a personal finance course for Junior Cycle.
Teaching personal finances can be demanding in the classroom. Money Matters will help build this important life skill, making the learning experience engaging and interactive. ‘Money Matters’ will help students to make informed choices regarding their finances now and in the future.
What is Money Matters?
Money Matters is a Junior Cycle course on personal finance. It is a free, easy-to-use, online teaching and learning resource.
Money Matters is made up of four sections:
Section 1: Money Talks – what does it say about you?
Section 1 looks at the concept of money and how it evolved over time, and how money influences behaviours. Students participate in barter activities and examine their own and other people’s attitude to money.
Section 2 helps students to develop a stronger understanding of their relationship with money. Students keep a spending diary so they can see where their money is going, engage in activities to look at motivators for budgeting, and have an opportunity to design a budgeting tool.
Section 3: Taking Control of Your Money
Section 3 looks at some financial products and services, including payment options. Students carry out research, compare products, examine savings and the cost of credit, and engage in activities about how to deal with debt.
Section 4: Keeping Yourself Covered
Section 4 helps students to become informed consumers. Students learn about their consumer rights e.g. when buying in a shop, buying a ticket online and buying a gift voucher, and apply their knowledge by practicing making complaints. Section 4 also looks at insurance and scams and how people can protect themselves.
Why teach the Money Matters short course?
Money Matters is a ready-made, off-the-shelf course, with Teacher Guidelines, lesson plans, project ideas and a course specification which builds students’ capacity and skills to engage in self-directed learning, supports assessment for learning and provides ideas for assessment for accreditation.
Money Matters is very adaptable because it can be taught in a number of ways:
- The four sections can be taught as a Junior Cycle short course on personal finance
- One or more of the sections can be taught as stand-alone personal finance modules
- Aspects of the course can be taught to support the Junior Cycle Business Studies or Home Economics curriculum requirements
Money Matters is flexible and can be adapted to meet the needs of students. As teachers, you can:
- Adapt the lessons to meet the different learning needs in your classroom
- Create bespoke quizzes to assess your students’ learning as they progress through the course
Together with your students, develop your own projects to support assessment for learning or the project element of assessment for accreditation outlined in the course specification
What supports are available to teachers and students?
Throughout the Money Matters course students engage in active and participative learning activities to apply their growing knowledge of personal finance. The supporting lesson plans and suggested project activities provide structured opportunities to engage in assessment for learning (for example, small group work, quizzes, role play, problem solving activities etc.) and assessment for certification purposes (Reflection Journal – 40%, Project Record – 60%).
Our comprehensive Teacher Guidelines provide additional support and ideas for projects and methodologies.
We have developed Online Tutorials to help both students and teachers navigate and interpret the Money Matters short course.
The curriculum detail for the Money Matters course are laid out in detail in the Money Matters short course specification, including guidance for the assessment for certification tasks.
New and experienced teachers alike will find some great material in the Resource section, which includes links to additional financial education materials, useful websites to support active teaching and learning methodologies etc.
Contact details
Please feel free to contact Financial Education Programmes Manager, Joe Nevin at the CCPC by email (financialeducation@ccpc.ie) or by phone at 01 470 3666.
