A comprehensive approach empowers students with real life skills.

Nayland College, a co-educational school in Nelson New Zealand, has been ahead of the game on financial literacy for over ten years, ensuring that students leave school with an understanding of banking, budgeting, taxation, credit, lending and insurance. Banqer High is now their platform of choice for simulating real life financial decision-making. Head of Department Rob Ikink and teacher Rachael Purdie share how Banqer High added to their successful financial literacy programme.

Nayland College’s focus on financial literacy

Rob Ikink, Head of Department for Economics and Business, describes Nayland College’s forward thinking approach to financial literacy, “For the last fifteen years we have offered a Personal Financial Skills course in Year 12 which counts towards NCEA Level 2, the content of which the Ministry of Education shared widely to other schools during COVID.”

In acknowledgement of the importance of financial skills to junior students, three years ago the College added an optional six month Financial Literacy module to Year 9, “Students are starting to make financial decisions at age thirteen and fourteen. Initially take up wasn’t great – until we changed the name to ‘Money, Money, Money’ and then lo and behold we had enough students for two half year cohorts!”

Integrating Banqer High with Nayland’s approach

Contacted by Banqer, Rob could immediately see the potential application of Banqer High to the six month ‘Money, Money, Money’ module. Teacher Rachael picks up the story, “We have two seventy-five minute lessons a week, so we decided to use Banqer High for a whole session every two or three weeks when we are introducing a new expansion, doing the introductory quiz and the practical activities. Then we check into Banqer High every lesson to monitor progress maybe for up to twenty minutes.”

Embedding Banqer High into the ‘Money, Money, Money’ course was easy, “I have a commerce degree but have predominantly been teaching maths, so I found the resources in Banqer High to be amazing – the worksheets, activities and even the glossaries. I could log on as a demo student and do the quiz and the activities that they were going to do, such as setting up automatic payments, and feel confident I could help out when the students had a go. The support from Banqer from the get-go was fabulous too.”

Bringing the realism

For Rob and Rachael, Banqer High simulated real life, gamifying the content of the course, from modelling exactly what online banking involves to providing scenarios for decision-making, “Take insurance for example, we played the game where you roll a dice and get given a salary, then roll again and get allocated a policy with a premium and excess. Then a whole bunch of disasters happen! The students really grasped how random life can be, with trees falling on cars and so on. Then they had to decide, based on their salary and policy, if they got the car fixed or used their insurance and paid the excess.”

Whilst covering the insurance expansion, Nelson was unfortunately hit by devastating flooding and Rachael’s oven blew up, providing even more food for thought for the class, “You can overlay what is going on in our own lives on top of the realism of the Banqer High platform. When we were looking at car insurance, which the students will be thinking about very soon, many of them had no understanding of third party insurance. Playing Banqer High brought this home to them.”

Impact on student decision-making

Rachael lists a number of examples where the course and Banqer High had an immediate impact on students, “One boy used the CV he created to quit his paper run and get a better job. The same student’s dad had also set up a Sharesies account for him so we could draw on that knowledge when doing the stock market expansion.” Another student queried her own bank statement, “This student had never questioned what all the numbers were on her statement but now she understood compound interest, she wanted to know why the numbers had changed. You can see them directly applying what they are learning to outside the classroom.”

One boy ended up bankrupt in Banqer High having gambled away all his gems, “He recognised that he had made bad decisions and talked about how he would have to earn his way out of the hole he had got himself into. He was learning that actions have consequences but in a safe environment, rather than in the real world.”

Upping engagement levels

For Rachael a big win was also the increased engagement in the topic, “This group of students are always very motivated but Banqer really gripped them. They would share conversations that they had at home and I think they felt quite empowered to be able to have those discussions.”

The gaming element contributed too, “Because there are five different ways to achieve, including net worth or gems earned, I found students who aren’t overly engaged with school as a whole or aren’t particularly digitally savvy were getting into it and were able to do well. It was a real confidence booster for some kids, giving them a chance to shine.”

Banqer High provides an opportunity for Nayland College students to test out what they are learning on their financial literacy course in a very relatable and fun environment, prior to decision-making in the real world. Banqer High adds another layer to a highly successful life skills.