What was the most memorable lesson that you remember from school? For pupils of the Caroline Chisholm School in Northampton, it could be discussing the wedding budget spreadsheet of financial studies teacher Helen Westwood.
Ms Westwood says: “In my classroom, there is not a question about money that I will not answer. They all know how much I earn, the maximum I have ever earned and how much I could have earned had I stayed in my previous job as a tax consultant with PwC. Students love analysing my payslips, debating my income lifecycle and the changes I have made and why.”
With personal finance education remaining on the periphery of the national curriculum, provision is often patchy and makeshift, and it remains unusual for lessons to extend to investment education.