Students get money savvy in classroom

Pilbara students proved their literacy and numeracy skills in an engaging program at Cassia Primary School last week.

Kindergarten and pre-primary students participated in Money-Smart Teaching, run by Australian Securities and Investment Commission to provide students with financial education in their early years.

With money on their minds, students used resources to engage in structured play activities and assembled together at the event for peer-to-peer learning, modelling newly learnt skills and language to students from different classrooms.

Activities included using tuktuk bicycles to simulate a taxi service, with children taking roles of drivers, passengers, police officers and construction workers, and engaging in play-based learning centred around a post office, market stall and restaurant.

Cassia Primary School teacher Casey Boswell said teachers were in discussions about how the event could be made bigger and better in coming years. She said the school had enjoyed the benefits of accessing the resources, which had been provided to enhance the core life skills of good consumer and financial habits.

“Structured play allows students to learn specific learning objectives through play,” she said.

“We really saw the benefit of this — watching students use life skills in a fun and interactive way.”

This is the second year the school has participated in the program.