STOCK
MARKET
THRILLS
AND
SPILLS
 When a prep school maths
challenge years ago to teach
children about fi nance little did
he realise how pertinent the
scheme would be today, or how
many schools would take part.
Emily Jenkinson gets bullish
and bearish at Westbrook Hay
As thousands of Britons face debts and
come to terms with the credit crunch,
it seems more important than ever
that our children grow up with some
sense of financial acumen. The subject
of 'Economic wellbeing and financial capability' is
now on the curriculum for 11-16 year-olds (albeit
as an option) thanks to a scheme introduced by
the government last year. "They [teenagers] need
to understand everyday issues like opening a
bank account, buying a house and saving for their
retirement as early as possible," declared the Secretary
of Children, Families and Schools, Ed Balls.
his is something Peter Makower, head of
mathematics at Westbrook Hay Prep School in
Hemel Hempstead, has believed for a long time and
why, more than 20 years ago, he set up a share scheme
for his pupils: a stock market competition and
accompanying lesson plan that teaches prep school
leavers about key financial matters and which usefully
fills the five week 'dead time' after Common Entrance
and before the start of the school holidays.
This year, the School's Stock Market Challenge, as
it is now known, took place over a three week period
between over 200 pupils from 12 different schools.
Each child starts with a pretend £1,000 with which
they 'buy' £200-worth of shares in five FTSE-listed
companies. Once they've chosen these, they enter
them up onto Europe's leading stocks and shares
website www.advfn.com. This updates the share
prices every 15 minutes and allows each child to
monitor their portfolio. There are cash prizes for the
child who makes the greatest profit each day, a prize
for the child who makes the greatest profit overall,
and a first, second, third and fourth prize for the
schools who have the highest average winnings.
Makower, 45, came up with the idea for the
scheme during his second year at Westbrook Hay,
believing that 'education' extended beyond the remits
of the national curriculum.
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