PRESS RELEASE

Sacred Heart RC Primary School to become a Centre of Excellence in financial education

                                                                                                                              
Manchester’s Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary School has been selected to become a Centre of Excellence in financial education, as part of a ground-breaking new partnership between global information services company Experian© and pfeg (Personal Finance Education Group), the UK’s leading financial education charity.

The move means that pupils at the school, on Knutsford Road, Gorton, will have access to a life-changing financial literacy programme enabling them to gain the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to be able to make the right financial decisions and manage their money well into adulthood.

The school is one of 20 across the country that will benefit from this programme.  Manchester has been identified as a target along with five other areas by Experian using its tools to identify levels of use of financial services such as bank and savings accounts. Experian is funding the development of Sacred Heart to achieve pfeg Centre of Excellence* status in the next year, turning it into a beacon of best practice in teaching children and young people about money. 

pfeg’s educational specialists will work with the school to help create a tailored financial education programme for pupils and to ensure all teachers are trained to deliver innovative personal finance lessons and activities. In addition, trained Experian volunteers will be made available to offer support to teachers in the classroom.                                                                                                                   

As part of the programme, Sacred Heart will also be supported in cascading its knowledge and expertise to help other schools in the local area set up their own financial education programmes. This will help to make a significant and lasting impact on the local community.

Suzanne Walker, Headteacher at Sacred Heart RC Primary School, said:

"As soon as we were first contacted about this programme we knew that it would be a good fit for the school.  Managing money is such an important part of our pupils’ lives, and the ability to manage it well will be a significant factor in their future life prospects.  We are extremely pleased to be developing the school into a Centre of Excellence in financial education and teaching our pupils about money in an engaging way.”

Tracey Bleakley, pfeg chief executive, said:

“We are delighted to be working with Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary and Experian to develop the school into a Centre of Excellence.  This the next exciting stage in our exciting expansion of the pfeg Centres Of Excellence programme, and will benefit thousands of young people in Manchester. Our work in this area is a key part of our plans to ensure that every young person leaves school with the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to manage their personal finances.”

Craig Boundy, Managing Director, Experian UK&I, said:

“This important new partnership with pfeg will make a real difference to children and schools in those areas in the UK where support is needed the most.  Giving people access to the information they need to make better financial decisions sits right at the heart of Experian and we have been developing free financial education resources for a number of years. The combination of pfeg’s expertise with Experian’s high-quality teaching resources and our classroom volunteers will mean that young people have the opportunity to gain the vital knowledge and skills they need to make the right decisions about money.”

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For more information contact pfeg’s Matt Hartley on 020 7330 9478 or 07730 141519 or email matt.hartley@pfeg.org and/or Experian’s James Jones on 0115 9922336, james.jones@experian.com

NOTES TO EDITORS

*About pfeg Centres of Excellence

• A total of 39 schools and school clusters have now been awarded pfeg Centre of Excellence status
• Centre of Excellence status is awarded to schools or school clusters that have been recognised and rewarded for taking big steps forward in bringing personal finance education to all the children and young people in their school
• pfeg works with candidate schools and school clusters to embed financial education into the curriculum through the provision of teacher training, consultancy and support to feeder schools
• To achieve Centre of Excellence status, schools must achieve the following criteria
• Senior leadership commitment – a headteacher who wants their teachers to be trained to teach personal finance education;
• A champion – a key teacher with day-to-day responsibility for driving quality personal finance education;
• A school/college development programme – a well planned and high quality provision of financial education;
• Effective teaching, learning and assessment approaches – trained teachers who can motivate, challenge and assess pupils’ learning;
• Pupil involvement – pupils who are involved and motivated to learn
• Community engagement – links to other organisations locally and a willingness to use financial sector volunteers to add value;
• Dissemination and sustainability – the ability to operate independently of pfeg support and the enthusiasm to showcase and disseminate work to inspire other local schools/colleges;
• For more information on the Centres of Excellence Programme see http://www.pfeg.org/services/centres-excellence

About pfeg  

• pfeg (Personal Finance Education Group) is the UK’s leading finance education charity
• pfeg provides free support, resources and expert consultancy to help schools plan and teach financial capability. Its mission is to ensure that all young people leaving school are equipped with the confidence, skills and knowledge they need in financial matters to take part fully in society.
• pfeg works with teachers, government, consumer bodies and financial industry representatives to assist schools in delivering personal finance education to the highest possible standards – making sure that children and young people are able to understand money and make informed choices which will guarantee them security and economic well-being in the long-term.
• pfeg was won a Charity Times Award in 2012 for it’s What Money Means partnership with HSBC and was named Educational Charity of the Year at the Charity Awards in June 2010
• For more information see www.pfeg.org or contact Matt Hartley on 020 7330 9478 or matt.hartley@pfeg.org

Experian and financial education 
Experian has run a financial education programme in the UK since the mid 1990s and has developed a wide selection of resources to help young consumers get to grips with issues around money, credit and credit checking. Existing teaching resources include Creditability, an interactive computer game for 14 to 16-year-olds and Getting Credit: A beginner’s guide a set of lesson plans and support materials. All of Experian’s education resources are available from http://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/resources.html

About Experian
Experian is the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to clients around the world. The Group helps businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision making. Experian also helps individuals to check their credit report and credit score, and protect against identity theft.

Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year ended 31 March 2013 was US$4.7 billion. Experian employs approximately 17,000 people in 40 countries and has its corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; California, US; and São Paulo, Brazil.

For more information, visit http://www.experianplc.com.