MoneySense and SEN students

Whichever activity you choose, prompt the students with a couple of questions to help them focus on what to look out for.

Bank on it: What do banks do? – Joe's dilemma

• Ask the students to imagine that they’ve received £100, and how they would make a decision about what to do with it.
• Tell them to look out for the decision Joe has to make in the video.
• Alert them to the way in which special effects are used to represent his thinking.

Check any tricky vocabulary and technical terms. Tell the students beforehand that these may be coming up.

Bank on it: What do banks do? – Joe's dilemma

Do students understand the words 'dilemma' and 'budget'?

If students with SEN have difficulty in remembering a sequence of instructions, you could give them a prompt sheet with one or two questions written on it.

Bank on it: What do banks do? – Vox Pops

Tell the students that at the end of the video you want them to tell you two examples of:

• where the young people in the film kept their money
• why they'll need money when they are older.

Write the two questions down so that the students are reminded about what they have to do.

Dip in and out of different sections of the resources to cover the subjects which will be of most interest to your students.

To help students understand the different contexts in which budgeting can be useful, you could use the following activities:

Bank on it: Balancing act – Understanding a bank statement (11–14)

Bank on it: Making your money work for you – Budgeting for a holiday (14–16)

Money for Life: Samara's student budget – The weekly shop (14–16)

Be clear about learning objectives, and plan for extra time to complete the activities. Students will benefit from being able to re-visit the activities and rehearse the information and skills that they're working on.

Some students will particularly enjoy the interactive simulations such as the ATM, Paying-in slip, Paul's payslip and the Circle of life activities. They will benefit from additional time to repeat the activities and some will also need help with reading the instructions and information panels.

Try wherever possible to link the activities to personal experiences.

The credit file: Adam's story – Meet Adam

Ask the students to use the introductory activity in which they find out background information about Adam. He wants to know if he can afford to set up home on his own. Relate this to the students' own ideas about being more independent.

For example, ask them to imagine that they are furnishing their own room with a budget of £650. They can work out the dimensions of the room using graph paper, and price up what they think they will need. Use catalogues or the internet to research prices. Remind them to stay within budget, and ask questions such as, 'If you spend £500 on a flat screen TV what are you going to sleep on?'

Include additional materials to supplement the existing resources.

Bank on it: It's your turn to get banking – Paying with plastic

• Print out the sample bank cards.
• Talk about when they might be used.
• Check the students understand how to stay safe from fraud.
• Play simple recognition games such as 'pelmanism' (pairs) and 'snap' to help students recognise the different cards.

Bank on it: It's your turn to get banking – Filling in a paying-in slip

Allow students to use 'play' money to help them grasp the calculations.

Use additional help for reading texts and recording outcomes if appropriate.

Bank on it: What do banks do? – Joe's dilemma

The students may be able to take part in a worthwhile discussion about their options and choices but will need additional help to write their answers.

Include different ways other than writing to allow students to show that they have understood the task.

• Talking about their answer
• Taking part in a role play
• Drawing a flow chart or a storyboard

There are activity sheets to support each module, which, with minor modifications, are accessible for some students with SEN.

Bank on it

Sheet 2 – Which Account? Students could work through one example only, rather than tackling all of them.

Sheet 3 – Understanding a Bank Statement. Ask students to find important information by highlighting:

• account holder's name
• account number
• opening and closing balance
• an amount 'paid in' and 'withdrawn'
• what was the most and least amount of money spent?

We're in business

Sheet 1 – Location, location. Work through questions 1 and 2 and then ask the students to think about where they live and to suggest where would be a good location for a coffee shop and why.

Sheet 2 – We mean business. The students could design a flyer to promote their coffee shop.

The credit file

Sheet 1 – Personal debt. Support the students in exploring their own attitude to borrowing money.

Sheet 2 – TV for sale. Insert the correct answers for questions 2 and 3 (see below) then ask students to give their opinion about who got the best deal and why.

Sheet 3 – Staying out of debt. Encourage the students to use a calculator.