Home Economics Lesson 1: Make Your Money Go Further PLEASE NOTE:  Information on potential Assessment for Learning (AfL) strategies or Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities will appear in these notes in italics.  Instructions to the teacher, notes, or questions to discuss in class will appear in these notes as normal text.

Learning Intentions We are learning… how to evaluate goods and services (needs and wants) how to create and evaluate a balanced budget how to use appropriate mathematical terms when budgeting AfL  Focus on learning Share these AfL learning intentions with pupils in your introduction to the lesson.  Share and negotiate success criteria with pupils. Examples of success criteria Pupils will be able to: make sure that all needs are met before other items are bought; create a balanced budget; and discuss their budget planning using mathematical language.

How will you spend your beans? Your pocket money this month is 20 beans. In pairs, you must decide how you will spend your beans. AfL    This part of the lesson uses the following strategies:    effective questioning; and    scaffolding reflection by asking for feedback from pupils.   (You should plan several open questions before the lesson to ensure that questioning is effective. Examples: What would you buy first? What are your reasons for this choice? How would you decide if something is a need or a want? Could you develop a checklist to help with this decision?) Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities   In this activity, pupils have the opportunity to develop the following skills: Thinking, Problem-Solving and Decision-Making; Being Creative; Working with Others; and Self-Management. The Bean Game introduces the concept of budgeting. Give each pair of pupils Worksheet 1a: The Bean Game and 20 beans as pocket money for a month.

The Bean Game AfL   This part of the lesson uses the following strategies:   effective questioning; and   scaffolding reflection    – by asking for feedback from pupils; and   – by encouraging peer and self-assessment.  Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities  In this activity, pupils have the opportunity to develop the following skills:  Managing Information; Thinking, Problem-Solving and Decision-Making; and Working with Others. Explain to the pupils that there are various items on Worksheet 1a. Each item has a value of beans, for example the occasional professional haircuts cost two beans as they have two boxes. Ensure pupils understand the game by asking, for example, how many beans does a concert cost? Some discussion may be required about the savings, how to calculate them and the reasons for saving. The pupils must decide how they will spend and/or save their beans this month.

How did you spend your beans? Why did you choose the items you did? AfL   This part of the lesson uses the following strategies:   effective questioning; and   scaffolding reflection    – by asking for feedback from pupils; and   – by encouraging peer and self-assessment. Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities   In this activity, pupils have the opportunity to develop the following skills:   Managing Information;  Thinking, Problem-Solving and Decision-Making; and  Working with Others. Discussion questions: Why did you choose the items you did?  In what ways were you influenced by: your values?  your goals? your previous experiences?  Discuss, as a class, how and why the pupils spent their beans, giving reasons for their choices.  

Bean shortage! Due to cutbacks, you will only have 13 beans next month. What changes will you make? What will you give up? AfL    This part of the lesson uses the following strategies:    effective questioning; and    scaffolding reflection     – by asking for feedback from pupils; and    – by encouraging peer and self-assessment.   Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities   In this activity, pupils have the opportunity to develop the following skills: Thinking, Problem-Solving and Decision-Making; and Working with Others. Explain to the pupils that there is a shortage of beans and they will only get 13 beans next month. Put the pupils into pairs and ask them to decide what changes they will make and where they will cut back on spending. Discuss, as a class, how pupils decided what they would do without. Ask if any of the pupils thought about using beans they had saved the previous month.  

Case study It is important to learn to manage your money so that you can make it go further. It is wise to try to get the best value for your money when you are shopping. There are many deals about, some good and some not so good. The following case study looks at a brother and sister and their spending and saving. Recap the key words on the next slide before pupils begin the case study. Give out Worksheet 1b: Case Study and Resource 1: Grocery Price List.  Pupils work independently through the case study. For more information, please refer to slide 12 ('How to make a budget') on the Maths Lesson 1 PowerPoint presentation. We recommend collaborating with the Maths department when teaching this lesson.

Key Words Income Money you receive from pocket money, presents, jobs or interest on savings. Expenditure Money you spend on things you need (such as food) and things you want (such as meals in restaurants). Budget An estimate of income and expenditure for a specific length of time. Many different types of people and groups have budgets, including individuals, families, companies and governments.

Darren’s Budget AfL     This part of the lesson uses the following strategies:     effective questioning; and     scaffolding reflection      – by asking for feedback from pupils; and     – by encouraging peer and self-assessment.    Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities    In this activity, pupils have the opportunity to develop the following skills: Managing Information; Thinking, Problem-Solving and Decision-Making; and  Working with Others. Part 1 focuses on Darren’s poor management of his finances.  Pupils will calculate Darren’s expenditure and debt.  Encourage group and class discussion around needs and wants and prioritising spending. Pupils will then draw up a four-week budget.  Pupils working at a lower level may require support to calculate Darren’s income and expenditure. More able pupils can prioritise spending using diamond ranking.  It would be beneficial to have class discussions throughout the activity. A natural break for discussion might occur when prioritising Darren’s items. This break will allow pupils to share and discuss ideas. Point out that different people have different priorities.  Pupils may require help and guidance to draw up a budget sheet for Darren. For consistency, pupils should do this in the way they were taught in Maths, either on paper, in a spreadsheet or using an app.

Ciara’s Budget AfL      This part of the lesson uses the following strategies:      effective questioning; and      scaffolding reflection       – by asking for feedback from pupils; and      – by encouraging peer and self-assessment.     Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities     In this activity, pupils have the opportunity to develop the following skills:  Managing Information;  Thinking, Problem-Solving and Decision-Making; and Working with Others. Part 2 focuses on Ciara planning a meal and shopping wisely.  Discuss with the pupils value for money and quantities needed to minimise waste. Pupils will make a shopping list and then select the items from the Grocery Price List (Resource 1). There is more than one way to do this and the class should discuss this afterwards. This will give pupils the opportunity to explain why they have chosen to buy particular quantities of items.

Conclusion To save money, you should: