Acting Depute Head Teacher Cameron MacKay described why the school decided to initiate a day focusing on finances and the cost of living:
“We quite often within the school will hold an event raising awareness of one of the big issues, so we quite often rotate around literacy, numeracy, health and wellbeing and STEM.”
The school decided that the equity team should be involved in a numeracy event focusing on finance.
“This event is happening within the context of the cost of living crisis, and we know that there’s financial deprivation in North Lanarkshire, and within our catchment that’s quite an acute issue as well. So we decided, instead of just a numeracy festival, let’s make this day about the cost of living and financial well-being,”
Hugh and Maisy were two learners who took part in sessions during the day. Maisy described what she’d taken away from the experience:
“We learned about money and debt. It showed us that not everybody has the luxury of loads and loads of money. Some people only get like £700 a month.” Hugh said that: “It was like an interactive activity, and when I was in debt, I was in loads of debt ‘cause I was just buying loads of things, and I thought I could maybe get off with it, but like there was nothing I could do.”
The fayre showcased the work of a range of organisations in the area, covering the support available for low income families. Cameron MacKay described why the school had decided to extend the event to include a cost of living fayre after school:
“The fayre is the community aspect because there's nothing more community focused than finance. We can speak to the young people but really it's the adults that that we need to support as well. We need to support them to support the young people.”
The fayre showcased the work of a range of organisations in the area, covering a wide spectrum of supports for families. These organisations valued the opportunity to work in partnership with the school to reach parents and carers, raise awareness and overcome any barriers to accessing support.
Anne McNamara from Kirkshaw's Neighbourhood Centre was promoting a new community larder:
“I do a lot of things with Facebook and social media and whatever, but that's only going to reach a certain age group and a certain type of person who likes social media. But you've got to go out, you've got to go and get the people who need the help, and so you've got to try and come to different events.”
Lorraine Van Beuge of North Lanarkshire Disability Forum, supports people with disabilities and long term conditions:
“This is a good opportunity for parents to see what support is out there for both them and their children and their wider family. It’s good for us to come along and be in their own environment, rather than them coming to us, and sort of showcasing the information.”
Community partners at the event - North Lanarkshire Disability Forum
Yvonne Ioannou from Glenboig Development Trust:
“You’re going to meet the people that need your help. I mean, the cost of living crisis goes beyond our own wee communities, and what we do is for everybody, it's not just for those in your own community.”
Liz Murphy from Cool School Uniforms in Coatbridge:
“We find that there are barriers to people coming to ask for help, charity, thinking what are other people going to say? So we need to be out there letting people know that we’re here for everybody. Cause we do find that not everybody knows we are there for them.”
Community partners at the event - Cool School Uniforms, Coatbridge
For Coatbridge High School there are many benefits to running events like this, for families, young people and the school. There are obvious educational and information sharing benefits, as Cameron describes:
“Working on things like financial well-being is going to have the maximum impact if we can involve the family group rather than just the young people. We're really keen to connect and widen that net and get families involved as much as possible “Parental engagement leads to increased attainment.”
For more ideas about how your school can help families living on low incomes, take a look at the briefing: Referral pathways to money advice in education settings.
