EVERFI launches new courses on financial education and compassion for primary pupils

Education company EVERFI has launched two free digital courses for UK primary pupils, following their huge success in the US.

The two courses, Vault and The Compassion Project, teach young people aged between 11 and 14 years old valuable life skills including how to manage their future finances and how to practise compassion.

The courses use interactive games and real-life scenarios played out by cartoon characters to engage pupils of all abilities. The content has been created with teachers and is sponsored by businesses so that it is free for schools across the UK.

They help create a more-equal society by providing pupils with life skills that prepare them for a brighter, happier, safer and more-resilient future, and raise their aspirations.

All of the courses are free for all UK schools and at no point will schools or teachers have to pay for any part of them. The courses can be used flexibly in class or at home.

Vault

Vault teaches nine to 11 year olds how to make smart financial decisions and the basics of budgeting. Pupils learn how to distinguish between their needs and wants, are taught what a payslip looks like and how interest can make our savings grow.

As part of the course, children play a budgeting game with the characters who are saving for short-term, medium-term and long-term goals. They learn how to be critical consumers by helping one character choose the best hoverbike to buy and the best value fuel to keep it moving.

Experts say the divide is becoming more pronounced between those children who are given a basic grasp of how to handle their future finances and those that aren’t.

At least 5.3m other children in the UK receive very little – if any – guidance on how to manage their future earnings, according to The Money and Pensions Service, an arm’s length body of the Department for Work and Pensions.

The course has been adapted for the UK after becoming a success story in the US where it has reached more than 340,000 children. In the UK, it has been accredited with Young Enterprise’s prestigious Financial Education Quality Mark.

You can find out more about Vault and how your school can get involved through our teacher hub at everfiteachers.co.uk/everfi-courses/vault.

The Compassion Project

It’s no surprise that a survey of 11,000 teenagers has found that 38% are more worried about their mental health now than they were before the pandemic.

We must assume that every child has been affected in some way by Covid-19 and teachers across the country are finding that they need to put in place a plan for all children and personalised plans for those who are most deeply affected.

At EVERFI, we believe that those plans should include the teaching of compassion.

The Compassion Project is available to all UK schools and designed for 7 to 11 year olds. The Compassion Project, is the only comprehensive, free programme of its kind and is linked to national curricula in Personal, Social and Health Education and Personal Development.

The course uses real-life scenarios and role play to help young people understand how to practise compassion and introduces students to core social emotional learning competencies, how to practice compassion and empathy, identify emotions, and exercise a growth mindset.

It’s already been a runaway success in the US, reaching about 20% of all primary schools there.

The course was originally the brainchild of Jeff Weiner, LinkedIn’s Chairman, who says: “I’m not sure that I can think of anything more important than teaching compassion. The benefits are myriad in terms of … improving [children’s] sense of self, their self-esteem and the way they relate to others.”

You can find out more about The Compassion Project and how your school can get involved here: everfiteachers.co.uk/the-compassion-project.