Financial Capability Awards

The enterprising spirit of post-primary school students from across Northern Ireland is set to be rewarded in a brand new category within Northern Ireland’s only major financial capability awards scheme.

This year, the Ulster Bank Financial Capability Awards, in association with CCEA, the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessments, is giving local schools the chance to showcase their excellent work in four categories- School Award, Student/Team Award, Teacher Award and the new Enterprising Spirit Award.

The awards, which are open to post-primary schools across Northern Ireland, aim to celebrate excellence in financial capability teaching, and build on Ulster Bank’s long-standing commitment to financial education through its flagship MoneySense for Schools programme, the largest financial education programme for post-primary schools in Ireland.

Click here to find out more information about each of the four categories.

School Award - recognising the most all-round effective approach to financial capability teacher held over the course of an entire school year.

Student/Team Award - recognising a student or group of students who have taken the lead on a financial education event to contribute to their school or community.

Teacher Award - recognising a teacher or group of teachers who inspire and promote financial education in their school.

Enterprising Spirit Award - recognising a group of students who have demonstrated entrepreneurial spirit in their financial capability initiative.

Jamie Kilpatrick from RBAI, Ashleigh Lendrum from Fleming Fulton and Ciara McAteer from St Paul's, Bessbrook with Richard Hanna, CCEA and Jill Smyth, Head of MoneySense

Jill Smyth, Head of MoneySense, Ulster Bank, got the awards underway for 2012 at a special event in Riddel Hall, the new executive education centre at Queen’s University Belfast, of which Ulster Bank is a founding partner.

She says: “Last year, the awards were a big hit with schools from right across Northern Ireland. We had entries from every county which gave great encouragement with regard to the quality and extent of financial capability teaching in many schools.”

“We were very pleased to partner with CCEA last year to create the first awards programme of this kind in Northern Ireland, and we very much look forward to again recognising the excellent work that is being done in Northern Ireland’s post-primary schools to equip young people with the skills and knowledge to make good financial choices and to deal with the challenges of being independent adults.”

Richard Hanna, Director of Education Strategy at CCEA, says:
"CCEA is delighted to support these awards again this year, following their success in 2011 in recognising the many schools working hard to lay the strong foundations their pupils will need to effectively manage their own personal finances. We congratulate Ulster Bank on the initiative and look forward to seeing the good work of schools across Northern Ireland in this area continuing to be highlighted.”

In addition to a specially commissioned trophy and certificate, the winners will also receive a cash prize including School Award £1,000; Teacher Award £500; Student Award £250 and Enterprising Spirit Award £250 - with runners-up prizes also up for grabs in the four categories.

Schools can enter at www.fc-awardsni.co.uk, with the deadline for entries being 20th April 2012. Terms and conditions apply.

Further information about MoneySense for Schools is available at: www.ulsterbank.co.uk/moneysenseforschools