Year Five News

The Year Five students are enjoying the Game of Life, an economics and financial literacy unit, based around some central and powerful ideas: needs versus wants, what you might want versus what you can afford and the different kinds of resources we consume.

Recently, the students were challenged to investigate two budgetary issues: how much to spend on a weekly supermarket shop for one person and the cost of utilities and subscription services each month. They were encouraged to reflect on their spending choices: 

“I think the utilities and subscriptions are at a good price but the gas and electricity is pretty expensive.”

“For someone earning $80,000 a year, utilities is around 10% of their income!”

“I think that one third of my wage would go into utilities and subscriptions!”

“I knew it was going to be expensive but I honestly thought it was going to be a lot more expensive.”

“I think around a quarter of my money will be spent on stuff like this!”

“It was a lot more expensive than I thought.”

“It cost me $536 for my utilities and subscriptions witch seems like a lot of money.”

“I earn $5,000 a month and spend $500, so this is about 1 dollar out of every 10!”

“The subscription and utilities were way more expensive than my liking. The Foxtel Netflix and a lot off the subscription and utilities were very pricey.”

Units of work like this give students a window into the real world and they’re often great conversation starters at home.

By the time we’ve finished the work, they will have chosen a phone contract, rented a property and furnished it!

All the best from the Year Five team.