Empowering Financially Savvy Students

The secret lies in a new program introduced at Penrhos this year – a trial of Banqer High, an interactive online platform that brings financial skills to life through hands-on experiences. Using videos, quizzes and worksheets, students dive into real-world financial scenarios and decision-making. They earn virtual money, make investment choices and compete to see who can manage their finances best.

“It’s a platform that connects financial literacy with everyday realities,” said Laura Rutherford, Dean of Student Learning.

By using real Australian data – from average salaries to student loans and living costs – the program lets students experience what it’s really like to have a job, pay bills and manage their own finances.

Laura said: “What I love about Banqer High is how it gamifies real-life problems almost in chronological order – you open a bank account, get a job, then start thinking about moving out of home. It lets students imagine what they’d do once they start earning.”

Students were quick to show just how much they enjoyed it.

“The main thing for me was student engagement,” Laura explained. “Even though they only had one lesson a week, students were logging in every day – often without being prompted. It was intrinsic motivation rather than the teacher telling them. They genuinely wanted to learn.”

LEADING THE WAY

While financial literacy is embedded in the Australian Curriculum up to Year 10, it is not taught as a stand-alone subject and has traditionally been delivered through HASS and Mathematics classes, offering students only limited exposure. 

Thanks to the support of the Penrhos College Foundation and its Helping Hand initiative, Banqer High was trialled at Penrhos as a dedicated subject across the entire Year 8 cohort – and it couldn’t have come at a more crucial time. 

Recent reports paint a worrying picture: Australia is facing a financial literacy crisis. A significant number of adults still struggle with basic money management. According to AMP’s EconoSight report (2023), more than one-third of Australian adults are financially illiterate, with notable gender gaps showing women, on average, to be less financially literate than men. The outlook for young people is equally alarming. A 2025 Frontier Economics study, 'Making Cents of It: The Benefits of Improving the Financial Literacy of Australian Children,' found that financial literacy is lowest among those aged 15 to 24 years old.

It comes as no surprise that an increasing number of financial experts are calling for financial literacy to become a compulsory stand-alone subject in Australian schools. In New Zealand, financial education will be a core part of the national curriculum from next year – becoming compulsory in 2027 – and many believe Australia should follow suit.

At Penrhos, the Banqer High trial has been a huge success and we are proud to be leading the way in building the foundations for shaping financially savvy young people.