A group of Year 10 students from Hunter School of Performing Arts have developed a grand plan to improve the biodiversity of their school and community, and in doing so have won $1000 for their school thanks to Greater Bank.
The Bees Project 2019 team will use the prize money to purchase for their school a beehive and plants such as lavender, sage and bottle brush to nourish the bees and allow them to establish a secure habitat within the school grounds.
The What’s Your Grand Plan? competition was established by Greater Bank and the University of Newcastle as part of the Fundamentals of Financial Literacy Program, which teaches high school students key skills in making informed financial decisions when managing money.
To enter, students had to submit a two-minute video explaining their grand plan, its importance to the community, how they planned to reach their savings goal, as well as their budget, timeline and the financial skills they would use to succeed.
Hunter School of Performing Arts Principal, Joanne Gray, said that she was exceptionally proud of her students’ social and environmental awareness, which was their motivation to deliver a project that benefits the school and also the wider community.
“These students do good wherever they go, and this project is no exception. They will impact our school environment and the education of others for years to come,” Ms Gray said.
"We are delighted that Greater Bank initiated the Grand Plan Challenge and hope to share some native bee honey with them and the community sometime soon.” |
Joanne Gray, Hunter School of Performing Arts Principal.
Greater Bank Head of Marketing and Customer Experience, Matt Hingston, said the competition was a great way for students to bring to life the practical skills they learned by taking part in the financial literacy program.
“We received such positive feedback from the pilot program and wanted to create an opportunity for students to implement the skills they had learnt during the program by developing a ‘grand plan’ for achieving a personal goal,” Mr Hingston said.
“We were extremely impressed with Bees Project 2019 team’s community-minded approach to the competition by developing a plan and strategy to implement a program that had wide reaching benefits of the students, school and the local community.”
The Fundamentals of Financial Literacy Program is part of a partnership between Greater Bank and the University of Newcastle, which has seen the establishment of the Greater Bank Finance Lab, coupled with the delivery of community education programs and practical workshops.
Integrated into various subjects across Year 9 and 10 curriculum, the program covers topics such as managing money, reducing debt and implementing simple saving strategies as a way of teaching students how to make informed financial decisions.