A place in the adventure
A clear offer schools can assess
Pocket Money Adventures helps young children practise everyday money choices through a playful, structured school programme. Inclusion starts before the visit: we agree how children can join in, which support adults will provide and how the class will keep practising afterwards.
| The school offer | What it means |
|---|---|
| One class, up to 30 children | Designed for ages 4–7: Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. |
| Seven weeks | A PMA-led Spark followed by six teacher-led weekly Sidekick sessions and a week-seven recall check. |
| Spark | 60–75 minutes of core delivery within a school-agreed slot of up to 90 minutes. |
| No charge to schools | Sponsor-funded school delivery, subject to an agreed available place. Community work is separately scoped and host-funded. |
| Home Link | Four optional Family Missions in weeks 1–4 plus a Parent Fridge Card for use throughout the term. No returns or proof of completion. |
| Teacher time | Around 15 minutes weekly, including no more than five minutes’ preparation; around two hours across seven weeks. School adult supervision during Spark is additional. |
What PMA brings
The Spark delivery, the agreed school resource set, a short repeatable routine, accessible response choices, a defined follow-through and a proportionate reporting route. We use Tap, Tap, Pause as the routine name in this companion pack; teachers use the instructions in their issued School Edition.
What the school brings
A named teacher, appropriate adult supervision, local safeguarding arrangements, knowledge of children’s access needs, space and time for the follow-through, and review of the teaching materials before delivery. PMA facilitators do not work alone with an individual child.
PMA’s ambition is participation without avoidable barriers. We agree practical adjustments with each school; we do not assume that one format works for every child.
Pocket Money Adventures CIC • Company 16994988 • Education, not regulated financial advice.
How the seven weeks fit together
One coherent sequence, with room to adapt access
| When | Delivery | Minimal record |
|---|---|---|
| Before week 1 | Review materials, confirm access and complete the existing teacher baseline. | Reference the booking and issued instrument; no second reflection form. |
| Week 1 | PMA-led Spark; introduce optional Home Link. | PMA completes the Spark entry. |
| Weeks 2–7 | One Sidekick Card weekly, 1–5 minutes; optional 30-second practice moments and a two-minute check-in. | One delivery mark and date; note a substitution or material barrier only. |
| Week 7 | Final Sidekick session, planned recall and existing teacher follow-up. | Short summary on the same record; no new survey. |
| After week 7 | Agree any next step. | The completed second page is the report. |
Keep the current pathway intact
The default six Sidekick Cards are 21, 22, 23, 24, 28 and 29. Record any substitution and why it was made. Home Link comprises four optional Family Missions and the Parent Fridge Card. A family’s participation is never a condition of the child’s classroom participation.
Programme completion means Spark + all six weekly sessions + the week-seven recall check. Otherwise report participation or partial delivery and say which elements were delivered.
Age appropriate expectations
For ages 4–5, use concrete examples, repetition, recognition and imitation. A child can show a choice through pointing, objects or an agreed communication method. For ages 6–7, invite an explanation, a simple saving goal or a discussion of the choice left for later. Speech or writing should not be the only route to participation.
Evidence boundary: the current standardised seven-week programme has not yet recorded a completed school cohort in the controlling PMA reference. Earlier Spark and follow-up observations used differing methods. They do not establish the impact of this full pathway.
School action: place the programme within the existing curriculum and identify who will sustain the learning after week seven.
Recognition with a clear meaning
Recognise the achievement; keep its scope precise
Support Staffordshire
PMA received a Support Staffordshire LDA Friendly certificate dated 15 June 2026. It recognises PMA’s commitment to creating a supportive and accessible environment for people with learning disabilities and autism.
Use this recognition to explain why access planning matters to PMA. It does not establish that every resource or session is accessible to every individual, or replace consultation with a school and its children.
Financial Education Quality Mark
The PMA School Edition was awarded the Financial Education Quality Mark by Young Enterprise on 21 September 2026: Issue 0195, valid until September 2028. The scheme is supported by the Money and Pensions Service.
This is recognition of the assessed resource’s quality. It is not a causal impact evaluation, approval of PMA as an organisation, or an endorsement by Ofsted or the Department for Education. This new operational companion pack has not itself been assessed for the Quality Mark.
Suggested wording for school enquiries
“Our School Edition holds the Financial Education Quality Mark, awarded by Young Enterprise. PMA also received Support Staffordshire’s LDA Friendly certificate in June 2026. We build on that commitment by agreeing practical access arrangements with each school before delivery.”
| Keep | Avoid |
|---|---|
| Exact issuer, resource and date | “Government approved” or “Ofsted approved” |
| Commitment to accessibility | A guarantee that every need is already met |
| Observed learning with its method and limits | “Proven impact” without suitable evaluation |
Source records: Pocket Money Adventures master reference updated 27 September 2026; School Edition award record; original Support Staffordshire LDA Friendly certificate dated 15 June 2026.
Plan access before delivery
Agree the barrier, the adjustment and who will provide it
Ask what helps children participate. Do not ask the school to send diagnoses, care histories or an identifiable pupil list. The school retains individual plans and briefs the adults who need the information to deliver safely.
| Possible barrier | Practical adjustment to agree | Check it worked |
|---|---|---|
| Language or processing time | Use one instruction at a time, concrete objects, a visual sequence and extra response time. Pre-teach key words with the teacher. | Child can indicate the choice through a familiar route. |
| Speech, hearing or communication | Face the class, reduce background noise, pair spoken language with visible choices; use the child’s established communication system with school support. | Meaning is accessible without relying on speech alone. |
| Vision or reading | Offer larger uncluttered print, high contrast, verbal description and tactile / object alternatives agreed with the school. | Resources are perceivable from the child’s position. |
| Sensory load or anxiety | Preview the sequence, avoid surprise loud sound, offer a quieter space and a predictable break / return plan. | The child can regulate without losing access to the activity. |
| Mobility, fatigue or fine motor demands | Provide reachable materials, seated participation, an adult-supported alternative and flexible pacing. | The task measures the intended choice, not speed or dexterity. |
Preserve the learning intention
Change the route into the activity before removing the activity. A child may point, gesture, use an object or communicate through a familiar adult. Avoid public ranking, compulsory performance, reading-speed tests or rewards tied to home participation.
Adjustments are agreed options, not clinical advice or a promise that specialist provision is available. If safe, meaningful participation cannot yet be arranged, resolve the gap with the school before delivery rather than improvise on the day.
Agree adjustments with Pocket Money Adventures before delivery. Record only material changes or unresolved barriers in the class record.
Protect dignity and belonging
Money learning without questions about a child’s home
| Situation | PMA delivery approach |
|---|---|
| Different family finances | Use fictional people, tokens and choices. Never ask who has money, receives pocket money, owns a device or can afford a purchase. |
| A family cannot join Home Link | Keep every home activity optional. No printing, buying, returning work or explaining non-participation is required. Offer a school-accessible way to hear the same learning. |
| A child is reluctant to speak | Offer quiet observation and a familiar response mode, with a supported route back in. Record the barrier without labelling the child. |
| A child shares hardship or worry | Acknowledge calmly, avoid public follow-up and use the safeguarding route where relevant. Do not turn a disclosure into evaluation material. |
| A child needs extra support | Agree the supporting adult, accessible materials and timing in advance. Keep expectations ambitious but appropriate to the child and activity. |
| Sponsor visibility | Keep education separate from selling. No child contact details, product promotion, individual stories or identifiable photographs in sponsor evidence. |
Language that welcomes
Use “You can show us in your own way”, “You can take a moment” and “Let’s try it with our pretend choices”. The PMA rule is: “Save some, spend some, share some if you can.” Sharing is not a test of generosity or family means.
Ask, observe, improve
Invite the teacher’s view of who could access the session, where participation was difficult and which changes helped. School staff can review their own pupil-group information locally. PMA normally receives a non-identifying account of barriers and actions, not sensitive subgroup counts.
“Every child” is our design ambition. The evidence should show the adjustments we agreed, the access we observed and the gaps we still need to address. Do not replace this with an unsupported claim of universal success.
Keep one class record
Pocket Money Adventures prefills the class references and completes the Spark entry. Use the existing teacher baseline and follow-up; no new questionnaire. Mark the six weekly sessions, or reference an equivalent dated log. The final page becomes the School Delivery and Learning Report.
School access guide (PDF, 5 pages) · Class record (PDF, 2 pages) · Editable class record (Word, 2 pages)
These are blank working resources. Keep completed records with your agreed school and delivery records. Do not put child identifiers, sensitive pupil-group detail or safeguarding concerns in this record.