New Oscott Primary School are creating and selling their own products on a dedicated Enterprise day. Parents have been invited to share the day with the children to support them and help with calculations and money decisions. The pupils will work out profit which will then be invested back into the school.

Tinchy Stryder, My Money Celebrity Ambassador 2010, heads back to school!

At just 21 years-old, Tinchy Stryder is already a number one selling rap artist, so he knows a thing or two about money, and the importance of handling it properly from a young age. This is why he is this year’s Celebrity Ambassador for the My Money 2010 programme, personally encouraging young people to improve their knowledge of personal finance.

Born and educated in East London, Tinchy headed to St Matthew Academy in Lewisham, London, to join teachers in delivering a personal finance lesson with a difference. At the school, Tinchy demonstrated his teaching skills in the classroom and offered valuable tips to the youngsters about handling money, as well finding the time to sign a few sought-after autographs.

Having founded his own clothing label and, more recently, his own record label, all before the age of 21, Tinchy knows all too well about the importance of early financial management skills. He had to learn the lessons of personal finance himself as he rose to fame and wishes that he had learnt the basics whilst at school.

“Many young people have big dreams about their future, just as I did when I was younger. I had to work hard to make the money I needed to make those dreams come true, Tinchy said, “I’m so pleased to be supporting the My Money programme as I think it’s really important that young people get taught about personal finance from an early age. I hope schools and young people across the country get on board with the My Money initiative, sign up to My Money Week and put personal finance firmly on the agenda.”

Martin Nirsimloo, Deputy Head Teacher of St Matthew Academy, said: “We were absolutely thrilled to have Tinchy come to the academy to talk to the young people about personal finance. The pupils at St Matthew have been very engaged with lessons on personal finance and we hope that Tinchy’s involvement will only enhance this further.”

Wendy van den Hende, Chief Executive of financial education charity pfeg, said: “We think Tinchy is a great ambassador for My Money and we are thrilled to have him on board. We hope that his involvement will drive interest in this year’s My Money Week and that more teachers and schools take note of the importance of embedding personal finance into the curriculum.”

Tinchy also lent his artistic eye to the My Money judging panel by joining pfeg for the judging of their national competition. The competition saw schools across the country compete against one another in an artistic challenge for great prizes. The winning entries were announced during My Money Week, a focal point in the teaching calendar which saw thousands of primary and secondary schools delivering specially-themed financial education lessons.