PROJECTS


have gained experience in acting like a stockbroker on a system that closely mirrors those used in the real world, where everything from taxes to investment fund fees need to be managed and paid. Pupils researched companies and took an interest


in the business news to see how it would impact upon their portfolio. They also developed a much better understanding of investment risk which will benefit them in adult life. The fact that teachers could form teams and compete


against the students was also a huge incentive for them to perform to the very best of their abilities, while increasing teacher/student interaction. The 20 teams from each region with the best


From Dagenham to Wall Street


James Taylor discusses the Investment Club he


relentlessness to succeed in The Pursuit of Happiness. T


has set up at his school and why it has been invaluable to his students


he ruthless Gordon Gekko, from the film Wall Street, famously announced that “greed is good”, while Michael J Fox emerged as the gifted yet unlikely stockbroker in The Secret of my Success and, more recently, Will Smith used sheer determination and


Whatever the film, the tone remains the same;


stockbroking is exciting. The prospect of making millions of pounds every week through smart investments all from your desk is a thrill. Over the past two years, I had also noticed my pupils


expressing an interest in “fantasy football” games, in which one must make smart investments to create a “dream team”. Shows that promote entrepreneurship and the benefits of building personal business acumen, such as The Apprentice and Junior Apprentice, have also proved increasingly popular with young people. I was keen to find a way in which I could incorporate


learning into areas and topics students were already interested in and naturally gravitating towards. This is when I came across a UK-wide investment game called the ifs Student Investor Challenge.


The challenge


The challenge is designed for teams of four students, who, using the website, invest a virtual £100,000 in a set of stocks over a specified period of time; the team with the most money at the end of the period wins.


Teams can invest in stocks chosen from a list


of designated FTSE 100 companies and a list of approximately 50 selected smaller companies, called the “SmallCap 50”. Once the challenge starts, this figure is index-linked to the FTSE 100 until the team starts trading, so if any team cannot start trading when the market opens they will not be at a disadvantage. There is extra information on the website about


each company to help students make sound investment decisions, while throughout the competition teams are also able to refer to advice from the online Share Guru (if their portfolio performed better than the guru’s, they get a virtual cash bonus as a fun incentive, too). Around 8,000 teams of four signed up nationwide


last year to win the top prize of a trip to New York and prize money for the winning team and their school. Teachers were also invited to create teams and compete against their students (although we were not eligible to win prizes!).


Invaluable experience The benefits for students have been considerable. They


performing portfolios were invited to attend the regional finals. This was further narrowed down to two top teams from each region, who then competed in the national final in late April. A total of 13 teams from my school took part (11


student and two teacher teams), the majority of which did very well, with five coming in the top 2,000. One of our teams were even in the top three for


the first month, however they fell away after investing heavily in the banking sector. Nonetheless, we gave prizes for the best performing


teams in the schools. All Saints’ winning team captain, Rhys Rogers, 17, said: “Investment club was a huge eye-opener for me, it made me very interested in the financial side of businesses, whereas before I never really was. When I leave school, I will definitely be thinking about studying finance in university to help me even further.”


Plans for next year


While Investment Club was a trial this year, I plan to run it again when the new season starts in October, and intend on promoting and offering it to a greater number of students. I would also like to invite guest speakers to come and speak to our budding stockbrokers, and offer them advice, insight and top tips. A school trip to the London Stock Exchange is


also in the pipeline as I think seeing the electric atmosphere of these offices would be a fantastic experience, particularly for those students who are already expressing an interest in the stock market. SecEd


• James Taylor teaches business at All Saints Catholic School and Technology College in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham.


Further information www.studentinvestor.org


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• Teachers can incorporate the competition into lessons on various subjects, including history, humanities, literacy, art and citizenship, and school projects.


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Awards ceremony and prizes Prizes will be presented at a special awards ceremony on 9 October 2012 and will include:


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