Hello.

My name's Mrs. Hopper, and I'm really excited to be working with you in this lesson from our Financial Education Unit.

In these lessons, we're going to be exploring money, how it makes us feel, how we can make good choices about what to do with our money and how we can make it safe.

So if you're ready to learn a bit more about finance, then let's make a start.

In this lesson, we're going to be thinking about wants, needs, priorities, and influence.

And by the end of the lesson, I hope you're going to be able to explain the difference between what you need and what you want and what others want you to buy.

So thinking about those influences that are around us all the time when we're making decisions about spending our money.

So let's have a look at what's going to be in our lesson today.

We've got two key words here, influence and influencer.

You may know what those are, but let's practise saying them and then we'll look at what they mean.

So I'll take my turn, then it'll be your turn.

So my turn influence, your turn, my turn, influencer, your turn.

Have you come across those terms? The second one, influencer is a bit more of a recent term that's only really come up outta the rise of social media and all the things that we now do online.

So let's have a look at what they mean.

Influence means having the ability to change the character, behaviour of someone or something.

So it means that we can, by saying things and doing things, change the way perhaps that people decide to behave.

And an influencer is someone who promotes or recommends products or a certain lifestyle.

And you may have heard of some influencers and what they do online to help people to decide what to buy and maybe to persuade them to buy particular products.

So there are two parts to our lesson today.

In the first part, we're going to be thinking about who influences us.

And in the second part, we're gonna be thinking about what we should do with our money or what you should do with your money.

It's your money, it's your decision, but it's good to be aware of how the world around us tries to influence the way that we spend our money.

So let's make a start on who influences us.

So in this lesson, we're going to meet Alex, Jacob, Sophia, and Aisha, and some members of Aisha's family.

Aisha is given 10 pounds for her birthday.

She says, "I'm not sure what to do with my money.

I need some advice." What would you advise her to do? Jacob says, "Well, who could Aisha get advice from?" I wonder, who would you go to for advice on how to spend your money? So who could Aisha be influenced by? Well, she might be influenced by the adverts she sees on the television or hears on the radio, perhaps in the car.

She might be influenced by her parents or her friends or by influences or celebrities that she sees around, and the rest of her family might also influence her in the way that she chooses to spend her money.

So lots of people who've got advice for us, possibly different advice on what we should do with our money.

Aisha does ask her family for advice, "What do you think I should do with my 10 pounds?" she says.

Her mom says, "Save it.

You've had presents already." So perhaps it was her birthday or a special occasion, she's already had presents.

So maybe she should save the 10 pounds.

Her grandmother says, "Buy something you need like some socks." Mm.

Well, it's very sensible advice, isn't it? But I wonder if Aisha needs to buy herself some socks at the moment.

I wonder if her mum might help her with those sorts of things.

What about her uncle? He says, "Buy a book you love reading." Well, that's very true.

She does love reading and buying a book could be a good thing, but she might be a member of the library, mightn't she? She might not need to buy the book.

Aisha asks her friends for advice.

She says, again, "What do you think I should do with my 10 pounds?" What might they say? What would you say to Aisha? Pause the video, have a think about what advice her friends might give her.

And then when you're ready for some feedback, press play.

What advice would you give Aisha? What do you think her friends would say? Alex says, "Buy a football, then we can play together." Jacob says, "Buy some chocolate.

I love chocolate." And Sophia says, "Oh yes, chocolate is a great idea." Hmm.

Has Sophia been influenced by Jacob, do you think? He's doing a good sales pitch there on chocolate? "Yeah, go for chocolate.

I love chocolate." And Sophia's backing him up, isn't she? Aisha is also influenced by advertising.

"Every week I see and hear hundreds of adverts," she says.

And Jacob says, "Adverts are found on TV, radio, social media, search engines and websites," and also just all around us as we travel around outside our homes and around our local areas as well.

Advertising works by getting us to want something.

If we see it, we hear it, that catchy little tune that they put on an advert and we keep singing it and then we see it out and think, oh, maybe I should buy that.

It's very clever.

She says, "Yes, but the Ham Helsing book does look funny." So this might be a book she wants.

Aisha might also be influenced by influencers.

She says, "My mum is a big fan of Miss DIY." Sometimes influencers are paid to advertise products.

It's like their job.

It's not just something perhaps that they really like or maybe they do really like it, but that company will then pay them or give them some money every time one of their products is sold as a reward for promoting it, for advertising it for them.

So here's Miss DIY, "Gizmo paintbrushes are just the best," she says.

"My new gizmo cordless power drill is amazing." Aisha says, "Maybe I should get a gizmo paintbrush." Do you think she's going to do some DIY.

I think Miss DIY is doing a good job of influencing and promoting Gizmo products.

Other celebrities can also affect what we buy.

So there are writers, bands or singers that we like, sports people that we enjoy watching and that we admire as well.

Aisha says, "I often get good advice from books." Yes, you might well do.

And Jacob says, "Collar Bone is a brilliant band.

I like the guitarist's shoes.

I want a pair of those." He's been influenced by what one of his favourite band members is wearing.

So whose advice should Aisha listen to? She says, "My uncle often gives good advice, so I might get a book." Remember her uncle advised her to get a book? 'cause he knows she loves reading.

So what does Aisha need and what does she want? Have a think about all the advice, all the influence she's had and have a think about who should she listen to? What should she do with her money? What does she need? What does she want? Pause the video and have a discussion, and when you're ready for some feedback, press play.

What do you think? So Jacob's advice for Aisha is that she should save it for now.

He says, "You don't actually need anything." And that's something, sometimes we need to step right back.

We've got money, we really want to spend it, but do we really want to buy anything? Do we really need anything? Will we regret buying it without really giving it some thought? In the end, though, it is Aisha's decision, she might be influenced by other people, but she has to decide for herself whether to spend her money or whether to save it.

Wait a bit and have a really good think about what she really needs.

Over to you for some practise, so you're going to imagine you have some money to spend and you're going to think about who influences you on how you spend that money.

And you're going to arrange all the different influences around you from the thing that influences you most is the most influential at the top, right down to the least influential at the bottom.

And some might be equal in the middle.

"Who would you listen to? Where would you get advice about what to do with your money?" says Aisha.

And you're going to put these people in order of how much they might influence your decision on how you spend your money.

So here are the people to sort, and there's your diagram.

So pause the video, discuss and sort those different influences.

And when you're ready for some feedback, press play.

How did you get on discussing those influences? Here are some possible answers.

Jacob sorted them and he said his parents were the most influential and his neighbours perhaps were the least influential.

He's got celebrities above influences and bloggers.

Maybe he's not as interested in following influences or bloggers.

Maybe he's wise to advertising, okay.

But he felt that his family and his friends were the most influential.

But he says, "Remember, you have to make the decision in the end.

It's your money.

You decide what to do with it." And on into the second part of our lesson about what should we do with our money? Let's have a think.

So Jacob has saved up some money.

He says, "I need a new pencil case, but Sophia wants me to go and see a new film with her at the cinema." Hmm.

I wonder what he should do.

Sophia says, "Come and see the film.

It's really funny." Aisha says, "Your old pencil case is completely broken.

You need a new one." Alex says, "Save your money.

You don't actually need a pencil case." He could just put it in a plastic bag, couldn't he, or something like that? What should Jacob do, do you think? You might want to have a talk about this? You know it's Jacob's decision, he will decide, but what would you do if you were Jacob? Would you go to the film? Would you buy the pencil case" Or would you just save your money? Here's another scenario.

Sophia would like a new coat.

She says, "I'm not sure what sort of coat I want." Jacob says, "Get an eco-friendly one made from recycled materials." Ah, Jacob's thinking green, thinking about saving the planet.

Aisha says, "Get an acorn coat like mine.

Expensive, but really cool." And Alex says, "Do you actually need a new coat?" Remember, it does say she'd like one and she's not sure what she wants.

She hasn't actually said that she needs a coat yet.

What should Sophia do? If Sophia buys a more expensive coat or if she wants the more expensive coat, should she help save up for it? What do you think she should do? What would you do if you were Sophia? There's no right or wrong answers to these discussions.

In the end of the day, it's your money and you make the decision, but you can listen to people around you and listen to the people who might influence you or who might give you advice on how to spend your money.

And Alex needs some advice.

It's nearly his mum's birthday.

He says, "Should I buy mum some gardening tools or get myself some headphones?" What do you think Alex should do? What different solutions could there be to Alex's problem? So again, you could use that conscience alley idea to help make a decision, Half of you deciding that he thinks he should spend it on his mum and half of you thinking he should spend on the headphones.

Okay, what different solutions could there be? Pause the video, have a discussion, and when you're ready for some feedback, press play.

What did you think? What possible solutions are there? Aisha says, "Well, it's your money.

Buy yourself some headphones." Well, that's one way he could solve the problem.

Sophia says, "Your mum loves gardening.

Buy the tools." Jacob says, "It's your mom's birthday.

She does lots for you." But Alex says, "I think I should buy my mom some gardening tools.

I can always save up for some headphones." That's very true.

And he never know, If it's his birthday coming up, he might get the headphones for his birthday as well mightn't he? Remember though, it's your money, so it's your decision as to what to do with it.

And time for some practise.

Aisha has a book voucher.

She says, "I can spend it in the bookshop.

What should I buy?" Aisha's mum thinks a maths book would be a good idea.

Her grandfather suggests a present for somebody else.

Her uncle suggests a graphic novel.

Jacob thinks a cuddly toy be an excellent idea.

Some bookshops do sell all sorts of different things, don't they, these days, not just books? And Sophia thinks that Aisha should buy some fancy pens.

Again, they might be able to buy those in the bookshop as well.

How might each person influence Aisha's decision? What might they say" And what might Aisha say in response? So remember we've got her mum, her grandfather, her uncle, and then Jacob and Sophia.

What might each of them say to Aisha to persuade her that theirs is the right idea? And what might Aisha say in response? And do you think Aisha might regret any of the suggested choices? So think about what they'd each say and which decisions Aisha might possibly regret.

Pause the video, have a think about those, and when you're ready for some feedback, press play.

How did you get on thinking about what each of them might say to Aisha, how she might respond, and whether she might regret any of those choices? Let's have a look at some possible things you might have said.

So her uncle might have said to her, "There's some great graphic novels.

They're full of action and excitement and the artwork is brilliant." And Aisha might say, "Well, I've never read one of those before.

I think I might get some outta the library first to see if I like them." That's a really good idea.

Libraries are a fantastic way of getting access to lots and lots of different styles of books.

And then if you do have some money to spend on a book, you can make sure you buy the one you really want.

Remember Sophia said, "Get those pens.

They come in lots of really sparkly colours and they smell good too." Or I think we can all imagine what those pens are going to be like.

Aisha says, "That's a lovely idea, but I prefer colouring pencils because they're non-plastic." Are Aisha's thinking with an environmental head on as well, isn't she? So I hope you enjoyed thinking about what those people who influence Aisha might have said.

Any choices she might have regretted, do you think? I'm not sure.

I'm not sure whether I'd have regretted any of them, but she might've regretted not spending her money on herself if she'd just brought something for somebody else.

On the other hand, it might be somebody she really wanted to say thank you to and she might have felt really good having been able to buy them a little something just to say thank you.

And we've come to the end of the lesson.

We've been thinking about wants, needs, priorities, and influence.

Different things influence the choices that we make with our money.

But it's up to you to make decisions about your money.

You should probably prioritise needs over wants.

So things that you need should come top of the list, things that you want may be lower down the list.

And influences need to be carefully considered.

Why is that person trying to make you buy that thing? Is it all about you or is some of it about them as well? But remember, the really important thing is, it's up to you to make decisions about your money.

I hope you've enjoyed those discussions.

I certainly have.

And I hope we get to work together again soon.

Bye-bye.