Director of the program, teacher Jane Fincher, was presented with the Commonwealth Bank Foundation Teaching Award and a $10,000 grant at a gala dinner in Sydney.

“That amount of money will make a significant difference to the sort of program I can deliver to the school,” said Ms Fincher, who will invest the money in resources to develop the program. 

The self-sufficient school economy aims to improve financial literacy among students and teach environmental principles, while forging strong community links. 

Students design and establish a school currency, banking system and micro-society, while learning how to operate a bank account and accumulating school currency earned by working, recycling bounties or setting up business initiatives. 

The students create enterprising ways to generate income while encountering the same ethical and business dilemmas they will face as adults.

“It’s teaching kids to manage money and make good financial choices,” Ms Fincher said. 

“When they get older this will have been valuable learning to them.” 

The program was chosen from more than 250 quality applications from across Australia. 

Commonwealth Bank CEO and Foundation chairman Ian Narev presented the award that is into its third year. 

“We believe it is very important to support teachers who are working hard to improve their students’ financial literacy,” Mr Narev said. 

“This will improve the students’ financial well-being in the long term.”