Secondary schools have an extremely vital role to play in our community, in that they've got to not only educate teenagers in traditional subjects, but prepare them for life after school; especially when students have no intention of going onto further studies after secondary school.

The majority of secondary schools are required to supply staff to perform the functions of welfare and counselling, due to challenges some students are facing at home.  Sadly, in many of these instances the parents are not perfect role models, for their children, because they themselves are constantly in survival mode with very little structure or goals in their own lives.  With very little education, resources or money, some of these parents simply don't have the ability to improve their families' situation and as such, there is a real risk of history repeating itself in many of these families.  In fact, according to DOC's (New South Wales, Australia) own figures in 2006 - 2007, there was a 19 percent increase in the number of children at risk notifications on the previous year.

In the past (present and no doubt in the future), governments have tried (and will continue to try) to take the "Big Stick" approach to parents, but does that really work, or does it merely agitate some parents, causing them to have a greater disdain and mistrust for governments?

Working in consultation with a psychologist, Grocery Bill Busters.com.au has created a concept titled: "Grocery Budget a Combined School and Home Project" where we replace the "Big Stick" with our Grocery Budget; but instead of just targeting the teenagers from disadvantaged backgrounds, we propose that secondary schools involve all students in the classroom. 

As the Grocery Budget is very user friendly and does adapt easily to competency based learning activities and outcomes, we would like to propose that the students be given the task of creating their very own grocery budget (with the assistance of their parents).  Each week the students would be required to amend the Shopping List, according to their family's requirements, and set a Budget Target which would be slightly lower than the Shopping List's Grand Total. 

The objective of the "Grocery Budget a Combined School and Home Project" is to have the students attempt to reduce their family's grocery budget, without compromising on quality and nutrition.  Furthermore, they should also be able to demonstrate how and why they have reduced their family's grocery budget.  We know from our own two year testing and research, an average family can initially save up to $80.00 per week, while consistently saving upwards of $40.00 per week on their grocery bill simply by following the principles of our Grocery Budget and supermarket saving suggestions.

Because the Grocery Budget would be a combined school and home project and not a government criteria for families receiving welfare payments, we feel confident that the Grocery Budget being disguised as a combined school and home project will discreetly, non-invasively and in a non threatening way help some parents to become better money managers, problem solvers and goal setters.  Moreover, the project will educate the secondary students, including those with intellectual challenges, in budget planning and thereby, preparing them for life after school.  The perfect outcome, of course, would be to see that link, where family history repeats itself, being broken.

Where we also see the "Grocery Budget a Combined School and Home Project" being invaluable is in helping students studying commercial cooking, to fully appreciate the cost of food, so they can hopefully make educated choices in terms of food ingredients that are both cost effective and nutritional.  

In regard to teenaged students with intellectual challenges, we know that they do require routine in order to enjoy sustainable and happy lives and as the Grocery Budget is very user friendly, self populating and automatically calculates quantities and prices, we feel confident that with the assistance of the "Grocery Budget a Combined School and Home Project", these teenagers will be able to achieve sustainable and happy lives.  To learn more please Contact Us.