Page 76 - She's One Crazy Lady!

“Barclaycard were working closely with Rowan Atkinson (Mr Bean) and asked if we could design
a fool-proof credit card for Mr Bean to use.
”
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It was at the time when credit cards, (or the mismanagement and abuse of them), was very much in the news and Barclaycard were keen to get the message across to youngsters about how credit cards should be used responsibly and lawfully. A complex project like this had never been tried with Primary children. Barclaycard were working closely with Rowan Atkinson (Mr Bean) and asked if we could design a fool-proof credit card for Mr Bean to use – ‘The Bean Card’. What a privilege. We took up the challenge – a challenge that proved to be much bigger than Card Capers and a project that took us to banks, to meet the team of ‘The Bill’, to a magistrates court, to London to present our findings to a huge ensemble of MPs and other dignitaries at The Guildhall, and to appear on Anglia TV.
Between them, the children designed a card and set up a tuck shop in school whereby every child was given a credit card with clear instructions and a limit of two pounds that could be spent over a two-week period, their purchases being logged and analysed by hand – (still no computers!) and Parents were informed to make them aware of what was happening and to get agreement. They were fully behind such an innovative scheme. It was ‘contrived’ that the Chair of Governors overspent on his card – to teach the children about the consequences of going over an agreed limit. Then there was a ‘theft’ of a card which resulted in the culprits and witnesses going to court – all played out in a play performed in an assembly, directed by Ken Hindmarch, our community policeman, who worked with the children to write the script. There was a lot of problem solving for the children and they learned so many new skills; skills that were quite advanced for their age. One of the spin-offs for this project was that I was asked to write it up as a case study for teachers across the country to learn from and try in their schools – the children were thrilled that Rowan Atkinson, himself, always showed a personal interest in what they had achieved.