Buy Smart School Competition
Posted by editor (editor) on Jun 10 2010
2010 >>

Acknowledge:
·       Mr Mike Quinn, Principal
·       Mr Des McConnell, Deputy Principal

·           The Queensland Government has run the ‘Buy Smart’ competition through my Department’s Office of Fair Trading for the past eight years. The competition has had great support from schools throughout the state and I’d like to thank the teachers and parents who get involved and encourage students who enter. Without your support, the competition would not be as successful as it is.

·           Last year, we received a total of 381 entries from schools throughout the state. The Gold Coast was strongly represented with many entries from schools in Ashmore, Helensvale, Burleigh and, of course, Arundel State School.

·           Buy Smart is designed to help students like you learn about how to make smart choices when you spend money.

·           Put your hands up if you get pocket money?  And hands up if you ever get extra money to spend for Christmas or your birthday? 

·           I’m sure you’ve all either spent money on your own or helped your parents with the shopping at some stage. When you spend money, you’re known as a consumer. 

·           Do you know what to do if you buy a Playstation or Wii game, but when you get it home it is damaged or doesn’t work? 

·           What if you see a sign outside a shop for a DVD you want to buy, but when you get inside the shop the price is higher than advertised?

·           When you spend money there are laws in place to protect you.  The Office of Fair Trading is in charge of making sure businesses in Queensland follow these laws.  We also give consumers like you advice on what your rights are and how to protect yourselves from getting ripped off.

·           If you know what your rights are, you’ll be more likely to get what you’re entitled to.  Especially because as you get older, you’ll buy more expensive things like cars, a house or a holiday. Some of you might already have a mobile phone; how many of you do?

·           Mobile phones can be a useful way to stay in touch with our family and friends, but students can easily find themselves with bills they cannot afford to pay. 

·           Before you get out and spend money, you need to learn how to budget and save money, and how to make sure you stay out of financial trouble.

·           As you get older, there will be more pressures on you to buy things - you’ll be spending larger amounts of money, and you may also want to borrow money for things like a house or a car that you’ll have to pay back later. So as well as giving you useful information about your rights as consumers, the Office of Fair Trading also helps you to learn about managing your money.

·           That’s why taking part in the Buy Smart competition will help you now and in the future. Plus you could also have a chance to win up to $500 for yourselves and $1500 for your school! 

·           It’s easy to enter.  There are three categories, grade 5 – 7, 8 – 9 and 10-12.  In each category there are 3 prizes (for students - $500 for first prize, $200 for second prize and $150 for third prize), so there are many chances to win. 

·           All you have to do is to think of a time when you or your friends might have problems when spending money.  Do some research and find out what your consumer rights are and what the Office of Fair Trading advises you to do. 

·           The next step is to think up a creative way to tell your classmates what you have learned. 

·           We received all sorts of entries last year, some students made videos, magazines, board games, posters, websites, MySpace pages, or recorded their own song.  Consumer topics included advice about saving, mobile phone contracts and how to buy your first car.

·           The competition entry form can be downloaded from the Office of Fair Trading’s website – www.fairtrading.qld.gov.au. Printed copies will be sent to your teachers shortly, as well as information on what kinds of topics you can choose for your entry.

·           And just to let teachers know, the Office of Fair Trading is again providing a resource kit with teachers' notes and exercises so you can more easily incorporate the competition into the classroom.  This will also be available on the website.

·           It has been my pleasure to be here at your school today to promote the opening of this state wide ‘Buy Smart’ competition for 2010. I look forward to seeing lots of entries this year, especially from Arundel State School.

Thank you.

Last changed: Jun 10 2010 at 12:32 PM