Taxes & Public Services
CONCEPTUALWhat taxes are and why people pay them; how taxes fund schools, hospitals, roads, and emergency services; that governments decide how to spend tax money
Mastery Evidence
- Explain what tax is and that most working adults pay it
- Name at least three things that taxes pay for (schools, hospitals, roads, police, fire service)
- Describe why taxes are needed (everyone chips in so everyone benefits)
Assessment Prompt
“Could [child] explain where the money comes from to pay for things like schools and hospitals that everyone uses?”
Prerequisites2
- How the Economy WorkssoftAges 9—11
- Earning MoneyhardAges 7—9
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- How the Economy Works soft
Understanding the economy provides context for how taxes fit into public finance
- Jobs People Do hard
Must know about jobs/work before understanding producers and consumers in an economy
- What Money Is hard
Must understand money exists and is limited before distinguishing needs from wants
- Coins & Notes hard
Must recognise coins/notes and their values before practising buying transactions
- Reading and writing numbers to 20 hard
Recognising coin values requires reading numerals (1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50)
- How Many in Total? hard
Reading/writing numerals 0–20 requires understanding that numerals represent quantities (cardinality)
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Writing digits 0-9 hard
Writing numerals requires the motor skill of forming digits 0-9 (taught in English handwriting)
- What Money Is hard
Must understand what money is before learning to recognise specific coins and notes
- Coins & Notes hard
Must recognise coins/notes and their values before practising buying transactions
- Reading and writing numbers to 20 hard
Recognising coin values requires reading numerals (1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50)
- How Many in Total? hard
Reading/writing numerals 0–20 requires understanding that numerals represent quantities (cardinality)
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Writing digits 0-9 hard
Writing numerals requires the motor skill of forming digits 0-9 (taught in English handwriting)
- What Money Is hard
Must understand what money is before learning to recognise specific coins and notes
- Earning Money hard
Must understand earning money before learning that governments take a share as tax
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