No Banco da Escola (On the School Bench) is a nationwide joint initiative of Banco Espírito Santo and the Portuguese Mathematics Society (PMS) aimed at children in the 3rd and 4th years of school.

It fundamentally consists of fun-pedagogical sessions on financial activity that are held in BES’s branches or in the schools themselves.

These sessions are aimed at all education establishments (public and private) which register to take part. Its objective is to educate increasingly better informed young people, explaining some fundamental concepts their relationship with money, as well as the importance and application of mathematics in their daily lives.

To participate, schools should send an e-mail with the following information:

• Name of the School, person in charge, telephone contact and e-mail address;
• Number of school classes to register (1 per session) and number of students per class.

The dates of each session and respective timetables will be agreed directly with each school.

These sessions last about 60 minutes and are intended for only 1 class at a time or alternatively, up to a maximum of 25 students per session. Participation in this initiative involves no cost for the school, which is only responsible for the students’ transportation.

No Banco da Escola (On the School Bench) runs during the whole of the academic year, respecting the official calendar of school holidays.

Launched in October 2006, this initiative has already travelled country-wide, including the Autonomous Region of the Azores and Madeira. In the 4 previous editions, “On the School Bench” visited 180 primary schools involving more than 11,000 pupils by the end of the 2010/2011 academic year.