CHRISTMAS costs - and this is the period when those costs tend to hit hard.

Last week saw the busiest shopping day on the UK high street in the run-up to Christmas, with some £1.3 billion spent on Visa Europe cards. The company predicted that £916,667 would be spent every minute last Tuesday, or £15,278 every second, on Visa cards. A total of £1.3 billion is estimated to have been spent just in that one day.

Now it's s all over for another year - and for many people the dreaded post Christmas debt has already set in.

With debt on the rise, and payday loans a fact of life for many people, efforts are being made to help the next generation keep on top of their finances.

At Dixons City Academy, students are taught how to manage their money, and now the school has been recognised as the first "Centre of Excellence" in financial education in the district.

Financial management is a subject that has been taught in schools since September. Dixons will now help other schools learn how to best teach a subject that leaves many adults scratching their heads, let alone children.

Just before the school finished for the Christmas holidays, staff were told they had "successfully embedding the subject into its curriculum" in the months since it was established.

The school, part of the Dixons Academy chain, had been working with specialists the Personal Finance Education Group (pfeg), a charity that helps young people learn about money, to bring in the new lessons.

Announced last year, personal finance was added to the school curriculum by the Department for Education at the start of this past term, and will include lessons on how public money is raised through taxes and spent on services. They are also being taught how to manage their finances, weigh up major financial decisions and understand interest.

It is hoped that by adding the subject to the curriculum, a generation will avoid the pitfalls of bad money management and crippling debt.

The Academy has now successfully completed the learning steps required to achieve Centre of Excellence status. It means that teachers are now trained to deliver personal finance lessons and learning activities designed to give pupils the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to manage their money.

The Academy, on Ripley Street, was chosen to work towards becoming a Centre of Excellence in financial education by pfeg, who are working in partnership with Santander to create 40 Centres of Excellence around the UK.

As a pfeg Centre of Excellence, the School will also now be supported in sharing its new expertise with other local schools.

Shirley Watson, principal of the Academy, said: "The whole team here at Dixons Academy has worked extremely hard, with pfeg’s help, to embed financial education in our curriculum – and I am pleased that their efforts have been rewarded with a Centres of Excellence award. We are now already seeing the results of the high quality financial education we are now providing, which is bringing significant benefits to our students as they take their next steps in life."

Michael Mercieca, chief executive of Young Enterprise, which pfeg is a part of, said: "Dixons Academy has worked extremely hard to achieve their Centre of Excellence award, and we are pleased that its students have already started to see the benefit. We have been delighted to work with Santander to support the school in this achievement.

“Our aim is to ensure that all students enter adult life with the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to manage money well – and Dixon’s Academy is doing excellent work to make this goal a reality.”

Matthew Hall, Santander Branch Director, Bradford said: “At Santander we believe it is important for everyone to have good basic money management skills, but particularly young people who are encountering money earlier than ever.

“Dixons Academy have shown a great passion in ensuring their students have an in-depth knowledge of these essential skills and the award is well deserved.”

A spokesman for Bradford debt charity Christians Against Poverty said: “We see first-hand the devastation that personal debt can cause, how it affects relationships, health, deprives people of sleep and in some cases, even enough food. So a massive well done to all at Dixons Academy. The challenge now for those young people is to put what they’ve learned into practice, to save for the unexpected and keep close grip on their income and outgoings.”