CULTURAL CAPITAL

Cultural Capital at St. Michael's

At St. Michael's we recognise that it is crucial for pupils to aspire and be successful academically and in the wider areas of their lives and how they can succeed in life. We firmly believe that our pupils need to be given rich and sustained opportunities to develop their knowledge on how to become 'educated citizens' prepared for each stage of their life and like many aspects of learning life long skills. At St. Michael's, cultural capital  is  woven through everything our school  does to teach and prepare our pupils for  the wide world and life. We successfully do this at St.  Michael's and every pupil and family who joins our setting will have their own knowledge and experiences that will link to their culture and wider family. This might include: languages, beliefs, traditions, cultural and family heritage, interests, travel and work. All will support the development of the cultural capital at our school.

Our pupils benefit from a curriculum that builds on what they understand and know already. It revolves around the coherent cycle of learning from the past, living in the present and looking to the future.  This means our children have a deep and connected knowledge and understanding of where they came from, who they are and what they might become.  We believe that exposure, not only to culture but also to situations in which they might not have previous experiences of, is of paramount importance to their ongoing successes.

We view Cultural Capital as:

• Giving power. It helps children achieve goals, become successful, and rise up the social ladder without necessarily having wealth or financial capital. Cultural capital is having assets that give children the desire to aspire and achieve social mobility whatever their starting point.

• The accumulation of knowledge, behaviours, and skills that our pupils can draw upon and which demonstrates their cultural awareness, knowledge and competence.

• One of the key ingredients our pupils will draw upon to be successful in society, their career and the world of work.

• Promoting social mobility and success in our stratified society.

• The channel which gives our pupils power. It helps them achieve goals, become successful, and rise up the social ladder without necessarily having wealth or financial capital.

• Having assets that give pupils the desire to aspire and achieve social mobility whatever their starting point.

Through our broad and balanced curriculum we work to widen pupil’s experiences as they progress through our school and is an important step in providing rich and engaging learning across the curriculum. We plan carefully for pupils to have progressively richer experiences in nursery and beyond.

The school recognises that there are six key areas of development that are interrelated and cumulatively contribute to the sum of a child’s cultural capital:

1. Personal Development

2. Social Development, including political and current affairs awareness

3. Physical Development

4. Spiritual Development

5. Moral Development

6. Cultural development

Please click on the following link to see how we promote our cultural capital development: 

• Cultural Capital Overview at St. Michael's

• A Snapshot of Cultural Capital at St. Michael's