Cultural Capital
Developing Cultural Capital
Cultural capital is defined as the accumulation of knowledge, behaviours, and skills that a student can draw upon and which demonstrates their cultural awareness, knowledge and competence; it is one of the key ingredients a student will draw upon to be successful in society, their career and the world of work. At The Charles Dickens School we work to build our student aspirations and expose them to a range of experiences to helps them achieve goals and become successful.
We recognise that for students to aspire and be successful academically and in the wider areas of their lives, they need to be given rich and varied opportunities to develop their cultural capital. We do this in many ways, for example, through our curriculum, cultural capital days, extra-curricular activities, trips and visits and careers activities.
At The Charles Dickens School pupils follow a Cultural Capital Journey which spans 5 year of rich and diverse opportunities, this is planned and continually evolved to ensure pupils are exposed to a range of high and popular culture, alongside enrichment based opportunities.
We recognise that there are six key areas of development that are interrelated and contribute to building a student’s cultural capital:
- Personal Development
- Social Development, including political, current affairs awareness and debate
- Physical development
- Spiritual development
- Moral development
- Cultural development
We strongly believe that there can be nothing can be more important for our children’s education than ensuring they are supported to be the best they can be within our ever changing, diverse society that ensures everyone has an equal opportunity to live, learn, and achieve.
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Personal Development Careers and Information, advice and guidance provision; Personal Finance Education; Employability skills, Personal, Social and Health Education curriculum; The school’s wider pastoral programme, PSHE drop-down and bitesize sessions; Transition support and induction; Work to develop confidence e.g. debate clubs and interview skills workshops; Scholars Programme and Brilliant Club; College ‘Bowl’ Competitions; Activities focused on building self-esteem; Mental Health & well-being provision – Wellbeing Club, Mindfulness Training; Thematic Assemblies and Contextual Safeguarding Calendar |
Social Development PSHE curriculum; Form time curriculum; Whole School Charity work and Year Group fundraising activities; Pupil Voice – Debate and Activism; Social and Emotional Interventions Access; DFE Healthy Schools’ Accreditation; Access to CDS three levels of support (universal, specialised and bespoke) College competitions;
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Physical Development Physical Education curriculum; Links with local sports clubs; Healthy Eating policies and catering provision; Anti-bullying and safeguarding policies and strategies; The health, drugs, alcohol, smoking and sex and relationships and elements of the PSHE curriculum; Extra-curricular activities available including Duke of Edinburgh Award; Activity-based residentials; Food preparation and nutrition curriculum; |
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Spiritual Development The Religious Education/Ethics and Philosophy Curriculum; Our collective acts of worship and reflection; Support for the expression of individual faiths; School-linking activities – locally, nationally and internationally; The Assembly programme; Christian Workers Charitable Trust assemblies and outreach;
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Moral Development The Religious Education/Ethics and Philosophy Curriculum; Behaviour Management policies, a culture of restorative justice approaches Contributions to local, national and international charitable projects; Christian Workers Charitable Trust assemblies and outreach; Pastoral Programme;
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Cultural Development Cultural Capital Programme Educate and Celebrate ‘Bronze’ Award Youth Pride Network and ‘Pride’ Ambassadors Access to the Arts; Access to the languages and cultures of other countries through the curriculum and trips and visits; Access to both high and popular culture through curriculum intent and enrichment opportunities Promotion of racial equality and community cohesion through the school’s ethos; CDS ‘CARE’ values; Anti-Bullying Ambassadors through the ‘Diana Award’. Assembly programme; Pastoral Programme |
