What is Cultural Capital?

Cultural capital is the accumulation of knowledge, behaviours and skills that a child can draw upon and which demonstrates their cultural awareness, knowledge and competence; it is one of the key ingredients a child will draw upon to be successful in society, their career and the world of work.

• Knowledge, Behaviours, and Skills: Cultural capital refers to the accumulation of knowledge, behaviours and skills that children can draw upon. 

• Social and Academic Success: It is considered a key ingredient for a child to be successful in society, their career, and the wider world of work. 

• Broad and Balanced Curriculum: Schools are expected to offer a curriculum that reflects diverse cultural perspectives to promote cultural capital. 

Ofsted define Cultural Capital as:

“As part of making the judgement about the quality of education, inspectors will consider the extent to which schools are equipping pupils with the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life.

Our understanding of ‘knowledge and cultural capital’ is derived from the following wording in the national curriculum: ‘It is the essential knowledge that pupils need to be educated citizens, introducing them to the best that has been thought and said and helping to engender an appreciation of human creativity and achievement”.

How is ‘cultural capital’ approached at Wolston St Margaret's C of E Primary School?

At Wolston St Margaret's C of E Primary School, we start by acknowledging that all pupils already have ‘cultural capital’. Our pupils’ knowledge, experiences, backgrounds, skills, interests, and beliefs are valued and celebrated.

Our LMTW curriculum aims to build upon these starting points, by providing children with rich and varied learning experiences.

Our curriculum has the highest expectations of all pupils and is rich in knowledge and skills.

We aim to expand on our pupils' cultural capital in a number of ways:

• Celebrating and understanding different religions and cultures
• Learning about democracy and justice and taking part in democratic elections
• Learning how we can all make a difference to the lives of others
• Reaching out to our local community
• Learning about and from great artists and innovators past and present
• A rich variety of visits supporting our school curriculum
• Learning through a rich variety of practical classroom experiences

Our aim is for our children to join us on a learning journey which will equip them for their future. We want our children to leave us at Year 6 with a range of skills, deep knowledge, a love of learning and ambition.

Cultural capital is the essential knowledge that children need to prepare them for their future success. It is about giving children the best possible start to their early education.