Our Cultural Capital

Every child 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.

 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 pupil will draw upon to be successful in society, their career and the world of work.

 Cultural capital gives 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.

 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.’ 

As our context is predominantly White British, with 41% of pupils coming from disadvantaged backgrounds, our curriculum promotes the rich diversity of Britain, including an appreciation of Langley Mill’s locality and history. We carefully choose the literature we expose the children to so that we can plan for purposeful opportunities to learn important knowledge of British values, history, mental health, well-being, equality, citizenship, and diversity. 

When designing our curriculum we ensured it would: 

• Be vocabulary rich to access high quality texts and improve speech, language & oracy,  
• Be experiential to provide access to all pupils.  
• Be aspirational to raise confidence & empower. 
• Be meaningful to give learning a purpose that prepares pupils to be compassionate citizens of our world. 

Our curriculum is taught through discrete subjects as specified in the National Curriculum. We have carefully designed 'threads' of sustainability, creativity, diversity and community to run through and enhance our curriculum so that  children gain the knowledge, values, and creativity to fulfil their potential and broaden their perspective on life, becoming respectful citizens of diverse global communities. 

Values underpin our learning behaviours and flow through our curriculum. They identify us as a team and unite us in a shared vision: 

Respect - for ourselves and others in all we say and do

Confidence - to believe in ourselves and make a positive contribution to our community

Determination - to overcome obstacles and reach success

Enthusiasm - to seek opportunity, find positives and pursue talents and interests

Aspiration - to dream big and be prepared to work hard to be successful

Kindness - to help and support others, and empathise with those experiencing challenges

We recognise our shared school values define our pupils beyond their time at Langley Mill. They shape our children's futures