Cultural Capital

Cultural Capital at Merton Abbey Primary School

“A golden thread, woven through everything you do to teach children well.”

Amanda Spielman

What is Cultural Capital?

Cultural Capital is the accumulation of knowledge, behaviours and skills that a child gains over time through different experiences and opportunities. Children draw upon these experiences and opportunities to demonstrate their cultural awareness, knowledge and competence.

Cultural Capital gives children power. It allows them, no matter what their starting point in life, to have the desire to aspire to great things and achieve social mobility. It provides children with life experiences, foundations for success and the ability to achieve goals. It is about giving children the best possible start to their early education, allowing them to develop into well-rounded individuals who will be successful in society, their career and the world of work.

Cultural Capital at Merton Abbey Primary School

At Merton Abbey Primary School, we recognise that there are six key areas of development that are interrelated and contribute to building a student’s cultural capital:

1. Personal Development

2. Social Development

3. Physical Development

4. Spiritual Development

5. Moral Development

6. Cultural Development

Cultural capital is a key part of our curriculum. It is woven throughout all aspects of school life; as we seek to empower children to believe in themselves, by ensuring that they are aware of all the opportunities that exist around them.

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 sustained opportunities to develop their cultural capital. We do this in many ways, for example, through our curriculum, extra-curricular activities, trips and visits and careers activities.

We provide Cultural Capital opportunities through:

Providing our children with an engaging, broad and balanced curriculum, which is carefully adapted and catered to the needs of our children.
A variety of extra-curricular activities that will improve engagement, self-esteem and mental and physical well-being.
School trips linked to curriculum topics to promote a love of learning and engagement.
Teaching children key life-skills that they can continue to use throughout Secondary School and further.
Educating children on different cultures and ways of life and celebrating differences.
Providing our children with the knowledge of a variety of occupations they can aspire to, through trips, speakers and research.