Cultural Capital

What does Cultural Capital mean at Slaley First School?

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…

“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. “

 At Slaley First School, children benefit from a curriculum that builds on what they understand and know already. 

At Slaley First School, we aim to ensure that the essential knowledge element of cultural capital is embedded throughout the curriculum and also addressed through the following 5 key components -

 Personal: 

• Economic Wellbeing embedded in PHSE Curriculum
• metacognition - How we learn best (linked to procedural knowledge)
• Behaviours for Learning - listening, resilience, perseverance, participation

 Social: 

• vocabulary, speaking and listening,
• team work
• buddy playtimes
• Promotion- e.g reading ambassadors

Physical / Mental 

• cooking and Nutrition
• food pyramids / different types of nutrients
• designing and make sandwiches
• mindfulness / Yoga
• regular PE lessons with well constructed curriculum
• after School Clubs (Physical Focus)
• competitive sports,

Spiritual

• collective worship
• inter-faith discussions
• visits to church

Cultural Capital in the Early Years

At Slaley, our Early Years children benefit from an enriched environment. In addition to cultural activities including music and PE, we also offer a unique curriculum tailored to the needs of our children and making use of the wonderful opportunities we have locally. We aim to inspire awe and wonder in our children by giving them a broad range experiences and opportunities both within school and in the wider community.

 Outdoor Education

At Slaley we are lucky to have a generous and wonderful outdoor space where children can develop a relationship between themselves and the natural world. During outdoor education sessions in our garden, our early years children build resilience, confidence and independence. Through adult-planned and child-led experiences the children have opportunities to problem-solve, take managed risks and improve their creativity. When possible, we invite parents and carers to join us for an outdoor session, which reinforces these positive experiences for the children.

 Growing

In addition to spending time playing and learning in our garden, the children also use this space to access opportunities to take responsibility for growing and caring for plants. Throughout the year this ranges from planting vegetables and sunflowers to pruning plants for the winter and harvesting blackcurrants and apples from our mature fruit plants. Children therefore gain first-hand experience in picking, chopping and cooking food that they have grown themselves, prompting discussions about healthy eating as well as developing a new skill.

Language-Rich Curriculum

Throughout school each class has a selection of core books and poems which are read frequently to children to promote a love of reading and a range of texts they are really familiar with. In addition to this, in our Early Years class, we theme our learning around focus texts such as stories and rhymes, giving children the opportunity to develop their communication and language skills. These texts are chosen by closely tuning in to children’s needs and interests, supporting them to develop their learning from their prior experiences. They are able to be exposed to new vocabulary, to learn to take turns in conversations, to form full sentences and to discuss a particular topic. This language is then reinforced through activities within provision and frequent opportunities for discussion such as our daily plan, do, review and weekly news sessions. Our role play areas provide opportunities for us to respond to children’s interests and experiences by giving them a space to re-enact and further explore these, using a range of language as they do so.

 Library Visits

Our children visit our school library once weekly to share a story, paying particular attention to the features of the book itself such as the front cover, author and title. They then select a story from our range of books to take home for the week and share with their parents and carers, allowing them an opportunity to familiarise themselves with the way libraries work and further develop a positive attitude to reading.

Trips and Experiences

Throughout the year, trips and experiences are planned into the curriculum to help the children broaden their knowledge, sometimes exposing them to things they wouldn’t encounter in their daily lives. These experiences aim to provide and reinforce real life examples of what they have been learning, which enables the children to gain a deeper understanding of the topic, which increases their motivation to learn and retain the information. We focus heavily on our local environment, with trips and walks around the local community and partnership with services in the local area. For example, some experiences Early Years have enjoyed include a trip to see cows being milked at a local farm, a trip to an independent local bookshop and a visit from zoolab.

Opportunities to perform

Each child is given the opportunity to perform in our Nativity performances. They rehearse, make and wear costumes and props, learn lines and sing songs together in front of audiences. In addition to this, children are given opportunities to perform within and to smaller groups during our literacy sessions, for example by acting out a story we have been learning about, or during our music sessions by playing a piece of music.

 Oral hygiene

In early years general hygiene is promoted on a daily basis through embedded routines such as hand washing. Throughout the year we enhance this with focused sessions on oral hygiene; teaching children why it is important and how to look after their teeth. We often link with relevant services such as a local dentist to access resources and information to help us deliver this.