Curriculum Visits Planned for 2025 – 2026 (Whole School)
Cultural Capital Statement
The rights and dignity of our children are at the heart of everything we do, every decision we and they make and every driver for making progress and helping our children to develop as responsible, valued global citizens who want to make a positive contribution to their and our world.
In our school, we provide our children with the cultural capital to enable them to function as effective citizens in our global society.
As a Rights Respecting School we hold the UNICEF Statement that ‘Childhood in itself is a right, worthy of protection in every nation’.
We know that every child who joins our school will have their own knowledge and experiences that will link to their culture and wider family. This may include languages, beliefs, traditions, cultural and family heritage, interests, travel and work.
Research shows that when children and families’ cultures are valued, both the child’s experience of learning and progress can benefit (Husain et al, 2018 p4 and Gazzard, E 2018 in Chalmers, H and Crisfield, E 2019).
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 their goals, become successful and rise up the social ladder without necessarily having wealth or financial capital. Cultural capital is having the assets that give children the desire to aspire and achieve social mobility regardless of 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 essential knowledge that pupils need to be educated citizens, introducing then to the best that has been thought and said and helping to engender an appreciation of human creativity and achievement.’
In our school we aim to build upon what children already know and understand, and provide opportunities for them to experience situations which they may not have had previous experience of. We believe that gradually widening their exposure to experiences and culture as they progress through school is an important step in promoting their ongoing success. This will enable our children to engage in rich and engaging learning throughout the curriculum and meet new challenges with courage and purpose. We plan carefully for children to have progressively richer experiences as they journey through our school so that as they grow and develop, their ability to meet the challenges they encounter will be a positive experience for them.
These can be seen in the table below, although the experiences noted are not exhaustive. We will endeavour to always go with the interests of our children and look for every opportunity for them to experience.
| Whole School | Sit at tables to eat- lunch- using a knife and fork correctlyWelcome visitors in a respectful mannerAddress people in a formal manner when appropriateAttend Church and Church services in school with respect, knowing how to conduct themselves – be quiet, take hats off (boys), not put feet on chairs, sit sensibly, not eat sweets or chew gum etc, respond to known prayers (Lord’s Prayer)Author visitsPerform in front of an audience individually and as part of a (Wingate’s Got Talent, assemblies, plays, musical performances, assemblies…)- Steel Pans Y2, Y3, Brass Y4, Samba drumming Y5, ukuleles Y6, guitar, flute, violin, drums and piano.Communicate with a wide range of local, regional, national and international ‘experts’ and audiences for a purpose (RRSA OutRight, MP, Parish Council, ISA, campaigning, encouraging, celebrating, Facebook, website, letters to children in school…) Opportunities to participate in equality and diversity events and activitiesOpportunities to taste and cook foods from a range of countries and culturesCelebrations and parties- play party games, make and eat pancakes, decorate Easter Eggs, see ‘Santa’Work and play outdoors – climb trees, plant trees, grow vegetablesAttend After School Clubs, chosen by children Organise and take part in fund raising eventsCommunicate with children and adults in and from other countries- International School AwardMini PoliceSTEM days – real life maths, technology and scienceMeet, learn and perform alongside children from other schoolsVisit to historical sites/ places of worship (real and virtual) – Anglo Saxon, Arbeia (Roman)School Award Projects, Durham UniversityVisits to Historical sites and places of worship- real and virtual – Vikings ‘Visit’ a farm and carry out fieldwork regarding food production and distribution |
| Year 6 | 3-day residentialLinks to industry- NissanLead AssembliesLead fundraisingCommunicate with secondary school staff as part of transitionLead Peer reviews and events – active leadership roles across school, Lead Ambassadors |