What is Cultural Capital?

Cultural Capital is not a new term, it is one well rooted in sociology since the 1970’s to refer to the social assets gained by people (languages, education, intellect, experiences etc.) that supported their social mobility. In essence, cultural capital allows people to enjoy economic and social success because of the preparation and experiences they receive as they develop (and this never stops if we do it right!). 

OFSTED applied this term to education, in their 2019 Framework and for schools it really means - what are we offering in (and beyond) our broad, balanced and innovative curriculum that allows children to have the breadth of experiences, exposure to languages and development of skills to allow them to have a fulfilling and successful advantage in their wider lives.

The aim is that pupils at OLOL will therefore learn skills, have the opportunity to identify and explore talents, experience the arts and wonders of human cultural and creative expression, develop character and resilience, learn about what it means to be part of a diverse British culture while having an understanding of the culture, history and traditions of others, to have a range of new experiences that allow them to grow in independence and curiosity and to be active members of society. OFSTED’s expectation is that a rich curriculum builds cultural capital and we aspire that all pupils receive that over their 8 year learning journey with us…

At OLOL we achieve this through the effective curriculum as described on each of the pages on this website, with opportunities to have: 

• Access to exciting, engaging and stimulating curriculum activities that take place in school
• Educational Visits linked to subjects
• Explicit arts offer so that all pupils will experience at least one opera, one ballet, one theatrical show and one Shakespeare related experience during their time at OLOL
• Virtual Visits/Use of VR and new technologies such as robotics and drones
• STEAM and STEM projects
• OAA Experiences
• LOtC (Learning Outside the Classroom) experiences
• Exploration of their own faith and that of others including visits and visitors
• Development of foreign languages (Mandarin) and the writing, stories, culture, history and traditions of the Mandarin speaking countries
• Visits to galleries, theatres, organisations to support the arts beyond the core offer mentioned above
• Pilgrimage to France every 2 years for Year 5 and 6
• Residential experiences in Year 4, 5 and 6
• Leadership opportunities for all pupils through the curriculum and sports, and the possibility of leadership qualifications (SLQ) 
• All pupils in school have a curriculum leadership responsibility
• Effective personal, social, emotional development in all year groups