Skip to content ↓
Leasowes Primary School

Cultural Capital, personal development and rights respecting schools

Cultural Capital

At Leasowes, opportunities are planned to ensure that all children have an inclusive access to a rich and wide range of Cultural Capital, enabling them to experience the best that has been thought and said; helping them to understand and appreciate human creativity and achievement.

Using the research of Dylan Wiliam (2013), we believe there are 4 main purposes of education and these form the foundation of how we define Cultural Capital at Leasowes:

Personal Empowerment:

At Leasowes, personal empowerment is about our pupils being able to make positive decisions and take actions that will bring them closer to achieving their goals and ambitions. We believe the curriculum should extend beyond the academic and should allow for broader development, enabling pupils to explore, develop and discover their personal interests and talents.  

Cultural Transmission:

Our aim through education is to pass on from one generation to the next, ‘the best that has been thought and known in the world’. At Leasowes, we believe our subject leaders and teachers make challenging decisions about the breadth and depth of the subject content that will be studied so that subjects are rigorous and our pupils experience the best possible curriculum.

Preparation for Citizenship:

At Leasowes, preparation for citizenship means we educate our pupils so that they can make a positive difference to the society in which they live in, both now and when they grow up, on a local, national and global level. We believe character education has a key role to play here and that with our school ethos, values and charter, the British Values and the UNCRC our children develop a strong moral compass, develop their understanding and appreciation of diversity and learn what it means to be ‘good people’. In action, we achieve this by creating a sense of belonging and responsibility for the commonality we all share: the Leasowes’ school community.

Preparation for Work:

In order to prepare our pupils for the future world of work, we believe it is important they gain the knowledge, skills and attributes needed to be successful in their future careers and their adult lives. We believe the Leasowes curriculum prepares our pupils for an ever-changing society and that they are well-prepared for the next stage of education.

Personal Development and Character Education

At Leasowes, we believe the curriculum extends beyond the classroom and encompasses all that a child lives and experiences during their primary years here. The personal development of our pupils, as well as the opportunities to develop their character, form a fundamental part of our curriculum design.

To support the personal development of our pupils, our commitment is that…

  • Pupils have opportunities to develop their talents and interests that are of exceptional quality.
  • Pupils have access to a wide, rich set of experiences.
  • These rich experiences are coherently planned in the curriculum and through extra-curricular activities.
  • Pupils are given the opportunity to develop their character.

At Leasowes, character education is provided in a variety of ways through curricular and extra-curricular activities, as well as through our strong values, charters and behaviour policy. It forms part of our ongoing commitment to promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development of our pupils and to prepare them for opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life. In addition, we believe that fostering good mental, physical health and wellbeing, will help our pupils to fulfil their potential at school and develop positive character traits that will prepare them for their future. At Leasowes, character education is provided through assemblies, subject lessons, PSHE, sports, performances, pupil leader opportunities, educational visits, forest schools, residentials, visitors and after school clubs to name a few. In addition, whole school events are hosted and celebrated throughout the school year such as ‘Aspire to be, Future Me’, World Book Day, Rooted in Reading Writing Celebration weeks, Safer Internet Day and Outdoor Classroom Day to list a few examples. These opportunities also form a key part of our Cultural Capital offer by helping our pupils to express their character, explore their interests and talents, and develop personally.

Rights Respecting Schools - Gold

At Leasowes, we are committed to educating children about their rights as outlined in the United Nations Conventions of the Rights of the Child. Children at Leasowes are regularly exposed to these through lessons across the curriculum as well as in assemblies. Children are made increasingly aware of their rights and as a school we are on our journey in supporting them to take action so that all children locally, nationally and globally have their rights met.

By completing the award, we are committed to creating a safe and inspiring place to learn, where children are respected, their talents are nurtured and they are able to thrive. Our Rights Respecting Schools Gold Award embeds these values in daily school life and gives children the best chance to lead happy, healthy lives and to be responsible, active citizens.