Personal Development

At Lacewood Primary School we teach Personal Development in a wide range of ways throughout the children’s school lives:

Cultural Capital

What is a Cultural capital?

Coined by French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, the concept of cultural capital builds on the ideas of Karl Marx to define factors other than economic wealth that influence a child’s educational success. Bourdieu believed that these factors included knowledge, life experiences, language, behaviours, tastes and habits, which pass through the family over many generations.

Within our school we develop cultural capital through the accumulation of knowledge, behaviours, and skills that a pupil can draw upon and which demonstrates their cultural awareness, knowledge and competence; it is one of the key ingredients a student will draw upon to be successful in society, their career and the world of work. Cultural capital provides children with the knowledge, skills and experiences to help them achieve goals and become successful.

The role of our school

While Bourdieu acknowledged that the family primarily influences a child’s cultural capital, we fully recognise that schools are essential in filling the gaps they might have in their cultural capital. Therefore, our role at Lacewood is to provide all children with the knowledge, experiences, language and social skills they need to have the best chances possible. With the widening of social and economic circumstances today, we recognise that it has never been more critical in filling the gaps that some children have in their cultural capital.

We have designed our curriculum to instil high aspirations in all of our children and to encourage them to become resilient, life-long learners who embrace challenges and continue to grow and develop their cultural capital. Our children will be inspired to follow whichever path they choose whilst being well-rounded, conscientious citizens.

We embed cultural Capital through school by:

• Knowing our school community well.
• Teaching more than just knowledge.
• Making time for talking and sharing ideas and experiences.
• Embedding a variety of cultural experiences.
• Using high quality resources.

Our ultimate aim is to enrich and improve the lives of all children, including some of the most disadvantaged,  through the things that we teach them and the experiences we offer.

Our Golden Rules and Learning Buddies

Our Golden Rules and ‘Learning Buddies’ underpin all aspects of life within school.

Our 3 Golden Rules

• We take care of ourselves
• We take care of each other
• We take care of the things around us

Our Lacewood Learning Buddies