Cultural Capital – Going Beyond the Classroom
What is Cultural Capital?
Cultural capital refers to the knowledge, behaviours, and skills that pupils can draw upon to develop their cultural awareness, knowledge, and competence. It plays a vital role in enabling pupils to be successful in wider society, their future careers, and life beyond The Marvell College.
At The Marvell College, we are committed to developing our pupils’ cultural capital by strategically embedding it within the curriculum and through wider school life. Our aim is to raise aspirations, broaden horizons, and provide pupils with diverse opportunities and experiences that will equip them to thrive both in school and beyond.
A rich programme of cultural capital opportunities promotes social mobility, fosters ambition, and empowers our pupils to succeed—regardless of their starting point. By offering sustained and meaningful experiences, we help pupils to develop the knowledge, values, and skills needed to flourish in all areas of their lives.
We achieve this by embedding cultural capital across our curriculum and by providing an expansive range of extra-curricular activities, trips, educational visits, and careers programmes. In addition, pupils are encouraged to take ownership of their personal development through The Marvell 30—a programme that invites pupils to complete a series of carefully designed cultural activities each year, encouraging them to enrich their learning beyond the classroom.
Cultural Capital Across the Curriculum
At The Marvell College, cultural capital is fostered through all aspects of school life, including personal, social, physical, spiritual, moral, and cultural development. Examples include:
Personal Development
- - A knowledge-rich curriculum
- - Careers education and work experience
- - Employability skills
- - PSHE and citizenship education
- - Assemblies and pastoral support
- - Transition support
- - Oracy development
- - Wellbeing provision
- - Safeguarding
- - Healthy lifestyles
- - Sex and Relationships Education (SRE)
Social Development
- - PSHE curriculum
- - Assemblies
- - Peer mentoring and reading
- - Charitable work
- - Pupil parliament
- - Anti-bullying initiatives
- - Mental Health Charter
- - LGBTQ+ Champions
Physical Development
- - PE curriculum
- - Healthy eating
- - Health education
- - Extra-curricular sport
- - Field trips
- - Sports Day
- - Bikeability
- - Promotion of active travel
Spiritual Development
- - RE curriculum
- - Assemblies
- - Support for personal faith expression
- - Partnerships with local churches
- - Visiting speakers
Moral Development
- - Behaviour system
- - RE curriculum
- - Charitable projects
- - Environmental initiatives (e.g., reducing single-use plastics)
- - PSHE provision
Cultural Development
- - Art and music provision including trips, orchestra, and choir
- - Foreign language learning and exchanges
- - Theatre and author visits
- - Cultural trips
- - Partnerships with other schools
The Marvell 30
The Marvell 30 is an independent programme designed to encourage pupils to broaden their experiences by completing 30 cultural activities across their time at The Marvell College. These activities are carefully selected for each year group, recorded in a pupil booklet, and celebrated by the school.
Once pupils complete their year group’s activities, they are recognised as Cultural Capital Champions—a status marked with a certificate and an enamel pin badge to wear proudly on their school blazer.
Pupils track their progress in tutor time, with tutors and the Year Team verifying completion. Evidence can be provided through tutor sign-off or by emailing submissions to Marvell30@themarvellcollege.com.
The Marvell 30 encourages pupils to take pride in their development, engage with new opportunities, and build a portfolio of meaningful experiences that will support their academic journey and personal growth.
