At St Osmund's CE Middle School, we are committed to providing and enabling the broadest educational offering and we see the development of cultural capital as central to the development of young citizens, for knowledge, behaviour and skill throughout life. Developing cultural awareness requires us to look beyond the National Curriculum and to plan for enrichment, acquisition of knowledge and understanding of different heritages, values and ideas and also to reach out into the world. ​

We celebrate heritage through our Culture Club in school who have led on projects such as our Heritage Stories Book and our Heritage Cook Book.  We celebrate the diversity of our school community during the International Day of Languages, encouraging cultural dress.  We ensure students from all backgrounds are celebrated through our school community board in the ‘street’ which shows the richness of our school community. 

We often have visiting specialists into school, for example our 'Walking Through the Bible' visitor-led specialist input which seeks to develop a personal engagement.  Our retreat days for each year group allow students to participate fully in our Christian ethos as well as exploring a range of cultures and religions.  

We are student-led and see us being responsive to student thought as critical: for example, our Ossie’s Climate Action Group (OCAG) have not only made significant impact on our carbon footprint and environmental awareness but have also led events that have involved the wider community.  We take students out into our locality to enrich learning, for example the River Frome trip, linked to curriculum coverage in geography, creating an opportunity to make the learning relevant and most memorable.  Author visits in the locality provide access to literature and signed books are provided for free to our Pupil Premium students. 

Every student has the opportunity to attend at least one residential trip per key stage and we prioritise our Pupil Premium students' attendance, funding one trip per key stage. Residentials build in length and intensity, beginning with trips within Dorset before moving further away in the UK in Year 7 and to France in Year 8. We also offer an annual ski trip. 

We find places within and without our taught curriculum to prioritise personal, social, moral, spiritual, physical and cultural development. Every week sees an array of extra-curricular clubs, out of hours, all provided at no cost to the student by our teachers and external coaches. We see this as an important use of the PE Premium, to enhance access to a wide range of sports. Sitting alongside this are clubs for performance arts, creative arts and other wellbeing opportunities such as yoga and Lego. We share dance, drama and choral output with our wider school community. Our daily act of worship and reflection focuses our whole community on spiritual development of the individual and how one can apply it in life.

We seek to maximise the opportunities and potential of our students, particularly those in receipt of Pupil Premium funding.  Careers talks take place for our older students and our Year 8 Pupil Premium students attend a local careers fair.

It is our belief that cultural capital will give our young learners a currency for life that is not financial, the ability to aspire and achieve social mobility. We believe this to be a grounding and thoughtful experience in modern British society.