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05/11/25

Due to Year 11 mock examinations, and no indoor space available, Sports Clubs will be cancelled until week commencing the 17 November.  However, the PE department will be running the Wednesday Clubs which are Netball and Fitness. Apologies for any inconvenience.

05/11/25

Welcome back to Life Skills Cooking Club! This week we enjoyed making cheese scones, a traditional and delicious British snack, or a lovely additional to an afternoon tea. But the question is, how do you pronounce scones?

05/11/25

Thinking of your Sixth Form place, have you considered Barton Court Grammar School? Find out more: https://t.co/FyhqjdOcWb We also have an Open Evening on Wednesday 21 January 2026 6.30 – 8.30pm. Put a reminder in your calendar and we look forward to meeting you. pic.twitter.com/CE7B3zYXwR

04/11/25

We will be proudly selling poppies to staff and pupils to honour, and remember, those who have served and sacrificed. Prefects will be selling poppies in the Heart during break/lunch times leading up to the 11 November. Let’s wear our poppies with pride and show our support!

04/11/25

We’re proud to announce our donation of £3,239.03 to The Hygiene Bank, Thanet, a charity working tirelessly to ensure everyone has access to the basic hygiene products they need to live with dignity. A big thank you to them for the donations they provided for our CARE boxes.

30/10/25

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29/10/25

CDS has partnered with the UK’s biggest parent charity, Parentkind, to create a new parenting language survey which allows parents and carers to discover ways to support their children and will help the school to work better with its community.

29/10/25

You probably know that Sparx Maths is our homework platform – here are this week’s stats from the online learning platform. Remember – If you have any queries relating to the maths homework or Sparx Maths, approach your child’s maths teacher in the first instance.

29/10/25

At the end of Term 1 we were proud to present our inaugural Mayor of Broadstairs Award badges to Year 8 and 9 pupils. Over the last year these pupils committed themselves to this new award, a real testament to their character.  Thanks to Cllr Mike Garner, Mayor of Broadstairs.

15/10/25

CDS uses Sparx Maths for maths homework setting and from their online learning platform we receive statistics, each week, on how our pupils are progressing and whether extra support is needed.  We will publish our overview of Sparx Maths each week for your information.

15/10/25

KS4 Life Skills Cooking Club upped their skills in piping to make some beautiful, sweet and crumbly, vanilla flavoured Viennese biscuits. Perfect with a cuppa after a long day! Great piping skills, they look very professional!

14/10/25

Pupils headed to the Detling showground for a fantastic event all about mental health and wellbeing. The ‘Big Mental Health Conversation’ event was packed with inspiring workshops and tips on how to look after your own mental health.    

13/10/25

We are so proud to announce that we have received the Kent School Award for Resilience and Emotional Wellbeing this year.  The award celebrates our whole-school approach to creating a positive and caring environment where every pupil feels valued and supported.

10/10/25

The Emotional Wellbeing Team are running a free online session for parents wishing to understand more about autism. This takes place on 2 December at 5:30-7:30pm. If you are interested in signing up, please do so via this link:  events.teams.microsoft.com/e…

10/10/25

The Emotional Wellbeing Team are running a free online session for parents to help better understand the changes that happen in the adolescent brain. This takes place on 16 November at 6pm. If you are interested in signing up, please do so via this link:  events.teams.microsoft.com/e…

10/10/25

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09/10/25

We’re proud to announce that we’ve been awarded the Equalities Silver Award! This recognition reflects ongoing commitment to creating an inclusive, respectful, and equitable environment for everyone.      

07/10/25

Pupils attended the Crime and Punishment workshop at the Tower of London where they learnt about the lives of prisoners and the concept of crime and punishment in the Tower’s history.  This was part of their own study of history, on the topic of Elizabethan England.

07/10/25

We are extremely proud of our Eco-Schools Team who have  completed the Eco-Schools seven step framework to receive Green Flag status, forming their Eco-Committee and conducting an environmental review of the school. They now have an action plan and are monitoring projects.

02/10/25

Year 11 pupils joined The Broadstairs Youth Forum, a Broadstairs & St. Peter's Town Council initiative where young people from local schools meet to discuss local issues, share their ideas for improving the area, and work on collaborative projects that benefit the community.

02/10/25

This week’s KS4 Life Skills Cooking Club went tropical making a delicious mango salsa, learning how to remove the mango stone and cut the fruit ‘hedgehog’ style before  creating the base for their salsa. It was a lesson in precision cutting – well done to all!

01/10/25

Do you have a child starting in September 2026? Come along to our Open Evenings and Mornings; please book for the Headteacher talks via our website:https://t.co/ITjphmVzH1 pic.twitter.com/y7ffSYeeeV

30/09/25

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26/09/25

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26/09/25

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Cultural Capital

Developing Cultural Capital

Cultural capital is defined as the accumulation of knowledge, behaviours, and skills that a student 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. At The Charles Dickens School we work to build our student aspirations and expose them to a range of experiences to helps them achieve goals and become successful.

We recognise that for students to aspire and be successful academically and in the wider areas of their lives, they need to be given rich and varied opportunities to develop their cultural capital. We do this in many ways, for example, through our curriculum, cultural capital days, extra-curricular activities, trips and visits and careers activities.

At The Charles Dickens School pupils follow a Cultural Capital Journey which spans 5 year of rich and diverse opportunities, this is planned and continually evolved to ensure pupils are exposed to a range of high and popular culture, alongside enrichment based opportunities.

We recognise that there are six key areas of development that are interrelated and contribute to building a student’s cultural capital:

  1. Personal Development
  2. Social Development, including political, current affairs awareness and debate
  3. Physical development
  4. Spiritual development
  5. Moral development
  6. Cultural development

We strongly believe that there can be nothing can be more important for our children’s education than ensuring they are supported to be the best they can be within our ever changing, diverse society that ensures everyone has an equal opportunity to live, learn, and achieve.

 

Personal Development

Careers and Information, advice and guidance provision; 

Personal Finance Education;

Employability skills,  

Personal, Social and Health Education curriculum; 

The school’s wider pastoral programme, PSHE drop-down and bitesize sessions;

Transition support and induction; 

Work to develop confidence e.g. debate clubs and interview skills workshops; 

Scholars Programme and Brilliant Club;

College ‘Bowl’ Competitions;

Activities focused on building self-esteem; 

Mental Health & well-being provision – Wellbeing Club, Mindfulness Training; 

Thematic Assemblies and Contextual Safeguarding Calendar

Social Development

PSHE curriculum; 

Form time curriculum; 

Whole School Charity work and Year Group fundraising activities; 

Pupil Voice – Debate and Activism; 

Social and Emotional Interventions Access; 

DFE Healthy Schools’ Accreditation; 

Access to CDS three levels of support (universal, specialised and bespoke) 

College competitions; 

 

Physical Development

Physical Education curriculum; 

Links with local sports clubs; 

Healthy Eating policies and catering provision; 

Anti-bullying and safeguarding policies and strategies; 

The health, drugs, alcohol, smoking and sex and relationships and elements of the PSHE curriculum; 

Extra-curricular activities available including Duke of Edinburgh Award;

Activity-based residentials; 

Food preparation and nutrition curriculum; 

Spiritual Development

The Religious Education/Ethics and Philosophy Curriculum; 

Our collective acts of worship and reflection; 

Support for the expression of individual faiths; 

School-linking activities – locally, nationally and internationally; 

The Assembly programme; 

Christian Workers Charitable Trust assemblies and outreach; 

 

Moral Development

The Religious Education/Ethics and Philosophy Curriculum; 

Behaviour Management policies, a culture of restorative justice approaches

Contributions to local, national and international charitable projects; 

Christian Workers Charitable Trust assemblies and outreach; 

Pastoral Programme; 

 

Cultural Development

Cultural Capital Programme

Educate and Celebrate ‘Bronze’ Award 

Youth Pride Network and ‘Pride’ Ambassadors

Access to the Arts; 

Access to the languages and cultures of other countries through the curriculum and trips and visits; 

Access to both high and popular culture through curriculum intent and enrichment opportunities

Promotion of racial equality and community cohesion through the school’s ethos; 

CDS ‘CARE’ values; 

Anti-Bullying Ambassadors through the ‘Diana Award’.

Assembly programme; 

Pastoral Programme

 

 

Documents

Cultural Capital  
Cultural Capital Overview Download
Year 7 Route Map Download
Year 8 Route Map Download
Year 9 Route Map Download
Year 10 Route Map Download
Year 11 Route Map Download