‘To be able to dream about the future, while being inspired in the present to reach those dreams’ Dr. Russell J. Quaglia
The Aspirations Academies Trust The Aspirations Academies Trust (AAT) in England is a charitable organisation operating in association with the Quaglia Institute for Student Aspirations (QISA) and Aspirations Unlimited International (AUI). AAT academies benefit from QISA’s remarkable record of more than 30 years of research and experience working with students, educators and schools. Dashwood Banbury Academy and Banbury Academy are the first Aspirations Academies in the UK. All Aspirations Academies are committed to raising students’ aspirations so that all young people reach their full potential and achieve the success they want for themselves. Each academy challenges its students and staff to perform at their highest level within a creative culture of positivity, innovation and enthusiasm for success.
Welcome from the Principal I am very pleased to offer you a warm welcome to Dashwood Banbury Academy. We are a school that offers personalised, innovative and exciting opportunities to enable all pupils to achieve their potential. Crucial to our ethos is the personal rapport between our dedicated staff and pupils. Having a great partnership of communication and collaboration with parents and carers is extremely important to us and pupil achievement is celebrated throughout the year. We have very high expectations of all our pupils to work hard and look smart; our pupils rise to this challenge. The school environment inspires pupils to aim for their dreams for the future, while being inspired in the present to reach them. It is a genuine pleasure to be the Principal at Dashwood Banbury Academy and to be an Aspirations Academies Trust school. Staff are passionate about children’s education and making their learning fun and exciting. Our pupils, who are polite, hard-working and proud of their school, tell us they enjoy their learning and love coming to school. I very much look forward to meeting you. Mrs Rachel Gallyot
‘Pupils’ behaviour as are their levels is outstanding, and teamwork.’ of collaboration
Ofsted 2011
Dashwood Banbury Academy
01
Early Years Foundation Stage Children from the ages of 3 to 5 can join our Foundation Stage on a part or full-day basis. We welcome visitors to our unit so please come along and find out more. Our Foundation Stage Unit is a bright, stimulating and challenging environment where children become responsible for their own learning. All areas of the curriculum are taught both inside and outside. Children are given the opportunity to choose their own curriculum and have all the support they need to achieve. We believe that the partnership between home and school is paramount so each child has a learning journal where all their work and photographs are stored; these are open documents and we regularly invite parents and carers to add to these. Children come into school already knowing a great deal and it is our job at Dashwood Banbury Academy to build on this foundation. To help with communication we have an open door policy; there is a weekly newsletter, as well as a parents/carers noticeboard. As pupils leave the Foundation Stage, we have a graduation ceremony to celebrate all the wonderful successes that each child has enjoyed. Children enjoy their time with us and are given the opportunity to develop relationships and friendships with both their peers and staff. They make excellent progress in their learning and leave us well prepared for the rest of their school career.
Dashwood Banbury Academy
02/03
Curriculum At Dashwood Banbury Academy we believe that the curriculum should reflect pupils’ abilities, interests and needs. The pupils are fully involved in pre-learning tasks and they help set the out key questions for topics. As each year progresses, the curriculum is adapted and shaped to ensure that all children make very strong progress in their learning and realise the potential we know they all have. We let them guide us with their interests and at the same time, we ensure that they are offered a relevant and balanced curriculum. Underpinning this is very strong literacy and numeracy learning to support success in other subjects which is tailored to individual needs. Each term, the whole school focus on a specific condition of learning such as outdoor learning, team building. The classes then complete activities within this topic reflecting their next steps in learning. This individualised approach enables all pupils to feel engaged and excited about their learning, resulting in increased engagement and excitement about challenges which in turn empowers them to strive to be the best. Every child has a dream and it is our responsibility to enable them to aspire to achieve these dreams. As part of their learning journey, children are expected to complete homework related to their classroom experiences. This is in the form of literacy and numeracy work but also includes an extended study each term related to the topic at the time. Pupils love having the responsibility that this entails and it is a great way for parents/carers to get more involved in their learning too. We have a range of opportunities for our more able pupils to take part in workshops with other pupils from local primaries run by teachers from Banbury Academy and for some lessons to be taught by Banbury Academy specialist teachers. Our more able pupils are challenged in all lessons and often take part in science labs, gyms and design technology challenges.
‘Productive parents an relationships with considerabd carers contribute learning a ly to pupils’ nd progres Ofsted 201 s.’ 1
Dashwood Banbury Academy
04/05
Extra-Curricular Activities
All of our children leave the school having experienced a wide range of activities and have the life skills they need to achieve. Our extra-curricular programme is an important part of the education we offer. Each class goes on at least one educational visit a year and the older year groups participate in a residential trip to encourage independence. The whole school visits a theatre every year to see a traditional pantomime and we hold Easter and Christmas assemblies at our local church. Although our curriculum is very broad and gives pupils a huge range of skills, we believe it is important to offer additional activities that build pupils’ confidence, resilience and self-belief. Every child has a talent in at least one area and to develop this further, we hold sports days, curriculum enrichment days, after school clubs, `Dashwood’s Got Talent’, inter-house singing competitions and much more. We are proud of our diverse community and celebrate the range of cultures and beliefs within it.
Dashwood Banbury Academy
06/07
Responsibility and Engagement The views of pupils are very important to us and are sought through a Pupil Voice survey every year. The results of this are viewed by a pupil working group; where they make recommendations of how to improve the school. Year 6 pupils are encouraged to apply for the post of Head Pupil; our Head Pupils are given extra responsibilities in the school including attending staff leadership team meetings and showing visitors around the school. They are responsible for ensuring behaviour in assemblies is excellent. As an Aspirations Academies Trust school we have Aspirations Heroes. They are role models who are chosen to raise the aspirations of other pupils. Their role involves: • planning lessons with teachers, • leading parts of lessons, • encouraging others to make the right learning choices through modelling good practice. We also have Junior Leaders in school who enjoy various roles such as; leading the `Wake up, Shake up’ session at the end of lunchtime, reading to younger pupils at break and lunchtime, assisting staff in various activities, taking part in school events, learning leaders, aspiration heroes and friendship buddies. The pupils here at Dashwood Banbury Academy feel valued and listened to. We encourage an ethos of mutual respect and would love to hear from you if you are interested in your child joining us.
Dashwood Banbury Academy
08
Merton Street, Banbury OX16 4RX Tel: 01295 263240 Fax: 01295 701130 Email: office@aatdashwood.org www.aatdashwood.org