Banbury AAT Prospectus

‘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.

Banbury Academy and Dashwood 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.

The Development of Individual Potential Your child is just about to embark on the most exciting and life affirming journey. Making decisions about your child moving up to secondary school can be a daunting experience. In the next seven years they will physically change into adults while learning to be the mature, talented and capable people we know they have the potential to be.

Banbury Academy is an excellent choice for the whole journey. As the first Aspirations Academy, Banbury’s mission is to empower our young people to aspire to new dreams and challenging possibilities.

On your child’s journey through Banbury Academy they will learn through an outstanding education which sets high expectations not just for learning but also for the community and culture of our school. Excellent attendance, behaviour and uniform standards are the hallmarks of being part of an academy where everyone is proud to belong. Our high expectation culture leads to a clear sense of purpose and self-esteem creating an environment of performance, ambition and achievement.

Aspiring to the next step of higher education offers our students the opportunity to view the world in a completely new way. The world is changing at a faster pace than we could have imagined but in this physically small island we have some of the very best universities in the world. We are educating our young people for the global journey ahead. Meeting us is the first step on your journey to making these important decisions together.

We look forward to receiving your application to Banbury Academy and to pursuing a journey that values individuality and celebrates success.

Emily Gent – Principal

Banbury Academy

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Self-belief, engagement & purpose Banbury Academy’s culture enables all of our students to develop the skills, behaviours and agency they need to ensure success beyond our academy.

Our students learn to thrive both academically and personally, and lead successful and accomplished lives.

To realise our students’ dreams, we offer a broad, balanced and challenging curriculum that focuses not only on acquiring knowledge but also on developing critical, life-long skills. Our well-qualified and experienced teachers inspire and excite our students whilst also developing their curiosity and creativity. Through the use of interactive whiteboards and netbooks in classrooms, as well as the academy’s virtual learning environment, we use technology to engage students in their learning and to develop the study and independent thinking skills necessary for success.

Following our inspiring transition programme from Year 6 into Year 7, students spend two years securing and developing their knowledge and understanding in Key Stage 3 before being guided very carefully in preparation for GCSE success.

In KS4, the students’ personalised learning programmes are tailored to suit their particular interests and talents. Our core purpose as a school is to prepare students for exam success. Personal study skills develop through homework, extended study and revision: the essential components of successful learning. Personal study skills enable students to develop research ability, independent thinking, resilience and self-motivation. These are the skills students need to thrive during higher education and training.

As an aspirations academy our school engages all students to realise their dreams by believing in themselves and giving them the tools and skills to make positive change happen. We are proud of the relationships that we foster with our students and their families because we know that our students’ successes are enhanced when these relationships are strong. Clear and frequent communication helps you understand how your children are progressing. We send home regular performance reports and information events, including Tutor/Student/Parent Days, mentoring meetings and academic parents’ evenings.

Banbury Academy

02/03

A Challenging Journey To Outstanding Results When students experience a sense of belonging and feel good about themselves they realise their dreams. We understand that each student has individual and unique needs and ensure that everyone has a mentor, tutor and a wider pastoral network that includes a Pastoral Manager, Director of Standards and, where appropriate, learning and behaviour mentors and buddies. This support structure is available throughout each day.

Allowing individuality to flourish and nurturing personal development helps students feel empowered to achieve their goals and ambitions. We pride ourselves on setting challenging personal targets and providing the support and guidance our students need to exceed them.

We set high standards of behaviour and expect our students to take pride in their uniform, themselves and their academy. Our ethos of mutual respect and thoughtfulness achieves an orderly and safe environment in which bullying is not tolerated. Our house system develops a sense of community and each student is expected to contribute to it through activities such as sports, competitions, creative learning days and charity fundraising.

Effort and success in all aspects of academy life are celebrated through a range of rewards and events. Our students are encouraged to take positions of responsibility; these include becoming ‘buddies’ to Year 6 students, Prefects in Year 11 and Principal and Deputy Principal Students in all years. Our values reflect our intention that Banbury Academy students become outstanding citizens and accomplished leaders who are confident to take action. Our students have the conviction to make the right decisions for themselves and their families both now and in the future.

Banbury Academy

04/05

n i e v i t c e f f y e r a y l r m a i l r u p c i ‘…par t g transition from condar y suppor tindar y, and from se tion.’ to secon xt stage of educa to the ne Ofsted

Innovative, Challenging and Fulfilling

High levels of attendance across all year groups indicate student engagement with the school and the opportunities it offers.

In addition to providing excellent teaching and learning opportunities, Banbury Academy has impressive facilities; a well-stocked library and media resources centre, specialist science laboratories, fully equipped computer rooms, spacious sports fields, a sports hall, two gyms, an astroturf pitch, a theatre and drama and dance studios. Opportunities abound at Banbury Academy and we encourage all our students to engage fully with the range of experiences available.

Extra-curricular sporting activities include football, netball, trampolining, athletics, tennis, rounders, volleyball and dance. We provide drama, music, chess, cooking and journalism clubs as well as providing homework support and extensive academic revision opportunities.

Day visits and residential trips locally, nationally and globally form an important part of the Banbury Academy experience. Our links with European, African and American schools and exciting travel opportunities such as our Year 12 visit to the NASA Space Centres in Houston and Cape Canaveral have enabled us to achieve the prestigious International Schools Award.

We are dedicated to ensuring that all students have as many opportunities as possible to develop the life skills and global outlook required to thrive in today’s fast-paced world.

Banbury Academy

06/07

Successful Learning With a strong academic track record and excellent, individualised support through rigorous academic targetsetting and a well-developed mentoring system, the majority of our students go on to study at university, taking a broad choice of courses. We achieve excellent performance year on year, with students receiving offers from the most prestigious universities in the UK.

We are very proud of our post-16 students: it is their dedication and mature approach, together with the excellent quality of teaching that make our Sixth Form what it is. The students have a vibrancy, a willingness to give and a capacity for imagination that makes our Sixth Form a unique place to learn and to grow as a young person into adulthood.

Every year our Sixth Formers are successful in securing a wide range of course choices reflecting the broad range of courses we offer, with just about every subject represented.

There is a wealth of opportunity for students to develop socially and emotionally through our enrichment programme and we offer a range of ways for students to extend their learning beyond the taught curriculum, for example, through completing an Extended Project.

Some of our students develop their career aspirations early, but most students develop their goals and dreams for the future while they are with us in the Sixth Form.

Encouraging and helping our students to win a prestigious university places gives us enormous satisfaction.

A small example of the places won in the last two years are shown below:

Banbury Academy Sixth Form offers post-16 students broad curriculum choices and a successful tradition of excellent advice and guidance for the next step beyond school. We have a comfortable and well-equipped learning environment and we welcome applications from our own students and those from other schools.

• Bangor University: Psychology • The University of Manchester: Fashion and Textile Retail • The University of Nottingham: English Literature and Language • The University of York: Biology • The Royal Veterinary College: Veterinary Science • The University of Southampton: Medicine • The University of Sheffield: Mechanical Engineering

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Ruskin Road, Banbury OX16 9HY Tel: 01295 251451 Fax: 01295 277682 Email: office@aatbanbury.org www.aatbanbury.org

Milton Keynes