Visit Us

We have Reception and Nursery places available for September 2025. We welcome you to find out more about our school by exploring our website or booking a visit to see Dashwood Banbury Academy for yourselves. We would also be more than happy to answer any queries via a phone call. During the autumn, we will be holding some open days which include a presentation about our school and a tour of the school from the Principal/Early Years Lead. To contact us or book an appointment for a visit, please call our office on 01295 263240.

For further information about applying for a reception place and key dates in the application process see:

https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/residents/schools/apply-school-place/reception-applications

We cannot wait to welcome you into our wonderful Dashwood Community!

Located in the centre of the bustling town of Banbury in Oxfordshire, we are a two-form entry primary school from 2 -11 years, surrounded by playing fields, including a trim-trail and a forest school area. You can read our Prospectus here.

Our mission statement is ‘Growing together; succeeding together’.  Our values of self worth, engagement and purpose means we are always learning and always trying to achieve our best; this applies to whatever we put our minds to and, crucially, applies to staff and all pupils alike.

Why choose Dashwood for your child’s learning journey?

• We start the day developing independence by hanging coats up, self registering and settling into a play based activity.
• The children are encouraged to learn through play with targeted adult support that moves each child on at an individual level.
• Through the day, the pupils will complete focused phonics, reading, writing, maths and topic based activities.
• All our topics start with a WOW event and end with a reflection (eg cooking, hatching eggs and even a picnic on the moon!)
• We go on many trips in the year including swimming!
• We have forest school sessions weekly onsite where we have newts and toads.
• The children are invited to many after school events such as bedtime story, camp night, PTFA film nights and fairs.
• We celebrate all cultures and beliefs through special events.
• We communicate with you regularly through newsletters, texts, Facebook, our website and Tapestry.
• All our school dinners are freshly cooked and delicious from our catering company Cucina!
• We offer wrap around care: Breakfast Club (from 8am) and After School Club (3-5.50pm) at extremely reasonable rates.

As an Aspirations Academies Trust school, Dashwood provides a modern and expansive curriculum. Teachers are given the freedom to teach in a way that meets the needs of their students, and pupils are resilient, have empathy and develop teamwork and leadership skills, ending their time with us with strong academic results ahead of national outcomes.  It’s a powerful combination!

You can find out more about our wonderful school by visiting the rest of our website, following us on Facebook or by phoning our school office on 01295 263 240.

Mrs Sarah Gordon-Weeks
Principal

How to apply

See our Applying page for information on how to join Nursery and the Applying for a place in Reception page for how to apply for a reception place through the local authority. For older children please see our Admissions page.