Banbury School has won a Heart of the Community award for the fourth time.

Banbury is the only school in Oxfordshire and one of just 250 in the UK to get the coveted Schools Curriculum Award -- which lasts for three years -- for the quality of its relationships with members of the community.

Vice-principal Graham Teager said: "We take our links with the public very seriously. The award is a benchmark that shows we are doing the right things.

"It helps us recruit teachers and it tells parents what sort of a school we are. The award is important to us."

Assessors from the Schools Curriculum Award -- an independent body that has organised the award scheme for 20 years -- visited the school recently. School principal Dr Fiona Hammans said: "It was a pleasure to list the wide variety of activities that Banbury School organises. Charity work, business mentoring, artists in residence, sport, and website design were all included, and the list touched all years."

Two pupils and two adults from the school will go to London on June 11 to collect the award from the Duke of Gloucester.