The trustees present their report and financial statements for the year ended 31 August 2019.
The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the accounts and comply with the trust's Memorandum and Articles of Association , the Companies Act 2006 and “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016)
The trust's objects are :
To advance the Christian faith for the benefit of the public in accordance with the Statement of Beliefs contained in the schedule to the Memorandum and Articles of Association in such ways and in such parts of Takeley, the United Kingdom or the world as the Trustees from time to time may think fit.
The advancement of education on the basis of Christian principles and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing the provision of such education in any educational establishment for the general education of children or adults on the basis of such Christian principles in Takeley and in such other parts of the United Kingdom and the world as the Trustees may from time to time think fit.
The Trust achieves its objectives by operating a small independent school for children aged between 3 and 16 years with a Christian ethos in the village of Takeley, Essex. The school provides education for around 50 pupils and includes families from a wide geographical area, who belong to a number of different churches or none.
The School's ethos encourages a real sense of community and the family nature of the school means that children can be themselves in a safe and accepting environment where pupils and staff work together. The overall aim is to provide a Christ centred education that enables children and young people to become confident, creative, aware and responsible members of their communities.
Public benefit
The trustees have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the trust should undertake.
REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2018/2019
Introduction
The Christian School (Takeley) is an independent day school catering for children from 3 to 16 years of age
Pupils
We started the year with 56 pupils and ended with 46. Our maximum number of pupils remains at 70. The aim is to stabilise the number in each year group to eight in the upper school and 5 in the lower school, although exceptions are made to this. We are seeking to grow our nursery department where pupil numbers are low. We maintain a flexible approach to classes as our numbers fluctuate. Our teaching staff are very flexible and we have moved staff around the school to cover the needs of the current cohort. We aim to provide as wide a curriculum as possible whilst balancing the financial limits of the school when pupil numbers are low.
The school continues with its flexible approach to families who home-educate as well as welcoming pupils with special needs. The staff at the school have worked hard to cater for such needs yet at the same time have attempted to maintain a balanced approach s o that pupils of all abilities can be accommodated. We remain cautious in taking on pupils with Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) due to the administration involved. We currently have only one pupil with an EHCP. We do not take on pupils whose needs we cannot accommodate. We have a strong SEN team but no qualified SENCo.
Of note is the high proportion of pupils in year 10 (current year 11) on the SEN register of the school and how this affects the dynamic of the group as a whole.
External examination statistics for the 2018/19 period were positive and we had enough pupils (6) to feature in league tables where we ranked favourably .
Parents
We continue to encourage parents, especially those new to the school, to play as significant a part as possible in school life. This may be teaching, administrative work, helping with school trips or many other aspects of school life. All families are expected to attend termly cleaning days. Parents are welcome to attend Friday morning assembly in the Chapel and are encouraged to attend meetings with the trustees and our annual school envisioning day. There are also weekly prayer meetings and social events. There is a maintenance team which holds regular maintenance days where parents are encouraged to help with general maintenance tasks and usually have a social element too.
We hold an annual envisioning day to which all families and staff are invited. This enables everyone to input into the vision and direction of the school and feel valued as members of the community. This year’s event was well attended and included children who engaged in a pottery modelling activity so that more parents were able to attend.
We use parent questionnaires annually to keep in touch with the parent view and once again we have found the consensus to be overwhelmingly positive.
Teaching staff
The school continues to benefit from the leadership of the Head Teacher, M Emlyn Humphries, who is well supported by the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) consisting of Amanda Watts, Cathryn Fyfe and Heidi Knight. Weekly SLT meetings are held and Jo Chapman represents the Junior school at these meetings. Each week there is a full staff meeting to discuss progress and training as well as events and behaviour issues.
During the 2018/19 period we took on an additional teacher in the infant department who has also been able to add value in language teaching in the Junior school and allowed us to redeploy another infant teacher into some maths teaching (which she is qualified in) which has freed up the head from some teaching responsibilities. This is a good example of the flexibility and versatility of our staff which is one of our greatest assets.
Trustees
The trustees continue to hold monthly meetings throughout the year. The trustees were as follows: Carina Bowman ( C hair), Heidi Knight and Susara Ribbens, Erika Beumer, Rachel Campos and Alex Farrer. All served for the full year.
Unrestricted income for the year amounted to £345,776 with expenditure of £347,598 leading to a deficit on unrestricted funds of £1,822. Unrestricted funds carried forward amounted to £29,539. The school also received a restricted gift of £31,975 which remained in hand at the year end. The overall result for the year was a surplus of £30,153 (2018: surplus of £30,727) leaving total funds carried forward of £61,514.
Reserves policy
It is the policy of the trust that unrestricted funds which have not been designated for a specific use should be maintained at a level of £15,000 . The trustees consider that reserves at this level will ensure that, in the event of a significant drop in funding, they will be able to continue the trust’s current activities while consideration is given to ways in which additional funds may be raised.
During the year it has been possible to build up unrestricted reserves which stood at £29,539 at the balance sheet date which is significantly above the target level. The trustees will be striving to maintain this level of reserves over the coming year as it sees the School on a good financial footing moving forwards .
Risk management
The trustees have assessed the major risks to which the trust is exposed, and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to the major risks.
The trust is a company limited by guarantee governed by a Memorandum and A rticles of A ssociation dated 2 August 2012 . The company registration number is 08165830. The trust is also registered with the Charity Commission in England and Wales, registration number 1148518.
The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:
New Trustees with suitable skills, knowledge and experience who subscribe to the Statement of Faith contained within the Memorandum and Articles of Association are proposed and appointed by t he existing trustees as the need arises .
None of the trustees has any beneficial interest in the company. All of the trustees are members of the company and guarantee to contribute £1 in the event of a winding up.
During this year the TCST governing body was set up in order to broaden school governance. The proprietors of the school are the Trust.
The day to day running of the school is delegated to the Head teacher and his senior leadership team. The governing body is a parent council consulted by the Head teacher as part of his management of the school and includes teachers, parents and trustees but has no management status in the school.
The trustees are responsible for the financial management of the school and hold the Head teacher to account. They also ensure that school policies are being carried out.
The trustees' r eport was approved by the Board of Trustees.
The trustees, who are also the directors of The Christian School (Takeley) for the purpose of company law, are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Company Law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the trust and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that year.
In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
- state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the trust will continue in operation.
The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the trust and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the trust and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of The Christian School (Takeley) (the trust) for the year ended 31 August 2019.
As the trustees of the trust (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (the 2006 Act).
Having satisfied myself that the financial statements of the trust are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of the trust’s financial statements carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) . In carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.
Since the trust’s gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the 2011 Act. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, which is one of the listed bodies.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
accounting records were not kept in respect of the trust as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or
the financial statements do not accord with those records; or
the financial statements do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
the financial statements have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statements to be reached.
The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.
All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
The Christian School (Takeley) is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is Brewers End, Takeley, Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire, CM22 6QH.
The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the trust's Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Companies Act 2006 and “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016). The trust is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The trust has taken advantage of the provisions in the SORP for charities applying FRS 102 Update Bulletin 1 not to prepare a Statement of Cash Flows.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling , which is the functional currency of the trust. Monetary a mounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the trust has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.
Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors as to how they may be used. The purposes and uses of the restricted funds are set out in the notes to the financial statements.
Liabilities are recognised when a constructive obligation exists, the payment is probable and the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably.
Resources expended are allocated to the particular cost centre to which they relate and include irrecoverable VAT .
Property, plant and equipment are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.
Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bas i s:
The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in net income/(expenditure) for the year.
Items of a capital nature costing less than £500 are not capitalised.
At each reporting end date, the trust reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss (if any ) .
Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.
The trust has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.
Financial instruments are recognised in the trust's balance sheet when the trust becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.
The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received.
Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the trust is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.
Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due.
In the application of the trust’s accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.
School fees
Other activities
School camp and trips
Fee extras
Rent & Rates
Utilities
Insurance
Swimming pool and associated transport
Cleaning
Repairs & maintenance
Training costs
Printing, posting and stationery
Telephone & Internet costs
Marketing
Licenses & Subscriptions
Accountancy
I ndependent examinatio n
During the year Trustee Mrs H Knight was employed by the school in a senior leadership role. For her work in this capacity she received a salary of £14,650 (2018:£14,505) and the trust made contributions into a defined contribution pension scheme of £435 (2018:£328). During the year Trustee Mrs C Bowman received a salary of £6,585 (2018:£6,751) for her role as a teaching assistant, and the trust made contributions into a defined contribution pension scheme of £17 (2018:£15).
The authority for the employment of Trustees is contained in the Charity's Memorandum and Articles of Association.
Except for the above, n one of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration or benefits from the trust during the year.
The total aggregate unrestricted donations received from the Trustees during the year amounted to £0 (2018:£1,637).
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
The trust operates a defined contribution pension scheme for all qualifying employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the trust in an independently administered fund.
The charge to profit or loss in respect of defined contribution schemes was £8,046 (2018 - £5,853).
Building and equipment fund
In the year ended 31 August 2019 the school received a donation towards building works and purchase of equipment for the school. A number of projects have been planned in the coming years.
Unrestricted Funds
Restricted Funds
Unrestricted Funds
The remuneration of key management personnel is as follows.