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2023-08-31-accounts

Charity registration number 1076999

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

Annual report and financial statements

For the year ended 31 August 2023

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Board of Governors R Chinchanwala
J K Tyson
M Weatheritt
E Sharman
C Kiggell
A Scarff
S Ward
B Charles
N Skelly (Appointed 22 June 2023)
Trustee St Michael's Trust Association Ltd
Clerk to Governors C Hampton
Charity number 1076999
Principal address St Michael's School
Row Dow
Otford Court
Otford
Kent
TN14 5RY
Key management Head - N Pears
Director of Finance and Operations - I Watts
School Business Manager - S Saunders
Auditor WSM Advisors Limited
Connect House
133-137 Alexandra Road
Wimbledon
London
SW19 7JY
Bankers Barclays Bank Plc
80 High Street
Sevenoaks
Kent
TN13 1LR
Solicitors VWV
24 King William Street
London
EC4R 9AT

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

CONTENTS

Page
Trustee's report 1 - 30
Statement of trustee's responsibilities 31
Independent auditor's report 32 - 34
Statement of financial activities 35
Balance sheet 36
Statement of cash flows 37
Notes to the financial statements 38 - 52

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

TRUSTEE'S REPORT

For the year ended 31 August 2023

St Michael’s School Trust Association Limited, the trustee of St Michael’s School Trust, presents the annual report and audited accounts for the year ended 31 August 2023 and confirms they comply with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011, the trust deed and the Charities SORP (FRS 102)

Property known as Otford Court Estate was originally settled under a Memorandum of Trust dated 21 March 1925. A further Deed of Trust was executed on 25 November 1935 between G.E. Cowper and others (known as The Cowper-Miles Trust) which provided funds for the running of a school on the Otford Court Estate. As a result of a scheme of the Charity Commission of 17 July 1996 the above trusts were amalgamated to be administered as one charity named the St. Michael’s School Trust. St. Michael’s Trust Association Limited, a company incorporated on 18 January 1937, remains the trustee of the charity.

OUR AIMS

The aims of the charity are the advancement of education of children and young people by the provision of a school or schools conducted in accordance with the principles of Church of England beliefs and practices. In the furtherance of this objective, the trustee has complied with the duty in s.4 of the Charities Act 2011 to have regard to the Charity Commission's published general and relevant sub-sector guidance concerning the operation of the Public Benefit requirement under that Act.

The success of the school in achieving its aims means that it attracts and retains a high number of pupils. Most year groups are full and enquiry levels remain very high.

ETHOS AND STRATEGY OF THE SCHOOL

Joy is at the heart of life at St Michael’s: the Joy of our children, the Joy of our community and the Joy and Wonder of Learning. St Michael’s is driven by a passionate belief in the value and power of learning: for children, for teachers, for parents and everyone who comes into contact with us.

St Michael’s is an inclusive school where each individual is known, valued and celebrated. We want our children to embrace each day and be inspired by their lessons and co-curricular activities.

We believe in providing a rounded education where children can pursue their passions, challenge themselves and enjoy a creative and innovative curriculum. We are continually looking for ways to improve in step with our ever-changing world. Access to our 100-acre site plays an important role in the pupils’ learning and growth, developing them into mindful and knowledgeable citizens who will care for their environments throughout their lives.

Our growth mindset approach to teaching and learning ensures that every child understands the value of failure in their path to success. St Michael’s children are not afraid to get things wrong, or judgemental of others’ mistakes, and this is something they carry with them.

Our school motto: perseverantia, sapientia, gratia (perseverance, wisdom and gratitude) encapsulates our ethos of striving for success and using our skills to make a difference. These values are instilled daily throughout the St Michael’s journey.

We strongly believe that in order to teach our children about the importance of life-long learning, we must first model this ourselves. Our staff undergo regular professional development and parents are also invited to a range of workshops on relevant topics.

We are confident that when our pupils move on from St Michael’s, they will use the wisdom, skills and values that we taught them to make a positive change in the world.

For the year ended 31 August 2023

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

TRUSTEE'S REPORT (CONTINUED)

St Michael’s actively manages the inclusion of its people and values human diversity, believing that our different ways of being and thinking adds value to our school community. We are committed to creating and sustaining a more ethnically diverse workforce.

Our School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our pupils and expects all staff, volunteers and contractors to share this commitment.

Parents are given regular information about their children’s social and academic progress through parent evenings, in addition to written reports throughout the year. We maintain regular contact with parents throughout the year through our weekly newsletter, social media, as well as via our open-door policy.

OUR OBJECTIVES

Our objectives are set to reflect our educational aims and the ethos of the school. It is important to us that we maintain and enhance the academic success of the school.

In agreeing our objectives and planning activities, our Governors have considered the Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance and the context of the broader goals we set for the school and our pupils.

Our School Development Plan comprises six overarching strands for the academic year, in conjunction with the financial year. All strands are considered at the three Full Governing Body meetings that take place each year and driving the during the appropriate Governors’ sub-committee meetings. The strands and relevant meetings are listed below:

Academic - Driving Academic Excellence (within subject areas and across the whole school) – including links between Prep and Pre-Prep. Governors’ sub-committee: Education

SMSC - Focus on wellbeing through promoting healthy strategies for mind and body with children, staff and parents. Focus on celebrating our successes (and how this can be linked to our 150th Anniversary). Governors’ sub-committee: Education

Facilities - Provide an outstanding experience for our pupils and wider community through well-resourced, well-maintained site and facilities which benefit from continual investment. Governors’ sub-committee: Finance and General Purposes

Business Development - Sustain our position as a leading independent prep school; well- resourced, financially sound and able to reinvest into the school. Governors’ sub-committee: Finance and General Purposes

Staffing - To attract and retain a high quality and diverse staff body, who contribute to a healthy work environment and receive first class professional development and support. Governors’ sub-committee: Staffing and Remuneration

Public Benefit & Community - Continue to meet the charitable aims of the school, broadening access to pupils who may not otherwise be able to afford it and by being generous with facilities and expertise. We seek to prioritise sustainability and will reduce our negative impact on the environment. Governors’ sub-committee: Finance and General Purposes

Throughout this document you will find references to developments within these areas.

TRUSTEE'S REPORT (CONTINUED) For the year ended 31 August 2023

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

REVIEW OF ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS

It has been another action-packed year at St Michael’s Prep School as you will see in the pages of this review.

Our pupils continue to work hard, play hard and enjoy their time in this fabulous school. It is a pure joy to see them running into school in the morning and not wanting to leave at the end of the day! I am enormously proud of our children and all that they achieve and the great character they continually display.

There have been so many highlights this year, but something that will remain in the hearts and minds of those who were gathered will undoubtedly be our 150th Anniversary Carol Service, held at The Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul in Tonbridge. This was a magical evening featuring staff, Prep and Pre-Prep choirs, accompanied by a professional orchestra. It was a truly special end to a significant year in the history of St Michael’s and a fitting finale to our year of celebrations and commemorations.

As ever, daily school life has been packed full of wonderful opportunities for our children; you will see in this review that we continue to be restless in our ambition, striving for excellence to provide the very best educational experience we possibly can for those in our care.

Academically, our pupils continue to do superbly, and we were delighted to have had our best ever Kent Test (11+) results this year with an 87% pass rate. We were also proud to see our senior pupils gain places at their first-choice senior schools, with over twenty being awarded scholarships to these schools.

Music, Drama and Art continue to thrive, and we had some spectacular performances and exhibitions of work. We were thrilled that our U11 Girls became IAPS National Hockey Champions and went on to win the IAPS Hardball Cricket Championships. After various postponements due to the pandemic, it was a delight to see the return of our school ski trips, French trip and a highly successful Music Tour to Vienna.

Once again, we have said farewell to members of our staff and tributes to each of them can be found in our online newsletters on the school website. In particular, I would like to highlight the contribution made by Steve and Cal Wade who after 42 combined years of service to the school, leave a lasting legacy. We were delighted to have recruited more excellent staff this year who will continue to take us forward as a school and in our pursuit of excellence.

Partnership with parents remains key for our community and our parents have once again excelled in terms of the time and effort they have given to the school. We are grateful for their involvement with volunteering, accompanying trips, hearing children read, making artwork, fundraising and support of their children at concerts, plays, events and matches.

We remain committed to serving our local community and invest significantly in this with the provision of our Community Sport Development Manager who works in local primary schools across the area, delivering much needed PE and Games lessons as well as running tournaments and other competitions. It has been a joy to see the return of events such as the Big Sing and our Orchestra Day which gathered pupils from local primary schools across the area to make music together, led by a team of professionals under the direction of our Director of Music.

We continue to offer financial assistance to families who would otherwise be unable to afford to send their children to St Michael’s Prep, as well as offering continuity of education to those current families faced with financial hardship. It has been a privilege to be able to continue to offer financial assistance to Ukrainian refugee families and to have been able to help secure future independent senior schooling for one of these pupils.

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

TRUSTEE'S REPORT (CONTINUED)

For the year ended 31 August 2023

The school is wonderfully served by our Support Staff in the Administration, Catering and Estates Teams. They continue to work tirelessly to ensure excellent standards of provision and care for our school community.

The Academic Staff and Senior Leadership Team make a huge contribution to the school. I am immensely grateful to each of them for their dedication, love and care for our pupils and all that they do to ensure that the school runs smoothly; our pupils receive the very best education possible. I cannot thank the team enough for their commitment and hard work, adapting to the many challenges that have come our way.

As ever, I am grateful to the Board of Governors for their support and engagement over the course of the year as they help myself and the Senior Leadership Team in the pursuit of our aims and vision for St Michael’s.

Demand for places has never been higher and we are delighted to see the recognition of our success in St Michael’s being shortlisted for Independent Prep School of The Year.

Pupil numbers and fees

Our activities are carried out through our Pre-Prep School and Prep School.

Pupil numbers were 483 as of August 31[st] 2023, an increase of 16 compared to August 31[st] 2022 (467).

Fee affordability remains an important factor for the Governors when considering setting the fees despite increasing cost pressure, including energy costs, as widely reported in the media.

Our termly fees before deduction of any means-tested bursaries or scholarships were:

Nursery £940 Kindergarten £940 Reception – Year 2 £4,440 Years 3-4 £5,120 Years 5-8 £5,400

GOVERNORS

The trustee which served the charity during the year was St Michael's Trust Association Limited.

The Governors of the School are also Directors of St Michael's Trust Association Limited. The Governors who served during the year are as stated below:

R Chinchanwala* Chair of Governors and Chair of the Finance and General Purpose Committee J K Tyson ~ Vice Chair of Governors and Chair of the Staffing and Remuneration Committee M Weatheritt ** Chair of Education Committee E Sharman ~ Health & Safety C Kiggell ~ Safeguarding A Scarff * B Charles ** S Ward ** N Skelly * (appointed 22 June 2023) J Dawes * (resigned 22 May 2023) Clerk to Governors: C Hampton

For the year ended 31 August 2023

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

TRUSTEE'S REPORT (CONTINUED)

The Governors meet as a Board three times a year and there are sub-committees which meet termly. The Finance and General Purposes Committee meets two weeks prior to the full Governors’ meetings with specific responsibility to review the financial plans and activities of the school, agree the budget and the annual accounts. The Staffing & Remuneration Committee chaired by J Tyson meets once a term to plan staffing resources, discuss staff welfare and remuneration. The Education Committee chaired by M Weatheritt meets once a term to oversee all curriculum matters.

Individual Governors also provide representation on the school's Health and Safety Committee and there is a governor with specific responsibility for overseeing the safeguarding of children. All Governors receive regular safeguarding training delivered by the school’s Designated Safeguarding Lead as well as online training.

ST. MICHAEL’S COMMUNITY AND OUTREACH (PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMME)

The partnership work carried out in 2022/23 involved 16 state schools with up to 1,000 pupils involved from those state schools. An approximate figure of 400 hours of staff time was given to the initiatives offered by St Michael’s staff.

One of the biggest impact initiatives has been the provision to local primary schools of a dedicated teacher of PE/Games. A member of the St Michael’s staff team organises his time to visit schools for a term at a time, to deliver a PE/Games programme to the children at that school. Although the figure fluctuates from term to term, eight schools have benefitted from this initiative.

St Michael’s also has supported a local special school with facility sharing (the swimming pool), allowing children and carers access to develop water safety and confidence. The swimming pool is also shared with three other local primary schools, with one school also using the St Michael’s minibuses to transport their children to St Michael’s.

Additionally, the Head of Computing has run two programming workshops for a local primary school, with a view to repeat in the future.

St Michael’s sport staff organised and hosted football and netball tournaments for local primary schools. The swimming pool has also been used by the local Scout group to train children and adults in canoeing and kayaking.

All of the above arrangements are reviewed each year to see if they can be extended or improved on. St Michael’s is pleased and proud to be able to support local primary schools and youth groups in this way.

PARENTS AND FRIENDS (P&F)

Once again, huge thanks to our Parents and Friends committee who over the course of this academic year have brought our community together and raised funds for the school, augmenting our day to day offering with some wonderful, additional benefits for the children.

Our Christmas Fayre was a real highlight as we were able to welcome in children from our partner charity, the Emily Ash Trust, who were able to meet both Santa and Mrs Claus in our school grounds, as well as petting Huskies!

The school trip to the Stag Theatre for their pantomime was a roaring success and we were grateful for the generosity of the committee in meeting the costs of the professional orchestra who accompanied the choirs for our 150th Anniversary Carol Service. In the Trinity Term, the P&F put on a spectacular Summer Festival with a live band, inflatables, stalls and other fun activities for the family. This was a super event with more than eight hundred people joining together.

For the year ended 31 August 2023

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

TRUSTEE'S REPORT (CONTINUED)

We thank the committee and broader parent group for their hard work in bringing the school community together, as well as their generosity. New parents are always welcome and encouraged to get involved in P&F activities in whatever capacity they are able.

CHARITABLE GIVING

St Michael’s continues to place great store in the raising of money and awareness for selected charities, via the School Council, comprised of pupils from across the age range. The charities supported, are voted on by the Council, stemming from nominations by the pupils in the form classes. In addition to the above charity days, many of the pupils, staff and parents supported the following:

SCHOOL PREMISES DEVELOPMENT

The Premises Development Plan is reviewed on an annual basis. The key objectives achieved in 2022/23 were:

FUTURE PLANS INCLUDE:

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

TRUSTEE'S REPORT (CONTINUED)

For the year ended 31 August 2023

ACADEMIC

Curriculum updates

During this academic year, each department in the school focused on the School Development Plan in the following four areas: Assessment, EDI (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion), Communication and Wellbeing. We are proud of the progress we have made in each area and below you can find examples of this year’s highlights.

Following a review of the GL Progress Test in English (PTE) and the GL Progress Test in Maths (PTM) and their effectiveness and relevance, this year we are using the Cambridge University Press and Assessment CEM (Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring) INCAS Assessment. This is for children from Year 1 to Year 6. This assessment is completed online and is adaptive. Therefore, the questions are personalised for each child and will change to calculate each child’s scores.

Age equivalent scores and standardised scores are collected in:

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

TRUSTEE'S REPORT (CONTINUED)

For the year ended 31 August 2023

This data was analysed and used to inform form teachers, subject teachers and leaders about overall trends and patterns and specific children.

We were delighted to secure the following Scholarships for our Year 8 pupils: One Music Scholarship (Radnor House) One Art Scholarship (Walthamstow Hall)

Four Sport Scholarships (plus one Exhibition) (Kent College, Hurst, Bede’s, Eastbourne and Sutton Valence).

In Year 6, we achieved our highest Kent Test (11+) results with a pass rate of 87% who passed and secured a Grammar school place.

Eleven Scholarships (one Academic, one All-Rounder, one Sport, two Music, one Art & Design and five Drama) and six Exhibitions (three Sport, three Art and Design) were accepted for St Michael’s in Years 7 and 8.

We are committed to supporting St Michael’s families with the future schools’ choices. This year we held a successful Senior Schools Fair with over 30 visiting schools sharing information with St Michael’s families. In Year 5, all parents are invited to an individual meeting with the Head, Deputy Head Academic and Head of Years 7 and 8 to talk specifically about their child. Our Exams/Senior School Evening in May highlighted key general advice to support the application and admissions process for 11+ and 13+ entry. We believe this is key in finding the right school for the right child.

As a prep school, our pupils leave for a range of senior schools, both state maintained and independent at age 11 or 13 years.

Destination schools include the following:

Sevenoaks School Tonbridge School Caterham School The Judd School Tonbridge Girls’ Grammar School Kent College, Pembury Walthamstow Hall Charterhouse Benenden Epsom College Bennett Memorial School King’s School, Rochester Sutton Valence

ST MICHAEL’S DIPLOMA RESULTS

The Year 8 cohort were assessed in Academic Excellence, Collaboration, Commitment, Creativity, Perseverance, Critical Thinking and Independence. In each Diploma subject (Computing, Geography, History, Religious Studies, PE/Games/Swimming, Drama, Music, Art, French, Latin, Design Technology) pupils are graded as Working Towards, Pass, Merit, Merit Plus and Distinction. Merit Plus was introduced this year to recognise the children achieving a very high merit.

Diploma Grade Total
WorkingTowards 0
Pass 1
Merit 12
Merit Plus 7
Distinction 4
Total 24

TRUSTEE'S REPORT (CONTINUED)

For the year ended 31 August 2023

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

PRE-PREP HEAD’S REVIEW

2022/23 has been a busy year. Pre-Prep not only celebrated the 150th anniversary of St Michael’s but additionally had a 10th Pre-Prep building, birthday party. We went from picnics in the grounds, ice creams from an ice cream van on site, to making our own sandwiches and watching the spectacular magician Robert Pound play tricks on Mrs Jeffery and me.

We have continued to follow the National Curriculum for planning and teaching. Children meet and exceed expected National standards. We followed Prep this year and changed our paper- based assessments at the end of the year to online ones. Our initial caution around young children in Year 1 and 2 being able to manage this was soon dispelled as the children embraced the iPad assessment. Teachers were pleased with the results which accurately matched our teacher’s assessments of their children. We continue to use Read Write Inc as our phonics programme and this gives children a firm and fast understanding of sounds which accelerates their reading and writing.

Children who need some scaffolding with their academic or physical progress have been well served by our Learning Development Manager, Mrs Rachael Newton, who works alongside the teaching staff to develop interventions for groups of children or individuals. Class teachers will have discussions with parents where there is a need for an intervention.

The desire to extend our opening hours for our pre-school children remains strong as more working parents are requesting later pick up times. This year we have built an additional bathroom into our Nursery – Kindergarten lunchroom. We have started to redesign this space to add another play area for Nursery children and to be the Mini Hive for our pre-school children from 4pm.

We have increased the Forest School by making an exciting new summer venue which offers different adventures from our first Forest School “classroom”. The children have loved exploring this area. It has a gigantic slope which forms a natural mud slide and requires a lot of climbing to get to the top. There is a much larger tree to climb and a partly bricked feature which makes a great camp. As the weather turns, we shall give our summer venue a rest and return to our tented winter space for campfires and cooking. Mrs Palmer is now our dedicated Forest school teacher.

With several staff going on maternity leave, we have had a few staff changes who have brought with them lots of exciting new ideas. Mr Davies joined us as the PE and Sports teacher in Pre- Prep and has added a great mix of inclusive but challenging and competitive events. We have introduced a house cup for swimming gala as well as a set of individual medals, which gives opportunity for lots of children to achieve.

Our new Music teacher took us back to competing in the Tunbridge Wells Arts Festival where our Pre-Prep choir won first prize. We have a great mixture of popular songs being performed together with some real traditional favourites. This year we are running a group for children on our waiting list for individual lessons, to have taster sessions where they can try out strings, drums, woodwind and keyboards.

NURSERY

We welcomed 34 children and their families to Nursery in September 2022 and the settling sessions provided the perfect opportunity for the children to become familiar with the new surroundings and the Nursery Team. The first visit to the fairy tree was a big hit for the children, as were Music and PE lessons with the support of the Nursery Team. The children were very soon enjoying everything that St Michael's has to offer, getting used to the new routines.

Highlights of the year were a fantastic Christmas, music lesson display and an end of year sports day and concert. Throughout the year the children visited many parts of Prep and Pre-Prep, with a special visit to the dining room at Prep, the pond and even an impromptu visit to Mr Pears’ office. A busy and wonderful start to the children's St Michael's journey.

TRUSTEE'S REPORT (CONTINUED)

For the year ended 31 August 2023

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

KINDERGARTEN

What a busy year Kindergarten have had; with wonderful outdoor explorations to all corners of the St Michael's grounds, the children have really developed their investigation, exploration and self-care skills. The sand pit in Kindergarten has been very well used and a delivery of sand by the big truck was surely one of the highlights for the children as they were enthralled, watching the crane move the sand. Kindergarten looked after their very own caterpillars and were amazed with the transformation. Seeing life through the eyes of our little ones is truly fantastic.

Busy Bee time in Kindergarten has been so much fun this year too, as the children develop their gross and fine motor skills, whilst showing off some great dance moves. At the end of year, the Sports Day and Concert event were true celebrations of a wonderful year for the children.

RECEPTION

Life in Reception was as action-packed as ever this year. From our trip to Godstone Farm, to a visit from the owls at Exotic Explorers, we immersed ourselves in our learning. We developed our social and academic skills in the classroom, in the playground and through visits to Prep School.

Our weekly Forest School sessions allowed us to watch the seasons unfold, instilling a love of nature and an awareness of how to care for our beautiful grounds.

Our annual Mothers’ Day Assembly was a great success as usual and, for the first time this year, we introduced a Fathers’ Day Assembly complete with wonderful paintings of designer stubble! We have been sad to see the children move on but know they are more than ready for the exciting opportunities which Year 1 will bring.

YEAR 1

Year 1 had an exciting start to the year with a trip to Knole House, where the children explored the house and grounds, looking at clothing and portraits from the past. In the Lent term, the children immersed themselves in the life of a pirate, composing messages in a bottle and sampling pirate food and drink. We then visited Leeds Castle, where we demonstrated our theatrical skills, performing ‘The Swan Princess’ in costume.

Our topic for Trinity term focused on The Great Fire of London. We made Tudor houses and explored the reasons why the fire spread so quickly.

YEAR 2

In Year 2, the children came face to face with giant African cockroaches and got to cuddle baby meerkats. This kick starts our unit of work where Sunny the meerkat goes travelling. In December, the children enjoyed singing carols and making Christingles with Year 3. The end of the term rounded up with our nativity, performed to our parents and grandparents. In class and through our visit to Brighton Sealife, the children learnt about the effects of plastic pollution. A topic that they take very seriously and hopefully starts them on the path to looking after our planet. The year’s highlight was our trip to Stubbers. This trip has now become a rite of passage with children camping overnight after a day of outdoor activities, such as rowing and climbing. After this action packed two days, the children came home just that little bit taller.

TRUSTEE'S REPORT (CONTINUED)

For the year ended 31 August 2023

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

PREP SCHOOL DEPARTMENT REVIEWS

MATHS

As always, the 2022/23 academic year has been very busy. With plenty of curriculum content to get under our belts in all year groups, we have been making the most of our lesson and homework opportunities and everyone has learnt a huge amount about number, measures, geometry, statistics, and algebra (yes, algebra!). Years 6 and 8 enjoyed putting their data handling skills to the test by collecting and presenting data about the St. Michael’s car park, Year 5 used their estimating skills and large buckets of water to understand more about capacity and Year 7 took a trip to Sevenoaks School to learn about complex shapes including the Möbius loop and a torus. We have also designed zoos, researched Roman Numerals and drawn curves using only straight lines.

Whilst having lots of fun, we have also maintained our focus on exam preparation and success for upper KS2 and KS3 pupils, which has led to some outstanding achievements in both 11+ and 13+ school entrance exams. All pupils in all year groups should be proud of their hard work this year.

Alongside our work in the classroom, 2022/23 has seen the Maths department continue to develop its competitive side and provide opportunities for healthy competition across the Prep School. In November, Years 5 and 6 enjoyed taking part in the annual Primary Maths Challenge, with gold, silver and bronze certificates going to children from both year groups. It was a record year for St. Michael’s as 10 pupils from Year 6 were invited to take part in the Bonus Round in March – the largest number of pupils to have reached this stage since we started taking part in the competition. All pupils performed brilliantly, with six pupils awarded bronze medals and one pupil awarded a silver medal. Congratulations to everyone who took part.

During the Lent term, Year 2 and Year 3 had a great deal of fun when they got together in the Prep sports hall for their Maths Challenge morning. The event was organised to perfection by Mrs Perkins and Mrs Briggs and thoroughly enjoyed by all involved. There were puzzles involving shapes and numbers, using all sort of equipment, even our own bodies! It was great to see so many children working collaboratively to solve puzzles and think mathematically, without the need for pencil and paper.

At the beginning of the Trinity term, Mr Orpin (Year 4) and Mrs de Belder (Year 5) each took two teams to compete in the annual Somerhill Maths Race. Our pupils worked in pairs to solve Maths problems under time pressure, earning points as they progressed through the carousel of activities. It was a tough competition for our teams from both year groups, but everyone worked incredibly hard, demonstrating great teamwork and perseverance. One pair achieved fourth place out of 59 teams in the Year 4 competition and deserve to feel extremely proud of this outstanding result.

In the same term, four pupils from each of Year 7 and Year 8 were invited to take part in a team Maths challenge at Sutton Valence school. This was the first time St. Michael’s have attended this event, and Mr Fuller and Mrs Small went along with our teams, who worked well together on a series of challenging problems, each of which had to be completed as quickly as possible before moving onto the next, in order to accumulate the highest, possible total score. Once again, our pupils did the school and themselves proud and although there were no medals won this time, hopefully everyone enjoyed this new experience.

The Trinity term also saw the return of the much-loved Countdown Numbers competition, run by Mr Fuller and held over a series of lunchtimes for each year group from Year 3 to Year 8. These competitions were, once again, well attended with more than 80 competitors in all, and a source of great excitement for everyone involved. Testing their number manipulation skills to the limit, pupils had to race against the clock and each other to make target values of increasing difficulty.

Most recently we enjoyed the return of our House Maths Challenges, in which pupils worked in house teams on a variety of Maths puzzles and problems, earning points towards their house totals. The results were very close this year and trophies were earned by three different houses; Leeds won the Year 5 competition, Rochester took the Year 6 trophy and Windsor, who won both Year 5 and Year 6 trophies last year, completed the trio with the Year 7 trophy this year. Congratulations to everyone involved on their excellent teamwork!

TRUSTEE'S REPORT (CONTINUED)

For the year ended 31 August 2023

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

Our final competition of the year saw Years 3 and 4 take part for the only the second time in the Mathematical Association’s new competition, the First Maths Challenge. A precursor to the Primary Maths Challenge, our youngest Prep pupils challenged themselves to solve multi-choice puzzles of increasing difficulty to see who came out on top. Congratulations to our gold, silver and bronze certificate winners!

Overall, 2022/23 has been another whirlwind of fun and focus in the Maths department and pupils and teachers alike should be proud of everything that has been achieved. We’re certainly looking forward to even more excitement in 2023/24!

ENGLISH

Literature has very much been at the heart of learning this year as English lessons have been based around high-quality books. Pupils have been consistently engaged in their learning; they have made connections and asked thoughtful questions. We have enjoyed debates, read poetry that made us be more aware of our immediate environment, and studied novels and plays that were carefully selected to address the school’s focus on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. The unit on diversity in Shakespeare proved to be a particular highlight.

Our exciting range of curricular and extra-curricular events enriched an already stimulating programme of study. At the theatre, we went to see 'A Christmas Carol' with Year 7 and ‘The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe’ with Year 5, both of which were studied as set texts within lessons. Our Year 6 were treated to a visit to the Roald Dahl Museum to support their work on Dahl's autobiography 'Boy'. The performance poet, Paul Lyalls, also visited us to inspire the children to love poetry, working with groups to create their own poems.

Within school, the House Spelling Bee was hotly contested by a record number of participants. The junior competition was so close that we had to use not one but three lunchtime sessions in order to find our winner! The annual House Creative Writing competition attracted an excellent standard of work. Our whole school reading culture was strengthened further by the weekly Pre- Prep reading buddy sessions and regular paired reading slots.

World Book Day was marked with a whole week of reading-focused activities. There were story times galore: our older children read with children in younger Prep years and in Kindergarten; we held child-led story time in the library; and some familiar faces featured in a special YouTube bedtime story. Every day, the library hosted a different creative book-themed activity. Highlights included making book-themed bunting and creating a bookinspired costume or prop from cardboard. The children showed what a talented bunch they are in their submissions to our two World Book Day competitions: a book trailer competition and the Great Literary BakeOff.

SCIENCE

What type of wave does Bluetooth use?... Which effect causes the ocean tides to rise and fall across the world?... What term describes a plant with a relatively short life cycle?...

Just some of the challenging questions faced by our Year 5 and 6 team in the final of the Science Quiz Club Championship in July – even the parents and teachers in the audience were scratching their heads! Using their combined knowledge and collaborative skills, our team came sixteenth in a strong field of 38 teams. Their success in this national competition was the perfect finale for another active and busy year in Science.

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Science enrichment continues to be an integral part of our curriculum. Back in the Michaelmas term, Year 5 spent the day exploring Herstmonceux Observatory. With hands-on exhibits plus a robot arm workshop, telescope tour and ‘Destination Space’ science show, there was plenty to inspire our budding astronauts! On their visit to the British Wildlife Centre, Year 4 enjoyed all the animal encounters and the chance to learn more about some of our rarely seen species such as otters, Scottish wildcats and red squirrels.

In the lab, our Year 6 CREST SuperStars participated enthusiastically in a range of STEM challenges from testing fake snow to designing rafts capable of holding a heavy cargo of marbles. Snow also featured in our Christmas STEM activity with mixed year group teams competing to design and build a snowball run that would keep their ‘snowball’ rolling for the longest time.

Mission to Mars launched in the New Year with Year 8 answering the big question – how will astronauts get to the red planet and survive? Investigations included designing nose cones for rockets, testing landing craft using eggs and analysing Martian soil. Continuing with the space theme, Year 5 explored Mars and beyond with an immersive experience in a visiting planetarium. Back on Earth, Year 3 became geologists for the day with some hands-on learning about rocks and fossils led by Andrew Berry from the Horton Kirby Environmental Centre.

In the Trinity Term, we were delighted to welcome Dr Kathryn O’Donnell, astrophysicist and Chief Operating Officer of In-Space Missions , to the science labs. She set Year 8 a challenging STEM activity to design, plan, budget and market a satellite. Communication was the key between the different department teams. Polar and Lens were the final products; two satellites that would gather data linked with climate change and the environment. After careful consideration and good marketing pitches, Dr O’Donnell selected Lens as the winning bid. An inspiring, science-fuelled afternoon that gave us all food for thought, considering Space Science and STEM as a future career.

With the good weather there had been plenty for Nature Club to explore and do in the school grounds including pond dipping and building wormeries. Back in the lab, Kitchen Science Club enjoyed lots of messy experimenting and Year 8 were outstanding in our newly introduced practical assessment, making use of all the excellent investigatory skills they have developed during their time at St Michael's.

SCIENCE WEEK

Our theme this year was Fantastic Forces! Year 7 kickstarted a busy week of activities, racing boats and launching rockets in their visit to The Historic Dockyard, Chatham. Back in school, Year 8 competed in the ‘Cricket Wicket Knockdown Challenge’ tasked with building a ping pong bowling machine from limited resources. ‘Rocket Mice’ were sent airborne to cries of great delight by Year 3 and Year 6 were so intrigued by our ‘Jumping Beans’ they simply had to make some of their own! Year 4 cleverly worked out how to balance a piece of skewered carrot on top of a bottle, creating some eye-catching sculptures. Meanwhile, Year 5 transformed pizza boxes into working pinball machines. Assembly at the end of the week included a ‘Ping Pong Pick Up Challenge’, a waterproof hanky and, thankfully, an unsoaked Mr Wiseman – well almost!

GEOGRAPHY

Geography helps us to explore and understand space and place - recognising the great differences in cultures, landscapes, and environments across the world, and exploring the links between them. Geography has never been so important as it is now in the current time due to rapidly changing World, we live in. The focus this academic year has had a more environmental approach to contribute to the new Eco-schools Green Flag award that we are working towards as a school community.

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Year 5 have developed a better understanding of the changing landscapes across the world in particular Brazil and how the Amazon rainforest and river are showing signs of damage from deforestation and climate change effects. They have also learnt about the impacts of natural disasters from tectonic movement in the form of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions and how this can contribute to landscapes changing. During National Fieldwork Month Year 5 developed an understanding of what the environment is like at St Michael’s by using different data collection methods, such as natures pallet, sound mapping and observations.

Year 6 have focused on how places across the World can be impacted by tourism development. Doing a case study on Kenya’s tourism gained a good understanding of how wildlife and people’s lives can be put at risk due to over tourism. The discussion and debate on how we can become more of an eco-tourist was a great way to see the passion of pupils wanting to protect the environments we live in. Later, China was a focus, specifically discussing if having a large population impacts the environment and sustainability of the World. During National Fieldwork Month, Year 6 developed their map skills by learning how to take compass bearings and creating sketch maps of the school grounds to get a better understanding of the landscape we work in.

The St Michael’s Diploma in Year 7 and 8 have developed geographical skills across the topics covered in preparation for Year 9. The transport and industry topic are very relevant to the current environmental discussions in the news with the increase of electric and hybrid cars to reduce the carbon emissions that are thought to be one of the biggest contributions to global warming. Looking at the physical geography of rivers has developed an understanding of how the landscapes are changing quickly, with the increase in flooding and what may be causing that. The river projects that the pupils do clearly show this in real life case studies. Incorporating a fieldwork technique of investigating the infiltration rates of different surfaces across the school grounds help pupils understand how hard surfaces, such as tarmac, and the lack of vegetation can impact the water being absorbed, increasing the risk of flooding. Year 8 were able to increase their knowledge of fieldwork techniques through their fieldtrip to the London Stratford Olympic

Park area. Map sketching, business tallies and interview techniques are all data collection methods used and later each pupil analysed and discussed their findings to answer the question on whether the regeneration of the area has been a success for environmental, economic and social aspects. To conclude the topic of Climate Change was a focus, putting the topics covered in the last two years into perspective to the bigger picture and their impacts across the World.

HISTORY

In the year in which we completed our celebrations of our 150th anniversary, Year 8 completed a project to reflect on the history of education and St Michael’s School to finish their Diploma work. Their work really revealed how the school has come through many peaks and troughs to show how we have become a leading Prep School in Kent today.

History was taken outside the classroom for our Victorian Day in Year 6, Ancient Greece Day in Year 5, Roman Day in Year 4 and Ancient Egyptian Day in Year 3. These focus days allow pupils to ‘live out’ history and really experience some of the different elements of life in the past (albeit the more pleasant ones!).

We celebrated Year 8 success with 83% of pupils achieving either a distinction or merit in their final assessment. We look forward to pursuing further opportunities within the Diploma framework next year.

Having reviewed our curriculum with equity, diversity and inclusion in mind, we have included further topics on Black History (especially representing positive images of black people, including Walter Tull who was the first officer to serve in the British army), women's history (including their roles in leadership) and LBGT history (tracing the history of legislation on homosexuality).

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We have continued to focus on the importance of history in today’s world, for instance the passing of our late Queen Elizabeth II and the Crowning of our new monarch, Charles III, and how history has played a crucial part in the way these events unfolded. As we enter a new Carolinian Era, we are now better at appreciating the idea of ‘living out history’ and this allows our pupils to understand the real importance of history in today’s world and in shaping all our futures.

RELIGIOUS STUDIES

Religious Studies at St Michael’s is vibrant and fun. A space to read and learn about the Bible and the life of Christ and to consider the moral and historical significance of Christianity in our country. But RS here is much more than that. Each year we explore one of the five other major religions, building the intellectual curiosity, understanding and respect among our children that forms a solid foundation for further study and life in multicultural Britain.

A re-enactment of the Last Supper with “wine” and bread is always a Year 3 highlight, usually generating fierce competition for the role of Jesus. The children learnt the famous story of Guru Nanak and the boulder, of Guru Gobind Sigh and the first Khalsa and why sharing and equality is so important in Sikhism. They finished the year by working together to create a Noah’s Ark wall display, stocked with every kind of animal.

In Year 4 the children loved learning about Hannukah (eight days of presents rather than just one!) making and playing the traditional dreidel game. The celebration of Passover and Yom Kippur is linked with storytelling and activities based around Exodus and the life of Moses, learning the ten plagues Egypt and the Ten Commandments by heart.

This year saw an explosion of colour as our focus in Year 5 shifted to the oldest of the world religions, Hinduism. The children learnt about the many Hindu Gods and their avatars, the Ramayana and story of

Rama and Sita. They learnt about and celebrated Diwali and our Holi celebration, with the traditional, multicoloured paint throwing a great success. Our Christian focus was on Holy Week and Easter, using their study of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe in English and a team challenge game “Across the divide” to find deeper meaning in the Crucifixion.

Year 6 took a philosophical approach looking at the really big questions: What is God like? Do we have a soul? Is anything eternal? Children learnt the story of the life of the Prophet Muhammad and showed resourcefulness and independence by working in groups to research and prepare a lesson or activity to teach the rest of the class about one of the Five Pillars of Islam.

Year 7 considered some ethical issues such as: Is there such a thing as a Just War? Is it right to have a death penalty? What harm are we doing to God’s Creation and are we doing enough to put this right? Pupils particularly enjoyed our project on Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks and those who have stood up for their beliefs. Finally, pupils began a study of philosophy by comparing the teachings and ideas of Plato, David Hume and John Stuart Mill.

Year 8 finished their St Michael’s Diploma by completing independent work on Religious Intolerance and the ethics surrounding euthanasia. These were linked to broader themes of prejudice, discrimination, and equality. Pupils also completed an in-depth look at the origins of Buddhism and how modern Buddhists follow their religion today. We celebrated our Diploma results with 83% of pupils achieving either a distinction or merit in their final assessments.

Chapel Assemblies (to Years 3-5 on Tuesdays and to Years 6-8 on Thursdays) have combined looking at the modern meanings of Biblical texts with topical subjects such as inclusion and forgiveness. Our continuing aim has been to focus on the importance of religion and philosophy in today’s world and people who have/are looking to make the world a better place as a result.

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It was wonderful to celebrate our 150th year with a very special Christmas Carol Service at St Peter and St Paul Parish Church in Tonbridge. We combined the traditional retelling of the Nativity with some familiar and more modern Christmas music. The most important message being that this event, which took place 2,000 years ago, continues to have much to teach us today.

FRENCH

As the academic year draws to a close, it is time to reflect on the achievement and progress made by our dedicated department and our enthusiastic pupils. Throughout the year, they have engaged in a range of activities and initiatives that have contributed to the development of linguistic skills, cultural awareness and a love for languages.

The languages calendar began early, with European Day of Languages in September celebrated by the whole school. French Day in May was also a huge success across the school. Everyone had an opportunity to explore new aspects of French culture by: listening to an accordion concert; dressing up like a French person and having their picture taken at the photobooth; discovering some of the delights of French cuisine with boeuf bourguignon, garlic snails, baguette and tarte au citron; playing games with Year 8 and attending Mme Buttery’s amazing assembly in Pre- Prep; visiting our grenadine bar, run by our Year 7 pupils in Prep; and much more! Teachers across the school added a French touch to their lessons and the Estates Team put the French flag up just for the day. It was a real celebration of all things French and a chance to fire up our pupils’ passion for language learning and their curiosity about the French language and culture.

This year we implemented various curriculum enhancements to ensure comprehensive and well- rounded teaching and made sure that the transition from Pre-Prep to Prep runs smoothly. New resources and engaging learning materials have been introduced to make language learning enjoyable and immersive. Teachers from Lady Boswell’s Primary School came in to observe one of these lessons and were really impressed by the engagement and enthusiasm of St Michael’s pupils.

Year 1, as pupils’ first experience of French, has the emphasis on communicating using basic language whilst having fun. We started with an authentic picture book, ‘Non, non, et non!’ as a basis from which to learn greetings, colours and numbers up to 12. During Lent Term, Year 1’s focus turned to pirates. The learning culminated in a pirate escape room, where pupils had to solve French puzzles in groups, in order to crack the code and find the buried treasure, reinforcing and expanding the French vocabulary pupils had learnt the previous term.

Year 2 started the year by looking at the calendar as a whole, learning the different months, dates, including when their birthday was and what the weather was like throughout the year. We compared life in the UK with different francophone countries across the world. After Christmas, Year 2 used Michaël Escoffier’s “Bonjour Docteur” to talk about different body parts. Inspired by the story, pupils dressed up as doctors and created their own sketches. For both Years 1 and 2, French in the Trinity Term had a focus on food. Our pupils clearly enjoyed the topic and were ready to order their snacks and meal on French Day!

Over in Prep, French lessons have been largely ‘Contified’ – an approach which prioritises fluency and spontaneity in the spoken and written language by focusing on a few key phrases, currently being adopted by many other schools. We have also adapted our curriculum to the new GCSE requirements and have added dictations and reading aloud to our lessons, with huge success. We have streamlined our testing, have moved from termly and half-termly targets and have introduced colour-coded reporting to better monitor our pupils’ progress. We have reviewed all our Schemes of Work, incorporating phonics in all year groups and actively promoting what we do on social media. We have facilitated cultural exploration,

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equity, diversity and inclusion, by celebrating Francophonie (French-speaking countries across the world) throughout the year groups, playing Blooket in lessons and in French Club, singing along to French-speaking songs and watching carefully chosen films and taking our Year 6 pupils to watch Les Malheurs de Sophie at the French Institute in London. We even managed to squeeze in a game of pétanque on the football pitch.

At the beginning of May, we took our Year 7 and Year 8 pupils on a curriculum trip to Normandy, after spending two weeks learning about the history, geography, cultural and gastronomic traditions of the region. Pupils had the chance to immerse themselves in the language as no one spoke English to them whilst in France. They played typical French games, visited a farm, met some French pupils and competed fiercely on the football pitch. They also visited a local market and the famous Mont Saint Michel, baked bread and learnt fencing. During the trip, they produced some amazing diaries. The same pupils continued to correspond with their pen pals from Collège Blaise Pascal near Clermont-Ferrand in central France. Year 7 were sent a fluffy French cow, Geraldine, and each pupil had a turn to take it home and write a diary. We have just sent our pen pals a sketch book full of pictures and notes. In the last two weeks of the Trinity term, we introduced Spanish and Spanish culture to both Year 7 and Year 8, and it was received with enthusiasm.

Achieving fluency in a foreign language is a long-term endeavour. However, learning a foreign language at a young age gives our pupils time to expand their linguistic horizons and allows the pupils who already speak a different language to feel a sense of pride in their skills. French at St Michael’s gives our pupils the best start and our young Michaelians can reflect on their language-learning experiences this year with great satisfaction and success.

LATIN AND GREEK

The interest in Latin has been vigorous throughout Years 6, 7 and 8. The delightful pupils have delved deep into the lives of Caecilius and his family. Caecilius was no fictional character; he lived in a splendid ‘villa urbana’ in Pompeii. We have a bronze bust of the man who was a banker, tax-collector and

auctioneer. From within his villa, archaeologists have found a strong box containing his bills of receipt from which we can all exhume a great deal about the nature of this wealthy gentleman. However, the names of his family members, his household workers, his friends and neighbours are all vivid literary inventions.

The pupils have managed with great success to build up a large data base of vocabulary and historical facts about the lives of women, men and children living in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. All have enjoyed making strong Latin links between their spoken English and their French. All lessons have a section of space on the whiteboard dedicated to new derivations and methods in which they can be employed in creative writing and in the spoken word. Latin can underpin and support new learning in Modern Foreign Languages.

The recording of the events of the eruption of Vesuvius in late August 79 AD, which was one of very many, by Pliny the Younger the nephew of Pliny the Elder, the commander of the imperial fleet, means that we have a profound knowledge of the experiences of the sight of a volcano erupting and the devastating effect it has on its surroundings. At all times, we create links with other subjects taught at the school, in this case Geography. Perhaps a little more surprising is the fact that when studying the gladiators, we make links not so much with sport but with Music.

Mosaics from the period reveal that musicians played tubas, horns and even something akin to a water powered organ to accompany the terrible spectacle, while men dressed as Hermes, the deity who took corpses to the underworld, removed the fallen from the arena to maintain an on- going spectacle.

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Maths too was incorporated into many lessons, with such activities as the measurement of Roman fora and arena, calculating the volume of the buildings and thinking about the mechanics of the complexities of hauling out massive canopies, made from trireme sails to protect the audience from the blistering heat.

If you are throwing your mind back to your own Latin lessons, I hope that you will recall that this subject is vibrant, meaningful, relevant and enjoyable. Such a tradition continues here at St Michael’s and has expanded into different areas of study with a new a family based in Roman Britain. This time poor Caecilius buried by the eruption is forgotten, and we meet a thoroughly nasty man called Gaius Salvius Liberalis. He too existed: he was something like an important provincial administrator. This should encourage the pupils to visit sites in Roman Britain many of which are close at hand, such as Lullingstone, Reculver, Richborough and the ‘Painted House’ at Dover.

Living in a world where pupils are surrounded by technology, the likes of which are not always welcome, it is a joy to see them engage with a language and culture which demands not hours of screen time but an intimate knowledge of grammar, formation of sentence structure and a love of reading and writing. The pupils make the very most of their Latin lessons, employ what they have learnt and will take their learning onto their secondary schools.

ART, CRAFT AND DESIGN TECHNOLOGY

Pupils have outstanding experiences in Art, Craft and Design. A celebration of pupils’ achievements around the school, online platforms and a growing online gallery, promoting creativity and skills. The curriculum is heuristic, with pupils making discoveries and solving problems themselves thereby developing confidence and skills in investigation, experimentation and the development of ideas.

Boundaries between Art, Craft and Design are dissolving, so individual projects may well involve a combination of materials, processes, and technologies. We continue to utilize our knowledge and skills creating projects using CAD/CAM to enhance the curriculum and engage in developing technologies.

It was lovely to welcome Reception classes to the Prep studios this year in celebration of their owl activity day. Year 6 and 8 Art Scholars were fabulous ambassadors for the arts in helping them create their own bird of prey inspired ceramic tile. Reception staff are keen to repeat these two workshops next year.

Our annual Art Exhibition and online platforms helped showcase our studio practice and celebrated creative and varied programs of study, run throughout each year group. As a department we are always proud of the wonderful creativity we nurture during the academic year and the exhibition, school displays and online platforms are a prominent reminder that we are inspiring a new generation of artists. Many thanks to Taz Usher in Marketing for helping us facilitate this.

There continues to be an active extra-curricular culture to further develop skills, knowledge and understanding across all year groups. This also provides rich evidence of SMSC provision in supporting “stretch & challenge” alongside those that require extra support and individual tuitions. The art clubs also provide our children with a creative community and the means to engage with a variety of projects outside our curriculum, nurturing curiosity, thereby contributing to the development, practical knowledge and the experience of developing ideas; making things and making things happen. Projects explored this year have included: mosaic (to be installed in Prep gardens), printing, Papier-Mache, Glass Fusion, Dream Catchers, painting, and drawing.

The Department also saw success through the Creative Arts Team and our fabulous production of Aladdin. The set created and interactive Souk was enjoyed by many.

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Ms Rodwell was asked to visit Walthamstow Hall to share good practice, following the success of one of our Art Scholars. We then hosted the department to further discuss and share ideas.

Together we are looking to build further links through the outreach programmes, to network and share ideas. Shoreham Primary School also reached out to us to help support their Design Technology programme of study, through ideas around teaching and learning.

DRAMA

We were delighted that two of our pupils were awarded Drama Scholarships to their senior Schools, both at Caterham School.

Our St Michael’s Year 7 and 8 Drama Scholars set out to explore The Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London, for a backstage tour and then to visit The Gillian Lynne to watch a performance of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

They learned a great deal about the workings of a professional theatre as well as the history of the buildings, technical language, including terms originating in the building, such as the expression “break a leg” and were suitably inspired.

As part of the Creative Arts Trip (Music, Art and Drama) all of Years 7 and 8 had the wonderful opportunity to see a performance of Hamilton in the West End. This historic, Pulitzer-Prize winning show offered the pupils a chance to see a production which has changed the very essence of musical theatre.

Children in Year 4 were treated to a workshop session from industry expert Kate Griffiths, who has worked extensively in the film and TV industry as a make-up artist, as well as training pupils in schools, colleges and universities in the South of England. This was a hands-on workshop where they got to produce ‘trauma’ makeup on themselves, including a variety of cuts and bruises. A great deal of fun (including shocking their teachers with some ultra-realistic injuries!) was had by all.

This year’s House Drama Duologue Competition was hotly contested with sixty-six children entering the competition and eighteen pairs qualifying for the finals. This competition relies entirely on the children to select, rehearse and stage their own piece. It was evidently clear, that from the high standard of performance, that they had invested a great deal of time and effort and took great pride, performing with confidence and flair. It was lovely to see a good sense of team spirit, not only amongst those pupils in the same House, but across all competitors. Our judge this year was Mark Goldthorp, a veteran West End performer who recently completed three years in Mary Poppins and was the magic consultant on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and we were delighted to have his expertise in the room to decide on a winning pair!

Following many months of hard work, rehearsals and behind the scenes preparations, a cast of sixty and crew of more than thirty pupils from Years 5-8 were delighted to present their production of Disney’s Aladdin to a sell-out audience, over three nights. Audience members were captivated by the depth of talent on stage, with polished vocals, extraordinary acting and the wonderful accompaniment of a live band. Among the many musical numbers arranged by St Michael's Music teachers, Mr Bennett and Miss Balcombe, Prince Ali was a standout work of art. Credit must go to Mrs Caswall, whose spectacular costumes brought every colour of the rainbow to life with an ensemble of ginger monkeys, elephants, bears and a green dragon parading the stage in very quick succession. Paired with the acrobatic talents of cast members and the outstanding lead vocals of the Genie, some may have likened these exhilarating three minutes to being in a professional circus!

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St Michael's Aladdin took its audience on a true emotional journey: from Aladdin's childhood reflections in Proud of Your Boy , to Jafar's evil seize of the lamp, to the Genie's life-changing liberation and Aladdin and Jasmine's royal union, feelings of sadness, turned to chill, turned to joy as swiftly as the show's meticulous set changes.

Old Michaelians Peter Nixon (former St Michael's Head of English and Drama) and Lyn Nixon (former St Michael's Head of Junior School), also said: "The whole set up for the show was magical: your highly polished programme, the ambience of the bazaar, the decoration of the auditorium like an Arabian souk and all the setting of the stage, the multifarious props, the exotic and plentiful costuming, the terrific technology of the lighting, sound, effects et al, and the smooth running of the backstage crew, stage management team, producer and assistants.

"The cast were so enthusiastic, committed and entertaining! Apart from some clear genuine talent among them, the whole ensemble played their parts beautifully, singing superbly and with real gusto, and, also in tune! The acting was lovely and we were engrossed from start to finish."

Once again, this Trinity term, the department invited parents and friends of pupils to come into school and experience an ‘open rehearsal’. Here they had the opportunity to see the pupils in their form groups rehearsing scenes studied over the course of the term in their Drama lessons and in final stages of rehearsal for performance. The experience was successful, with parents commenting on how interesting it was to see the process and their child going through it.

I.T. AND COMPUTING

Computing lessons have an exploratory and creative approach allowing pupils to problem-solve and provide/ find solutions to problems they have encountered, helping them to build their confidence in the skills they have acquired. Computing lessons follow the acronym PRIMM :

P – Predict – What this code will do

R – Run – Run the code to check your prediction

I – Investigate – Trace through the code to see if you were correct

M – Modify – Modify the code to add detail, change actions/outcome

M – Make – Make a new program, that uses the same ideas in a different war. Get creative!

This approach encourages pupils to think outside the box and utilise their creative flare encompassing a variety of media and software applications. At the end of each project, pupils can showcase their work and demonstrate skills learnt.

This year, we introduced a new online platform called ‘Purple Mash’ which can be accessed in school and from home. This is compatible with PCs and iPads, as iPads are used in Years 1 and 2. Python in Pieces was introduced for Years 6 to 8 to help them learn Python. It has been very well received as tasks can be set and differentiated for different abilities.

We have continued to use Typing Club to enable pupils to continue with their touch-typing skills. Every Year 2 to 8 pupil has an account that can be accessed at home and in school.

A new Scheme of Work was introduced into Year 8 as part of an enterprise project. This project was crosscurricular with IT and DT. Pupils created acrylic jewellery based on Tatty Divine and, in IT, had to design and build their Spreadsheet, which performed calculations to determine how much various materials would cost and consider additional costs for deliveries, etc. They worked within a budget and used a variety of formulas and functions to help establish if they were under or over budget and their estimated profit margins. The jewellery was sold at the Christmas Fayre where they managed to raise a total of £250 for charity and thoroughly enjoyed the project.

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We offer many extracurricular activities to further develop skills, knowledge and understanding across the year groups. The activities are differentiated and are designed to challenge and further enhance their curiosity in the Computing curriculum. Once a week, there is an after- school Coding Club which is extremely popular. Some pupils have used Raspberry Pi with Python to create retro games this year. Minecraft in Education club takes place where children use the Code Builder to access many online activities/tutorials to learn how to build different elements in their world/s. Children find this engaging, especially as pupils can join worlds and work collaboratively. This also helps the school's SMSC element in the school's curriculum. To supplement and extend the curriculum Year 8 visited Bletchley Park in June as part of their Evolution/History in Computing Project.

Online Safety is an essential aspect of the school and is woven into the curriculum throughout the year. There is a whole school focus on Online Safety during the Lent term in February when we celebrate SIDs (Safety Internet Day/week). This year we have used the new 'Project Evolve' platform, where several digital resources are designed to cover all the different strands specific to each year group. Gareth Cort from SWGfL (SouthWest Grid for Learning) presented to staff and parents this year about Online Safety.

Digital Leaders (DLs) was a programme for pupils who have expressed a flare and curiosity for the subject. Pupils are invited to apply for the role and, if successful, they can join the programme. This year, children utilised the ChildNet DL Programme, where they covered topics in Online Safety to help advise their peers. Two hundred and twenty-four other schools, from around the globe, signed up for this project and pupils received points for each activity they completed. In March 2023, St Michael's DLs were third out of the 224 schools. DLs also become 'first line technical support' in lessons, so should they require help with anything technical, the DLs are there to assist staff and other pupils. They also took on of the whole school projects where they trial and test various systems/platforms and provide feedback on their suitability, informing the schools on whether it should be purchased to help facilitate learning. The DLs visited Legoland and attended the Lego Spike kit workshops, which were extremely well received.

As part of our ongoing outreach programme and as a CAS (Computing at Schools) Master Teacher, we support local primary schools. This year I assisted Shoreham Primary in using the BBC Micro Bits and attended once a week for half a term.

This year there has been an increased focus on equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). The displays were changed to show people from different religions, backgrounds and cultures in the computing industry. In Year 8, we used Alan Turing as a case study. Years 3 and 4 also looked at how IT/Computers/assistive technology can assist people with disabilities in their everyday life, e.g., the braille keyboard, older adults with smartwatches to monitor their health and reorder their medication and Vision Aid for people with poor eyesight. At St Michael’s, we consider how technology can support and extend our teaching and learning, for example, utilising dictation, read-aloud options and translation support.

CO-CURRICULAR REVIEW

The co-curricular programme and provision has continued to grow and develop, adding Mandarin as one of the externally offered clubs. This is in addition to Dance, Lamda, Judo and Tennis (Summer only), also offered by external providers.

Internally, the range of activities evolves with the staff that offer each club. Art, Music, Drama and academic activities are all offered to the children across the Prep School as an opportunity to engage in clubs that might otherwise not be access by the children. Music Peri lessons have been streamlined with a new, online system (Practice Pal) that minimises disruption to learning and gives greater transparency to parents.

The School of Sport, now in its third year, is also continuing to evolve. Numbers of participants are increasing, and a year-round tennis academy is being explored. Although primarily operated by St Michael’s staff, an increasing number of external coaches are being sought to maintain the quality of coaching for the children, as capacity increases.

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ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

P.E. AND GAMES

The 2022-23 academic year has seen the pupils at St Michaels’s achieve a vast number of sporting successes and we are very proud to have achieved national sporting success for the first time in the school’s 150-year history. Equally, the uptake by pupils of both co-curricular and extracurricular sport has continued to grow and we are currently looking to maximising the co- curricular sport we offer, promoting inclusion and sport for all. The co-curricular sport and School of Sport provision has helped develop a big growth in pupils’ passion for sport, confidence and self-efficacy levels, where the PE team have witnessed more pupils willing to try new, difficult skills that they previously thought beyond them. The PE and Games Department have been inspired by the commitment, effort and enthusiasm shown by all the pupils and look forward to continuing to explore ways to grow every child’s love of sport and activity.

In PE, we have looked to provide a broad, rich and engaging PE Curriculum. By providing opportunities for the pupils to progress from the essential, fundamental movement skills, multi- skills and sports techniques to the sport specific skills which support their development pathway. The PE curriculum also supports leadership skills, peer assessment and self-esteem, whilst continuing to promote school values through PE & sport.

The PE Department has looked to create a fully inclusive, fun, happy and supportive environment where children view failure as part of their learning and are therefore not afraid to attempt new things that, at first, appeared impossible to them and to discover that to continually ‘stretch and challenge’ themselves is intrinsically mentally and physically rewarding. Hence, the pupils are encouraged to be brave and to push themselves out of their comfort zones.

Children love to learn new games and we have continued teaching basketball, short tennis, badminton and volleyball as a way of developing important, transferable motor-skills that are essential for developing lifelong enjoyment and participation in sport and activity.

The PE Department has aimed to help all St Michael’s pupils to:

Extra-curricular and co-curricular provision of sports that occur within school can and should complement and enrich the PE curriculum for all. Hence, in both the Prep and Pre-Prep, we have continued to expand the variety of provision on offer, carefully balancing inclusion with high- quality worthwhile sessions. Monday and Friday after school activities, combined with the Tuesday School of Sport, have continued and the pupils benefited from the support of specialised internal and external coaches.

Extracurricular sport offers pupils a chance to break away from everyday school life so they can recharge their batteries and top-up their motivation for when they return to studying. Likewise, more pupils will socialise with their peers outside of the classroom setting. This allows them to create new relationships with a wider range of peers, providing pupils the opportunity to develop key social skills such as teamwork, listening and leadership. This past year we have introduced a new successful gymnastic activity led by a former GB gymnast, reintroduced tennis lessons, led by an LTA level 3 Tennis coach, and we hope to grow the places available in both activities. Further co-curricular activities on offer this past year have included netball, football, hockey, rugby, cricket, athletics, cross country, fitness circuits, Triathlon club, Judo and ABC development (agility, balance, co-ordination).

TRUSTEE'S REPORT (CONTINUED)

For the year ended 31 August 2023

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

GAMES AND COMPETITIVE SPORT

The PE department has been thrilled to be able to offer total pupil inclusion in competitive sporting fixtures this past year and equally delighted to witness the self-esteem, competitive spirit, camaraderie, resilience, teamwork and the fun with friends that regular competition has helped develop within the St Michael’s pupils. Likewise, the PE Department have been pleased to watch all the St Michael’s pupils showing great enthusiasm in PE and Games lessons, where all the pupils appear to revel in an environment where they are not afraid to fail and where failure is viewed as an important tool in learning and improving. We have had an outstanding year of competitive sport at St Michael’s enjoying many notable successes and we have loved celebrating the pupils’ outstanding achievements.

Summary of Key St Michael’s Sporting Achievements 2022-23

Football

U10A Boys won St Michaels Plate final – September 2022 U11 Boys’ team won St. Michael’s Community Football Tournament – October 2022 U12 & U13 Puma football – 3 boys selected for Kent and attended the Gothia Cup in Sweden (world’s biggest youth football tournament) – April 2023

Hockey

U11A Girls won The Hawthorns tournament – September 2022 U10 Girls won Rose Hill tournament and were unbeaten – October 2022 U10 Girls – 2 players part of the HC Knole Park team to win the U10 Kent Girls Cup – Feb. 2023 U11A Girls – Southeast Champions held at Sevenoaks School Year 13 girl selected for Kent U13 team

U11 Girls became IAPS National Hockey Champions

Cross Country

U13 Boys awarded bronze medal at Thomas Trophy – September 2022 Individual U13 Boy awarded 2nd place at Somerhill Kent Championships

Year 4 Boys team event silver medal winners at Hilden Grange – February 2023 Year 4 Boys individual silver medal winner at Hilden Grange – February 2023

Cricket

U11 Girls selected for Kent cricket cap presented by England player, Alice Davidson Richards U10 Boy selected for the U10 Invicta Areas cricket team

U11 Girls Hardball – Inaugural IAPS champions – June 2023

Netball

U11 Girls A winners of St Michael’s Netball Tournament – February 2023 U11A Girls winners of the IAPS Plate Final – March 2023

U11 Girls A winners of The Hawthorns annual netball tournament - April 2023

Rugby

U11 Boys A runners up at Solefield School’s annual rugby festival – February 2023

Swimming

U12 Girl awarded silver medal, 200m Breaststroke, Kent Championships (ranked 20th in GB for her age group – February 2023

St Michael’s Team winners of Radnor House Swim Gala – 250pts – 190pts (Year 3-8) – Feb. 2023

TRUSTEE'S REPORT (CONTINUED)

For the year ended 31 August 2023

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

U13 Girls 4x25m Relay awarded bronze medal and U13 girl awarded 50m Breaststroke silver medal – IAPS National Swimming Finals

U12 Girls Backstroke gold medal - National Champion

Gymnastics

U13 Boys, gold medal in the London Gymnastics Tumbling Silver Qualification competition (this win qualifies him to compete in the National Finals in Telford, competing up two year groups) – March 2023 U13 Boys – National Finals Tumbling silver medal (competing 2 years above age) – Sept. 2023

Athletics

U14 Boys 800m – Kent Champion U14 Boys Long Jump – Kent Champion U14 Boys 4x100m Relay – Kent Champions U13 Boys Discus – Kent Champion

U14 Boy Long Jump – National Champion

Triathlon

U13 Boy placed 6th in National Triathlon at Monkton School, Bath

Swimming

The swimming at St Michael’s goes from strength to strength each year with 2022/23 proving no different. Our annual gala at Somerhill in November was a closely fought contest with our swimmers just losing out in the final events to the opposition. Well done to all that swum, we cannot wait for the re-match next year!

In February, a team of 40 swimmers from Years 3 – 8 travelled to Radnor House and came away victorious! Every race was closely contested and culminated in a thrilling squadron event at the end. An excellent result for all those swimmers involved.

Our St Michael’s IAPS National Swimming Finalists spent the day at the London Aquatic Centre during the May half term. To qualify for the National Finals is a fantastic achievement and each of these swimmers should be so proud of themselves.

The Year 8 boys Medley relay team placed 17th nationally; swimming 5 seconds faster than they did in the preliminary round. The Year 7 girls freestyle relay team stormed their race and picked up a bronze medal. One girl took silver in the Year 7, 50 metres breaststroke event. We finished the day with an IAPS National Champion when a Year 5 girl took Gold in the 25 metres backstroke race. It was an amazing day, full of fantastic swimming and wonderful memories.

The year culminated in our inter-house swimming galas. Winners of the Junior (Years 3 and 4) and Intermediate (Years 5 and 6) competitions were Windsor; with Rochester gaining top spot in the Senior event. Well done, everyone.

Every swimmer made us proud, whether it’s winning a national title or swimming across the width for the first time. Well done everyone for all your efforts in the pool, keep it up!

MUSIC

The musicians and choristers have had an action-packed year with much excitement and success across a rich and diverse programme of ensemble activities, concerts, examinations and trips.

Participation across music-making activities and clubs has remained very high with around 220 children learning a musical instrument across the school and a similar number taking part in at least one musical ensemble on a weekly basis. Our peripatetic team deserve much praise and recognition for their dedication to each individual pupil, ensuring that they grow in confidence, make good musical progress and nurture in them a love of learning.

For the year ended 31 August 2023

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

TRUSTEE'S REPORT (CONTINUED)

This has been underpinned by teamwork, parental collaboration, taking advantage of performance opportunities and continuing to celebrate individual musical growth and achievement.

Music Scholars from King’s Rochester paid a visit early in the term to run workshops with some of our Year 4 pupils and we were delighted to welcome back an Old Michaelian as part of the group. Year 7 enjoyed a creative arts day in London, which included a performance of the musical Hamilton . Ms Balcombe and Mrs Scott accompanied our Year 5 and 6 Chamber Choristers to Eastbourne College for their annual SING event and they had a wonderful time, tackling new repertoire with other Prep school choirs before performing a joint concert for parents. Our first breakfast concerts of the year were enjoyed by over 70 parents in October and November.

Michaelmas Term was dominated by preparations for the 150th Anniversary Carol Service, this year was hosted in Tonbridge Parish. The choirs rehearsed tirelessly for many weeks to produce performances of outstanding quality, made even more magical with the mesmerising sounds of the professional orchestra performing the dazzling arrangements of Mr Bennett. The evening was a particular highlight of the school year and proved a joyful and moving celebration of the Christmas season for the whole school community. We enjoyed some wonderful vocal talent from the choirs and soloists of all ages and the particularly poignant finale of When You Believe , directed by Ms Balcombe.

January saw our Year 4 pupils join forces with over 6000 singers at the O2 Arena in London for a night to remember, at the Young Voices Concert in which we sang and danced the night away. On Tuesday 24th January, St Michael’s Music Department was delighted to host an Orchestra Day for three local primary schools, ably led and directed by our very talented Mr Jack Bennett. Our visitors joined together with the pupils from our school orchestra to spend a full day immersed in musical learning and tackling new music from scratch.

Sight-reading, rhythm games and sectional rehearsals were the order of the day, and our expert peripatetic team did a tremendous job of encouraging, coaching and rehearsing the arrangements, ahead of a short concert for parents.

Just ahead of February half-term break, we also hosted two intimate soloists’ concerts in school including a breakfast performance and a candlelit soiree for parents, during which we were treated to some superb music with notable progress in the standard of musicianship.

St Michael’s was strongly represented at the Tunbridge Wells Arts Festival this year, thanks to the dedication and drive of Mrs Mumford. We were thrilled to share in our newsletter the many successes of individual pupils and various groups, including our victorious Pre-Prep choir who came first in their class, led by Mrs Crane.

Parents were again treated to two delightful concerts on gloriously sunny mornings in May. They enjoyed a feast of vocal and instrumental performances accompanied by a splendid breakfast, for which we extended our gratitude to Mark Edwards and our fantastic Catering Team. In May, we also hosted a delightful evening of chamber music in Shoreham Church, led by our Music Scholars. This featured a varied programme of instrumental and vocal repertoire from Baroque to modern eras. There was a particular emphasis on Germanic Classical and Romantic composers inspired by our forthcoming Music Tour to Vienna.

Our Chamber Choir enjoyed a visit to the Wigmore Hall in London to see VOCES8 in concert and to meet Old Michaelian Dominic Carver, the newest member of this inspirational vocal ensemble.

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

TRUSTEE'S REPORT (CONTINUED)

For the year ended 31 August 2023

"Awesome, incredible, spectacular, worth the weeks of rehearsing and so much fun!" These are just some of the comments from our Tour Choir at the end of an amazing week, performing on tour in the Austrian capital. In this year saw 54 pupils and 8 members of staff spend five days immersed in the cultural and musical riches of Vienna and delivered some stunning performances in awe-inspiring settings. We learned lots about the great composers who lived and worked in Vienna and our action-packed itinerary included visits to museums, palaces, churches, theatres and the world’s oldest Ferris wheel, as well as some thrilling roller coaster rides! From the riches of the Hofburg Palace to the world-famous Spanish Riding School to witness the beautiful Lipizzaner horses in training, we packed lots into each day. We performed a sacred concert in the church where Schubert was baptised and worked as organist and composer. The choirs and musicians gave some beautiful renditions of works by Mozart, Schubert, Brahms and Schumann amongst others, and they were especially commended for their command of the German language. We ate a traditional Wiener Schnitzel dinner complete with singalong followed by a night at the opera, which mesmerised us all with Viennese waltzes and farcical comedy. The Danube International School kindly hosted us to run workshops and perform together with their pupils and they organised a delicious pizza lunch in the Prater Park ahead of our afternoon concert filled with joy, energy and fun. The Tour Choir and the instrumentalists on tour were true ambassadors for St Michael's and received constant praise and compliments from audiences, passers-by and fantastic feedback from everyone that they met. Huge thanks to all the staff for their dedication and time supporting and nurturing the children on tour and helping them to grow in confidence.

We were thrilled to celebrate the achievements of two of our Chamber Choir singers in Year 6 who each secured a place in the National Youth Boys' Choir and the boys have since enjoyed residential courses and concert performances with some of the most gifted young singers in the UK. We hosted three very successful ABRSM examination sessions in school for 108 pupils and are proud of the fantastic results across the board, with a pass rate of 100%. A further 23 pupils achieved notable successes with other exam boards, including Trinity and Rock School.

The Music Department are also pleased to have played their part in helping secure the recent accolade in the National Best School Awards in which St Michael’s was Highly Commended for their Performing Arts.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

The financial statements show the school generated a surplus of £312,057 (2021/22: £216,223). The net assets of the Charitable Trust amount to £9,349,679 (2021/22: £9,037,622).

The principal source of income is fees, accounting for 94% of the school’s income. Pupil numbers have increased and this, combined with increased third-party hire income and careful financial management, have resulted in an increased net surplus this year. The school continues to see a healthy number of parents registering interest in the school and adding their children's name to waiting lists.

This continued strong financial performance has enabled the Governors to pursue opportunities for further improvement to the school’s facilities. There is a program of continued investment in upgrading and enhancing the facilities for the benefit of our pupils.

As a charity, parents of our pupils have the assurance that the school’s income must be applied for educational purposes. As an educational charity we enjoy tax exemption on our educational activities and on our investment, income provided these are applied for the achievement of our charitable aims.

We are currently entitled to 80% relief on our business rates for the properties we occupy for educational purposes. However, as an educational charity, we are unable to reclaim VAT input tax on our costs as we are exempt for VAT purposes. We also pay tax as an employer through the National Insurance contributions we pay on salaries.

For the year ended 31 August 2023

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

TRUSTEE'S REPORT (CONTINUED)

In addition to the very substantial benefits our school brings to our pupils, the local community and wider society through the education we offer, our bursary program and our partnership program create a social asset without cost to the Exchequer.

Reserves and Financial Health

The Governors regularly review the finances, budgets and spend against budget as part of the effective stewardship of the school. The Governors have invested substantial sums into a new Pre-Prep building and refurbished facilities in recent years and have a continuing program of refurbishment, development, and investment to maintain excellent teaching facilities for our pupils.

The reserves fund represents the unrestricted funds arising from past operating results. It also represents the free reserves of the charity.

The principal source of income for the charity is school fees. This is sufficient to cover the day to day running of the school. It is not the policy of the school to accumulate significant cash reserves and the main reason for the current surplus is to service the bank loan, to meet our financial commitments and to fund capital development. The Governor’s policy is, whilst ensuring that the school is always able to meet its obligations, to use the reserves to enhance the educational facilities and maintain and improve the fabric of the school. The Governors consider this to be the best way of furthering the charity’s objectives.

Bursaries

As a thriving school we are keen to share the benefits of an education at St Michael's Prep with pupils who would otherwise be unable to attend the school and we do this through our means-tested bursary program. Support is also provided to parents of existing pupils who find themselves in financial difficulties. During 2022/ 23 the school was able to offer support with fees on a means tested basis to 10 pupils, including two Ukrainian children. (2021/22 was 12). This year means-tested bursaries amounted to £113,677. This represented 1.73% of our gross fees.

Additional financial support for musical instrument tuition and help with school trips and activities is also offered. The bursary scheme is advertised on the school website and is promoted during Open Mornings, parent tours and in our information booklet.

We keep our Bursary policy under review to ensure we fulfil our aims of widening access to the school. We continue to use an external independent bursary administrator to conduct home visits and a financial review. In the assessment of means, we consider a number of factors, including family income, investments, savings and number of siblings. However, we do not have an endowment fund so in offering bursaries, we are respectful of the fact that our bursaries are funded through income from fee-paying parents. One of our development objectives is to explore ways to increase funds for bursaries and we are looking at how we identify and approach potential donors

Scholarships

In addition, the school offers a range of non-means-tested scholarships for entry into Year 7. This enables the school to attract and reward the most able pupils in their chosen discipline. Current scholarships available are Academic, All- rounder, Art & DT, Drama, Music and Sport.

Fee Assistance for staff:

Fee remission continues to be a valuable tool to enable us to fulfil our continued commitment to attract, recruit and retain high calibre staff.

Investment Policy and performance

Under the Memorandum and Articles of Association the charity has the power to make any investments which the trustee sees fit. Other than owning a piece of land in Norfolk which is rented out for agricultural purposes

For the year ended 31 August 2023

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

TRUSTEE'S REPORT (CONTINUED)

there are no other investments held by the charity. There are no plans for this to change in the foreseeable future. The Governing Body’s policy continues to be put any short and medium term cash surplus into interest bearing deposit accounts, some of which are on fixed term notice.

Risk Management

The Board of Governors is responsible for the overseeing of the risks faced by the school. Detailed consideration of risk is delegated to the Head, Director of Finance & Operations and Senior Leadership of the school. Risks are identified, assessed and controls established throughout the year. The activities of the school are continually under review with account taken of any risks which may arise. Formal reviews are undertaken on a termly basis and scrutinised by the Finance and General Purposes Committee of the Governing Body. Risk is managed under the headings of financial, operational and strategic.

The main risks that the Governors have identified and the plans to manage those risks are:

Potential risks are carefully evaluated, and procedures are documented to enable them to be appropriately managed. This management involves the use of internal controls, policies, and where necessary insurance cover.

Key controls used include:

Through the risk management processes established for the School, the Governors are satisfied that the major risks identified have been appropriately mitigated where possible. It is recognized that systems can only provide reasonable but not absolute assurance that major risks have been adequately managed.

Key Management Personnel

The Governors consider that they, together with the Head, the Director of Finance & Operations and the Senior Leadership team comprise the Key Management Personnel. All Governors give of their time freely and no remuneration or expenses were paid in the year. The pay and remuneration of the Head and senior staff is set by the Staffing and Remuneration Committee and the Chair of Governors and is kept under annual review.

TRUSTEE'S REPORT (CONTINUED)

For the year ended 31 August 2023

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

Organisational Management

The Governors determine the general policy of the school. On a day-to-day basis the Governors delegate the running of the school to the Head and the Director of Finance & Operations who are fully supported by the academic and administrative colleagues. Form communication between the Governors and those with delegated responsibilities is by both formal meetings and on an ad hoc basis. The Clerk to the Governing Body is responsible for coordinating the work of the Governors and their Committees, circulation of papers and the review of matters arising.

The Head oversees the recruitment of all educational staff, whilst under delegated authority the Director of Finance & Operations oversees the recruitment of administrative and operational staff. The Head and Director of Finance & Operations are invited to attend Governors’ meetings. The Head of Pre-Prep and other members of the Senior Leadership team also attend as appropriate.

No Governor or person connected with a Governor received any benefit from either means tested bursaries or scholarships awarded to our pupils.

Other relationships

The Director of Finance & Operations is a member of the Independent Schools Bursars’ Association (ISBA). This association provides an opportunity to share expertise, knowledge and experience across the independent school sector.

Governors’ Recruitment and Training

The Governing Body is a member of AGBIS (the Association of Governing Bodies of Independent Schools). St. Michael’s believes that the governing body must have a broad breadth and depth of experience to discharge all its duties effectively. The current board is diverse and well balanced, with members having professional expertise in education, business, finance, safeguarding, HR, legal, estates and other sectors, working with and supporting the Head, Senior Leadership Team, staff and the wider school community.

Anyone wishing to become a Governor of St. Michael’s School is invited to approach the governing board either directly or indirectly. We look for individuals who have passion and time to commit to the governance of St. Michael’s and who can contribute in any number of ways. The board would currently like to hear from anyone interested in and who has experience with the arears of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and Sustainability.

An induction programme is offered to new governors upon joining, including safeguarding training. Present parents and members of staff are not eligible to become Governors until their day-to-day association with St. Michael’s has ended.

Auditors

In accordance with the company's articles, a resolution proposing that WSM Advisors Limited be reappointed as auditor of the Charitable Trust will be put at a General Meeting.

Disclosure of information to auditors

Each of the Governors has confirmed that there is no information of which they are aware which is relevant to the audit, but of which the auditor is unaware. They have further confirmed that they have taken appropriate steps to identify such relevant information and to establish that the auditor is aware of such information.

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST TRUSTEE'S REPORT (coNfINUED) For the ye*r ended 31 August 2023 The trustee report was gpprovtd by the BOA Td of Trustees I would lik¢ to acknowledge and thank my ¢olleagu¢s on the Board of Governors for their continued support and engagement over this year. Together with thE Head and Senioi Leade￿hIp T¢am they help to shape the vision that drive5 St Michael's forward, cnsuring our pupi15 and stsff have a Positive and enriching experience her¢ the s¢knol and ￿re[ts and other stskeholders can also benefit from the wonderful comtllunity here. Rashid Chinchanwa]a ACA. Chair of Gover￿f5 St Mithael's Trnst Association Limited Dated.. 12January 2024 -30-

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

STATEMENT OF TRUSTEE'S RESPONSIBILITIES

For the year ended 31 August 2023

Statement of Trustee responsibilities

The trustee is responsible for preparing the Report and the accounts in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the trustee to prepare accounts for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity's financial activities and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that year.

In preparing these accounts, the trustee is required to:

The trustee is responsible for keeping sufficient accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the accounts comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the provisions of the trust deed. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEE OF ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of St Michael's School Trust (the ‘charity’) for the year ended 31 August 2023 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

The impact of macro-economic uncertainties on our audit

Our audit of the financial statements requires us to obtain an understanding of all relevant uncertainties, including those arising as a consequence of the effects of macro-economic uncertainties such as Covid-19. All audits assess and challenge the reasonableness of estimates made by the members and the related disclosures and the appropriateness of the going concern basis of preparation of the financial statements. All of these depend on assessments of the future economic environment and the charitable company’s future prospects and performance.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustee's use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustee with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The trustee are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT (CONTINUED) TO THE TRUSTEE OF ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 require us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of trustee

As explained more fully in the statement of trustee's responsibilities, the trustee are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustee determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. In preparing the financial statements, the trustee are responsible for assessing the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustee either intend to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed as auditors under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with the Act and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder.

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is detailed below.

Our tests included agreeing the financial statement disclosures to underlying supporting documentation where relevant, enquiries with management as to the risks of non-compliance and any instances thereof, challenging assumptions and judgments made by management, performing a proof in total calculation to gain assurance over completeness of revenue, and identifying and testing journal entries, in particular any journal entries posted with unusual account combinations. Our audit procedures also focused on laws and regulations that could give rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements, including, but not limited to, the Companies Act 2006.

Our audit procedures were designed to respond to risks of material misstatement in the financial statements, recognising that the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery, misrepresentations or through collusion. There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures performed and the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely we are to become aware of it.

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report.

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT (CONTINUED) TO THE TRUSTEE OF ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charity’s trustee, as a body, in accordance with Part 4 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charity’s trustee those matters we are required to state to it in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity and the charity’s trustee as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Simon Marsh MA FCA(Senior Statutory Auditor) for and on behalf of WSM Advisors Limited 15 January 2024

Chartered Accountants Statutory Auditor

Connect House 133-137 Alexandra Road Wimbledon London SW19 7JY

WSM Advisors Limited is eligible for appointment as auditor of the charity by virtue of its eligibility for appointment as auditor of a company under section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006.

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

For the year ended 31 August 2023

Notes
Income and endowments from:
Donations and legacies
2
Charitable activities
3
Investments
4
Other income
5
Total income and endowments
Expenditure on:
Charitable activities
6
Net income for the year/
Net movement in funds
Reconciliation of funds
Fund balances at 1 September 2022
Fund balances at 31 August 2023
All funds are unrestricted.		 Total
2023
£
20,986
6,749,910
79,192
5,815
6,855,903
6,543,846
312,057
9,037,622
9,349,679		 Total
2022
£
14,755
6,089,802
12,717
986
6,118,260
5,902,037
216,223
8,821,399
9,037,622

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST BALANCE SHEET As at 31 August 2023 2023 2022 No¢¢$ Fixed gwts Tan8Lble assets Investment prop¢rties .321.272 20,1￿0 8,587.886 20,000 12 8,341.272 8.607,886 Current 8ssets Debtors Cash at Imnk at)d in hand 13 103,027 3.519,789 94,003 2,941.820 3,622,816 3.035,823 Creditory: falling du¢ withi one yegr 14 {1,814,4091 (1,706.087) Net current asseis 1.808.407 1,329,736 T•tal #ssets less curr¢D¢ Il•biiitie5 10,149,679 9.937,622 Cr¢di¢ors: xtllounts fAllkng du¢ •fter more than one year Is {800.000) (91JO.000) Net g$w¢$ 9,349,679 9,037,622 Tbe funds of the Charity Unrestricted fvnds Designated funds Genern] filllds Revaluation re5¢rv¢ 19 238,478 9.091.666 19,535 190.489 8,827.598 19,535 9,349,679 9,037.622 Total eharity fwnd5 9,349,679 9.037,622 Th¢ awounts were approved by th¢ Trustee oni2January 2024. R Chlllehgnw*l•.ACA St Mieb8el'8 Tru$1 A8sodatloD Llmited

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

For the year ended 31 August 2023

Notes
Cash flows from operating activities
Cash generated from operations
23
Investing activities
Purchase of tangible fixed assets
Proceeds on disposal of tangible fixed assets
Interest received
Net cash used in investing activities
Financing activities
Repayment of bank loans
Net cash used in financing activities
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year
Cash and cash equivalents at end of year		 2023
£
(149,493)
12,350
79,192
(100,000)		 £
735,920
(57,951)
(100,000)
577,969
2,941,820
3,519,789		 2022
£
(167,450)
986
12,717
(100,000)		 £
721,711
(153,747)
(100,000)
467,964
2,473,856
2,941,820

For the year ended 31 August 2023

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

1 Accounting policies

Company information

Property known as Otford Court Estate was originally settled under a Memorandum of Trust dated 21 March 1925. A further Deed of Trust was executed on 25 November 1935 between G.E. Cowper and others (known as The Cowper-Miles Trust) which provided funds for the running of a school on the Otford Court Estate. As a result of a scheme of the Charity Commission of 17 July 1996 the above trusts were amalgamated to be administered as one charity called the St. Michael's School Trust. St. Michael's Trust Association Limited, a company incorporated on 18 January 1937, remains the trustee of the charity.

1.1 Accounting convention

These accounts have been prepared in accordance with FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland” (“FRS 102”), “Accounting and Reporting by Charities” the Statement of Recommended Practice for charities applying FRS 102, the Charities Act 2011 and UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice as it applies from 1 January 2015. The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.

The financial statements have departed from the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 only to the extent required to provide a true and fair view. This departure has involved following the Statement of Recommended Practice for charities applying FRS 102 rather than the version of the Statement of Recommended Practice which is referred to in the Regulations but which has since been withdrawn.

The accounts are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.

The accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention, modified to include the revaluation of freehold properties and to include investment properties and certain financial instruments at fair value. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.

1.2 Going concern

At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustee have undertaken an assessment of the adequacy of the resources available to the charity as well as the expected support to charities available from the government measures in place through the period of disruption caused by coronavirus. The trustee have a reasonable expectation the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future accordingly continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

For the year ended 31 August 2023

1 Accounting policies

(Continued)

1.3 Incoming resources

School fees receivable are accounted for in the period in which the service is provided including fees in lieu of notice. Fees receivable are stated after deducting discounts, bursaries and head teacher's awards by the School.

Hire of facilities income receivable is accounted for in the period in which the use of the school's facilities are provided.

Swimming lessons fees are accounted for in the period in which the service is provided.

Donations and similar income resources are included in the year in which they are receivable, which is when the charity becomes entitled to the resource. Donations received for the general purposes of the charity are included as unrestricted funds. Donations for activities restricted by the wishes of the donor are taken to restricted funds where these wishes are legally binding on the Governors.

Income from investment and rental income are included in the Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) in the year in which it is receivable.

Other income including registration fees, crèche fees and commissions are recognised on a receipts basis.

Government grants are recognised at the fair value of the asset received or receivable when there is reasonable assurance that the grant conditions will be met and the grants will be received.

A grant that specifies performance conditions is recognised in income when the performance conditions are met. Where a grant does not specify performance conditions it is recognised in income when the proceeds are received or receivable. A grant received before the recognition criteria are satisfied is recognised as a liability.

1.4 Resources expended

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefit to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement, and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.

Expenditure is classified by activity. The costs of each activity are made up of the total of direct costs and shared costs, including support costs involved in undertaking each activity. Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs which contribute to more than one activity and support costs which are not attributable to a single activity are apportioned between those activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources. Central staff costs are allocated on the basis of time spent, and depreciation charges are allocated on the portion of the asset’s use.

Resources expended are included in the Statement of Financial Activities in the year in which they are incurred, inclusive of any VAT which cannot be recovered.

Resources expended are allocated and apportioned between costs in furtherance of charitable objects (namely teaching costs, support costs and premises costs) and governance costs.

Teaching costs represent all costs directly incurred in the course of furthering the charity's principal objective through the provision of education to children and young people, including teaching staff costs, educational materials, depreciation and related equipment.

Premises costs represent those costs incurred in the running, maintenance and up-keeping of the School.

Support costs represent those costs incurred through the administration of the charity's activities in furtherance of the charity's principal objective.

Costs incurred in assisting the trustees in their stewardship of the charity are classified under governance costs.

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

For the year ended 31 August 2023

1 Accounting policies

(Continued)

1.5 Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.

Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost on initial acquisition less depreciation.

Depreciation is provided on all tangible fixed assets at rates calculated to write off the full cost or valuation less estimated residual value of each asset over its estimated useful life. The principal rates in use are:

Freehold land and buildings Straight line over 40 years (2022: 50 years)
Plant and machinery Straight line over 6 years (2022: 6 years)
Fixtures and fittings Straight line over 6 years (2022: 6 years)
Motor vehicles Straight line over 6 years (2022: 6 years)

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 the statement of financial activities.

1.6 Investment land

Investment land & property, which is property held to earn rentals and/or for capital appreciation, is measured using the fair value model and stated at its fair value as at the reporting period end date. The surplus or deficit on revaluation is recognised in net income/(expenditure) for the year.

1.7 Cash and cash equivalents

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.

1.8 Financial instruments

The charity 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 charity's balance sheet when the charity 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.

Basic financial assets

Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

For the year ended 31 August 2023

1 Accounting policies

(Continued)

Basic financial liabilities

Basic financial liabilities, including creditors and bank loans are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.

Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.

Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

Derecognition of financial liabilities

Financial liabilities are derecognised when the charity’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.

1.9 Employee benefits

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 charity is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.

1.10 Retirement benefits

The charity contributes to the Teachers' Pension Defined Benefits Scheme at rates set by the Scheme Actuary and advised to the school by the Scheme Administrator. The Scheme is a multi-employer pension scheme and it is not possible to identify the assets and liabilities of the Scheme which are attributable to the charity. In accordance with FRS17 the Scheme is accounted for as a defined contribution scheme and contributions are accounted for when advised as due by the Scheme Administrator.

The charity also contributes to defined contribution pension schemes for certain members of staff who are not eligible to join the Teachers' Pension Scheme. The assets of this scheme are held separately from those of the charity, being invested with insurance companies.

Pension costs charged in the Statement of Financial Activities represent the contributions payable by the charity in the year.

1.11 VAT

The charity is not registered for VAT and accordingly expenditure is shown gross of irrecoverable VAT.

1.12 Fund accounting

The funds held by the charity are either:

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

For the year ended 31 August 2023

2
Donations and legacies
Donations and gifts
Donations and gifts
Parents and Friends Association
Other donations
Unrestricted funds		 2023
£
20,986
20,986
-
20,986		 2022
£
14,755
10,468
4,287
14,755

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

For the year ended 31 August 2023

3
Income from:
Charitable activities
Income within charitable activities
Analysis by fund
Unrestricted funds
For the year ended 31 August 2022
Unrestricted funds		 School
tuition
£
6,347,847
6,347,847
5,714,516		 Hire of
facilities
Swim school
Wrap
around care
£
£
£
111,272
110,642
105,140
111,272
110,642
105,140
94,961
91,881
74,909		 School of
sport
Other income
£
£
26,570
48,439
26,570
48,439
74,127
39,408		 Total
2023
£
6,749,910
6,749,910		 Total
2022
£
6,089,802
6,089,802

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

For the year ended 31 August 2023

4 Investments

Rental income
Interest receivable
Unrestricted funds
Other income
Unrestricted
funds
2023
£
Net gain on disposal of tangible fixed assets
5,815		 2023
2022
£
£
375
375
78,817
12,342
79,192
12,717
Total Unrestricted
funds
2023
2022
£
£
5,815
986		 2022
£
375
12,342
12,717

5 Other income

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

For the year ended 31 August 2023

6 Expenditure on: Charitable activities

Staff costs
Depreciation and impairment
Direct costs
Establishment costs
Other charitable expenditure
Share of support costs (see note 7)
Share of governance costs (see note 7)
Analysis by fund
Unrestricted funds
For the year ended 31 August 2022
Unrestricted funds		 School
tuition
£
3,642,103
409,571
628,799
632,588
4,542
5,317,603
1,028,051
15,312
6,360,966
6,360,966
5,765,175		 Hire of
facilities
Swim school
Wrap
around care
School of sport
£
£
£
£
-
54,120
40,229
35,581
-
-
-
-
-
22,972
1,471
7,214
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
77,092
41,700
42,795
20,981
-
-
-
312
-
-
-
21,293
77,092
41,700
42,795
21,293
77,092
41,700
42,795
18,942
52,005
37,495
28,420		 Total
2023
£
3,772,033
409,571
660,456
632,588
4,542
5,479,190
1,049,032
15,624
6,543,846
6,543,846		 Total
2022
£
3,584,590
308,023
674,534
290,173
4,294
4,861,614
1,022,023
18,400
5,902,037
5,902,037

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

For the year ended 31 August 2023

7 Support costs

Support costs Governance
costs
£
£
Staff costs
581,633
Advertising
46,060
Post, printing, stationery
2,535
Computer and telephone
73,492
Premises cost
105,098
Entertaining
4,865
Sundries
13,470
Bank charges
48,485
Professional fees
58,059
Subscriptions
91,819
Donations
9,030
Trustee Expenses
6,176
Audit
12,000
Accountancy
3,624
1,040,722
15,624		 2023
£
581,633
46,060
2,535
73,492
105,098
4,865
13,470
48,485
58,059
91,819
9,030
6,176
12,000
3,624
1,056,346		 2022 Basis of allocation
£
547,323 98% schooling/2% letting
73,150 98% schooling/2% letting
2,181 98% schooling/2% letting
30,210 98% schooling/2% letting
108,955 98% schooling/2% letting
871 98% schooling/2% letting
3,237 98% schooling/2% letting
60,055 98% schooling/2% letting
131,006 98% schooling/2% letting
54,781 98% schooling/2% letting
4,198 98% schooling/2% letting
6,056 98% schooling/2% letting
13,606 98% schooling/2% letting
4,794 98% schooling/2% letting
1,040,423

8 Trustee and board of governors

No trustee (or any member of the board of governors) received any remuneration or benefits from the charity during the year.

During the year total expenditure of £7,648 (2022 - £4,914) was incurred by and reimbursed to members of the board of governors.

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

For the year ended 31 August 2023

9 Employees

Number of employees

The average monthly number of employees during the year was:

Administrative staff
Teaching staff
Employment costs
Wages and salaries
Social security costs
Other pension costs		 2023
Number
23
121
144
2023
£
3,494,336
321,235
538,095
4,353,666		 2022
Number
22
108
130
2022
£
3,296,166
311,862
523,884
4,131,912

The number of employees whose annual remuneration was £60,000 or more were:

were:
2023 2022
Number Number
£60,000-£70,000 3 2
£70,001-£80,000 - 1
£80,001-£90,000 1 -
£120,001-£130,000 1 1

The charity paid emoluments amounting to £410,531 (2022: £334,372) including pension contributions amounting to £51,077 (2022: £72,034) in the year for the key management members of staff.

10 Taxation

The charity is exempt from income tax on its charitable activities.

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

For the year ended 31 August 2023

11
Tangible fixed assets
Cost
At 1 September 2022
Additions
Disposals
At 31 August 2023
Depreciation and impairment
At 1 September 2022
Depreciation charged in the year
Eliminated in respect of disposals
At 31 August 2023
Carrying amount
At 31 August 2023
At 31 August 2022		 Freehold
land and
buildings
£
12,092,628
30,831
-
12,123,459
3,801,096
301,931
-
4,103,027
8,020,432
8,291,532		 Plant and
machinery
Fixtures and
fittings
£
£
506,325
1,132,882
18,842
80,470
(144,790)
(80,151)
380,377
1,133,201
490,196
883,205
6,911
91,758
(144,790)
(74,587)
352,317
900,376
28,060
232,825
16,129
249,678		 Motor
vehicles
£
71,367
19,350
(21,130)
69,587
40,820
8,971
(20,159)
29,632
39,955
30,547		 Total
£
13,803,202
149,493
(246,071
13,706,624
5,215,317
409,571
(239,536
5,385,352
8,321,272
8,587,886

12 Investment land

£
Fair value
At 1 September 2022 and 31 August 2023 20,000

Investment property comprises Glebe land, a plot of land held in Little Walsingham, Norfolk. The fair value of the investment property has been arrived at on the basis of a valuation carried out at 2 November 2015 by O.A. Chapman & Son, Chartered Surveyors, who are not connected with the charity. The basis of the valuation was the amount that would be exchanged between a willing buyer and a willing seller in an arm's length transaction after proper marketing wherein the parties had each acted knowledgeably, prudently and without compulsion.

13 Debtors

Amounts falling due within one year:
Trade debtors
Other debtors
Prepayments
Accrued income		 2023
£
15,281
4,958
12,782
70,006
103,027		 2022
£
12,593
8,577
18,467
54,366
94,003

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

For the year ended 31 August 2023

14 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Notes
Bank loans
Deferred income
18
Trade creditors
Other creditors
Accruals		 2023
£
100,000
836,752
34,503
520,462
322,692
1,814,409		 2022
£
100,000
857,183
15,367
363,883
369,654
1,706,087

Included in other creditors are pupil deposits of £293,994 (2022: £293,994). The Governors have concluded that the charity does not have an unconditional right to retain the individual deposits for at least 12 months after the balance sheet date and so have presented the deposits within current liabilities.

15 Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year

2023 2022
Notes £ £
Bank loans 800,000 900,000

The charity has one bank loan. The loan is repayable in 3 instalments annually, 15 September, 15 January and 15 May. Interest is charged as follows:

Fixed rate loan of £1,200,000 on which interest is charged at 5.23% (3.15% plus lending margin of 2.08%).

The loan is due to be fully repaid on 15 July 2032.

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

For the year ended 31 August 2023

16 Provisions for Liabilites

During the year, the charity recognised total provisions of £75,326 (2022: £74,239).

This consisted of:

Bad debt provision £30,326 (2022: £34,239) Legal cost provision £45,000 (2022: £40,000)

The bad debt provision is net off against trade receivables and relates to the recoverability of outstanding fees from parents.

The legal cost provision is included within accruals and relates to expected future legal costs arising from debt chasing.

17 Pension and other post-retirement benefit commitments

The charity participates in the Teachers' Pension Scheme (England and Wales) (the "TPS"), for its teaching staff. The pension charge for the year includes contributions payable to the TPS of £467,679 (2022: £454,785).

The TPS is an unfunded multi-employer defined benefits pension scheme governed by the Teachers' Pensions Regulations 2014. Members contribute on a "pay as you go" basis with contributions from members and the employer being credited to the Exchequer. Retirement and other pension benefits are paid by public funds provided by Parliament. It is not possible or appropriate to consistently identify the liabilities of the TPS which are attributable to the charity. As required by section 28 of FRS102, the charity accounts for this scheme as if it were a defined contribution scheme.

The employer contribution rate is set following scheme valuations undertaken by the Government Actuary Department. The latest valuation report in respect of the TPS was prepared at 31 March 2016 and was published in March 2019. From 1 September 2019, the employer contribution rate for the TPS increased from 16.1% to 23.6%. Employers in addition pay a scheme administration levy of 0.08% of the employers' salary costs which increases the total payment rate from 23.6% to 23.68%.

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

For the year ended 31 August 2023

18 Deferred income

Arising from the Autumn 2023 term
Deferred income is included in the financial statements as follows:
Current liabilities		 2023
£
836,752
2023
£
836,752		 2022
£
857,183
2022
£
857,183

19 Designated funds

The income funds of the charity include the following designated funds which have been set aside out of unrestricted funds by the trustee for specific purposes:

Movement in funds Movement in funds
Balance at Transfers Balance at
1 September 31 August
2022 2023
£ £ £
Capital Investment reserve 90,489 (2,011) 88,478
Capital Projects reserve 100,000 50,000 150,000
190,489 47,989 238,478

The Capital Investment reserve is being amortised in line with the depreciation of the buildings associated with the Stable Court development. The Stable Court development is being depreciated over 40 years.

The Capital Projects reserve has been ringfenced for future capital projects in line with the charitable objective.

20 Analysis of net assets between funds

Fund balances at 31 August 2023 are represented by:
Tangible assets
Investment properties
Current assets/(liabilities)
Non current liabilities		 Total
£
8,321,272
20,000
1,808,407
(800,000)
9,349,679

All relate to unrestricted funds.

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL TRUST

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)

For the year ended 31 August 2023

21 Operating lease commitments

At the reporting end date, the charity had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases, which fall due as follows:

Within one year
Between two and five years		 2023
£
39,161
34,453
73,614		 2022
£
41,140
73,652
114,792

22 Analysis of changes in net funds

22 Analysis of changes in net funds
At 1 Cash flows At 31 August
September 2023
2022
£ £ £
Cash at bank and in hand 2,941,820 577,969 3,519,789
Loans falling due within one year (100,000) - (100,000)
Loans falling due after more than one year (900,000) 100,000 (800,000)
1,941,820 677,969 2,619,789
23 Cash generated from operations 2023 2022
£ £
Surplus for the year 312,057 216,223
Adjustments for:
Investment income recognised in profit or loss (79,192) (12,717)
Gain on disposal of tangible fixed assets (5,815) (986)
Depreciation and impairment of tangible fixed assets 409,571 308,023
Movements in working capital:
(Increase)/decrease in debtors (9,024) 50,741
Increase in creditors 128,754 123,649
(Decrease)/increase in deferred income (20,431) 36,778
Cash generated from operations 735,920 721,711