This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator. This document is also available as Markdown.

School-Home Support

School-Home Support Service (UK)

Report and Financial Statements Year ended 31 August 2024 Company number: 03991440

Charity number: 1084696

16 Financial summary 17 Financial review

3 About School-Home 16 Financial summary Support Message from our 4 Chair and CEO 17 Financial review 6 Our Strategy 20 Structure, governance andmanagement Independent auditor’s Our activities 7 26 report Statement of financial 10 Our impact 30 activities Barriers to good 11 attendance 31 Balance sheet Our impact on 12 attendance 32 Statement of cash flows Notes to the accounts 13 Our funders 33 Reference and Our culture 14 45 administrative details

15 What we will do in 2024/2025

School-Home Support’s objects, as set out in its Memorandum of Association, are to advance education by promoting, developing and assisting in the provision of services which contribute to the pastoral care of pupils and/or which foster links between school and home.

ABOUT SCHOOL-HOME SUPPORT

School-Home Support is a national charity which supports families whose children are absent from school by addressing the root causes of high absence through whole family support.

We use a child-centred approach, but it is through whole family support and an ambition to strengthen the bridge between home and school that we deliver a lasting impact for children, young people and families.

We look beyond the school gate and work with families to understand and overcome the root causes of absence. We build trust, resilience and skills across the whole family, to create enduring positive changes within families and communities.

Our vision

Every child in school, every day, by 2050.

Our Mission

Children in school, ready to learn. Whatever it takes.

Theory of change

Our theory of change guides our work with children, their families and their schools. It is a proven model for successful intervention that brings together the way we work, and how we measure our impact.

==> picture [438 x 267] intentionally omitted <==

----- Start of picture text -----
What
we do
Work with children Work with schools Work with parents
How we
do it tH Ff &
Promote engagement Find practical solutions to Develop relationships and
between school and parents education barriers personal resources
Our
outcomes
Improved attendance and Improved parental Improved character
participation at school engagement in learning and resilience
Long term
outcomes
Improved wellbeing for Improved attainment of Improved life chances for
children from disadvantaged children from disadvantaged children from disadvantaged
backgrounds backgrounds backgrounds
----- End of picture text -----

SCHOOL-HOME SUPPORT SERVICE (UK)

MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIR

40 years of addressing the root causes of absence through whole family support

CHARLES GANNON School-Home Support Chair of Trustees

This year marked 40 years of SchoolHome Support, a significant milestone but not one we approach with celebration, instead with determination to continue our work until we are no longer needed.

Unfortunately, our work is needed more than ever before, with latest figures showing that almost 1 in 5 children are persistently absent from school, missing essential days, weeks and months of their education. In 1984, when School-Home Support was first created, the idea of supporting both children and their families to improve school attendance was seen as radical. Now, that approach has become essential.

The reasons children miss school are complex and intersecting. Families may be living in poor or unsuitable housing, or temporary accommodation far away from school. They may not be able to afford school uniforms, or healthy nutritious food to prepare children for the school day. With mental health challenges on the rise for both children and adults, prioritising education is sometimes just not possible.

whole family support model in addressing the root causes of absence, and restoring the crucial relationship between home and school. 7 in 10 children supported by a School-Home Support practitioner improved their attendance. Our work has the greatest impact for severely absent children, who spent an average of 46 extra days in school.

Looking ahead, we continue to be guided by our ambitious vision that every child will be in school and ready to learn by 2050. We are now in the third year of our 2022 - 2027 strategy, and have made significant progress over the last year towards our three goals. We are working hard to reach more children and their families, providing vital support when they need it most. We are supporting schools across England by sharing best practice and providing training to address the root causes of persistent and severe absence with a support-first and family-centric approach. And finally, we have made great progress advocating for policy change, by bringing the voices of the families we work with to key policy discussions. We continue to call for system change to make sure all children have access to the education they deserve, regardless of their background or what is going on at home.

Charles Gannon, Chair of Trustees

School-Home Support’s approach works, even in the most challenging of circumstances. Our latest impact data demonstrates the effectiveness of our

MESSAGE FROM OUR CEO

What happens to children outside of the classroom matters

JAINE STANNARD School-Home Support Chief Executive

resources and reform that the scale of this challenge requires. We will continue to work together with families, schools, communities and local agencies to create supportive networks that empower families and provide children with the opportunities to thrive in school and beyond.

I want to start by saying how pleased we are to have Charles Gannon as our new Chair of Trustees. Charles’ leadership and vision will guide School-Home Support into the future.

40 years ago, our founders Terry Farrell, Bridget Cramp and Peter Andrews were united by one vital common understanding - that what happens outside the classroom matters. They saw how the challenges children were facing in school were intrinsically linked to what was going on for them at home. This understanding remains central to our whole family support approach today.

Working directly with families to build an understanding of the challenges they are facing, and equipping them with the skills and resilience to overcome them, results in sustained improvements in children’s school attendance as well their future life chances. Despite the proven success of our approach, there is still a great deal of work to be done. Families are facing unprecedented levels of challenge, with poor housing, increasing poverty and a hugely stretched SEND system severely impacting children’s ability to access their education. The scale of the school attendance challenge demands an urgent and ambitious response. That’s why this year we called for the government to commit to a ‘moonshot’ goal to see every child in school and ready to learn by 2050. This goal, aligned with School-Home Support’s vision, hopes to bring the focus,

I’m proud of our achievements this year, and the impact we have made for the schools, communities and families we work with. Our practitioners continue to provide life-changing frontline support, stepping in when families need it most, and holding children in the education system before it is too late. We continue to provide support to schools to improve attendance, and this year launched our Attendance Support and Development Programme following a successful pilot, equipping school staff with skills, knowledge and resources to implement a support-first approach to tackling absence. Our influencing work has grown from strength to strength, developing our role as a thought-leader and advisor to the government on delivering a whole family support approach to addressing school absence.

I am so thankful to our wonderful supporters, funders, partners and keen advocates whose commitment makes everything we do possible. We continue with renewed determination to build upon our achievements to reach more families and children, support schools to address persistent absence and influence policy and practice.

Jaine Stannard, Chief Executive

Year ended 31 August 2024

SCHOOL-HOME SUPPORT SERVICE (UK)

OUR STRATEGY: 2022-2027

School-Home Support aims to get children back to school ready to learn, whatever it takes. In 2022 we launched our highly ambitious five year strategy to reach even more children and give them the best start in life. As we enter the third year of our five year strategy, we remain guided by our vision to see every child in school and ready to learn by 2050.

Goal 1: Reach more children and families

Our School-Home Support practitioners work with children and families, making a huge difference to their future life chances. We are determined to maintain the quality of our existing services and to expand into new areas, making a difference to more children and families who need our support.

By 2027 we will...

Increase delivery by 62% to reach 129,344 children and families.
Sustain our current practitioner model to directly support 25,016 people between 2022 and 2027.
Expand the practitioner model into 9 new areas, directly supporting a further 15,576 people.

Goal 2: Support more schools to address persistent absence

We are determined to reach more schools and to develop new ways of delivering our services.

By 2027 we will...

Build a new model of delivering our services, supporting schools to embed the School-Home Support model in their work. Scoping will take place in 2023, with the plan to pilot in 2024, fully rolling out the model from 2025. Continue to provide expert input and casework support for school staff at all levels, scoping the market for this service and developing accordingly.
Review and develop our membership offer to share information about best practice in improving attendance.

Goal 3: Influence policy and practice

Tackling school absence requires policy and practice change. We are determined to use our expertise and profile to bring about these changes throughout the education system.

By 2027 we will...

Raise our national profile as a delivery organisation and thought leader in the field of educational inequality and attendance to deliver the change our families need. Advocate for change for the most vulnerable families by building relationships and influence across Westminster, Whitehall and regional government to support the development of Education policy, systems and practice enabling all children to be in school ready to learn.

OUR ACTIVITIES THIS YEAR

There continues to be a national school attendance crisis, with 1.42 million children persistently absent from school in the academic year 2023/2024. Families are facing unprecedented levels of difficulty, with issues such as poor housing, poverty, mental health and undiagnosed and unsupported special educational needs (SEN) severely impacting children’s ability to access their education.

Last year, we set ambitious goals to reach more children and families, support schools to address absence, and influence policy and practice to address the urgent and evolving needs of the communities we serve. Our commitment to supporting children and families has deepened in response to the multifaceted challenges they face, reinforcing the indispensable role of whole family support in navigating these complex circumstances.

Goal 1: Reach more children and families

It has been a challenging year due to the budgets of our partner schools being increasingly stretched, but through careful use of our reserves we have been able to retain talent and protect existing relationships so we can continue to deliver our services.

School-Home Support practitioners are now supporting families in seven locations across England: Blackpool, Bradford, Eastbourne, Kent, Liverpool, London and Manchester. Many more children nationally benefit from our approach, due to our work with schools sharing best practice and training school staff nationwide.

Our expansion into Sheffield, as planned for 2023/2024, has been delayed until 2024/2025. This is due to development in this area taking significantly longer than we had expected or experienced when developing in other geographical areas.

This year, we piloted and implemented our new data portal system, which has improved data capture efficiencies for our Practitioners, releasing more of their time to provide their expert support to children and families.

Goal 2: Support more schools to address persistent absence

In 2023/2024, we worked with 95 different educational settings, including primary, secondary, alternative provision and SEND specialist settings. Whilst our whole family support model offers frontline delivery to improve attendance, we are committed to developing alternative ways of supporting schools to address persistent absence.

This year we launched our new Attendance Support and Development Programme (formerly called the Senior Attendance Lead Training programme). The training programme is tailored for school staff with attendance responsibilities, and focuses on uncovering and understanding the underlying causes of persistent and severe absence through whole family support.

Supervision continues to be one of the cornerstones of the School-Home Support learning and development programme and as such is included as a key aspect of the Attendance Development and Support Programme, whilst also being available for schools and organisations to purchase separately.

Participants in the Attendance Development and Support Programme reported improvements in knowledge, confidence and practice as a result of the Supervision element of the programme, with a Head of Year at STAR Salford Academy in Manchester reporting that "...supervision was genuinely purposeful and we could monitor and evaluate impact of strategies…"

Goal 3: Influence policy and practice

The goal of our influencing work is to improve policy, practice and systems so that they work better for children and families. This year, we continued to campaign on behalf of the families we support to ensure children don’t miss out on school and families are able to access bespoke whole family support, at the earliest possible time.

In September 2023 we were part of a landmark study that found that there had been a profound change in parental attitudes to the idea of full-time school attendance in the years since the Coronavirus pandemic. The joint research project behind the report was carried out by Public First, working with a coalition of education charities including School-Home Support.

Year ended 31 August 2024

SCHOOL-HOME SUPPORT SERVICE (UK)

Following the General Election in July 2024, we launched a new policy report, calling for a commitment to an ambitious ‘moonshot’ goal to see every child in school and ready to learn by 2050 , achieved by implementing a supportfirst family-centric approach to tackling absence that recognises the underlying causes. In the report, we set out a 10 step plan for what the new Government should achieve in the first 100 days, the first year, and the first five years, to move the country towards an inclusive education system which provides opportunities for all children. The report was covered in Schools Week and sent to key decision makers and opinion formers as part of our wider advocacy work.

Our route map for Government

==> picture [499 x 264] intentionally omitted <==

----- Start of picture text -----
Include attendance Consult on a new
in strategies to vulnerability code
tackle child poverty for attendance
& housing registers
Review the Create statutory
Set moonshot goal I i] duty on local
I effectiveness of the i]
to see every child in I i] authorities to
attendance
school II guidance i] provide early help
1 I | !
i i! !1 Ii I!
i] i]
100 days 1 year 1 5 years 1 pum
! I i l 1 1 1 Aon
I l ! I 1
Il
11'
I|
Commit to fundinga whole familysupport I|II|I train staff to embedMandate schools to || national roll out of Complete the
practitioner forevery school I|II a support-ledapproach || reformed familyhubs
Publish best Reform Ofsted to
practice guidance incentivise family
for schools on support and
working with inspect
parents/carers attendance with
safeguarding
----- End of picture text -----

With the new Government in place, we also launched a new campaign inviting children aged 7-12 to write letters to their new local MP about why school attendance matters, what some of the difficulties they or others face in attending school, and suggesting ways MPs can support schools better.

Year ended 31 August 2024

SCHOOL-HOME SUPPORT SERVICE (UK)

OUR IMPACT

Our whole family support approach strengthens the bridge between home and school and delivers a range of positive outcomes for the short and long term. As well as additional days in school, we continue to measure and celebrate the important milestones on the journey towards good attendance.

In 2023/2024, we directly supported 5,937 individual family members, which is a 13% increase on last year.

The root causes of absence: financial hardship and poor housing

The ongoing cost of living crisis, coupled with increasingly stretched local services, continues to financially impact the families we support. We have seen a 57% increase in the number of applications to our Welfare & Uniform Fund this year. The value of this support increased from £55,204 in 2022/23 to £90,264 in 2023/24.

More than 1 in 5 (22%) of the children we worked with this year identified ‘where you live’ as one of the biggest challenges they face. This is a 16% increase on 2022/23, and an 84% increase on 2021/22. We have also seen a 140% increase in safeguarding alerts related to housing this year, indicating the extent to which poor or inadequate housing is severely impacting the children and families we work with.

57% increase in applications to our Welfare Fund

1 in 5

children identified ‘where you live’ as one of the biggest challenges they face

140%

increase in safeguarding alerts related to housing

Barriers to good attendance

When a family is referred to School-Home Support, practitioners work with both parents/carers and children to make an assessment of the key challenges they are facing, and which are acting as a barrier to children attending school.

The top three concerns identified by both children and parents/carers are the same as last year. This year, we have seen an increase in need across all areas for both children and parents/carers.

What worries parents/carers the most?

==> picture [337 x 113] intentionally omitted <==

----- Start of picture text -----
Work Home and How I feel
money
----- End of picture text -----

Nearly half ( 43% ) the parents/carers we worked with this year identified ‘work’ as one of the biggest challenges they face. In addition, more than a third ( 35% ) of parents/carers identified ‘home and money’ as one of the biggest challenges they face. The nature of the support our practitioners provided to parents/carers this year reflects these areas of need. Support activities relating to poverty and housing were recorded more than any other category.

What worries children the most?

==> picture [338 x 113] intentionally omitted <==

----- Start of picture text -----
Feelings and Confidence and Where
behaviour self-esteem you live
----- End of picture text -----

For the children and young people we support, ‘feelings & behaviour’ and ‘confidence & self-esteem’ continue to be among their top concerns, alongside ‘where you live’. Safeguarding alerts relating to child mental health accounted for 17% of all alerts submitted this year, which is a 113% increase on the previous year. Support provided to children and young people this year focused on building confidence and self-esteem, managing their feelings and emotions, and improving their mental health and wellbeing.

Year ended 31 August 2024

SCHOOL-HOME SUPPORT SERVICE (UK)

Our impact on attendance

In 2023/2024, we provided intensive support with attendance to 1,138 children. 7 in 10 of these children improved their attendance after support. Of these children, those who were persistently absent (1) spent an average of 22 extra days in school. Those who were severely absent (2) spent an average of 46 extra days in school.

==> picture [489 x 231] intentionally omitted <==

----- Start of picture text -----
Persistently absent children Severely absent children
Children Children
supported supported
926 186
11% 22 23% 46
Average attendance Extra days in Average attendance Extra days in
increase for persistently school increase for severely school
absent children absent children
----- End of picture text -----

Milestones towards improved attendance

We measure the journeys of change for both children and parents/carers via Outcomes Star™ which provides a holistic assessment of areas of need impacting a child’s attendance or a family’s circumstances. Whilst working on improving school attendance, Outcomes Star™ enables us to recognise, as a result of practitioner support, the great progress made in areas such as behaviour, engagement, or wellbeing. We continue to celebrate important milestones in these journeys, in addition to more days in school.

80%

88%

89%

of all parents/carers improved engagement with school and learning

of all children and young people improved their behaviour

of all children and young people improved their wellbeing

Persistent absence is when a pupil enrolment's overall absence equates to 10% or more of their possible sessions

Year ended 31 August 2024

SCHOOL-HOME SUPPORT SERVICE (UK)

OUR FUNDERS

The crucial role played by our voluntary funders

Thousands of disadvantaged children and families rely on School-Home Support services every year. We wouldn’t be able to reach the majority of them without the generous support of the charitable trusts, companies and individuals that donate regularly to the School-Home Support cause. We are truly grateful for this vital support.

We count on voluntary donations to make a real difference for the families, schools, and communities where we work. Continuing challenges in accessing statutory funding from schools, local authorities and government means that voluntary support more than ever continues to be our bedrock. To donate or discuss funding opportunities for School-Home Support, contact us on fundraising@shs.org.uk .

Partnership spotlight: Vanquis Banking Group

We are incredibly proud of our partnership with Vanquis Banking Group (VBG), who have funded our work in Bradford and Kent since 2016. We were delighted that our partnership with VBG was highly commended under the Banks and Financial services category at this year’s Business Charity Awards 2024.

The School Uniform Fund

In 2022, as families faced the greatest cost of living crisis in decades, VBG responded to this challenge by introducing a School Uniform Fund, which our practitioners can now use to provide a child with all the clothing they need to feel comfortable at school. Crucially, this fund acts as a ‘trojan horse’, allowing practitioners to provide immediate financial relief that builds trusts with families, before going on to provide the more intensive support that many families need. This incredible programme received great coverage in local press including The Yorkshire Post and the Telegraph & Argus .

Raising Aspirations

Through our partnership, VBG employees have generously donated their time, skills and expertise to encourage children from all backgrounds to consider a career within the financial sector, delivering aspiration sessions for children we support at their offices.

SCHOOL-HOME SUPPORT SERVICE (UK) - Year ended 31 August 2023

OUR CULTURE

Embracing diversity and promoting equality

School-Home Support’s commitment to creating a diverse workforce that is representative of the children, families and communities we serve is crucial to delivering an impactful service, and understanding and responding to the unique needs and challenges faced by the individuals we support. Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) initiatives are central to our vision, mission and values.

People and Culture Team

As outlined in our 2022-27 strategy, we have ambitious plans to grow so that we can reach more children and families. This growth needs a solid base of support, particularly in the area of HR. To ensure that we also continue to deliver on our commitment to maximise staff wellbeing, learning and development and ensure EDI informs everything we do, we introduced a new department in March 2024: People and Culture. The People and Culture department is responsible for creating, developing, implementing and monitoring our EDI work, and focusing our efforts on creating a diverse workforce that is representative of the communities we support.

Champions

This year we continued to build on the work established by our Menopause Champion, introducing a new Menopause Policy and running regular wellbeing and drop in sessions focused on key topics related to menopause and perimenopause. We also developed and appointed a new role of LGBTQ+ Champion, which was taken on by two members of staff as a joint role. This initiative has delivered an informative Lunch & Learn session for colleagues on the links between LGBTQ+ themes and schools, a staff lunch in honour of Pride Month, and an anonymous question box for staff to raise any queries or concerns. This year also saw the appointment of a new EDI Champion, a key role in the organisation which provides a confidential space for staff to raise EDI concerns or issues in a protected and safe way.

WHAT WE WILL DO IN 2024/2025

Goal 1: Reach more children and families

In 2024/2025 we will continue to sustain and grow our Practitioner Service, which will include our expansion into Sheffield. We also plan to expand into Birmingham this year as this too has been identified as an area with low school attendance. To support our development we will develop relationships with schools and multi-academy trusts as well as regional governments, national parliament and local authorities in order to maximise statutory funding opportunities. We will continue to embed our new data portal, using its deeper insights to strengthen our impact and widen our reach, and ensure our practitioners can maximise their time spent working directly with children and their families.

Goal 2: Support more schools to address persistent absence

In 2024/2025, we will deliver a range of support options to help schools develop a family-centred approach to tackling absence. Following the pilot year delivery of the Attendance Support and Development Programme (formerly called the Senior Attendance Lead Training programme), we will implement a national roll out of the attendance programme, continuing to evaluate the programme by utilising feedback from participants. Our supervision services will continue to be included as a key aspect of the Attendance Development and Support Programme, whilst also being available for schools and organisations to purchase separately. We will continue to develop our membership engagement programme, using stakeholder engagement to inform plans which include the development of expert resources including toolkits and blogs.

Goal 3: Influence policy and practice

In 2024/2025 we will continue to build on our success in advocating for change for the most vulnerable children and families, and ensuring that their voices are heard. We look forward to maintaining our role of advising the government and other policy makers on these issues as well as recommending and advocating for well-evidenced solutions that bring about a better system for children and families.

FINANCIAL SUMMARY

Year ended 31 August 2024

Total Income £3,362,622 (2022/23 - £2,328,472)

Total Expenditure £3,784,041

(2022/23 - £3,022,287)

==> picture [147 x 147] intentionally omitted <==

----- Start of picture text -----
Investments
1%
Charitable Activities
38%
----- End of picture text -----

==> picture [328 x 160] intentionally omitted <==

----- Start of picture text -----
Cost of raising funds
13%
Charitable activities - support costs
20%
Donations and Grants Charitable activities
61% 64%
----- End of picture text -----

Donations and Grants: £2,067,941 (61% of total income) 2022/23 - £1,871,058 (80%)

Charitable activities: £2,415,300 (64% of total expenditure) 2022/23 - £1,712,212 (56%)

Charitable Activities: £1,275,975 (38%) 2022/23 - £443,738 (19%)

Charitable activities - support costs: £782,014 (20%) 2022/23 - £836,588 (27%)

Investments (bank interest): £18,706

(1%) 2022/23 £13,676 (1%)

Total cost of charitable activities £3,197,313 (85%) 2022/23 - £2,548,800 (83%)

Cost of raising funds: £486,470 (13%) 2022/23 - £370,523 (13%)

Raising funds - support costs: £100,258 (3%) 2022/23 - £102,964 (4%)

Total cost of raising funds £586,728 (16%) 2022/23 - £473,487 (17%)

Planned Deficit

Last year, we reported that the Trustees had recognised a need to invest in certain areas of the organisation in order to provide a solid infrastructure for growth in accordance with the 2022/27 strategy. Like last year, the Trustees decided this year to spend more than we expected to receive in order to continue this investment, and they planned a deficit budget accordingly. We are therefore reporting a planned deficit of £421K (£694K deficit in 2022/23) which is broadly in line with the Trustees' budget for 2023/24 and which is covered by reserves brought forward. The Trustees have since moved back to a planned break-even budget for 2024/25.

Year ended 31 August 2024

SCHOOL-HOME SUPPORT SERVICE (UK)

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Voluntary Income

Income from donations and grants in 2023/24 increased by more than 10% on the previous year with a total of £2,068K received (£1,871K in 2022/23). We are seeing the results of our investment in the Fundraising team lead to significant levels of engagement with new and lapsed funders, high levels of activity with current partners and creation of new funding opportunities.

Voluntary income remained the primary source of income in 2023/24. However, as expected, voluntary income as a share of total income decreased as local government / DfE contracts boosted earned income. Voluntary income as a percentage of total income is 61% in 2023/24 compared to 80% in 2022/23.

Trusts and foundations remains the largest income stream within voluntary income, although we are now seeing a number of high-value trusts and foundations funders review their strategies, leading to a drop in income from this source from £1,096K in 2022/23 to £857K in 2023/24. We are working to adapt accordingly. We continued to successfully develop our corporate partnerships, increasing income year on year from £629K in 2022/23 to £769K in 2023/24. A major step has been to invest in the resources to enable us to find and secure funding from major donors, and the continuing benefits of this will be seen in 2024/25 and future years. We have changed internal reporting structures to allow for greater focus on major donor fundraising. Our income in this area grew from circa £90K in 2022/23 to £342K in 2023/24.

A continuing challenge is our ability to cover ‘core costs’ and the fundraising team works hard to increase the proportion of our funders who are happy to contribute to infrastructure costs rather than concentrate solely on direct delivery. We work closely with other teams in the organisation to model various scenarios and maximise core cost recovery.

Income from charitable activities

Earned income from charitable activities increased by 187% on the previous year with a total of £1,276K received (£444K in 2022/23). The main reason for this increase was the expected additional income streams from local authority / DfE contracts. With some contracts coming to an end in 2024/25, it is expected that earned income may reduce accordingly. However, we have developed new earned income streams, such as our Attendance Support Development Programme, which we hope will mitigate against this decrease. Constraints on school budgets continued to be a challenge to School-Home Support’s ability to attract new business directly from schools.

Costs

Direct fundraising costs (not including support costs) increased by 31% to £486K (£370K in 2022/23), reflecting the investment in Fundraising that is vital to help support our strategic aims. These direct fundraising costs (not including support costs) represent 12.8% of our total expenditure (12.3% in 2022/23).

The cost of charitable activity (not including support costs), which is made up mostly of salary costs, increased by 41% from £1,712K in 2022/23 to £2,415K as a direct result of increased service delivery due mainly to the additional local authority / DfE contracts.

Salary costs are by far the major component of our overall costs (78% of total costs in both 2022/23 and 2023/24). As a result, we were not significantly impacted by any increased costs of other goods and services during the year. The Trustees did however award a pay increase of 3% across the board at the start of the year.

Balance Sheet

Overall reserves at £878k have decreased by 32% from £1,300K in 2022/23. Restricted reserves have reduced by 3% from £366k to £356k. During the year we spent the remaining balance on designated reserves of £6K (2022/23 £115K or 37%). There is a decrease of £405k in general funds, from £928k to £523k.

Investment Policy

School-Home Support had no investment activity in 2023/24 other than the receipt of bank interest.

Risk Management

The Trustees confirm that they have reviewed an assessment of the major risks to which the Charity is exposed, particularly operational and financial risks, and are satisfied that the controls and actions in place to manage and mitigate the major risks that have been identified are sufficient. The risk register is reviewed annually as a whole by the full Board. During the year, the risk register is reviewed quarterly by the Finance Committee ahead of the regular Board meetings and any recommendations for change are presented to the Board for review

Although the UK economy is predicted to grow in 2025, continuing economic uncertainty, especially in light of global trade frictions and other geopolitical issues may impact negatively on funders and reduce the Charity’s ability to raise voluntary income. In addition, it is possible that we will see more Trusts and Foundations change their funding strategies or potentially pause their grantgiving plans. Continuing and increasing budgetary challenges in schools and local authorities and the consequential impact on maintaining existing contracts or achieving new business may reduce the Charity’s ability to generate earned income.

On the expenditure side, persistent inflation above the Bank of England’s 2% target could be a continuing challenge in keeping costs within budget. However, salary costs are the most significant element, comprising 78% of the Charity’s total expenditure (78% in 2022-23). There is a risk that these costs will increase as the Trustees continue to review rates of pay in order to stay competitive amid increased overall wage growth and to reward staff adequately and fairly given increased costs of living.

In order to mitigate the risks identified, the Charity continues to review different scenarios and assess the Charity's ability to react and maximise opportunities to diversify income sources, absorb increased costs (especially salary costs), and expand the reach of its services. The role of its free reserves, as highlighted below, is key in mitigating the potential impact of the major risks identified.

Reserves Policy

The Finance Committee, on behalf of the Board of Trustees, meets quarterly and conducts an annual review of the level of unrestricted reserves by considering risks associated with the various income streams, expenditure plans and balance sheet items. This enables an estimate to be made of the level of unrestricted reserves that are sufficient:

To allow time for reorganisation in the event of a downturn in income or asset values;
To protect ongoing service provision; and

To allow the charity to meet its working capital requirements.

In 2024/25, the Charity is facing challenges to both its income and expenditure due to:

Income from Trusts and Foundations being adversely affected by pauses in giving, changes in strategy and increased competition;
Rising costs outstripping any increased funding for schools, reducing their ability to purchase services;
Continuing financial crises in local authorities, reducing opportunities for service delivery partnerships;
Continuing wage inflation leading to pressure on salary costs;
Persistent inflation within the 2-3% range, adding to the pressure on other costs;

Voluntary income as a percentage of incoming resources has decreased this year (to 61% from 80% in 2022-23). As predicted, new government and local authority initiatives resulted in increased income from service delivery contracts. However, we expect that a material proportion of the charity's income is still likely to continue to be generated from philanthropic sources and the proportion from these sources may well increase in the next year.

Year ended 31 August 2024

SCHOOL-HOME SUPPORT SERVICE (UK)

With these issues in mind, the Trustees reviewed a number of different scenarios which reflected the major risks identified in the risk register, including the impact of the state of the economy on both voluntary and earned income and inflationary pressures on salary and other costs. They determined that the Charity should ensure it maintains free reserves between £406K and £603K (2022/23 - between £493K and £1,010K). Maintaining free reserves within this range will ensure that the Charity is able to meet any challenges arising from the risks identified.

The Charity’s free reserves at 31 August 2024 were £512k (£907K 2022/23), being unrestricted reserves of £523k less fixed assets of £11k. This level of free reserves is within the Trustees’ stated policy above and the Trustees agree that this is a reasonable approach to ensure the Charity is able to meet its future commitments.

Structure, Governance and Management

Constitution

School-Home Support is a charitable company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital, incorporated on 9 May 2000 and registered as a charity on 24 January 2001.

The Charity is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association as amended by special resolutions, with the latest amendment dated 23 January 2020.

The governing body of the Charity is the Board of Trustees. Trustees, who are also the Directors for the purpose of charity law, who served during the year and up to the date of this report are listed on page 46 of this report.

The maximum number of Trustees allowed by the Articles of Association is fifteen and at the period-end there were twelve serving Trustees. During the course of the year, three Trustees resigned and three new Trustees were appointed. Annually, Trustees review the Board to identify any skills gaps and look externally for appropriate people in order to attract members with the relevant experience and skills needed to improve the Board’s effectiveness.

The Trustees meet four times each year with the Management Team. Meetings are extended or additional shorter meetings are carried out for specific focus such as Business Plan development and review.

Each Trustee is asked to complete a declaration of interest form which is reviewed and, if appropriate, amended, annually as well as it being a standing agenda item at Trustee meetings to ask Trustees to declare new interests.

Year ended 31 August 2024

SCHOOL-HOME SUPPORT SERVICE (UK)

As part of our 2022-27 strategy, we commit to continuous improvement in governance and risk management in line with the recommended practice and principles enshrined in the Charity Governance Code.

Last year, we reported that responsibility for Policy and Public Affairs was transferred from Fundraising and Communications to a new department and that a new Head of Policy and Public Affairs had been appointed. Subsequently, responsibility for Communications was also transferred to this new department, which was renamed the department for Policy and Engagement, and a new Policy and Engagement committee was established. This committee will work closely with the Head of Policy and Engagement (formerly the Head of Policy and Public Affairs) to develop and implement all policy, public affairs, communications and marketing activities to meet the charity's ambitious strategic objectives.

School-Home Support has four other formal subcommittees with agreed Terms of Reference and appointed Chairs which report to the Board of Trustees. These four other subcommittees are as follows:

Finance committee - meets four times a year to oversee the effective financial, risk management, recording policies and procedures and to report and make any recommendations to the Board.
Impact committee - meets formally a minimum of three times a year to provide oversight, support and guidance to the staff team in the measurement, evaluation, and communication of impact of its work with children, parents/carers, families, schools and wider society.
Fundraising committee (formerly Fundraising & Marketing committee) - meets twice a year with ad hoc additional meetings for specific projects / issues as needed. Its focus is to review and advise on all elements of the fundraising strategy and related activities and make any recommendations to the Board.
Remuneration committee - meets twice a year with ad hoc additional meetings for specific projects or issues as needed. The Committee approves the remuneration policy for all employees and determines annually the pay and benefits packages of senior management.

Management

The Trustees are responsible for setting strategies and policies for the Charity and for ensuring that these are implemented. The Finance Committee ensures that all assets of the Charity are properly safeguarded, managed and used, and that funds are spent effectively and efficiently in the course of its activities. In addition, the Committee reviews the effectiveness of internal financial controls and risk management systems. The Committee meets prior to each Trustee Board meeting.

Year ended 31 August 2024

SCHOOL-HOME SUPPORT SERVICE (UK)

The day-to-day running of the Charity is delegated to the Chief Executive and her staff. The Chief Executive has responsibility for planning, developing and implementing policies and strategies within clear guidelines and protocols set by the Trustees.

During the year, responsibility for HR issues was moved away from the Finance department and a new People and Culture department was established. This new department will enable us to focus on providing support to all colleagues, including onboarding, learning and development and staff wellbeing, as well as essential HR tasks such as recruitment and employee relations. A

temporary Head of People and Culture joined the charity during the year and her appointment was made permanent in December 2024. This new Head of People and Culture, together with the Head of Family Intervention, Head of Impact and Digital Delivery, Head of Fundraising, Head of Finance and Compliance (formerly the Head of Finance and Resources) and the Head of Policy and Engagement supported the Chief Executive during the year.

Trustee Induction and Training

Trustees are able to access a range of training to support them in their role and their understanding of the organisation. Training available includes such areas as governance, finance, safeguarding and inclusion. New Trustees access a comprehensive induction programme and are allocated a “buddy” trustee to support them in their new role. They are also linked with a relevant senior member of staff to support their understanding of the work of the

organisation whilst also allowing them to support that area of work with their expertise and skills. Trustees access a programme of shadowing front line staff to deepen their knowledge of the complex issues the families the organisation works with face.

Disclosure of Information to Auditors

The Trustees who held office at the date of approval of this report confirm that, so far as they are individually aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the Charity’s auditors are unaware; and each Trustee has taken all steps that they ought to have taken as a Trustee to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the Charity’s auditors are aware of that information.

Public Benefit

In shaping our objectives for the year and planning our activities, the Trustees have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit, including the guidance ‘public benefit: running a charity (PB2)’. The Trustees are confident that through its objects, School-Home Support meets those public benefit requirements.

The principles of public benefit – that it is identifiable, that it must be to the public and that any private benefit must be incidental – are demonstrated by the outcomes of our work as set out in this report.

Pay Policy

The Charity has a robust remuneration policy in place which supports a structured pay-scale matrix to reflect the broad range of skill sets throughout the organisation. Pay scales are reviewed to ensure they are aligned with industry standards based upon the specific areas in which the Charity works.

They are also regularly reviewed in light of the increasing cost of living. School-Home Support is committed to being a “Living Wage” employer. The company seeks to recruit high performing individuals and sets remuneration levels taking into account a range of factors including:

An individual’s skills, performance and experience;
The size and responsibility of the role; and
External benchmark data for the charity and cultural sector

Fundraising, Data Protection and GDPR

The charity’s main fundraising activity involves communications with corporates, trusts and foundations via telephone, email, fundraising events and sponsored events in line with the Fundraising Code of Practice set by the Fundraising Regulator. We continue to rely on voluntary income as an organisation and for the last three years the majority of our expenditure has been funded by voluntary donations.

Where members of the public have donated or joined our Membership programme, we adhere to tight guidelines informed by the DPA and GDPR legislation. Our privacy policy can be found on our website .

Our School-Home Support Supporter Promise is available in full on our website. Key principles for fundraising activities with the public include the following:

We adhere to the Fundraising Code of Practice;

All our activities are open, fair, honest and legal;
If we are asked to change how we communicate with individuals, or stop, we will do so;

We do not sell contact details to anyone.

The charity is registered with the Fundraising Regulator and adheres to the standards of the Fundraising Code of Practice. No complaints about fundraising activity were received in the year.

Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities

The Trustees (who are also directors of School-Home Support Service (UK) for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of the affairs of the charitable company and of the resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; comply with applicable accounting standards, including FRS 102, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; state whether a Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) applies and has been followed, subject to any material departures which are explained in the financial statements;
make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in business.

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In presenting this report, the Trustees have complied with the Statement of Recommended Practice, Accounting and Reporting by Charities, the Companies Act 2006 and applicable United Kingdom Accounting and Financial Reporting Standards, including FRS102 and have given due regard to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit including the guidance ‘public benefit: running a charity (PB2)’.

The financial statements that follow later in this report comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, and the Statement of Cash Flows and related notes.

The Trustees’ Report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions relating to companies subject to the small companies regime within Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006.

The Trustees’ Report was approved by the Trustees on 29 January 2024, and is signed as authorised on its behalf by:

Nikolai Petrou, Chair of Finance Committee Date 29/01/25 Charles Gannon, Chair of the Board of Trustees Date = - fl te : 29/01/25

Year ended 31 August 2024

SCHOOL-HOME SUPPORT SERVICE (UK)

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF SCHOOL-HOME SUPPORT SERVICE (UK) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of School-Home Support Services (UK) for the year ended 31 August 2024 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Statement of Cash Flows and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of 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:

give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company’s affairs as at 31 August 2024 and of the charitable company’s net movement in funds, including the income and expenditure, for the year then ended;
have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and
have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

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.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ 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 charitable company'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.

Year ended 31 August 2024

SCHOOL-HOME SUPPORT SERVICE (UK)

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

Other information

The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the Trustees’ Report and the Chair’s Report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, 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 audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. 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.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

the information given in the Trustees’ Report (which includes the directors’ report prepared for the purposes of company law) for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
the directors’ report included within the Trustees’ Report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Trustees’ Report (which incorporates the directors’ report).

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

adequate accounting records have not been kept by the charitable company; or
the charitable company financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or

the Trustees’ were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small company’s regime and take advantage of the small companies’ exemptions in preparing a strategic report.

Responsibilities of trustees for the financial statements

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement [set out on page 24] the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) 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 trustees 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 trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’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 trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

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.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

Based on our understanding of the charitable company and the environment in which it operates, we identified that the principal risks of non-compliance with laws and regulations related to charity and company law applicable in England and Wales, fundraising regulations, data protection laws and safeguarding regulations, and we considered the extent to which non-compliance might have a material effect on the financial statements. We also considered those laws and regulations that have a direct impact on the preparation of the financial statements such as the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Act 2011, employment law and payroll tax.

We evaluated management’s incentives and opportunities for fraudulent manipulation of the financial statements (including the risk of override of controls) and determined that the principal risks were related to the completeness and cut-off of donations and grant income and posting of inappropriate journal entries. Audit procedures performed by the engagement team included:

Inspecting correspondence with regulators and tax authorities;
Discussions with management including consideration of known or suspected instances of non-compliance with laws and regulation and fraud; Evaluating management’s controls designed to prevent and detect irregularities;
Identifying and testing journals, in particular journal entries posted by unusual users or with unusual descriptions; and
Challenging assumptions and judgements made by management in their critical accounting estimates.

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities . This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company's members those matters we are required to state to them 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 charitable company and the charitable company's members, as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Soa tor? Steven Harper (Senior Statutory Auditor)

For and on behalf of HaysMac LLP, Statutory

10 Queen Street Place London EC4R 1AG

Auditor

[

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

(Including Income & Expenditure Account) for the year ended 31 August 2024

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.

All transactions during the year are derived from continuing activities. The notes on pages 33- 44 form part of these financial statements. Comparative figures for the prior financial year are shown in note 18.

SCHOOL-HOME SUPPORT SERVICE (UK)

BALANCE SHEET

As at 31 August 2024

Company Number: 03991440

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions relating to companies subject to the small companies regime within Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006.

The financial statements on pages 30-31 were approved and authorised for issue by the Trustees on 29 January 2024 and signed on their behalf by:

Nikolai Petrou, Chair of Finance Committee Date

29/01/25

Charles Gannon, Chair of the Board of Trustees Date

29/01/25

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

For the year ended 31 August 2024

Year ended 31 August 2024

SCHOOL-HOME SUPPORT SERVICE (UK)

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

1. Accounting policies

Accounting convention

The accounts (financial statements) have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (Second edition effective 1 January 2019) and the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2011.

Assets and liabilities are recognised at historical cost or transaction value.

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

Public benefit entity

The charity meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.

Going concern

The Trustees consider there are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue as a going concern. The review of the charity’s financial position, reserves levels and future plans gives Trustees confidence that the company remains a going concern for the foreseeable future.

The Charity faces various risks including pressures on funders, schools and local authorities affecting its ability to generate income, together with economic uncertainty and persistent wage and cost inflation. However, at the date of filing these financial statements, the level of current donations and controls in place, alongside strategic plans to increase reach and influence policy, mean that, even under a reasonable worst case scenario, the Trustees have grounds to believe that the charity is able to continue as a going concern for at least 12 months from the date of approval of these financial statements.

Income

Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the income have been met, it is probable that the income will be received and that the amount can be measured reliably.

Income received for general purposes of the charity is credited to unrestricted funds. Income subject to specific wishes of the donor is credited to relevant restricted funds.

Income received in advance of the provision of a specified service is deferred until the criteria for income recognition are met.

Interest on funds held on deposit is included when receivable and the amount can be measured reliably by the charity; this is normally upon notification of the interest paid or payable by the bank.

Donations of gifts, services and facilities

Donated professional services and donated facilities are recognised as income when the charity has control over the item or received the service, any conditions associated with the donation have been met, the receipt of economic benefit from the use by the charity of the item is probable and that economic benefit can be measured reliably.

Fund accounting

Restricted funds are to be used for specific purposes as laid down by the donor. Expenditure which meets these criteria is charged to the fund.

Unrestricted funds are donations and other incoming resources received or generated for the charitable purposes.

Designated funds are to be used for specific purposes as agreed by the Board of Trustees. Expenditure which meets this criteria is charged to the fund.

Expenditure

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified under the following activity headings:

Costs of raising funds relate to the costs incurred by the charity in inducing third parties to make voluntary contributions to it, as well as the cost of any activities with a fundraising purpose;

Expenditure on charitable activities includes the costs of delivering support to schools, undertaken to further the purposes of the charity and their associated support costs. It also includes expenditure relating to our strategic aim of influencing policy and practice, advocating for change for the most vulnerable children and families. Where costs cannot be directly attributed (support costs), they have been allocated to the activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources;
Governance costs are the costs associated with the governance arrangements of the charity. These costs are associated with constitutional and statutory requirements and include any costs associated with the strategic management of the charity’s activities.

Operating leases

Where assets are financed by leasing agreements that give rights approximating to ownership ("finance leases"), the assets are treated as if they had been purchased outright. The amount capitalised is the present value of the minimum lease payments during the lease term. The corresponding leasing commitments are shown as obligations to the lessor.

Tangible fixed assets

Items of equipment are capitalised where the purchase price exceeds £1,500. Depreciation costs are allocated to activities on the basis of the use of the related assets in those activities. Assets are reviewed for impairment if circumstances indicate their carrying value may exceed their net realisable value and value in use.

Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write down the cost of each asset to its estimated residual value over its expected useful life. The depreciation rates in use are as follows:

Leasehold improvements Straight line over length of lease Fixtures & fittings Straight line over 5 years

IT Straight line over 4 years

Intangible fixed assets

Amortisation is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost of each asset, less any residual value, over its expected useful life. The amortisation rates in use are as follows:

Website costs Straight line over 4 years Software costs Straight line over 4 years

Year ended 31 August 2024

SCHOOL-HOME SUPPORT SERVICE (UK)

Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.

Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less.

Creditors and provisions

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.

The charity only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value.

Pensions

The charity operates one defined contribution pension scheme for employees. The pension charge represents contributions payable by the charity for the period, and the charity's liability is limited to the amounts of the contributions. The scheme is as follows:

A scheme administered by AEGON Scottish Equitable, the funds of which are separate from those of the charity.

Critical accounting estimates and areas of judgement

In preparing financial statements it is necessary to make certain judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts recognised in the financial statements.

In the view of the trustees in applying the accounting policies adopted, no judgements were required that have a significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements nor do any estimates or assumptions made carry a significant risk of material adjustment in the next financial year.

2. Company Structure

The charity is a company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital. The members of the company are the Trustees named on page 45. At 31 August 2024 the number of members was 12 (2023: 12).

3. Income from Donations and Grants

4. Income from Charitable Activities

5. Total Expenditure

Prior year comparative figures are shown in Note 18. The major components of other support costs are IT-related costs (£60,454) and rent, including service charge (£92,290). Total support costs are allocated between the cost of raising funds and the cost of charitable activities on the basis of staff numbers.

6. Net income (expenditure) for the year.

7. Staff costs and Numbers

The number of staff included in Redundancy and termination costs was 8 (2023: 1).

The following number of employees received employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs and employer national insurance) during the year between:

The 2023 figure has been restated as one employee was incorrectly shown within the bands. The total employee benefits (including employer pension costs and employer national insurance contributions) of the key management personnel were £479,222 (2023: £361,111).

Key Management Personnel include Trustees, the Chief Executive, and the six Heads of Department in post during the year - Head of Family Intervention, Head of Fundraising, Head of Impact and Digital Delivery, Head of Finance and Compliance, Head of Policy and Engagement and Head of People and Culture.

Year ended 31 August 2024

SCHOOL-HOME SUPPORT SERVICE (UK)

The charity trustees were not paid nor did they receive any other benefits from employment with the charity in the year (2023: £nil). No charity trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity (2023: £nil).

Trustees' expenses represent the payment or reimbursement of travel and subsistence costs totalling £nil (2023: £nil).

The average number of employees (head count based on number of staff employed) during the year was as follows:

8. Related party transactions

There are no related party transactions to disclose for 2024 (2023: None).

9. Taxation

The charity is exempt from corporation tax as all its income is charitable and is applied for charitable purposes.

The charity is not registered for VAT and therefore irrecoverable VAT is included with the cost of the items to which it relates.

10. Tangible Fixed Assets

All of the above assets are used for charitable purposes.

Year ended 31 August 2024

SCHOOL-HOME SUPPORT SERVICE (UK)

11. Intangible Fixed Assets

All of the above assets are used for charitable purposes.

12. Debtors

13. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

14. Deferred Income

Deferred income includes school fee income invoiced which covers future periods.

15. Analysis of Net Assets Between Funds

Prior year comparative figures are shown in note 18.

16. Movement in Funds

Purposes of restricted and designated funds:

Core costs - Restricted to core day to day running costs excluding items such as capital purchases.
IT - For expenditure on hardware and software including website.
Family Intervention- To cover practitioner roles within schools or regionally based.
Pastoral Development Services - For delivery of training, supervision support and membership services.
Welfare - For expenditure on welfare fund items including IT / data provision to families.
Designated funds - To continue to ensure the availability of sufficient funds to support the growth strategy.

17. Operating lease commitments

The charity's total future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases is as follows for each of the following periods:

18. Comparatives

Statement of Financial Activities (including Income & Expenditure Account) for the year ended 31 August 2023

Year ended 31 August 2024

SCHOOL-HOME SUPPORT SERVICE (UK)

18. Comparatives (continued)

Total expenditure

Analysis of Net Assets Between Funds

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Registered Name

School-Home Support Service (UK)

Registered & Operating O ce

Solar House - 3rd Floor 1-9 Romford Road London E15 4LJ

Company Number

03991440

Charity Number

1084696

Trustees

Charles Gannon (appointed trustee 01/09/23, appointed Chair 24/01/24) Fred Sharrock (Chair) (resigned 24/01/24) Carly Wickham (Deputy Chair) Laura Bruce-Connolly Emma Fay David Dickson Colin Horswell (resigned 24/01/24) Joseph Howes (appointed 01/09/23)

Matthew Koster-Marcon (appointed 21/09/23) Michelle Loughrey (resigned 29/01/25) Dan O’Brien Alex Parker (appointed 29/01/25) Nikolai Petrou Lisa Robinson (resigned 24/01/24) Yun Hui Teoh (resigned 29/01/25) Alice Wilcock (resigned 29/01/25)

Finance Committee

Nikolai Petrou (Chair) Colin Horswell (to 24/01/24) Dan O’Brien Emma Fay

Fundraising Committee (formerly Fundraising and Marketing Committee)

Joseph Howes (from 01/09/23, appointed Chair 24/01/24) Lisa Robinson (Chair to 24/01/24) David Dickson Dan O’Brien Carly Wickham (to 27/03/24) Matt Koster-Marcon (from 27/03/24)

Impact Committee

David Dickson (Chair from 15/01/25) Michelle Loughrey (Chair to 15/01/25) Laura Bruce-Connolly Emma Fay Charles Gannon (from 04/10/23) Colin Horswell (to 24/01/24) Matthew Koster-Marcon (from 04/10/23) Nikolai Petrou Carly Wickham Alice Wilcock (to 29/01/25)

Remuneration Committee

Dan O’Brien (Chair) Nikolai Petrou Emma Fay Michelle Loughrey (from 11/10/23 to 29/01/25)

Policy and Engagement Committee (from 21/05/24)

Alice Wilcock (Co-chair to 29/01/25) Carly Wickham (Co-chair) Matthew Koster-Marcon Laura Bruce-Connolly David Dickson

Chief Executive

Jaine Stannard

Key Management Personnel

Maggie Mitchell - Head of Family Intervention Catrin Doe - Head of Impact & Digital Delivery Alec Raven - Head of Fundraising AJ Finn - Head of Finance & Compliance Rachael Kenningham - Head of Policy & Engagement June Bridgeman - Head of People & Culture (appointed 02/12/24}

Bankers

Barclays Bank PLC Dockland Branch 1 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf London E14 5RB

Aldermore Bank PLC Apex Plaza Forbury Road Reading RG1 1AX

Auditors

HaysMac LLP Chartered Accountants & Registered Auditors 10 Queen Street Place London EC4R 1AG

Contact

Website

Telephone: 020 7426 5000 www.schoolhomesupport.org.uk Email: enquiries@shs.org.uk

School-Home Support Service (UK)

Get in touch Support us Donate

schoolhomesupport.org.uk

SCHOOL-HOME SUPPORT SERVICE (UK) Registered charity number: 1084696

2024-08-31-accounts

School-Home Support Service (UK)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABOUT SCHOOL-HOME SUPPORT

Our vision

Our Mission

Theory of change

MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIR

40 years of addressing the root causes of absence through whole family support

Charles Gannon, Chair of Trustees

MESSAGE FROM OUR CEO

What happens to children outside of the classroom matters

Jaine Stannard, Chief Executive

OUR STRATEGY: 2022-2027

Goal 1: Reach more children and families

Goal 2: Support more schools to address persistent absence

Goal 3: Influence policy and practice

OUR ACTIVITIES THIS YEAR

Goal 1: Reach more children and families

Goal 2: Support more schools to address persistent absence

Goal 3: Influence policy and practice

Our route map for Government

OUR IMPACT

The root causes of absence: financial hardship and poor housing

1 in 5

140%

Barriers to good attendance

What worries parents/carers the most?

What worries children the most?

Our impact on attendance

Milestones towards improved attendance

88%

OUR FUNDERS

The crucial role played by our voluntary funders

Partnership spotlight: Vanquis Banking Group

The School Uniform Fund

Raising Aspirations

OUR CULTURE

Embracing diversity and promoting equality

People and Culture Team

Champions

WHAT WE WILL DO IN 2024/2025

Goal 1: Reach more children and families

Goal 2: Support more schools to address persistent absence

Goal 3: Influence policy and practice

FINANCIAL SUMMARY

Year ended 31 August 2024

Total Expenditure £3,784,041

Charitable activities: £2,415,300 (64% of total expenditure) 2022/23 - £1,712,212 (56%)

Investments (bank interest): £18,706

Total cost of charitable activities £3,197,313 (85%) 2022/23 - £2,548,800 (83%)

Planned Deficit

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Voluntary Income

Income from charitable activities

Costs

Balance Sheet

Investment Policy

Risk Management

Reserves Policy

Structure, Governance and Management

Constitution

Management

Trustee Induction and Training

Disclosure of Information to Auditors

Public Benefit

Pay Policy

Fundraising, Data Protection and GDPR

Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF SCHOOL-HOME SUPPORT SERVICE (UK) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024

Opinion

Basis for opinion

Conclusions relating to going concern

Other information

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

Responsibilities of trustees for the financial statements

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Use of our report

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES