2020-08-31-accounts - Willow Tree Steiner School Ltd

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WILLOW TREE STEINER SCHOOL LTD ACCOUNTS

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

Charity Number 1137361 Company Registration Number 07032113

Blessing on this school of ours, Bless the dolls, toys and the flowers, Bless the adults who come here, All the creatures far and near, Bless the children every one, Help them share and have some fun, Bless their work and bless their play, Happily through every day.

WILLOW TREE STEINER SCHOOL LTD

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

CONTENTS	PAGE
Legal and Administrative Information	2 to 3
Trustees’ annual report	4 to 10
Independent Examiner’s Report	11
Statement of financial activities	12
Balance sheet	13
Notes to the Accounts	14 to 19

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WILLOW TREE STEINER SCHOOL LTD

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTATIVE INFORMATION

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

Status

The Willow Tree Steiner School is a company limited by guarantee (registration number 07032113) and granted charitable status by the Charity Commission on 9[th] August 2010 under number 1137361.

Registered Office

11 Nicholas Road Easton Bristol BS5 0LX

Trustees

The directors of the charitable company (“the charity”) are its trustees for the purposes of the charity law and throughout this report are collectively referred to as the trustees.

The Trustees who served during the year and since the year end were as follows:

Hayley Elliot	Chairperson from November 2018 (Left October 2019)
Isabella Douglas	Safeguarding
Jessica Dicks	Treasurer (appt October 2018)
Rebecca Carnegie	Wellbeing
Joanna Howes
Anne Berry	(Left October 2019)
Jo Anne Lovemore	(Appointed June 2020)
Jessica Wheeler	(Appointed June 2020)

Trustees/Directors appointed/terminated after year end:

Jessica Wheeler	(Left February 2021)
Jean Goubert	(Appointed October 2020, Left January 2021)
Rebecca Carnegie	(Left October 2020)
Janet Coles	(Appointed March 2021)

Staff

Staff
Elodie Rummage	Lead Teacher Willow Tree Kindergarten Manager both
	kindergartens
Lily Clark	Lead Teacher, Willow Tree Little Kindergarten
Philippa Gibbins	Assistant, & Senco WTK
Kevin Panton	Assistant, WTK (left March 2020)
Elizabeth Harper	Assistant, WTK
Phoebe Crum	Afternoon Teacher (appointed March 2020)
Ami Cooper	Afternoon Teacher/Assistant WTLK
Floredia Hrissikou	Assistant & Senco WTLK
Sara Canamero Escobar	Assistant WTLK

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WILLOW TREE STEINER SCHOOL LTD

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTATIVE INFORMATION

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

Rose Douglas Assistant, WTLK Inga Dinham Administrator Jan Coles Parent and Child Teacher

Independent Examiners

Jo Trowbridge MAAT Bristol Community Accountants CIC The Park Daventry Road Knowle Bristol BS4 1DQ

Bankers

The Co-operative Bank Delf House Southway Skelmersdale WN8 6WT

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WILLOW TREE STEINER SCHOOL LTD

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

____________

The Trustees present their report and the unaudited financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31[st] August 2020.

The financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Companies Act 2006, the Memorandum and Articles of Association, and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019).

Structure, governance and management

The Directors

The Board of Directors, who are Trustees for the purpose of charity law, who served during the year and up to the date of this report are set out on page 2.

Governing Document

Willow Tree Steiner School Ltd is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 28[th] September 2009 and registered as a charity on August 9[th] 2010. The company was established under a Memorandum of Association which established the objects and powers of the charitable company and is governed under its Articles of Association. The company is governed by a management Committee. The charity may by ordinary resolution appoint a person who is willing to act to be a Director; and determine the rotation in which any additional Directors are to retire. Members of the Management Committee are Directors of the company and Charity Trustees and guarantee to contribute £1 in the event of the winding up of the company.

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WILLOW TREE STEINER SCHOOL LTD

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

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Public benefit

The Trustees have complied with their duty under Section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission.

Aims and Objects of the Charity

Our charity’s purposes as set out in the objects contained in the company’s memorandum of association are “To advance the education of children by: -

1) Establishing and running a school or schools in accordance with Steiner-Waldorf educational principles in Bristol and the surrounding area by initially establishing a kindergarten;

2) To advance and promote Steiner-Waldorf education to the educational community and the wider public.

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WILLOW TREE STEINER SCHOOL LTD

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

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Summary of Main Activities

At Willow Tree Kindergarten St Werburghs our school year began in September 2019 welcoming 19 children through our doors.

At Willow Tree Little Kindergarten we began in September with only 13 children. January began with 21 children.

We were open 5 mornings a week and 3 afternoons.

Each Kindergarten “day” has its own activity such as baking

or painting, but the structure of each is the same. The strong rhythm of the days and the repetition that each week brings with it an in-built discipline. This creates a safe and secure environment for the children which enables more effective learning and reduces the needs for additional discipline.

Daily Domestic and Artistic Activities:

Monday Baking; Gardening Tuesday Cleaning, polishing and mending; Seasonal craft activity Wednesday Painting; Eurythmy Thursday Baking; Seasonal craft activity Friday Soup making; Forest School walk

As well as the daily and weekly routine of the kindergarten, festivals mark the yearly rhythm and are an excellent way of celebrating the seasons of the year, as well as aiming to awaken awe, wonder and reverence for the spirit that lives in our true humanity.

At the end of October, we held our now annual Divali celebration with a Lantern Procession, a puppet show of the story of Rama and Sita and delicious Indian food that the children helped to make. In December we shared an advent spiral festival; a room filled with a large spiral on the floor made of ivy, holly and fur. Our children processed around the spiral till reaching the middle where they lit their candle, and placed it on the spiral. In January we celebrated the three kings baking a kings cake and in February we had Chinese New Year with our lucky pennies and fortune cookies. In May we danced around the Maypole and for Whitsun the children made beautiful white doves that perched around the classroom filled with yellow and white flowers. We finished our celebrations in June with our midsummer festival with a fire in our garden, where we wrote our wishes that we could send to the stars in the flames of the fire we lit.

We also like to celebrate each child, and birthdays are a wonderful way for the children to learn about each other. Each year we ask parents to tell us a little history of their child – when they were born and what significant events have happened in the year. In this way, we can tell an individual birthday story for everyone.

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WILLOW TREE STEINER SCHOOL LTD

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

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We held 2 workdays this year. We ask all parents to come with their children, to share the work – to improve our hall, cleaning and re oiling the floor, and to tidy up the garden.

We had 2 parents evenings – one in the Autumn and one in the Spring - exploring issues that are concerning, or of interest to parents.

We continue to use facilities at the local St Werburghs City Farm, walking there to learn about animals and feed the pigs our scraps.

Summary of Main Achievements

This year started with a new teacher at Willow Tree Little Kindergarten. In September we began the year at Little Kindergarten with lower numbers than hoped. This meant that the first term was financially running at a loss, but did mean that the new teacher (who had been appointed late in August) had space to establish herself in the role. Her experience and dedication to the role meant that, mainly via word of mouth, we began the next term with more children and on a more stable financial footing, and with the opportunity to reduce the deficit created by low numbers in the first term.

The hot lunches still proved to be a popular option with families, with most opting to have the Kindergarten lunch.

Willow Tree Kindergarten St Werburghs retained the same staff as the previous year. The lead teacher had decided at the end of the previous year that teaching full time on top of all her other responsibilities was unsustainable, so the afternoons were now led by another member of staff.

In March the afternoon teacher resigned, and we appointed a new afternoon teacher.

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WILLOW TREE STEINER SCHOOL LTD

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

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In March 2020 COVID 19 began to affect the business, first with staff needing to self-isolate due to illness consistent with COVID 19, then with the first national lockdown. The lockdown meant that we remained open only for children of key workers. There were only 5 families that requested a place for their child across the 2 settings, so the Trustees took the decision to only open 1 setting and amalgamate the care at St Werburgh’s.

Financially, we were guaranteed the income from the Free Early Years Entitlement but could not invoice for the supplement or additional hours that children would normally be attending. Fortunately, we were able to furlough the staff that did not need to work due to low numbers of children in attendance. As a company that receives government funding via the FEEE the treasurer and administrator had to calculate what percentage of the staff pay we could legally furlough, as we could only claim the equivalent percentage of invoiced to FEEE income from February 2020.

We reopened the settings in June, but under restrictions limiting the size of sessions to a maximum of 8 children. Due to this we did not need all our staff to return to work, so kept some on furlough until the end of the academic year.

At the end of the year the afternoon teacher at Willow Tree Little Kindergarten handed in her notice, and we appointed a new teacher to begin in September 2020.

Our Parent and Child groups ran until March 2020 and continued to be very popular. From March 2020 to the end of the academic year they could not run due to COVID regulations.

Statement of policy on reserves

It is the policy of the trustees to ensure that the charity has sufficient reserves to ensure its long-term viability; to maintain service levels and to meet the charity’s liabilities.

Risk review

The Trustees have assessed the major risk to which the organisation is exposed, in particular those related to operations and finances, and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to major risks.

Internal risks are minimised by the implementation of effective systems and control procedures, which ensure appropriate authorisation of all transactions and projects and consistent quality of delivery for all operational aspects of the charity.

Further financial review

We increased our fees and salaries in line with inflation again this year.

The COVID 19 pandemic threatened our financial position, but luckily the fact that we were able to furlough our staff, even though we needed to contribute towards the furlough money from our own funds, meant that we ended the year without incurring a crippling loss.

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WILLOW TREE STEINER SCHOOL LTD

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

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Furthermore, our Landlord kindly waived rent for the months that we were only open for children of key children, which also helped to mitigate losses.

As there were a number of families who were left in difficult financial positions due to the pandemic, the Trustees also opted to write off some outstanding fees from that year.

The trustees have reviewed the budgets, waiting lists and government funding for the coming year and they confirm that they believe Willow Tree to be financially stable enough to meet its obligations and continue its activities for the foreseeable future.

The trustees are still committed to keeping a financial reserve with the long-term aim of finding our own premises, for one or both kindergartens.

Responsibilities of the Trustees

The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the terms of the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Act 2011.

In particular, the Companies Act 2006 and charity law require the board of trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity as at the end of the financial year and of the surplus or deficit of the charity. In preparing those financial statements the Board is required to: -

to prepare the accounts in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law).
select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business.
state whether applicable accounting standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;

The Trustees are also responsible for maintaining adequate accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and which are sufficient to show and explain the charity's transactions and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 and comply with regulations made under the Charities Act. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The trustees are also responsible for the contents of the trustees' report, and the statutory responsibility of the Independent Examiner in relation to the trustees' report is limited to examining the report and ensuring that, on the face of the report, there are no material inconsistencies with the figures disclosed in the financial statements.

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WILLOW TREE STEINER SCHOOL LTD

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

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Method of preparation of accounts - Small company provisions

These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions in Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 applicable to companies subject to the small companies’ regime.

Approved by the trustees and signed on their behalf by:

……………………………………………. Date ………………………………………2021 Jessica Dicks Trustee ……………………………………………. Date ………………………………………2021 Janet Coles Trustee

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WILLOW TREE STEINER SCHOOL LTD

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

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I report on the accounts of the company for the year ended 31st August 2020 which are set out on pages 12 to 19.

Respective responsibilities of Trustees and Independent Examiner

As the charity’s trustees of the Company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (‘the 2006 Act’).

Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the Company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5) (b) of the 2011 Act.

Independent examiner’s statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe:

accounting records were not kept in respect of the Company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or
the accounts do not accord with those records; or
the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities [applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)].

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Jo Trowbridge MAAT ………………………………………… Bristol Community Accountants CIC Bristol BS4 1DQ

Date ..............................................2021

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WILLOW TREE STEINER SCHOOL LTD

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (Including Income and Expenditure Account)

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

Unrestricted Funds £ 12,278 149,708 -	Restricted Funds £ - - -	Total Funds 2020 £ 12,278 149,708 -	Total Funds 2019 £ 1,814 178,514 -
161,986	-	161,986	180,328
161,269 1,181	- -	161,269 1,181	167,358 912
162,450	-	162,450	168,270
(464) -	- -	(464) -	12,058 -
(464) 44,039	- -	(464) 44,039	12,058 31,981
43,575	-	43,575	44,039

All of the activities of the charity are classed as continuing

The notes on pages 14 to 19 form part of these financial statements

As required by paragraph 4.67 of the SORP, the brought forward and carried forward funds above have been agreed to the Balance Sheet.

** See note 17 for full comparative for 2019

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WILLOW TREE STEINER SCHOOL LTD

BALANCE SHEET

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

Note Fixed assets Tangible assets 13 Current assets Debtors 10 Cash at bank and in hand Creditors : Amounts falling due within one year 11 Net current assets (liabilities) Creditors : Amounts falling due after one year 12 Net assets Funds Unrestricted funds 14	2020 £ 818 3,613 42,336	2019 £ 113 8,700 51,849
	45,949 (3,142) 42,807	60,549 (16,573) 43,976
	(50)	(50)
	43,575	44,039
	43,575	44,039
	43,575	44,039

The directors are satisfied that the company is entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

Directors' responsibilities:

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit in accordance with section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.

The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Companies Act with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts.

These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to small companies subject to the small companies' regime and in accordance with FRS102 SORP.

These financial statements were approved by the trustees on ………………. and are signed on their behalf by:

………………………………. ………………………………. Jessica Dicks - Director Janet Coles - Director

The notes on pages 14 to 19 form part of these financial statements

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WILLOW TREE STEINER SCHOOL LTD NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

1 Accounting policies

a) These accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant note(s) to these accounts.
The 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) issued on 1 January 2015, as amended by Update Bulletin 2 published in October 2018, effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019 and with the Charities Act 2011 and Companies Act 2006. - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.
b) The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue as a going concern.
c) The charity meets the definition of a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102.
d) Income from donations is included in income when these are receivable, except as follows:

i) When donors specify that donations given to the charity must be used in future accounting periods, the income is deferred until those periods.

ii) When donors impose conditions which have to be fulfilled before the charity becomes entitled to use such income, the income is deferred until the pre-condition have been met.

e) Expenditure is recognised in the period in which it is incurred. Expenditure includes attributable VAT which cannot be recovered.
f) Most expenditure is directly attributable to specific activities, and have been included in those cost categories. Support cost have been allocated 100% towards the charitable activities of the charity.
g) Rentals applicable to operating lease agreements where substantially all of the benefits and risks of ownership remain with the lessor are charged against profits on a straight-line basis over the period of the lease.
h) Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objects at the discretion of the trustees. i) Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.
j) Depreciation is calculated so as to write off the cost of an asset in equal instalments over their estimated useful economic lives as follows: Fixtures and fittings 2 years
k) 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.
l) The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme and the pension charge represents the amounts payable by the charity to the fund in respect of the period.

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WILLOW TREE STEINER SCHOOL LTD

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

Income and Endowments from:

2 Donations and legacies

Unrestricted Funds £ - 100 11,591 566 21	Restricted Funds £ - - - - -	Total Funds 2020 £ - 100 11,591 566 21	Total Funds 2019 £ 1,595 - - - 219
12,278	-	12,278	1,814

1,814	-	-	1,814

3 Charitable activities

Unrestricted Funds £ 111,796 5,101 31,465 1,346	Restricted Funds £ - - - -	Total Funds 2020 £ 111,796 5,101 31,465 1,346	Total Funds 2019 £ 118,112 8,303 49,079 3,020
149,708	-	149,708	178,514

178,514	-	178,514

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

Expenditure On:

4 Charitable activities

Unrestricted Funds £ 1,343 1,708 3,113 1,105 352 280 79 16,855 115,129 10,557 1,352 237 1,208 983 6,264 704	Restricted Funds £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -	Total Funds 2020 £ - 1,343 1,708 3,113 1,105 352 280 79 16,855 115,129 10,557 1,352 237 1,208 983 6,264 704	Total Funds 2019 £ 221 2,133 1,852 4,648 2,134 936 724 217 19,780 117,975 9,600 - 191 2,380 995 3,458 114
161,269	-	161,269	167,358

167,358	-	167,358

5 Other Costs

Unrestricted Funds £ 922 259	Restricted Funds £ - -	Total Funds 2020 £ 922 259	Total Funds 2019 £ 779 133
1,181	-	1,181	912

912	-	912

6 Net incoming resources for the year

This is stated after charging:

Independent Examination fees	2020 £ 922	2019 £ 779

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WILLOW TREE STEINER SCHOOL LTD NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

7 Staff costs and numbers

The aggregate payroll costs were:

Wages and salaries	2020 2019 £ £ 125,686 127,575 125,686 127,575

No employee received emoluments of more than £60,000 (2019: £Nil)

The average monthly head count was 12 staff (2019: 8 staff)

The key management personnel of the charity comprise the board of trustees & the senior management. The trustees received no remuneration during the year. The total employee benefits of key management personnel, during the year, total £47,621 (2019: £46,396).

8 Trustee expenses

The charity trustees were not paid or received any other benefits from employment with the charity in the year (2019: £nil) neither were they reimbursed expenses during the year (2019: £nil). No charity trustee received payment for professional or other services supplied to the charity (2019: £nil).

Related party transactions

There were no related party transaction in the year (2019: £nil)

9 Taxation

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

10 Debtors

Debtors
Fees Other Debtors	2020 £ 1,303 2,310	2019 £ 8,700 -
	3,613	8,700

11 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Trade Creditors Other Creditors Accruals Deferred income	2020 2019 £ £ 394 1,024 1,826 759 922 779 - 14,011 3,142 16,573

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WILLOW TREE STEINER SCHOOL LTD NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

12 Creditors: amounts falling due after one year

At 01-Sep 2019 £ 44,039	Incoming resources £ 161,986	2020 £ 50	2019 £ 50	At 31-Aug 2020 £ 43,575
		50	50
		Fixtures & Fittings £ 228 1,408	Total 228 1,408
		1,636	1,636
		114 704	114 704
		818	818

		818	818

		114	114
		Outgoing resources £ (162,450)	Transfers £ -
44,039	161,986	(162,450)	-	43,575

44,039	161,986	(162,450)	-	43,575
	Tangible Fixed assets £ 818	Other Net assets £ 42,757	Total £ 43,575
	818	42,757	43,575

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WILLOW TREE STEINER SCHOOL LTD NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020

16 Company limited by guarantee

The company is limited by guarantee and as such has no issued share capital. In the event of the company being wound up the liability of the members is limited to £1 each.

Analysis of Charitable Funds - Previous Year (as required by paragraph 4.2. of the SORP)

Unrestricted Funds £ 1,814 178,514 -	Restricted Funds £ - - -	Total Funds 2019 £ 1,814 178,514 -
180,328	-	180,328
167,358 912	- -	167,358 912
168,270	-	168,270
12,058 -	- -	12,058 -
12,058 31,981	- -	12,058 31,981
44,039	-	44,039

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