2021-04-05-accounts

The Polish Language and Cultural Centre in Nottingham (Registered charity, number 1139846) Financial statements for the year ended 05 April 2021

Page	Contents
2 - 4	Trustees’ annual report
5	Independent examiner’s report
6	Receipts & payments account
7	Statement of assets & liabilities
8 - 9	Notes to the accounts

The Polish Language and Cultural Centre in Nottingham Trustees’ annual report for the year ended 05 April 2021

Full name The Polish Language and Cultural Centre in Nottingham

Other names by which the charity is known

Polska Szkoła Przedmiotów Ojczystych im. św. Kazimierza

Registered charity number

1139846

Principal address

9 Lindum Road, Nottingham, NG6 0QR

Trustees

Marta Zarzycka, Chairperson Pawel Gminski Jolanta Nanda, Treasurer Krzysztof Burczynski, until 08/06/21 Karolina Kossendowska

Independent examiner

John O’Brien, employee of Community Accounting Plus, Units 1 & 2 North West, 41 Talbot Street, Nottingham, NG1 5GL

Governance and management

The charity is operated under the rules of its constitution adopted 22 November 2008.

New trustees are usually recruited as part of the AGM or during the year with the agreement (vote) of the trustees.

Objectives and activities

The objects of the school shall be to provide education in the Polish language, literature, culture and traditions for children and young people and provide a range of opportunities for greater integration within the English community.

Public benefit statement

The Trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit, 'Charities and Public Benefit'.

Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit

• Renting appropriate premises for children to learn in safe and comfortable conditions;

• Employing qualified teaching staff to teach children and young people of different ages;

• Ensuring high standards of teaching to enable the young people to take their GCSE and A Level examinations;

• Working with local universities and other education organisations such as IntoUniversity;

2

The Polish Language and Cultural Centre in Nottingham

• Organising subsidised educational trips;

• Taking part in national poetry competitions;

• Encouraging parental involvement in their children’s education;

• Employing appropriate administrative staff;

• Raising the local profile of the school and helping Polish children and parents to integrate with the English community;

• Raising funds;

• Working with Nottingham City Council to ensure high quality of teaching and maximise the safety of the students;

• Co-operating with other Polish organisations in the UK and in Poland;

• Basic first aid classes for the whole school provided by St. Johns Ambulance.

Children are taught their background and roots which then they can relay to their colleagues at English schools to help integrate and get to know each other’s culture. At the same time keep their own identity.

Performed activities allow the teachers to maintain their personal development. Activities enable us to keep the language alive through reading, writing and communicating.

Children are taught in a safe environment, kept out of the streets for 3-4 hours for 35 Saturdays a year. Reading and writing in their native language allows them to keep the tradition and bond with their peers.

Students are constantly improving their GCSE and A-Level results through a range of activities in the classroom and through new strategies and methodologies in teaching.

Summary of the main achievements during the period

The year 2020-21 was one of the most challenging years for us due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Although we couldn’t go back to the premises for face to face teaching, and many of our staff have been sent on furlough, we have continued our mission using online platforms. It wasn’t for everyone; hence the number of students have significantly dropped from 555 to 356.

We still employed highly skilled teachers to deliver our vision.

We have applied for various grants to keep school finances in a good shape. We have organised a project in partnership with the Police to deliver various workshops aimed at appropriate age levels in relation to crimes by teenagers, hate crime, online crime.

We took part in international Polish language lessons via virtual classrooms. We have integrated with Polish students based in the USA and Ukraine.

We took part in an inter school competition in writing a screenplay, “Polish inventions that changed the world” and we have secured 2nd place.

We have also taken part in the international board game tournament Miś Wojtek and came fifth.

We have organised a Day of National Language during which students wrote an essay, ‘School of the Future’

3

The Polish Language and Cultural Centre in Nottingham

Women's Day promoted the project with the City Council, in which meetings were held online. Among the invited guests there were women who have their business in Nottingham and help the Polish community - raised funds during this event which will help to purchase a banner for the school.

We have integrated with other schools and organised GCSE and A-Level exams. Our teachers have organised standardised workshops on how to get students focused and interested in lessons online. For the teaching assistants, teachers have organised workshops on how to better integrate with the teachers during lessons. We cooperated with the Institute of the National Remembrance and our students benefited from knowledge presented to them by a teacher.

We've actively encouraged parents to get involved in their children’s education. Our teachers took part in competitions and participated in training to improve their skills.

We have worked closely with other Polish organisations in the UK and in Poland. We have kept high standards of the Safeguarding policies by submitting DBS checks for our staff.

We have used grants received to upgrade our IT equipment.

Financial Review

The situation with the pandemic and the fact we were unable to continue with the face to face teaching meant we have lost a number of students and we’ve had to decrease the school's fee. As a result, we have overspent this year by £2,500. It is not a significant increase in spending taking into account the current circumstances and we are happy with an overall picture of our finances at the end of the fiscal period.

In recent years we have lost many grants we were receiving from local and central governments.

The outbreak of the pandemic contributed to the loss in numbers of our students. School fees are our main income.

We were unable to go back to the premises we used to rent at a reasonable price and were forced to look for another place to teach, which we have found, but at expense.

Our governing body - Committee actively looking for alternative sources of income in terms of grants.

We have increased school fees for the academic year 2021-22.

The charity’s policy on reserves

We aim to keep a reserve of around £30,000. This can vary depending on the grants received. We have exceeded that amount with a sum of £63,354.06.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:

Signed _______ Date 05/11/2021 Marta Zarzycka, Trustee

4

Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of The Polish Language and Cultural Centre in Nottingham for the year ended 05 April 2021

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of The Polish Language and Cultural Centre in Nottingham (the charity) for the year ended 05 April 2021.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the trustees of the charity you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’). I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 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 that in any material respect:

1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or

2. the accounts do not accord with those records.

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.

Signed ____ Date _______08/11/21 John O’Brien MSc, FCCA, FCIE Employee of Community Accounting Plus

5

The Polish Language and Cultural Centre in Nottingham Receipts & payments account for the year ended 05 April 2021

6

The Polish Language and Cultural Centre in Nottingham Statement of assets and liabilities at 05 April 2021

These financial statements are accepted on behalf of the charity by: Signed _____ Date 05/11/2021 Jolanta Nanda, Trustee

7

The Polish Language and Cultural Centre in Nottingham Notes to the accounts for the year ended 05 April 2021

1. Receipts & payments accounts

Receipts and payments accounts contain a summary of money received and money spent during the period and a list of assets and liabilities at the end of the period. Usually, cash received and cash spent will include transactions through bank accounts and cash in hand.

2. Grants & donations

3. Funds analysis

4. Debtors

8

The Polish Language and Cultural Centre in Nottingham

5. Creditors

6. Trustees’ remuneration

Trustees received no expenses, remuneration or benefits in this period.

7. Related party transactions

There were no related party transactions during the period.

8. Glossary of terms

Creditors: These are amounts owed by the charity, but not paid during the accounting period.

Debtors: These are amounts owed to the charity, but not received in the accounting period.

Restricted funds: These are funds given to the charity, subject to specific restrictions set by the donor, but still within the general objects of the charity.

9

The Polish Language and Cultural Centre in Nottingham (Registered charity, number 1139846) Financial statements for the year ended 05 April 2021

Page	Contents
2 - 4	Trustees’ annual report
5	Independent examiner’s report
6	Receipts & payments account
7	Statement of assets & liabilities
8 - 9	Notes to the accounts

The Polish Language and Cultural Centre in Nottingham Trustees’ annual report for the year ended 05 April 2021

Full name The Polish Language and Cultural Centre in Nottingham

Other names by which the charity is known

Polska Szkoła Przedmiotów Ojczystych im. św. Kazimierza

Registered charity number

1139846

Principal address

9 Lindum Road, Nottingham, NG6 0QR

Trustees

Marta Zarzycka, Chairperson Pawel Gminski Jolanta Nanda, Treasurer Krzysztof Burczynski, until 08/06/21 Karolina Kossendowska

Independent examiner

John O’Brien, employee of Community Accounting Plus, Units 1 & 2 North West, 41 Talbot Street, Nottingham, NG1 5GL

Governance and management

The charity is operated under the rules of its constitution adopted 22 November 2008.

New trustees are usually recruited as part of the AGM or during the year with the agreement (vote) of the trustees.

Objectives and activities

The objects of the school shall be to provide education in the Polish language, literature, culture and traditions for children and young people and provide a range of opportunities for greater integration within the English community.

Public benefit statement

The Trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit, 'Charities and Public Benefit'.

Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit

• Renting appropriate premises for children to learn in safe and comfortable conditions;

• Employing qualified teaching staff to teach children and young people of different ages;

• Ensuring high standards of teaching to enable the young people to take their GCSE and A Level examinations;

• Working with local universities and other education organisations such as IntoUniversity;

2

The Polish Language and Cultural Centre in Nottingham

• Organising subsidised educational trips;

• Taking part in national poetry competitions;

• Encouraging parental involvement in their children’s education;

• Employing appropriate administrative staff;

• Raising the local profile of the school and helping Polish children and parents to integrate with the English community;

• Raising funds;

• Working with Nottingham City Council to ensure high quality of teaching and maximise the safety of the students;

• Co-operating with other Polish organisations in the UK and in Poland;

• Basic first aid classes for the whole school provided by St. Johns Ambulance.

Children are taught their background and roots which then they can relay to their colleagues at English schools to help integrate and get to know each other’s culture. At the same time keep their own identity.

Performed activities allow the teachers to maintain their personal development. Activities enable us to keep the language alive through reading, writing and communicating.

Children are taught in a safe environment, kept out of the streets for 3-4 hours for 35 Saturdays a year. Reading and writing in their native language allows them to keep the tradition and bond with their peers.

Students are constantly improving their GCSE and A-Level results through a range of activities in the classroom and through new strategies and methodologies in teaching.

Summary of the main achievements during the period

The year 2020-21 was one of the most challenging years for us due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Although we couldn’t go back to the premises for face to face teaching, and many of our staff have been sent on furlough, we have continued our mission using online platforms. It wasn’t for everyone; hence the number of students have significantly dropped from 555 to 356.

We still employed highly skilled teachers to deliver our vision.

We have applied for various grants to keep school finances in a good shape. We have organised a project in partnership with the Police to deliver various workshops aimed at appropriate age levels in relation to crimes by teenagers, hate crime, online crime.

We took part in international Polish language lessons via virtual classrooms. We have integrated with Polish students based in the USA and Ukraine.

We took part in an inter school competition in writing a screenplay, “Polish inventions that changed the world” and we have secured 2nd place.

We have also taken part in the international board game tournament Miś Wojtek and came fifth.

We have organised a Day of National Language during which students wrote an essay, ‘School of the Future’

3

The Polish Language and Cultural Centre in Nottingham

Women's Day promoted the project with the City Council, in which meetings were held online. Among the invited guests there were women who have their business in Nottingham and help the Polish community - raised funds during this event which will help to purchase a banner for the school.

We have integrated with other schools and organised GCSE and A-Level exams. Our teachers have organised standardised workshops on how to get students focused and interested in lessons online. For the teaching assistants, teachers have organised workshops on how to better integrate with the teachers during lessons. We cooperated with the Institute of the National Remembrance and our students benefited from knowledge presented to them by a teacher.

We've actively encouraged parents to get involved in their children’s education. Our teachers took part in competitions and participated in training to improve their skills.

We have worked closely with other Polish organisations in the UK and in Poland. We have kept high standards of the Safeguarding policies by submitting DBS checks for our staff.

We have used grants received to upgrade our IT equipment.

Financial Review

The situation with the pandemic and the fact we were unable to continue with the face to face teaching meant we have lost a number of students and we’ve had to decrease the school's fee. As a result, we have overspent this year by £2,500. It is not a significant increase in spending taking into account the current circumstances and we are happy with an overall picture of our finances at the end of the fiscal period.

In recent years we have lost many grants we were receiving from local and central governments.

The outbreak of the pandemic contributed to the loss in numbers of our students. School fees are our main income.

We were unable to go back to the premises we used to rent at a reasonable price and were forced to look for another place to teach, which we have found, but at expense.

Our governing body - Committee actively looking for alternative sources of income in terms of grants.

We have increased school fees for the academic year 2021-22.

The charity’s policy on reserves

We aim to keep a reserve of around £30,000. This can vary depending on the grants received. We have exceeded that amount with a sum of £63,354.06.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:

Signed _______ Date 05/11/2021 Marta Zarzycka, Trustee

4

Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of The Polish Language and Cultural Centre in Nottingham for the year ended 05 April 2021

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of The Polish Language and Cultural Centre in Nottingham (the charity) for the year ended 05 April 2021.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the trustees of the charity you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’). I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 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 that in any material respect:

1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or

2. the accounts do not accord with those records.

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.

Signed ____ Date _______08/11/21 John O’Brien MSc, FCCA, FCIE Employee of Community Accounting Plus

5

The Polish Language and Cultural Centre in Nottingham Receipts & payments account for the year ended 05 April 2021

6

The Polish Language and Cultural Centre in Nottingham Statement of assets and liabilities at 05 April 2021

These financial statements are accepted on behalf of the charity by: Signed _____ Date 05/11/2021 Jolanta Nanda, Trustee

7

The Polish Language and Cultural Centre in Nottingham Notes to the accounts for the year ended 05 April 2021

1. Receipts & payments accounts

Receipts and payments accounts contain a summary of money received and money spent during the period and a list of assets and liabilities at the end of the period. Usually, cash received and cash spent will include transactions through bank accounts and cash in hand.

2. Grants & donations

3. Funds analysis

4. Debtors

8

The Polish Language and Cultural Centre in Nottingham

5. Creditors

6. Trustees’ remuneration

Trustees received no expenses, remuneration or benefits in this period.

7. Related party transactions

There were no related party transactions during the period.

8. Glossary of terms

Creditors: These are amounts owed by the charity, but not paid during the accounting period.

Debtors: These are amounts owed to the charity, but not received in the accounting period.

Restricted funds: These are funds given to the charity, subject to specific restrictions set by the donor, but still within the general objects of the charity.

9

Annual accounts 5th April 2021 report to the management committee

Polish Language and Cultural Centre 9 Lindum Rd, Nottingham NG6 0QR

Please reply to Juliet Brain

05/11/21

Dear Board Members,

We are pleased to supply final copies of your accounts for the period ending as above. Please either print a copy, sign and date in black ink, and return to us by post or, email a signed pdf back to your Accountant. You should already have received our invoice for the work. Once we have confirmed receipt of your payment, we will then sign and return the final accounts to you.

On completion of the work, we would like to make the following recommendations for you to consider with regard to the financial management of your organisation:

• We suggest you use separate expenditure categories for freelance and pay rolled staff.

If you need further advice or explanations, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Finally, we would be most grateful if you would complete the enclosed monitoring/feedback form and return it to us.

Yours faithfully,

John O’Brien MSc FCCA FCIE FAIA

Units 1 and 2, North West 41 Talbot Street Nottingham NG1 5GL

Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] General email: [e-mail] Payroll email: [e-mail] www. .org.uk

Community Accounting Plus is a registered Charitable Incorporated Organisation No 1080565 CA Plus gratefully acknowledges financial assistance from Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council

Community Accounting Plus

Monitoring & Feedback Form

This Form is to cover the accounts work done by Juliet

It would greatly assist Community Accounting Plus both to monitor and improve its services if you would kindly complete this form by ticking the various spaces and returning it to John O’Brien or by email to [e-mail]

Organisation - Polish Language and Cultural Centre

Timing

Please indicate your assessment of whether the work was carried out at the expected time, whether appointments were kept, etc.

Excellent ___ Good ____ Average ___ Poor ___ Bad ___

Explanations

Please indicate whether the work carried out by Community Accounting Plus was explained clearly, both during the process and the finished product.

Excellent ___

Good ____

Average ___

Poor ___ Bad ___

General

Please indicate your overall satisfaction with the services you have received from Community Accounting Plus.

Excellent ___

Good ____

Average ___ Poor ___ Bad ___

Comments

Please give below any comments you may have on each of the services you receive, improvements we could make and any other services you think Community Accounting Plus could or should provide.

Are you interested in knowing more about other services CA Plus offers? Please let us have your contact details and we will be in touch.

Payroll__ Online Quickbooks ___ Training ___ Consultancy_ Bookkeeping

Name: Email Address:

Thank you