2023-03-31-accounts

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Annual Report and Financial Statements

31 March 2023

Company Limited by Guarantee Registra�on Number 07862112 (England and Wales)

Charity Registra�on Number 1145128

ONTENTS
ANNUAL REPORT	PAGE
1. Reference and Administra�ve Informa�on	3
2. Our Mission and History	4
3. Our 2022-23 Infographic	5
4. Our Aims and Objec�ves	6
5. Our Work	7
5a. Enabling Programme Ac�vi�es	7
5b. Informing Programme Ac�vi�es	11
5c. Connec�ng Programme Ac�vi�es	13
5d. Evidencing Programme Ac�vi�es	15
5e. Diversity and Inclusion in our Work	16
6. Our Achievements	17
6a. Performance	17
6b. Benefts	19
7. Structure, Governance and Management	24
7a. Governance Review	25
8. Principal Risks and Uncertain�es	26
9. Looking Ahead – Plans for 2023-24	28
10. Financial Review	29
11. Independent Auditor’s Report	33
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Statement of fnancial ac�vi�es	37
Balance sheet	38
Principal accoun�ng policies	40
Notes to the fnancial statements	44
Appendix 1: Acronyms	54

1. REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

TRUSTEES AND DIRECTORS

Sharon COLILLES Fufy DEMISSIE Jean-No ë l EZINGEARD Catriona GILL Kate HOSKINS Abha HURRI

Mark NEALE (Chair) Lucy PARKER Michael PEARSON (Treasurer) Paula PHILLIPS Holli WILLIAMS Lilah WOODS

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Sacha Powell

REGISTERED OFFICE

Clarence Lodge, Clarence Lane, Roehampton, London, SW15 5JW; Telephone 0208 878 7546; E-mail: ofce@froebeltrust.org.uk; Website: www.froebel.org.uk.

REGISTRATION

Company Number 07862112 (England and Wales); Charity Number 1145128

AUDITOR

Buzzacot LLP, 130 Wood Street, London EC2V 6DL

BANKERS

Barclays Bank, Wandsworth Group, PO Box 3847, London SW11 1TR

SOLICITORS

Bircham Dyson Bell LLP, 50 Broadway, London SW1H 0BL

INVESTMENT MANAGERS

Waverton Investment Management Limited, 16 Babmaes Street, London SW1Y 6AH

PROPERTY ADVISORS

Knight Frank LLP, 55 Baker Street, London W1U 8AN

2. OUR MISSION AND HISTORY

The Froebel Trust (‘the Charity’ or ‘the Trust’) is a registered charity governed by its Ar�cles of Associa�on. Its registered number is 1145128. It is also a company limited by guarantee (with members’ liability £1) registered in London, No. 7862112.

The Trustees, who are also the directors of The Froebel Trust, a charitable company, submit their report and financial statements for the period ended 31 March 2023.

This report has been prepared in accordance with guidance & requirements of the Chari�es SORP FRS-102. The financial statements have been prepared using the accoun�ng policies set out in pages 40 to 43 and comply with the Charity’s Ar�cles, and Accoun�ng and Repor�ng by Chari�es: Statement of Recommended Prac�ce applicable to chari�es preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Repor�ng Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), effec�ve from accoun�ng periods commencing 1 January 2015 or later and Update Bulle�n 1.

The Froebel Trust’s Charitable Objects are to:

education in learning within the UK and internationally.

educa�on; by promo�ng and funding training for early childhood teachers and prac��oners; by providing a range of other educa�onal resources; and by raising public awareness of the Froebelian principles and approach to educa�on.

The Trust has been working to advance Froebelian educa�on for well over a hundred years in its various forms since its forma�on in London in 1892 as IFEI. An account of major milestones in this history is available on the Trust’s website.

In preparing this report, the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit. Details of our performance can be found in Sec�on 6.

3. OUR 2022-23 INFOGRAPHIC

----- Start of picture text -----
1.2m website Free pamphlets
visitors and podcasts, films,
32,000 and research
downloads highlights
£670,000
300% increase
allocated for
in training
bursaries and Resources
places offered
grants
Grants 2022-23 Courses
Funded Online training
research & new course
judged introduced:
“interna�onally Events Equity, Diversity
excellent” and Inclusion
4,300 people Recordings of
atended our
films &
webinars, webinars
lecture and viewed 19,500
conference �mes
----- End of picture text -----

4. OUR AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The Froebel Trust’s work is devoted to research and practice development in Early Years / Early Childhood Education and Care.

Our ambition is for young children to benefit from high quality Early Years education that is founded on Froebelian principles. We want:

Every young child to be respected, included, supported and connected in their early childhood education and care. We want every child’s play and first-hand experiences to be valued - for their creative representation of inner thoughts and feelings, and the learning that is prompted and consolidated.
Every child who experiences Early Years education to flourish and to be valued for who they are and what they can do.
Early education to start from the child and their connections to family, community and the environment.
Families to feel involved, welcomed, invested and represented.
Every Early Years educators to be knowledgeable and nurturing; inspired and passionate about their roles in young children’s learning and development; included, represented and heard; and supported and appreciated for their invaluable work and the expertise and energy it demands.
To make – and show how we make - a valuable contribution to these aims.

Our strategic objectives are to:

Advance knowledge and understanding of Froebelian education in the 21[st] century through research and practice development
Increase and improve Early Years practice in accordance with Froebelian principles for education and learning
Champion Froebelian principles and their application in contemporary research and practice.
Assess progress against our objectives by gathering and reviewing evidence from different sources.
Practise careful stewardship of our assets to preserve their inflation-adjusted value so we can continue to support future generations

Our five strategic programmes for 2021-26 are designed to realise our objectives and priorities:

a. Enabling by awarding grants and bursaries for research and practice development.
b. Informing through access to free resources for professional learning.
c. Connecting via in-person and virtual networks and groups.
d. Evidencing by marshalling the best available data to show the characteristics and benefits of a Froebelian approach to education and learning and the outcomes of our activities.
e. Advocating by championing the Froebelian principles and approach to early education in all we do for the benefit of young children, their families and Early Years educators.

Our advocating work has been embedded in all other programmes and is not reported separately.

5. OUR WORK

5a. ENABLING PROGRAMME ACTIVITIES

Grants and bursaries for research and practice development

This strategic programme works to achieve our objectives to advance knowledge and understanding of Froebelian education in the 21[st] century through research and practice development; and to champion Froebelian principles and their application in contemporary research and practice.

We do this by awarding funds for special projects and programmes, involving partners and participants across the UK and sometimes internationally; and for education, training and practice development, which happens in the UK predominantly. During the last year, we have begun to introduce new ways to try to ensure that we are reaching a wider cross-section of society. We committed over £670,000 in grants and bursaries through the Enabling programme.

Enhancing the applicant & grant holder experience

During the last year, we have examined the experiences of applicants and the ‘journey’ for our grant recipients. We have listened to feedback and scrutinised our equalities monitoring data. We have made our application process less arduous and more equitable with the introduction of applicant surgeries where less experienced applicants have a chance to meet the team, ask questions about how to complete an application form and learn about what’s involved in designing a successful application / project.

We have published our commitment to our grant-holders and introduced new and more helpful guidance on reporting about projects. Written progress reports have been replaced with more personal, one-to-one telephone conversations; and final reports can now be shared in a range of formats, allowing grant holders more scope to report on their projects in ways that best suit them and their intended audiences.

Due diligence and financial monitoring processes continue to be applied. Individual calls and online meetings help to support grant holders with queries about the financial aspects of their projects.

Special Projects

Following the success of Year 1 of the Hub and Spoke project, we awarded a further £259,502 to the two Froebel Trust Hubs: Froebelian Futures, a collaboration between the University of Edinburgh and Cowgate Under-5s Centre; and The Froebel Partnership, involving Guildford Nursery School, the Centre for Research in Early Childhood and AMA New Zealand.

Both Hubs are engaged in a number of ac�vi�es to showcase exemplary Froebelian prac�ce; to inspire and support educators, leaders and families; to create new networks and collabora�on opportuni�es including webinars; to understand beter how children experience Froebelian educa�on and what differences it can make; and to ensure that young children’s authen�c experiences, perspec�ves and par�cipa�on are central to that research and prac�ce development.

During the first year of this major Froebel Trust project, 275 educators were involved in Froebelian training courses and workshops, including groups in the Czech Republic and Greece. Families were

welcomed to new play cafes, kindergartens and community gardens in Scotland, New Zealand and England, where experienced educators offered guidance on Froebelian approaches to early education and care. Websites and social media accounts were established by Froebelian Futures and the Froebel Partnership to share emerging learning from each project, to host examples of high quality practice in films or articles, and to highlight practitioners’ research projects and their findings. Consultants from Matter of Focus were commissioned to evaluate this activity (as part of our Evidencing Strategic Programme of work).

To mark our 10[th] anniversary year in 2022 with a celebration of Froebel’s emphasis on our connections to the natural world, we invested £14,961 (consultancy Jan-June 2022 by Tansy Watts, Jo Josephidou and Nicola Kemp) in a commissioned special project on Nature Engaging and Nature Enhancing pedagogy.

The project report situates Froebelian pedagogy in contemporary research about human-nature connectedness. It shows how the Early Years sector is uniquely positioned to harness a unifying and holistic Froebelian perspective, which can help respond to the environmental crisis.

Open Call Research Grants

In June 2022, we were delighted to see that the UK Research Funding Councils included Froebel Trust ‘ ’ Open Call research in work graded internationally excellent for its impact and publications.

The Open Call research grants scheme is open to applicants in any country whose research will promote or advance knowledge and understanding of Froebelian education, including critical studies. For the first time, the scheme was divided into two parts: large awards up to £50,000 for established researchers; and seed corn funding up to £5,000 for pilot studies and/or early career researchers. The application forms were simplified and webinars were offered to support less experienced applicants with advice, guidance and an opportunity to ask questions.

We received 74 applications from four continents. Almost half were incomplete or not relevant to the Trust’s remit (being concerned with e.g. engineering, sanitation) and were rejected. Of the remaining 38 applications, 25 met our principal eligibility criteria - original research exploring or evaluating Froebelian principles in education and learning; but 13 were early childhood development projects that did not involve research. The latter were rejected. All 25 eligible applications were reviewed by four scrutineers and those with the highest scores were invited to an interview via Zoom. Specific questions about equality, diversity and inclusion – of the teams, the research focus and participants, and the project’s intended reach, significance and outcomes – were introduced.

Applicant Location	Applications	Eligible	Awards	Success rate
Europe	24	18	6	33%
Of which UK	20	15	5	28%
Africa	9	4	1	25%
Asia	4	2	0	0%
North America	1	1	0	0%
ALL	38	25	7	28%

Following the selection process, seven grants were awarded totalling £155,558. These were:

Nicola Kemp, Canterbury Christ Church University and Jo Josephidou, The Open University, England (£49,946) The potental of a Froebelian inspired pedagogy in urban baby rooms.

Kate Hoskins, Brunel University and Yuwei Xu, No�ngham University, England (£49,895) P otential of Froebelian philosophy to support & engage low-income families in the early years.

Mona Sakr, Middlesex University, England (£23,434) Exploring Froebelian Principles in EY Leadership.

Making connectons: Froebel’s principles and practces across the three 'enablers' in Wales.

Trevor Moodley, University of the Western Cape, South Africa (£5,000) of Froebelian practice in South Africa: reflections from a 2021 pilot online course.

Lily Fitzgibbon, S�rling University, Scotland (£5,000) Illustrating adventurous play for young children’s self-report.

Maria Birbilli, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece (£5,000) Empowering children as learners and inquirers: The importance of children’s questions for deeper and meaningful learning.

Grants for Prac�ce Development and Prac��oner Research

Our grants for educators continue to make valuable differences to professionals working with young children, the children themselves, their families and communities – and the environment. Two of our previous grant recipients have now been shortlisted for national awards: a Jamie Oliver Good School Food Awards for Ludwick Nursery School which has developed its community connections and cooking with the young children; and Hope Cottage Nursery School in Edinburgh for a Scottish Education Award for its Froebelian approach to nature engagement for sustainability.

In 2022, we offered two different types of grant opportunity:

Practice Development Grants (PDG) up to £5,000 – for applicants who had completed an endorsed Froebelian course and wished to explore an aspect of their practice and provision.
Action Research Grants (ARG) up to £5,000 – for applicants to research their practice with support from an experienced mentor.

Despite the intense workload pressures and staffing challenges for colleagues working in settings, we received nine applications, which were reviewed by independent scrutineers, and we made six awards totalling £27,789 (plus £1,000 for mentoring).

PDG: Maddiston Primary School, Scotland £5,000 Developing Outdoor Opportunites as Part of a Contnuous Provision in P1 and P2

PDG: Spateston ELCC, Scotland £5,000 Growing Connectons: Putng Our Garden at the Heart of the Community

PDG: Canonbie Nursery, Scotland £4,789 Considered Canonbie Connec�ons

PDG: Lochwinnoch ELCC Class, Scotland £5,000 Sewing the Thread Back into the Community

PDG: Oliver Thomas Nursery School, England £5,000 (+£1,000 for mentoring by Froebel Travelling Tutors) Forest School – Froebel and Nature

ARG: Linden Tree Nursery Schools, England £3,000 How does furthering knowledge of the Froebelian approach impact relatonships within our nursery community?

In addition, an extension grant of £4,000 was awarded to Kay Rowe Nursery School, England to continue their important post-COVID work to support local families’ engagement with nature and to develop resources in community languages.

Bursaries for education, training and research

We continued to provide bursaries to support students’ and trainees’ initial or advanced studies and training in Froebelian education:

University of Edinburgh’s MSc Education - Early Childhood Practice and Froebel £34,728 to support 5 students.
University of Roehampton’s Froebel Certificate courses and MA Early Childhood Studies £16,000 for 14 students.

The Trustees also approved an investment of £60,000 to reduce the price for participants in the ’ Froebel Trust s courses. The average subsidised price of a two-day, face-to-face ‘Element’ (course) of Froebelian education was £1,836 for up to 25 participants. More than 1,200 training places were offered (compared with 325 in the previous year) with courses taught across the UK and internationally via an online platform. The online version also made courses accessible to individuals (as well as groups) for the first time, while face-to-face training continued to be provided for whole teams in Early Years settings.

Subsidised Residential Writers’ Workshop

In August 2022, sixteen Early Years practitioners and students gathered in London for a long weekend of mentoring and support to write short articles or blogs. The Trust funded the participants’ travel, accommodation, meals and resources; and provided access to guest speakers and writing mentors.

By the end of the weekend, all 16 participants had completed their blogs, which have been published on the Froebel Trust’s website and include: Play for all children by Eve Whistler, Coaching the Froebelian Way by Sally Cave, and Froebelian Principles and Home Education by Bridget Steenkamp.

5b. INFORMING PROGRAMME ACTIVITIES

Access to free resources for professional learning

This strategic programme works to achieve our objectives to advance knowledge and understanding of Froebelian education in the 21[st] century through research and practice development; to Increase and improve Early Years practice in accordance with Froebelian principles for education and learning; and to champion Froebelian principles and their application in contemporary research and practice.

In the last year, we have diversified the range of resources on offer (text, audio and film) in an effort to inform and provide support for more people involved and interested in young children’s learning and development and a Froebelian approach to early childhood education and care (ECEC). Data analytics, which show the number of downloads / listens / views of our resources, can be found in the section about our Performance.

All the resources that we produce are open access. We charge a nominal sum for the purchase of printed copies of our Froebelian Approach pamphlets, which are also available as free PDFs on our website. In our efforts to become more environmentally friendly, we took the decision in 2022 to stop producing print versions of our resources.

We released two new titles in the pamphlets series:

Re-engaging with Nature by Helen D’Ascoli and Debby Hunter (Oct 2022)
Sewing with Young Children by Sharon Imray, Tracy Thomson and Jane Whinnett (Jan 2023)

Although the pamphlets continue to be our most popular resources, we knew very little about their readership and usefulness. Therefore we commissioned a reader survey.

We were keen to explore educators’ views about the topics, style and content – including representativeness - of pamphlets as well as general feedback. As part of our EEDI Action Plan, we were also eager to improve the inclusiveness of our process for commissioning authors and the clarity of guidance we give to them. More details about these activities can be found in the sections about our Evidencing Programme and our Performance.

Other publications include a series of three Research Highlights designed to improve the reach and accessibility of theory and evidence from research (for educators and students):

Nursery Attachments and the Key Person Role by Dr Peter Elfer (Sep 2022)
Finding the Self in Self-Regulation by Dr Sue Robson (Sep 2022)
Curriculum Making with Young Children by Dr Liz Chesworth (Sep 2022)

We also promoted Froebelian scholarship through co-editorship of two special issues of an international journal, Global Education Review (Vol 9, 2022), which features 12 articles by researchers from four continents:

Part 1 “situates the ar�cles in the context of the Global Educa�on Reform Movement. It highlights the contribu�ons made to contemporary research and prac�ce in early childhood educa�on, and advancing understanding of a Froebelian approach.” (Aslanian, McNair & Powell)

Part 2 “situates the ar�cles in the context of economic pressures and environmental challenges in the Anthropocene… It highlights the contribu�ons made to contemporary research and prac�ce in early childhood educa�on and advancing understanding of a Froebelian approach. (McNair, Aslanian & Powell)

On our own website, we also published twenty-one news articles / blogs; one practice guide; numerous research reports and links to other outputs from our funded studies, including a free Open Learn course; and we sent monthly / termly newsletters to our subscribers / grant holders and volunteers.

We have contributed content for (paid for) international conferences such as the European Early Childhood Education Research Association’s event in Glasgow in September 2022; and practice magazines, including Nursery World.

In addition to written resources, we commissioned a film to showcase the translation and impact of Froebel Trust funded research. The Slow Pedagogy film features Professor Alison Clark explaining her research about time and pace in early childhood education and care with educators sharing their experiences and the outcomes of slow practices with young children in Falkirk, Scotland.

We ventured into audio with our first series of three podcasts, which introduce Froebelian education, training and practice development. The leaders of the Froebel Trust’s Hub and Spoke projects and the Froebel Trust’s Short Courses shared their ideas and experiences on:

How to start out on a Froebelian journey in an Early Years setting or school
What training or resources might be useful and where to find them
How a Froebelian approach can support professionals who work with young children and their families

Data analytics allow us to compare engagements by month and year for website views, downloads, video views, mailing list subscriptions and social media followers. All of these have increased in comparison with total figures for the previous year (see table below).

Data Analytics 2021-22 vs. 2022-23	Website visitors	Website downloads	Video views	Mailing list subscribers	Twitter followers	Event attendees
2021-22	93400	26517	15200	3253	4967
2022-23	124400	31379	19700	4562	6971	3761
% increase on 21-22	33%	18%	30%	40%	40%
1st time attendees						49%

5c. CONNECTING PROGRAMME ACTIVITIES

Via in-person and virtual networks and groups

This strategic programme works to achieve our objectives to advance knowledge and understanding of Froebelian education in the 21[st] century through research and practice development; to Increase and improve Early Years practice in accordance with Froebelian principles for education and learning; and to champion Froebelian principles and their application in contemporary research and practice.

In the last year we have supported local and regional networks of Froebel-trained and inspired educators as well as hosting or supporting national events, such as the annual gathering of Froebel Networks in Roehampton. We awarded a small grant of £1,500 to a newly established Hertfordshire Froebel Network to help them to share Froebel’s Gifts and Occupations and to establish reading groups around prominent Froebelian literature.

Through our Hub and Spoke programme, a new course for Froebelian Leaders has brought together 86 prac��oners, teachers and policy-makers from Scotland, the wider UK, Greece, Czech Republic, Turkey and elsewhere. The programme at the University of Edinburgh has created another community of research and prac�ce, which is exploring distributed leadership having studied 5 topics:

Froebel’s leadership
Key skills for Froebelian leadership
A cri�cal lens on classical leadership theories and models
Opportuni�es and constraints for Froebelian leadership today
Developing a Froebelian leadership project/approach in your se�ng

An additional Froebelian Leaders Network, which the Trust supported from March 2022 to March 2023, brought together Headteachers and Managers from across the south of England from settings that serve more than 3,000 young children. This Network has met monthly to share expertise, to form a reading group, to visit other settings and to collectively solve leadership dilemmas.

Our membership of the Steering Group for England’s Early Years Coalition has continued with ongoing promotion and one of a series of articles providing new content to sustain interest in Birth to Five Matters non-statutory Guidance for the Early Years. By 31 March 2023, this free guidance had achieved over 237,000 downloads and over 1,365,000 page views since March 2021.

Our programme of online events also provided opportunities for educators globally to access stimulating and informative research and practice presentations. Attendance at these events is free of charge and each one is recorded and available on our website and via our YouTube channel. Feedback collected from participants shows that each event attracts attendees from the UK and many other countries around the globe. In total, we had 4,300 people taking part, some as first-time attendees and others who were returning / regular participants. This suggests that these events’ usefulness brings educators back time and again to take part and / or to watch recordings; and that we continue to reach new and different audiences with each event.

In April 2022, our webinar programme began with a special event to mark our 10[th] anniversary focus on Children and Nature. Speakers included former Blue Peter presenter, Konnie Huq who shared her passion for environmental protection; and consultant, Naomi Clark who shared strategies for including under-represented children and families in outdoor play and learning experiences.

In May 2022, we hosted a webinar in partnership with Mercy College New York whose undergraduate students attended (alongside others) as part of their early childhood programme. They heard from eight speakers – from England, New Zealand, Scotland, USA, Sweden and Norway - who were challenged to respond to the question: Why Does Froebel Matter in the 21[st] Century?

Other events included the launch of new pamphlets about Re-engaging with Nature and Sewing with Young Children – with guest speaker Esmée Young from the BBC’s Great British Sewing Bee.

The Froebel Trust’s 2023 conference provided a platform for recently funded partners to showcase their research and practice development, and our 2022 autumn lecture featured the critically acclaimed dancers and choreographers, Anthony and Kel Matsena.

Recordings in our webinar and film library have been viewed 19,500 in the last year. They are a particularly important means to facilitate the inclusion of educators, students, other professionals and parents of young children who are unable to attend the live events or who have erratic internet connections.

During and following events, we also see upticks in engagement with our website, such as downloads or views of our other resources for professional learning, about practice development and research.

5d. EVIDENCING PROGRAMME ACTIVITIES

By marshalling the best available data to show the characteristics and benefits of a Froebelian approach to education and learning and the outcomes of our activities .

In 2022, we undertook a range of activities to help us gather evidence to demonstrate that we are meeting our strategic objectives and delivering public benefits in accordance with our mission.

We commissioned a Governance Review to examine the effectiveness of our policies, procedures, structures and systems, which govern how we work and the evidence of that effectiveness (see Section 8 for more detail).
We continued to gather routine feedback from participants in our courses and events, and began an evaluation of our online course when its first cohort reached completion in March 2023. The experiences and outcomes are reported in section 6, Performance and Benefits.
We continued to commission an independent evaluator to report annually on the courses that we endorse and subsidise at the Universities of Roehampton and Edinburgh. All bursary students are required to report to us on completion of their studies.
We continued to review the annual report from the University of Roehampton. In accordance with the terms of the lease of the Grove House estate, the University is required to demonstrate how it is promoting and advancing Froebelian education and learning.
In view of the sizeable investment in our Hub and Spoke programme, we commissioned an independent organisation to evaluate the projects’ contributions to the programme’s objectives.
We undertook a survey of readers of our pamphlets to ensure that they are addressing topics and include content that is accessible, informative and useful.
We carried out regular monitoring of all our funded projects to ensure that they are on track, achieving their goals and furthering our charitable objects as well as disbursing the funds in accordance with their Deed of Grant.

5e. DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN OUR WORK

In 2022, we commissioned a consultant to help us to review equality, diversity and inclusion (EEDI) at the Trust.

We surveyed everyone in our team (contracted and sub-contracted staff, trustees and committee members), we explored equalities monitoring data from our grant applicants, we reviewed our policies and procedures and examined our website, resources and events with a critical eye.

Our findings from these explorations showed that we were stronger or improving in some areas; weaker and needed to improve in others. We developed an EEDI action plan and convened a working group to drive forward implementation of the plan. Council agreed to introduce a biennial (rather than annual) grants competition to provide the time and space to focus on EEDI and transparency in our grant-giving and our charitable programme as a whole.

We co-created and published a Charter for Inclusive Prac�ce and Statement on Equality, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. These are living documents that inform and underpin our developing structures, processes, plans, priori�es and ac�vi�es. EEDI has become a standing item for review at every mee�ng and a lens for orien�ng what we do, with whom, how and for whom.

We began to standardise equali�es monitoring data-capture for all our funds to ensure we have a baseline from which to beter measure, compare and monitor our work.

We have already seen improvements in the diversity of representa�on in our team. In 2022, we introduced ques�ons about EEDI in our applica�on forms and interviews for grants and in the future we will include equality impact assessments. We con�nue to learn, to review and to try to get beter in all aspects of our work.

6. OUR ACHIEVEMENTS

6a. Performance against targets

Our Council and committees used an action plan to review progress in strategic programme targets. The majority were achieved successfully in 2022-23. Benefits and outcomes are reported afterwards.

ENABLING TARGETS	ACHIEVEMENTS
Fund 30 fee bursaries for Froebel Cer�fcate	12 students & guest speakers funded. Underspend carried forward by universityfor bursaries in 2023-24.
1 online course (6 Elements) 12 in-person Elements	3 online courses (18 Elements); 32 in-person Elements; 1,250 training places. ≥90% rate excellent/ good;outcomes data collected in surveys
Recruit 4 appren�ce tutors	8 tutors recruited,trained and endorsed
Introduce prac�ce-based research. Fund 9 PDG & ARG	Ac�on Research Grants (ARG) launched. 6 grants awarded: 5 Prac�ce Development Grants,1 ARG
6 MSc bursaries 2 MA bursaries	22 full & part-�me students funded 2019/20-2022/23 = 5.5 per year 2 bursaries awarded
Support Froebelian leaders	Group established, meets regularly; Leaders course at Edinburgh University
1 PhD new partner co-fund	1 Co-funded PhD with Manchester Met University (new partner) started
Hub & Spoke projects Achieve Year 1 goals	1000s reached through: Prac��oner Inquiry Course; Froebel Leaders Course; NZ-UK course; Workshops; Open Days; new research shared; new analy�cal framework created; Play Cafes provided; Webinars; Blogs;Ar�cles;Networks;LAs involved
Extend funds to early career researchers,improve EDI	7 grants awarded: 4 large, 3 small; 6 new partners. EDI embedded in applica�on and selec�onprocess & in studies.
Improve research publicity & reach	Research Highlights launched; Slow Pedagogy flm produced; Research webinar May22; journal special issuespublished March and June 22
INFORMING TARGETS	ACHIEVEMENTS
5 publica�ons for educators /students	3 new pamphlets commissioned - 2 launched, 1 in produc�on. 3 Research Highlights commissioned & launched.
1-2 collabora�ve publica�ons	12 open access ar�cles published March & June 22 in Global Educa�on Review interna�onal journal in 2 special issues on Froebel - with Mercy College New York. Ar�cle writen for Early Years Coali�on about ECEC for babies published on Birth to 5 Maters website. Published report on Access to Nature with Early Educa�on. Toolkit to support educators’ work with Refugees – with EECERA SIG.
Froebel Trust flm	Slow PedagogyFilmproduced and launched
Embedding work	Online course for EY Advisors across South East Wales (has led to numerous Short Course bookings from Welsh EY se�ngs). Online Open Access MOOC created byOpen Uni,due to launch Mar 2023
Other publica�ons, new authors	16 blogs created from Writers’ Workshop. Published on FT website. Project reports published in research library. Research library pages provide links to other publica�ons including journal ar�cles. Website ar�clespublished e.g. about REF results

	CONNECTING TARGETS	ACHIEVEMENTS
	Understanding stakeholders	Surveys: Equali�es monitoring & EDI percep�ons; courses feedback; pamphlet readers’ survey; events polls & feedback; mid-term calls with grant holders introduced; Zoom mee�ngs to support grant applicants. Use of(2021)stakeholder surveyto inform other work
	Collaborate with Froebel Networks	Support for S. Africa network development, Froebel Leaders network, Richmond network, Wales Network, Froebel Networks Gathering, Edinburgh Froebel Conference planning, Herts Network, publicity for Falkirk Network through Slow PedagogyFilm and webinars
	Extend na�onal & interna�onal events	See webinars in Informing; subsidised online course with par�cipants from New Zealand;support for FT PhD student toprovide workshops in Ghana
	9 Webinars	5 webinars,1 annual lecture and 6 conference sessions
	5 Head-to-head flms	Replaced by podcasts: had ≥1000 listens within 3 weeks of release.
	Publicity to facilitate connec�ons and networking	Publicity to promote the work of the Froebel Partnership, Froebelian Futures and networks; newsleters to 4521 subscribers; for grant holders; and for trustees,commitees & tutors
	EVIDENCING TARGETS	ACHIEVEMENTS
	Evaluate Hub and Spoke	Mater of Focus commissioned to evaluate both Hubs. Approach adopted, workshops undertaken,data organised,Year 1progress reviewed.
	Projects achieve objec�ves	Started to standardise equali�es monitoring data collec�on. Projects mappingexercise undertaken. Case studymapin development.
	Consult stakeholders	Range of surveys and telephone calls introduced. End of courses evalua�onjust started for 1st online course.
	Fund evidencing projects	Funds diverted to Open Call
	Conduct EEDI Audit	Consultant appointed, audit & survey completed, ac�on plan created, working group convened, implementa�on of ac�ons begun, statements published, data collec�on reviewed and improvements introduced

6b. Benefits

The outcomes of our strategic programmes are intended to be beneficial (positive outcomes). We want them to bring about the ambition highlighted in Section 4; namely, that children will benefit from high quality Early Years education that is founded on Froebelian principles.

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For this to happen, we believe that children need freedom to pursue and extend their interests with guidance and support from knowledgeable and nurturing educators. This is a central tenet of Froebelian education. Our role is to help educators to develop awareness, knowledge and understanding of Froebelian principles and how these apply to their practice; and to enable continued exploration of their practice through enquiry-led and practical learning. We fund research to address questions and challenges concerning Froebelian education in the 21[st] century. Many of these questions arise from educators’ own practice and are supported through practice development or action research grants and practitioner inquiry or practice-based research in our Hub and Spoke projects.

We believe that research will help educators (including practitioners, students and academics) to make and to advance these theory-practice links; and ensure that Froebelian education is connected to contemporary educational policy and practice in different contexts.

We are in the early stages of adopting an approach for understanding outcomes and benefits that is based on a contributory method designed by Matters of Focus - an organisation that we have commissioned to evaluate our Hub and Spoke programme. After the first 18 months of the programme, the approach has identified evidence to demonstrate that:

children (and families) play, learn, self-express and inter-relate more fully and holistically ;
practitioners routinely question, transform and embed practice in ways / environments / systems that are rigorously child and community-centred;
decision-makers design and implement wide-reaching strategies which promote and remove the barriers to holistic child and community-centred practice.

Play learn and interrelate more fully 'Whibtintkx)rFAay wascreatNe. re5trictK)non acces5t0p materHL5 led to a curtailed playtime. Mown8OUtdoors thechildren played iowand morecreatNeiv. with openwded pLiy materiaLs" IGreek partKipantl 'We sawa veryobVv)usCh in theereagementofchildren and the t1 they 5uthn t11r pLay. Thi5 was particuLiriy true forthose th05ewithASD. Theadapted environment betterallows practitionetsto supportchildren tofoiiowtheirown agenda." IDe¥eioFirga Frcebeiwn nurture rooml 'We have introduced'in progress 8AS in the block piayspace so thatchildren can retum totheirproject wFen they wish This hasfurtherdeveloped theirowrer5hip thr py. a%[aS respe£bngothef ch¢idrenstreatior6 more" 'ObrAryk)n5ofchIlCtre 14'rgeaChotherF4a rh4nd$and fiTyr5 into poyti become a frequent event. highbghtirygthebenefitof bonding... The rhy¥nes usedare Question. transform and embed Froebelian practice 'Planned changes in practice will be reflected throughout our Improvement Pl "We have now created a child-led. enri¢hed 'Wel¢ome Policy.. Each child trarisition from home to nursery is individually catered to their needs and thei sense of Unity and Connectedness is nurtured through daily welcorne interactions. transitional objects and family photographs.. -ThAy directors have just agreed l Can use and implement Froebelian principlesll Major achievement that makes me very h3PPy." Since the program startEd we have completely changed our Nursery environment. Everyone wa$ involved and the Chlldren have responded very wel the new, naturaL calming environment" '1 have introduced the children, families and staff to Froebelian practice in the Design and promote high-level Froebelian strategies 'Within our Iregionall role we now have protected time one day a week to focus on Froebelian Practice.. 'It ha5 mttdÈ me focus rnore on the strategit lèadership of FToebel within Falkirk Council.. 'We have always had nursery policies refleetine Healthy Eating, however o reflection this only touched briefly on social interactions... I'm now revisitine this polity and includine my finding from this research." 'BudEÈts in our nufsÈries have been focused on supporting FroebÈlian practices and principles. for example through new resourced block play areas and outdooT organi5ation to support more freedom with guidance" -Going forward we will continue to ensure we maintain the link between t ELC Class and early stages of schooL enabbng an EYO to work alongside t teaching staff in primary 1 and 2." (Froebelian Futures 20231 20

The benefits of the research we fund are social benefits when they extend beyond the researchers themselves, although for higher level degree students (Masters or PhD) and less experienced researchers, their own early career and skills development and contributions to knowledge are inherently valuable. In addition to those mentioned above, the benefits of our funded research and practice development projects include:

Advancement of scholarship in early childhood education
Improved knowledge and understanding
Ability to make links between theory and practice
New or improved skills in observation, analysis, interpretation
Enhanced educational environments and access to new experiences or resources for children and educators (e.g. Occupations such as woodwork or sewing)

In some cases, the outcomes can be quick: for example, the ability to have team training or to practise using Froebel’s Occupations (clay, woodwork etc.) that improves resourcing, staff skills and confidence, making links between theory and practice; and improving children’s physical competence, concentration, and social learning experiences.

During the summer holidays after consultation with our children we developed our sewing area. Since returning from our summer holiday break, the children have had the opportunity to explore the area. Using materials such as weaving looms, ribbon, the children have had the opportunity to develop their fine motor & creative skills which has allowed them to be involved in rich firsthand experiences such as threading and dress making. (Lochwinnoch ELCC 2022 Prac�ce Development Grant)

We were very impressed by the way that the Headteacher and make presentations on Froebel and his ideas . The displays on Forest School emphasised the importance of Nature as a resource and learning environment , and presentations were made to colleagues and to governors on the work they were doing on the Occupations . At the training day they were eager to understand the theory behind the practice evidence (photos and observations) that they brought to share. They asked many questions and were able to make links between their practice and Froebel’s ideas . (Mentors’ report on Oliver Thomas Nursery School 2022 Prac�ce Development Grant).

Some projects incorporate an impact assessment or evaluative element and reports indicate the differences that have resulted from the research. The following example is from a report on a toolkit

that was developed to aid empathic understanding and inclusion of migrant and refugee children , which was evaluated in Early Years settings in Greece (extract below), Turkey, Poland, Australia and the UK:

When discussing the theme of migration…the children responded positively to the presence of strangers in their homeland. Through paintings in relation to the theme of fear it was noted that some children were fearful and concerned regards the war in Ukraine. As a result the children were taken to the local radio station, and they recorded messages of peace that were broadcast daily. Toys, food, clothing and medicines were collected for the refugees of Ukraine that created feelings of teamwork, solidarity and empathy. The practitioners also contacted the local University (University of Aegean)

and a joint project was implemented by the Department of Product and System Design Engineering to physically make objects that the children had decided were necessary in relation to the theme of welcome (eg, a trampoline, table, bed etc.), the practitioners also reported that the parents of the children were fully informed of the implementation of the pack. Initially, some parents were reticent about its use but having seen the benefits most parents have become excited about the work that the pack is facilitating and have become active participants and are encouraging and co-operative. Some activities within the pack were implemented exactly as presented and also some were adapted according to the needs and interests of the children. The pack also inspired the practitioners to create activities of their own. (Tobin et al, 2022).

Other outcomes take more time to develop or evidence and to have a wider reach. In the last year, we have increased our efforts to help researchers disseminate key outputs and messages from their projects (through our Informing and Connecting Programmes). These pathways to impact have included webinars, articles, conference presentations, the Research Highlights series, website features, podcasts and films.

Slow pedagogy research by Professor Alison Clark, which became the subject of a Practice Development Grant Project and which was reported in a film (2022), project reports (2022), a keynote conference speech (2022), webinars (2022 and 2023), an authored book (2023) and articles (2022) has resulted in changes in practice across a local authority in Scotland (2022) and has become the basis for a new module for a university Masters programme. An example of the benefits for educators ( less hurried practice, following the children’s pace and interests ) and children ( deeper exploration of natural environments ) follows:

In this instance, both attending practitioners felt more relaxed and attuned without the restriction of ‘time’. One practitioner commented that she no longer felt the need to go through a list of activities, including snack, within a short time scale. Another observation was that we felt more able to go into breakout groups where some children were able to remain at our tree swing, whilst others requested to look at the ‘big trees’. Another initial observation was that the children required time to explore, then to return to this exploration numerous times throughout the day. An example of this was the trees in the park. The children initially noted their size, their differences, the ‘big jaggies’ that fell from them etc. With the entire day there, the children could explore this natural aspect in its entirety, following different lines of enquiry along the way. This perhaps illustrated the depth of exploration that the children were able to achieve in this unhurried experience. (Hill and Finlay, 2022).

We know that thousands of educators, students and academics have accessed and engaged with our resources and events (see section 6 – Achievements). Their feedback helps us to understand how they feel, what they have learned and gained, and other benefits. In many instances, self-reported benefits are concerned with improved wellbeing ; we hear of educators feeling re-inspired, reconnected or reinvigorated:

The last three years have been very hard and there have been times when I have considered leaving the early years sector. Attending a conference like this provides a spark, it reminds me why I do the job. So often I attend training or receive emails that just add to my list of things to do or pile on the pressure. This was great - thank you. (Froebel Trust Conference March 2023)

As always feel inspired by Froebel Trust conferences. I was feeling despondent and unmotivated by changes happening around me in my role in regards to support for children and families and was delighted to hear about some of the wonderful work which went and will hopefully find funding to grow in support of the children and families. (Froebel Trust Conference March 2023)

Many are motivated to further their knowledge and to learn independently or to organise professional development for their colleagues:

It encouraged me to set up similar parent workshops but also to look further into the topics discussed. I immediately used the [Froebel Trust] research library to further my understanding and look deeper. (Froebel Trust Conference March 2023)

In some cases, this drive for professional learning has extended across regions, such as South East Wales, with hundreds taking part in Froebel Trust courses and their impact being seen in changes in national curriculum guidance or approaches to advisory roles:

Twenty Local Authorities' advisory teachers and leaders across Wales are undertaking the online Froebel short courses 1-6. As professionals advising non-maintained settings and schools to improve practice, [the course] helped us to challenge and reflect on our support to settings and schools, and how we can improve even further. We have anecdotal evidence from practitioners of how the changes they have made to pedagogy and engaging with parents - for example engaging with nature - has proved positive. Many settings now have large garden areas producing vegetables, fruits and flowers which are shared with parents. Nature treasure hunt bags were another way for parents to engage with nature with their children, many commented on what fun they had and how they hadn’t realised how much their children were absorbed in exploring places near home that had not been used before. Personally, I have taken what I learnt into my role as professional adviser to the Welsh Government Foundation Learning team, helping to produce policy and curriculum documentation that embeds key principles of effective early years practice which reflect Froebelian principles in a Welsh context. The curriculum for non-maintained nursery settings has been adopted by all non-maintained settings across Wales, and many schools. (Froebel Trust Online Course par�cipant, 2022-23).

The courses have also effected changes in Early Years practice, including improved participation, confidence of educators and team cohesion built around the Froebelian principles:

The changes at [our setting] are huge…There isn’t anyone on the staff team who doesn’t get Froebel, his principles and pedagogy. Feedback from staff after each day with you has gone from positive to extremely positive… I don’t see this as the end and I am currently considering what the next stage of our Froebelian development…looks like. Ensuring the whole team who work with children do the course together regardless of their level of qualification was very significant and certainly made a difference in everyone joining in all the dialogue between actual days of training. It has also helped the cohesion of the entire team…staff have, in pairs, been delivering online sessions about the different [Froebelian] occupations. All were terrified at the prospect but all have been superb and have so clearly articulated Froebelian principles and pedagogy. ( Froebel Trust Short Courses par�cipant 2022 ) .

7. STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

The Froebel Trust is governed by its Memorandum and Ar�cles of Associa�on and is cons�tuted as a charity and a limited company registered in England and Wales.

The Trust’s Council of twelve Trustees set the charity's strategic direc�on. They are appointed through open recruitment and compe��ve selec�on of volunteers with characteris�cs, knowledge and skills needed for the Trust to func�on legally, efficiently and effec�vely with aten�on to inclusion and diversity. Induc�on for trustees and commitee members is provided as a mater of course and training is provided according to individual needs. In 2022, newly appointed Council members took part in courses about the du�es of a trustee.

The Council is responsible for all governance maters and provides advice and challenge to the Execu�ve Team. Council delegates some decisions to commitees.

The Execu�ve Team manage the day-to-day opera�ons of the Froebel Trust. Led by the Chief Execu�ve Officer (CEO), they develop and deliver the strategy, projects and ac�vi�es, which are determined and agreed by the Council and commitees.

cons�tuted by volunteers who bring specialist knowledge and insights in:

Finance and Governance Commitee
Joint Educa�on and Research Commitee
Communica�ons and Public Engagement Commitee
Educa�on Subcommitee
Research Subcommitee

From �me to �me, short-life working groups are convened to carry out tasks that require immediate aten�on and swi� comple�on; for example, planning the structure and content of a conference. All report and are accountable to Council.

is accountable to the Trustees. She leads the Trust’s Execu�ve Team, who work together to turn strategic plans into prac�ce. The Execu�ve Team comprises 3 full-�me and 2 part-�me employees including the CEO with a total full-�me equivalent staffing resource of 4.4. Du�es include the management and delivery of: financial maters, risk monitoring and mi�ga�on, policies, personnel maters, data security and privacy, grants cycles, monitoring and evalua�on, inclusion and diversity, news and other communica�ons, Council and commitee func�ons, contracts, repor�ng requirements, publishing through the web and social media including design and print, training and events, resources development, servicing commitees, general administra�on and communica�ng with trustees, volunteers, applicants, partners, tenants, asset managers and other advisors.

The Chair of Trustees, Treasurer and commitee chairs are in regular contact with the Execu�ve team to oversee and support their work. Specialist advice (e.g. legal) is sought as needed.

Trustees, volunteers, tutors, partners and other interested par�es receive newsleters three �mes a year and more regular communica�ons to keep them up-to-date with the latest work. News items are published frequently via the website and social media.

7a. Governance Review

Internal performance reviews take place annually. In 2022, Council commissioned an independent governance review as a mater of good prac�ce, the last having taken place in 2016. The Centre for Charity Effec�veness at Bayes Business School carried out the review from January to March 2023. Among its conclusions, which commended the strength of governance at the Trust, the review recommended that:

The Council could develop stronger performance targets and outcome measures.
The strategic framework could be used to organise Council discussions and reviews of performance monitoring data.
monitor any emerging trends.
would enable Council to track and compare progress in income and expenditure for each strategic programme.
There should be a full review of the structure and purposes of commitees, their contribu�ons to the Trust’s mission and the roles of their members.
Council mee�ng papers could include more strategic ques�ons for trustees to explore.
Council should develop targets as well as monitoring ac�vi�es for the EEDI Ac�on Plan.
The website and annual report could be used to demonstrate greater transparency about grants awarded and the impact of the grant-making programme as a whole.

The recommenda�ons are being translated into an ac�on plan with ownership by Council, and monitoring and repor�ng of progress by the Finance and Governance Commitee.

8. PRINCIPAL RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES

The trustees are responsible for the risk and control framework within which the Trust operates. To this end, the Risk Register is ini�ally examined in full annually by the Finance and Governance Commitee. Subsequently, high level risks are presented to Council for discussion. This process helps to ensure that the principal risks to the delivery of the Trust’s’ objec�ves are iden�fied and appropriate strategies are in place to manage those risks. The trustees delegate to the CEO the day-to-day exercise of the controls which mi�gate the risks faced by the Trust. The CEO reviews the risk register and members of the Execu�ve Team are invited to contribute to risk iden�fica�on, management and review for their areas of responsibility. In 2022, the Trust’s key risks and controls were:

Risks due to e.g. poor investment returns, pension liability crystallizes, excess expenditure, poor controls, theft / fraud, rental property problems / fall in valuations, litigation, fines arising from failure to comply with regulations

Mixed income sources
Regular liaison with investment managers (IM)
Advice sought from IMs about op�mal �me / amounts for cash withdrawals
IM contract reviewed every 5 years
Review of investment por�olio & risk levels at least once a year
Investments in mixed por�olio
Rental property review & valua�on every 2 years
10.Scope alterna�ve to property rental as back-up
12.Pension liabili�es managed and reviewed annually
13.Public liability insurance in place & reviewed annually
14.Compliance with regula�ons monitored through audit & advice from auditors
15.Projects’ progress & expenditure monitored closely, issues reported to FTC
17.Annual audit & advice from auditors ensure good prac�ce
18.Suitably q people manag procedures
B) Ineffec�ve impact of charitable ac�vi�es: Risks due to e.g. charitable activities fail to deliver desired outcomes e.g. increase Froebel trained staff / settings, positive change for children & families
Compliance with Charity Commission requirements and use of guidance
Support given / collabora�on used to extend impact
All charitable ac�vi�es monitored and outcomes data collected
MEL framework aligned with strategic goals, reviewed annually
Evalua�on embedded in organisa�onal strategic plans, reviewed annually
Expecta�ons for grant-holders outlined in applica�on and repor�ng documents
Close liaison with partners
, trustees & sub-contractors are suitably q

C) Reputa�onal damage: Risks from e.g. failure to uphold charitable objects; poor representations of Froebelian education or association with negative outcomes, bad reviews of courses / projects or educational provision, negative press coverage, inability to fulfil contractual responsibilities, poor practice by staf, trustees, volunteers, failure to comply with legislation

Charitable objects clearly stated, shared and espoused by all
Projects and ac�vi�es monitored for match with charitable objects
Public-facing statements and images veted before release
Social media posts avoid engaging in antagonis�c poli�cal debate
Training monitored and evaluated by independent Froebelian expert(s) and par�cipants 9. CPD for course tutors, endorsement process for travelling tutors
10.Project reports peer reviewed prior to publica�on
12.Networks monitor, moderate & support external environment (e.g. EY se�ngs) 13. Staff 1-1 mee�ngs, team mee�ngs, training to share mission & objec�ves
14.Trustees, staff maintain awareness / training rela�ng to legisla�on D) Capacity overload: Risks due to small team, management stretch, busy trustees & volunteers, heavy reliance on a few individuals to carry out FT activities, aspirations exceed human resource 1. CEO and FTC monitor workload
Team mee�ngs monitor workloads; prac�ce mutual support and sharing burden
Number of Council and commitee mee�ngs are monitored for manageability
New ini�a�ves counter-balanced with reduc�ons in other ac�vi�es
Annual self-evalua�ons iden�fy problema�c areas to address
All Trustees take part in commitees to share the responsibili�es & burden
10.Members of Networks & commitees provide addi�onal capacity and support
12.Annual appraisals ensure suitable workloads & iden�fy issues
13.Manage Short Course bookings carefully in line with tutor capacity
E) Compliance breaches: Risks associated with non-compliance with regulations & requirements from e.g. Charities Acts of 2011, 2016 & 2017 Charity Governance Code, Data Protection laws etc. leading to prosecution, fines, reputational damage etc.
See addi�onal controls under A, B and C above and:
Annual reminder of Charity Commission regula�ons and guidance at Strategy Away Day
Charity Commission updates shared with Trustees
Annual review of all FT policies and associated procedures
1. Monthly cyber security checks by staff
Data protec�on processes reviewed quarterly; password protec�on for sensi�ve informa�on F). Loss or damage from poor internal systems e.g. cyber-attacks, financial procedures breakdown 1. Financial Procedures’ annual review; limits on payments authorised by CEO 2. Internal systems reviewed in annual audit
1. Bank and investment accounts limited to named individuals with MFA access
Payments to new accounts double checked before transfer of any funds
Bank advisor provides advice and guidance on good banking prac�ces
Ongoing training and CPD for Finance Manager
IT consultants provide advice, check systems
10.GDPR & cyber security audits annually (internal)

9. LOOKING AHEAD – FUTURE PLANS

During 2023, we will review progress against our 5 year strategic plan and will iden�fy priori�es for future years.

We will adopt and ac�on the recommenda�ons of the Governance Review, beginning with a framework for performance review.

We will con�nue to implement our EEDI Ac�on Plan and will develop strong data collec�on mechanisms and outcome indicators to track and assess the effec�veness of our self-improvement plans.

We will prepare for our next grants cycle, iden�fying the priori�es for our funding and the key ques�ons and issues that we can support through our research and projects.

The Trustees will revisit their mul�-year review of income from investments and rental proper�es and planned expenditure.

iden�fied through our team surveys, discussions, EEDI ac�on plan and governance review.

Our commitees will review their terms of reference and responsibili�es and a new approach to succession planning and induc�on will be introduced through the appointment of co-opted members.

difference we make and the benefits to society.

10. FINANCIAL REVIEW

The Trust’s total gross assets on 31 March 2023, including investments, property, debtors and cash, was £21,278,128 (2022 - £23,083,169). The total liabilities of the Trust on 31 March 2023 of £453,660 (2022 - £364,908) include grants payable of £307,706 (2022 - £286,954) of which £129,360 (2022 - £118,596) is due outside of one year and £178,346 (2022 - £168,359) is due within one year. The net assets of the Trust at the balance sheet date were £21,451,956 (2022 - £22,272,261).

The charity derived an income from investments in the year ended 31 March 2023 of £539,237 (2022 - £537,985) and income from other sources of £79,718 (2022 - £25,709).

Total expenditure for year was £1,199,826 (2022 - £726,555). The trustees will continue to monitor the impact of the pandemic on the ability of the Trust to generate income, ensuring that levels of grants awarded remain sustainable.

The Trust also recognised net losses on revaluation of investments of £634,579 (2022 – net gains of £1,741,456) and actuarial gains of £334,000 (2022 – gains of £88,000) with respect to the valuation of the net pension scheme liability of the Trust.

The overall net decrease in funds during the year was £820305 (2022 – increase in funds of £1,655,595).

Investment Powers and Policy

Under its Articles of Association, The Trust has the power to invest in any way the Council directs. Cash balances are deposited with a view to maximising interest income while minimising risk of capital loss.

Waverton Investment Management is the discretionary fund manager responsible for day to day management of the Froebel Trust’s investment funds on behalf of the charity with a long term objective of the consumer price inflation (CPI) + 3.5% over a rolling seven year period. The Trustees note that investment returns (capital and income) for the year fell well below the target average of CPI + 3.5%. This negative variance is consistent with difficult equity and debt market conditions during the year impacting many other charities' investment portfolio returns during the same period. The Trust's investment policy is designed to target above inflation returns over the medium term (multiple years averaged out) but is not designed to remove the risk and volatility of returns in respect of any single financial year.

Furthermore, Waverton manages the portfolio with specific ethical restrictions in place, which restricts investments in companies with involvement in tobacco production, pornography, oil and gas, gambling and armaments. This is in addition to the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into the security selection process.

Reserves policy and position

At 31 March 2023, the Froebel Trust held total funds of £21,451,956 (2022 - £22,272,261), all of which was unrestricted. The Trust has adopted a policy of deploying funds annually in support of its strategy such that the long-term inflation protected value of its assets are maintained. This is a medium term (multi-year) target and in any given year there may well be under or overspend based on a) the above or below medium-term trend returns achieved on the investment portfolio and/or b) the Trust's decisions to invest higher or lower levels of charitable expenditure over a short period to take based on specific opportunities and priorities for charitable activity. Annually the Trust reviews its medium-term performance against these targets and reassess the appropriate medium term expenditure targets that should be met to be consistent with this medium-term reserves’ strategy. The level of reserves desired by the trustees is very much linked to this strategy. Management accounts are presented to each ordinary meeting of the Council, to demonstrate current available funds, liquidity, and investment performance, after all known commitments have been taken into account.

The Trust aims to ensure that at least 6 months of expected commitments are held in cash and other liquid assets.

In accordance with the Trust’s approved Financial Procedures, a sum of liquidity equivalent to six months’ projected expenditure for grants and core operational costs, less expected rental and investment portfolio income, is held within a separate bank deposit account. On 31 March 2023, the liquidity position was secure, with the balance of cash held of £684,107 which would more than cover for the six months to forecast expenditure and grant payments to 30 September 2023.

Trustees

The following trustees were in office at the date of approval of the financial statements and served throughout the year.

Sharon COLILLES	Mark NEALE (Chair)
Fufy DEMISSIE	Lucy PARKER
Jean-Noel EZINGEARD	Michael PEARSON (Treasurer)
Catriona GILL	Paula PHILLIPS
Kate HOSKINS	Holli WILLIAMS
Abha HURRI	Lilah WOODS

The trustees are appointed for a term of four years and are eligible for re-election. The Trust has agreed a recruitment and induction policy for the appointment of Trustees. This policy sets out the skills and experience that are needed on the Council so that the Trust’s objectives are taken forward effectively. These skills and experience include knowledge and understanding of Froebelian principles gained through teaching and research and disciplines such as finance, law and public administration essential to the orderly running of the Trust.

All initial appointments to the Trust Council are made on the basis of open competition by a panel of serving trustees.

None of the trustees received any remuneration from the Trust in respect of their services during the year ended 31 March 2023 (2022 – none).

The trustees determine the remuneration of the Chief Executive annually on the advice of the Chair and Treasurer in the light of information about market rates for similar roles within charities of similar size and complexity as the Froebel Trust. Details of remuneration of key management personnel are set out in note 4 to the financial statements.

STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES

The Trustees, (who are also the directors of The Froebel Trust for the purposes of company law), are responsible for preparing the annual report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Principles).

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

♦ select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
♦ observe the methods and principles in Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable to the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102);
♦ make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
♦ state whether applicable United Kingdom accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
♦ prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Charity will continue to operate.

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charity 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 Charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Each of the trustees confirm that:

♦ So far as the Trustee is aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the Charity’s auditor is unaware; and
♦ The Trustee has taken all the steps that he / she ought to have taken as a Trustee and director in order to make himself / herself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the company’s auditor is aware of that information.

This confirmation is given and should be interpreted in accordance with the provisions of s418 of the Companies Act 2006.

The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the Charity’s websites. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf by:

Mark Neale Chair of Trustees Date 19/10/23

Independent auditor’s report Year ended 31 March 2023

Independent auditor’s report to the members of The Froebel Trust

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of The Froebel Trust (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 March 2023 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the statement of cash flows, the principal accounting policies and notes to the financial statements. 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 March 2023 and of its income and expenditure for the period 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 charitable company 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.

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 annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. 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.

Independent auditor’s report Year ended 31 March 2023

Other information (continued)

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.

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. 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; or
♦ the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records/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 companies regime and take advantage of the small companies’ exemptions in preparing the trustees’ report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement, the trustees 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.

Independent auditor’s report Year ended 31 March 2023

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements (continued)Our approach to identifying and assessing the risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, was as follows:

♦ the engagement partner ensured that the engagement team collectively had the appropriate competence, capabilities and skills to identify or recognise non-compliance with applicable laws and regulations; and
♦ we obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks that are applicable to the charitable company and determined that the most significant frameworks which are directly relevant to specific assertions in the financial statements are those that relate to the reporting framework (Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006).

We assessed the susceptibility of the charitable company’s financial statements to material misstatement, including obtaining an understanding of how fraud might occur, by:

♦ making enquiries of management as to their knowledge of actual, suspected and alleged fraud; and
♦ considering the internal controls in place to mitigate risks of fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations.

To address the risk of fraud through management bias and override of controls, we:

♦ performed analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships;
♦ tested journal entries to identify unusual transactions; and
♦ assessed whether judgements and assumptions made in determining accounting estimates were indicative of potential bias.

In response to the risk of irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations, we designed procedures which included, but were not limited to:

♦ reading the minutes of meetings of those charged with governance; and
♦ enquiring of management as to actual and potential litigation and claims.

There are inherent limitations in our audit procedures described above. The more removed that laws and regulations are from financial transactions, the less likely it is that we would become aware of noncompliance. Auditing standards also limit the audit procedures required to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations to enquiry of the trustees and other management and the inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any.

Material misstatements that arise due to fraud can be harder to detect than those that arise from error as they may involve deliberate concealment or collusion.

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.

Independent auditor’s report Year ended 31 March 2023

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.

Shachi Blakemore, Senior Statutory Auditor for and on behalf of Buzzacott LLP, Statutory Auditor 130 Wood Street London EC2V 6DL

Date: 24 October 2023

Statement of financial activities

(incorporating an Income and Expenditure Account) Year ended 31 March 2023

Notes	2023 £	2022 £
Income from: Investments 1 Other sources Total income Expenditure on: Raising funds . Investment management costs Charitable activities . Information, guidance and advice 2 Total expenditure Net expenditure for the year before other investment gains and losses Net gains on revaluation of investment property Net (losses) gains on revaluation and disposal of listed investments 8 Realised losses on foreign exchange movements Net (expenditure) income 3 Other recognised gains Actuarial gain on the defined benefits pension scheme 12 Net movement in funds Reconciliation of funds: Fund balances brought forward at 1 April Fund balances carried forward at 31 March	539,237 79,718	537,985 25,709
	618,955	563,694
	91,303 1,108,523	97,843 628,712
	1,199,826	726,555
	(580,871) 96,000 (634,579) (34,855)	(162,861) — 1,741,456 —
	(1,154,305) 334,000	1,578,595 88,000
	(820,305) 22,272,261	1,665,595 20,605,666
	21,451,956	22,272,261

All of the Charity’s activities derived from continuing operations during the above two financial periods.

All recognised gains and losses are included in the above statement of financial activities.

All income, expenditure and other recognised gains and losses in both financial periods were unrestricted.

Balance sheet as at 31 March 2023

Notes	2023 £	2023 £	2022 £	2022 £
Fixed assets Intangible assets 6 Tangible assets 7 Investments 8 Current assets Debtors 9 Cash at bank and in hand Liabilities Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 10 Net current assets Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year 11 Net assets excluding Pension liability Defined benefit pension scheme liability 12 Total net assets The funds of the charity: Funds and reserves Unrestricted funds . General funds . Designated funds	37,381 684,107	— 145,868 21,132,260	46,698 907,366	2,780 149,616 21,976,709
		21,278,128 397,188 (129,360)		22,129,105 707,752 (118,596)
	721,488 (324,300)		954,064 (246,312)

		21,545,956 (94,000)		22,718,261 (446,000)
		21,451,956		22,272,261
		21,451,956 —		22,272,261 —
		21,451,956		22,272,261

Approved by the trustees and signed on their behalf by

Mark Neale Trustee

Date:19 October 2023

The Froebel Trust, Company Registration No. 07862112 (England and Wales)

Statement of cash flows 31 March 2023

Notes	2023 £	2022 £
Cash inflow from operating activities: Net cash used in operating activities A Cash flows from investing activities: Dividends, interest and rents from investments Proceeds from the disposal of investments Purchase of investments Net cash provided by investing activities Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year Cash and cash equivalents at start of the period B Cash and cash equivalents at end of theperiod B	(981,966)	(879,786)
	539,237 5,105,142 (4,121,593)	537,985 3,894,013 (3,515,577)
	1,522,786	916,421
	540,820 993,169	36,635 956,534
	1,447,590	993,169
Notes to the statement of cash flows for the period

A Reconciliation of net movement in funds to net cash used in operating activities

	2023 £	2022 £
Net (expenditure) income (as per the statement of financial activities) Adjustments for: Depreciation charge Losses (gains) on investments Losses (gains) on revaluation of investment property Dividends, interest and rents from investments Defined benefit pension scheme cost less contributions payable Defined benefit pension scheme finance cost Decrease (increase) in debtors Increase (decrease) in creditors Net cash used in operating activities	(1,154,305) 6,528 634,579 (96,000) (539,237) (29,000) 11,000 9,316 88,752	1,578,595 25,506 (1,741,456) — (537,985) (25,000) 10,000 (10,525) (178,921)
	(981,966)	(879,786)

B Analysis of cash and cash equivalents, and net debt

Analysis of cash and cash equivalents, and net debt
	2023 £ 684,107 763,481 1,447,588	2022 £ 907,366 85,803 993,169
Cash at bank and in hand Cash held by investment managers (note 8) Total cash and cash equivalents

The charity hold no loans or other debt instruments and as such a reconciliation of net debt has not been prepared.

Principal accounting policies 31 March 2023

The principal accounting policies adopted, judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty in the preparation of the financial statements are laid out below.

Basis of preparation

These financial statements have been prepared for the year ended 31 March 2023.

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policies below or the notes to these financial statements.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with 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 United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (Charities SORP FRS 102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2011.

The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102.

The financial statements are presented in sterling and are rounded to the nearest pound.

Critical accounting estimates and areas of judgement

Preparation of the financial statements requires the trustees and management to make significant judgements and estimates.

The items in the financial statements where these judgements and estimates have been made include:

♦ the estimates of the useful economic lives of tangible fixed assets used to determine the annual depreciation charge;
♦ judgements made by trustees in estimating the fair values attributed to the charity’s investment properties;
♦ the present value of the Local Government Pension Scheme defined benefit liability as provided by the actuary; and
♦ estimates over future income and expenditure cash flows for the purpose of determining going concern.

Assessment of going concern

The trustees have assessed whether the use of the going concern assumption is appropriate in preparing these financial statements. The trustees have made this assessment in respect to a period of one year from the date of approval of these financial statements.

The trustees of the charity have concluded that there are no material uncertainties related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the ability of the charity to continue as a going concern. The trustees are of the opinion that the charity will have sufficient resources to meet its liabilities as they fall due and therefore that there are no concerns regarding the Trust’s ability to continue as a going concern.

Principal accounting policies 31 March 2023

Assessment of going concern (continued)

The most significant areas of judgement that affect items in the financial statements are detailed above. With regard to the next accounting period, the year ending 31 March 2024, the most significant areas that affect the carrying value of the assets held by the charity are the level of investment return and the performance of the investment markets.

Income recognition

Income is recognised in the period in which the charity is entitled to receipt and the amount can be measured with reasonable certainty. Income is deferred only when the charity has to fulfil conditions before becoming entitled to it or where the donor or funder has specified that the income is to be expended in a future accounting period.

Expenditure recognition

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. All expenditure is stated inclusive of irrecoverable VAT and accounted for on an accruals basis.

The majority of expenditure is directly attributable to specific activities and any apportionment between headings is negligible. The classification between expenditure headings is as follows:

a. Expenditure on raising funds include direct costs and overheads associated with generating income for the charity, principally the cost of managing the charity’s investments.
b. The costs of activities in furtherance of the charity’s objects comprise expenditure on the charity’s primary charitable purposes as described in the trustees’ report. Such costs include those associated with the provision of information, guidance and advice.

It also includes the governance costs of the charity which comprise the costs involving the public accountability of the charity (including audit costs) and costs in respect to its compliance with regulation and good practice.

Intangible fixed assets

Amortisation is provided at the following rates in order to write the cost of each asset off over its estimated useful life, amortisation is charged from the date the asset comes in to use:

♦ Grants management software

33⅓ %

Principal accounting policies 31 March 2023

Tangible fixed assets

All fixed assets costing more than £1,000 and with an expected useful life exceeding one year are capitalised. Depreciation is calculated so as to write off the cost of tangible fixed assets, less their estimated residual values, on a straight line basis at the following rates:

♦	Buildings	2%
♦	Furniture & equipment	20%
♦	Office equipment	33⅓ %

Fund accounting

The unrestricted funds, comprise those monies which may be used towards meeting the charitable objectives of the charity at the discretion of the trustees.

The restricted funds comprise monies received which may only be applied in line with the conditions imposed by the donor.

Investments

Investments, both listed and investment properties, are valued at market value at the balance sheet date. Realised gains and losses on investments are calculated by comparing the sale proceeds with the market at the end of the previous financial year. Unrealised gains and losses represent the difference between the market value of investments held at the end of the financial year with their value at the beginning of the year or with their cost if purchased subsequently.

Debtors

Debtors are recognised at their settlement amount, less any provision for non-recoverability. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid. They have been discounted to the present value of the future cash receipt where such discounting is material.

Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and in hand represents such accounts and instruments that are available on demand or have a maturity of less than three months from the date of acquisition. Deposits for more than three months but less than one year have been disclosed as short term deposits. Cash placed on deposit for more than one year is disclosed as a fixed asset investment.

Creditors and provisions

Creditors and provisions are recognised when there is an obligation at the balance sheet date as a result of a past event, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefit will be required in settlement, and the amount of the settlement can be estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are recognised at the amount the charity anticipates it will pay to settle the debt. They have been discounted to the present value of the future cash payment where such discounting is material.

Principal accounting policies 31 March 2023

Pension schemes

Defined benefit pension scheme

The Froebel Trust contributes to a defined benefit scheme with the London Pensions Fund Authority (LPFA). The defined benefit pension scheme current service costs and the net finance cost for the year are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities within pension costs. Actuarial gains and losses are recognised immediately within other recognised gains and losses.

The defined benefit scheme assets are measured at fair value at the balance sheet date. Liabilities are measured on an actual basis at the balance sheet date using the projected unit method and discounted at a rate equivalent to the current rate of return on a high quality corporate bond of equivalent term to the scheme liabilities. The resulting defined benefit asset or liability is presented separately after other net assets on the face of the balance sheet.

This scheme is closed to new employees.

Defined contribution pension scheme

New employees are all eligible to join the charity’s defined contribution pension scheme.

Contributions in connection with the charity’s defined contribution scheme are charged to the statement of financial activities in the period in which they become payable to the scheme.

Notes to the financial statements Year ended 31 March 2023

1 Income from investments and interest receivable

Income from investments and interest receivable
	Unrestricted funds 2023 £ 2022 £ 122,549 121,273 1,856 981 414,832 415,731 539,237 537,985
		2022 £
Rental income from investment properties Interest on cash balances Investment income		121,273 981 415,731
		537,985

2 Expenditure on charitable activities: information, guidance and advice

Staff costs (note 4) Property expenses Grants payable (see below) Depreciation & Amortisation (notes 6,7) Pension finance costs (note 12) Bad debt expense Governance costs Other expenses Total funds	Unrestricted funds	Unrestricted funds
	2023 £ 257,851 11,925 721,914 6,528 11,000 52,876 30,455 15,974 1,108,523	2022 £
		216,426 11,700 311,379 25,506 10,000 — 39,917 13,784
		628,712

Notes to the financial statements Year ended 31 March 2023

2 Expenditure on charitable activities: information, guidance and advice (continued) The following project commitments and grants were awarded during the year:

	Unrestricted funds	Unrestricted funds
	2023 £	2022 £
Project work: Hub and spoke project Froebel Trainers - FT short training course Informing Programme Evidencing Programme Advocating Programme Connecting Programme Grants: . Practitioner Support & PLR grants . Online Short Course (Pilot) South Africa Research grants University of Western Cape, South Africa University of Stirling, Scotland Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece Cardiff Metropolitan University, Wales Middlesex University CCCU Brunel University University of West Indies Notre Dame Seishin University Royal College of Music Shaddai Tembo, Simon Bateson – Independent Researchers University College Cork University of Colorado Springs University of Roehampton York St John University Other grants payable .University of Roehampton bursaries . Other Total grants payable to institutions Totalgrants awarded(c/f to nextpage)	259,502 122,198 47,989 42,761 6,562 10,691	36,152 17,185 43,269 19,538 17,956 8,418
	489,703	142,518
	28,289 — 5,000 4,904 4,630 24,399 23,434 49,946 43,243 — — — — — — — — 31,000 —	41,439 4,000 — — — 4,852 — — — 5,000 5,000 5,000 5,000 4,830 5,000 5,000 4,914 13,000 1,300
	214,845	104,335
	704,548	246,853

Notes to the financial statements Year ended 31 March 2023

2 Expenditure on charitable activities: information, guidance and advice (continued)

	Unrestricted funds	Unrestricted funds
	2023 £	2022 £
Total grants awarded (b/f from previous page) PhD, MSc and MA bursaries paid to individuals . PhDs and MA bursaries Total grants payable Grants and projects previously committed to but no longer required . Research grants (2019-20) . Practitioner Support & PLR grants (2021) Expenditure for theperiod	704,548 35,309	246,853 87,311
	739,857	334,164
	(13,661) (4,282)	— —
	(17,943)	(22,785)

	721,914	311,379
Net income (expenditure) for the period This is stated after charging:	2023 £ 257,851 12,000 6,528	2022 £ 216,426 9,150 25,506
Staff costs (note 4) Auditor’s remuneration (including VAT) . Audit services Depreciation & Amortisation(note 6,7)

4 Staff costs and remuneration of key management personnel

Staff costs and remuneration of key management personnel
	2023 £	2022 £ 169,015 16,864 30,547 — 216,426
Staff costs during the year were as follows: Wages and salaries Social security costs Pension costs Recruitment costs	204,567 22,722 30,514 48
	257,851

One employee earned £60,000 per annum or more (including taxable benefits but excluding employer pension contributions in the banding £70,001 to £80,000) during the period (2022: one employee in the banding £70,001 to £80,000).

The average number of employees during the year on a full time equivalent basis was 5 (2022: 4).

Notes to the financial statements Year ended 31 March 2023

4 Staff costs and remuneration of key management personnel (continued)

The average number of employees analysed by function was:

	2023 £	2022 £ 5 5
Information, guidance and advice	5
	5

The trustees consider that they, together with the Chief Executive comprise the key management personnel of the charity. The total remuneration of the charity’s key management personnel (including employer’s national insurance and pension contributions) for the year was £91,769 (2022 - £87,335).

No trustee received any remuneration in respect of their services as a trustee during the period (2022 – no remuneration). No amounts were reimbursed to trustees during the period, in connection with travel expenses (2022 – no expenses paid).

5 Taxation

The Froebel Trust is a registered charity and, therefore is not liable to income tax or corporation tax on income derived from its charitable activities as it falls within the various exemptions available to registered charities.

6 Intangible fixed assets

	Grants management software £
Cost At 1 April 2022 Additions At 31 March 2023 Amortisation At 1 April 2022 Charge for year At 31 March 2023 Net book values At 31 March 2023 At 31 March 2022	62,549 —
	62,549
	59,769 2,780
	62,549
	—
	2,780

Notes to the financial statements Year ended 31 March 2023

7 Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets
	Land and buildings £	Fixtures and fittings £	Office equipment £	Total £
Cost At 1 April 2022 Additions At 31 March 2023 Depreciation At 1 April 2022 Charge for year At 31 March 2023 Net book values At 31 March 2023 At 31 March 2022	187,410 —	72,787 —	4,821 —	265,018 —
	187,410	72,787	4,821	265,018
	37,794 3,748	72,787 —	4,821 —	115,402 3,748
	41,542	72,787	4,821	119,150
	145,868	-—	—	145,868
	149,616	—	—	149,616

At 31 March 2023, the charity’s freehold property was subject to a legal charge in favour of the London Pensions Fund Authority. Further details are provided in note 12 to the financial statements.

8 Investments

At 31 March fixed asset investments comprised:

Investments At 31 March fixed asset investments comprised:
	2023 £	2022 £
Freehold investment properties Listed investments and cash held for re-investment	3,276,000 17,856,260	3,180,000 18,796,709
	21,132,260	21,976,709
	2023 £ 3,180,000 96,000 3,276,000	2022 £ 3,180,000 — 3,180,000
Freehold investment properties Balance brought forward Gain on revaluation Market value at 31 March

Full valuations of the investment properties were last carried out on 31 March 2023 for the freehold interest in 32 St Ann’s Villas, W11 4RS (valued at £2,600,000), Grove Lodge (valued at £506,000) and the freehold interest of Grove Lodge and Sports Land (valued at £170,000).

The valuations were performed by Knight Frank LLP, Chartered Surveyors, based on market rent in accordance with guidelines set by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors for accounts purposes in accordance with the RICS Valuation – Global Standards, incorporating the International Valuations Standards and RICS Professional Standards UK.

At 31 March 2023, part of the charity’s freehold investment properties was subject to a legal charge in favour of the London Pension Fund Authority. Further details are provided in note 12 to the financial statements.

Notes to the financial statements Year ended 31 March 2023

8 Investments (continued)

Investments(continued)
	2023 £	2022 £
Listed investments Market value at 1 April Additions at cost Disposals at book value (proceeds £5,105,412 and realised losses £546,889) Unrealised (losses) gains on revaluation Market value at 31 March Cash held by investment managers Total investments Cost of listed investments at 31 March	18,710,907 4,121,593 (5,652,031) (87,690)	17,347,886 3,515,577 (3,462,220) 1,309,663
	17,092,779 763,481	18,710,907 85,803
	17,856,260	18,796,709
	16,245,491	16,123,710

At 31 March, the Charity’s investment portfolio included no holdings which represented a material proportion of the total value of the fixed asset investment portfolio at that date. Listed investments held at 31 March comprised the following:

	2023 £	2022 £
UK fixed interest UK equities Overseas fixed interest Overseas equities Alternative investments Property funds	699,155 6,251,116 159,844 9,642,580 340,084 —	— 9,127,919 179,634 8,783,070 385,493 234,791
	17,092,779	18,710,907
	2023 £	2022 £
Unrealised gains included above: On listed investments On investment properties Total unrealised gains at 31 March Reconciliation of movements in unrealised gains: Total unrealised gains at 1 April Less: in respect to disposals in the year add: net gains (losses) arising on revaluations in the year . On listed investments . On investment properties Total unrealisedgains at 31 March	1,614,049 1,746,000	2,672,999 1,650,000
	3,360,049	4,322,999
	4,322,999 (971,260) (87,690) 96,000	3,393,314 (379,978) 1,309,663 —
	3,360,049	4,322,999

9 Debtors

Debtors
	2023 £	2022 £
Trade debtors Less: provision for doubtful debts Prepayments Other debtors	80,173 (52,876) 9,884 200	39,100 — 7,398 200
	37,381	46,698

Notes to the financial statements Year ended 31 March 2023

10 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
	2023 £	2022 £
Trade creditors Social security and other taxes Grants payable (note 11) Accruals Deferred income Other creditors	14,874 11,068 178,346 78,290 39,270 2,452	— 4,653 168,359 37,056 31,288 4,956
	324,300	246,312

11 Creditors: amounts falling due after one year

Creditors: amounts falling due after one year
	2023 £	2022 £
Grants payable . Within one year (note 10) Due after one year . Between one and two years . Between two and five years Totalgrantspayable	178,346	168,359
	129,360 —	43,526 75,070
	129,360	118,596
	307,706	286,954

12 Pension commitments

London Pensions Fund Authority

The Froebel Trust contributes to the London Pensions Fund Authority (LPFA), part of the Local Government Pension Scheme, a defined benefit statutory scheme. This Scheme is closed to new employees. The Fund is administered by LPFA in accordance with the Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations 1997 as amended.

The scheme is a multi-employer Defined Benefit Scheme which is contracted out of the State Second Pension. The Scheme is subject to triennial actuarial valuations. The assets of the defined benefit scheme are held separately from those of the Charity, in separate LPFA administered funds. Contributions to the scheme are determined by a qualified actuary on the basis of triennial valuations, using the current unit method with a 20 year control period.

The following information is based upon the most recent full actuarial valuation of the fund, which was carried out at 31 March 2022, and has been updated to 31 March 2023 by a qualified independent actuary. The major assumptions used by the actuary were:

2023 %	2022 % 4.4 3.4 2.6 4.4 3.4
Rate of increase in salaries 3.9 Rate of increase in pension payments 2.9 Discount rate 4.8 Inflation assumptions . RPI increase 3.9 . CPI increase 2.9

Notes to the financial statements Year ended 31 March 2023

12 Pension commitments (continued)

London Pension Fund Authority (continued)

The breakdown of the Scheme assets is as follows:

		2023 £	2022 £
Equities Target return portfolio Infrastructure Property Cash Present value of scheme assets		327,000 103,000 70,000 55,000 1,000	212,000 102,000 29,000 39,000 12,000
		556,000	394,000

The current mortality assumptions include sufficient allowance for the future improvements in mortality rates. The assumed life expectations on retirement age 65 are:

	2023 £	2022 £
Retiring today / current pensioners Males Females Retiring in 20 years / future pensioners Males Females	22.2 24.1 23.4 25.0	23.3 24.4 24.6 25.9

The actuaries have advised the trustees that the value of the scheme’s liabilities (and resulting deficit) disclosed above should not be taken as an indication of the results of a valuation which would normally be carried out for funding purposes. The valuation assumptions made for the purposes of FRS 102 (28) are not necessarily appropriate for the purposes of a long term funding valuation.

The total pension contributions in respect of the defined benefit scheme for the period were £48,000 (2022 - £46,000), of which employer’s contributions totalled £46,000 (2022 - £44,000) and employees’ contributions totalled £2,000 (2022 - £2,000).

The agreed contribution rates for future years are 20.5% for employers and 6.5% for employees. An additional deficit funding agreement of £37,901 per annum came into effect from 1 April 2022.

Analysis of the amount charged to statement of financial activities:

	2023 £	2022 £
Past service cost Current service cost Total operating charge	— (17,000)	— (19,000)
	(17,000)	(19,000)

Notes to the financial statements Year ended 31 March 2023

12 Pension commitments (continued)

London Pension Fund Authority (continued)

	2023 £	2022 £
Interest on pension liabilities Interest on assets Netpension finance cost	(25,000) 14,000	(19,000) 9,000
	(11,000)	(10,000)

Amounts recognised as other gains and losses:

	2023 £	2022 £
Return on assets less interest Changes in financial and demographic assumptions underlying the scheme liabilities Net actuarialgain recognised	(7,000) 341,000	65,000 23,000
	334,000	88,000

The actuarial gains and losses for the current period are recognised in the statement of financial activities. The cumulative amount of actuarial gains and losses recognised in the statement of financial activities since the adoption of FRS 17 is a gain of £334,000 (2022 - £92,000).

Movement in net deficit during the period:

Movement in net deficit during the period:
	2023 £	2022 £
Deficit at the beginning of the period Current service cost Employer contributions Net pension finance cost Net actuarial gain (loss) Deficit at end of theperiod	(446,000) (17,000) 46,000 (11,000) 334,000	(549,000) (19,000) 44,000 (10,000) 88,000
	(94,000)	(446,000)

The estimated value of the employer contributions for the period ending 31 March 2023 is £46,000 (2022 - £44,000).

The LPFA have a fixed legal charge over the charity’s freehold properties at Clarence Lodge and Grove Lodge on Clarence Lane as a means of security over the charity’s obligations in relation to the above defined benefit pension scheme.

13 Related parties

Professor Jean-Noel Ezingeard, a trustee of the Froebel Trust, is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Roehampton. During the year ended 31 March 2023, the Froebel Trust had various transactions with the University all of which took place on an arm’s length basis. Research and bursary grants were made to the University during the year ended 31 March 2023 totalling £41,460 (2022 - £25,368).

Michael Pearson – a trustee of the Froebel Trust, has been appointed to the University of Roehampton Board since the year ended 31 March 2023.

Notes to the financial statements Year ended 31 March 2023

13 Related parties (continued)

Catriona Gill - a trustee of the Froebel Trust, is Associate Tutor, Froebel in Childhood Practice courses at University of Edinburgh. The FT had various transactions with the university H&S programme, PhD bursaries totalling £131,228.

Paula Phillips – a trustee of the Froebel Trust and FT Travelling tutor, total amount of fees paid to Paula is £13,000.

Kate Hoskins – a trustee of the Froebel Trust and Reader in Education Brunel University. Research grant payment was made to the Brunel University during the year ended 31 March 2023 totalling £4,324.

Holli Williams – a trustee of the Froebel Trust and Head of schools at Linden Tree schools. The total amount of grant PLR-351-2022 made to nursery school was £3,000.

14 Liability of directors

The Froebel Trust is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital. In the event of the company being wound up the liability of the Trustees (who are the members of the company) is limited to £1 each.

Appendix 1: Acronyms Year ended 31 March 2023

Acronym
ARG	Action Research Grant
ASD	Autistic Spectrum Disorders
CCCU	CanterburyChrist Church University
CEO	Chief Executive Officer
CPD	ContinuingProfessional Development
CPI	Consumer Price Index
ECEC	EarlyChildhood Education and Care
EDI	Equality,Diversityand Inclusion
EECERA	European EarlyChildhood Education Research Association
EEDI	Equity,Equality,Diversityand Inclusion
ELC / ELCC	EarlyLearningand Childcare
ESG	Environmental,social andgovernance
EY	EarlyYears
EYO	EarlyYears Officer
FGC	Finance and Governance Committee(of the Froebel Trust)
FT	Froebel Trust
FTC	Froebel Trust Council
GDPR	General Data Protection Regulations
IFEI	Incorporated Froebel Educational Institute
IM	Investments Management
LA	Local Authority
LPFA	London Pensions Fund Authority
MA	Master of Arts degreequalification
MEL	Monitoring,evaluation and learning
MOOC	Massive Open Online Course
MSc	Master of Science degreequalification
NZ-UK	New Zealand-United Kingdom
PDG	Practice Development Grant
PhD	Doctor of Philosophydegreequalification
PLR	Practice-Led Research
REF	Research Excellence Framework
SIG	Special Interest Group
TOIL	Time off in lieu

Annual Report and Financial Statements

CONTENTS

1. REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

TRUSTEES AND DIRECTORS

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

REGISTERED OFFICE

REGISTRATION

AUDITOR

BANKERS

SOLICITORS

INVESTMENT MANAGERS

PROPERTY ADVISORS

2. OUR MISSION AND HISTORY

The Froebel Trust’s Charitable Objects are to:

education in learning within the UK and internationally.

3. OUR 2022-23 INFOGRAPHIC

4. OUR AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

5. OUR WORK

5a. ENABLING PROGRAMME ACTIVITIES

Grants and bursaries for research and practice development

Enhancing the applicant & grant holder experience

Special Projects

Open Call Research Grants

Grants for Prac�ce Development and Prac��oner Research

Bursaries for education, training and research

Subsidised Residential Writers’ Workshop

5b. INFORMING PROGRAMME ACTIVITIES

5c. CONNECTING PROGRAMME ACTIVITIES

5d. EVIDENCING PROGRAMME ACTIVITIES

5e. DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN OUR WORK

6. OUR ACHIEVEMENTS

6a. Performance against targets

6b. Benefits

7. STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

7a. Governance Review

8. PRINCIPAL RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES

9. LOOKING AHEAD – FUTURE PLANS

10. FINANCIAL REVIEW

Investment Powers and Policy

Reserves policy and position

Trustees

STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES

Independent auditor’s report Year ended 31 March 2023

Independent auditor’s report to the members of The Froebel Trust

Opinion

Basis for opinion

Conclusions relating to going concern

Other information

Independent auditor’s report Year ended 31 March 2023

Other information (continued)

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

Responsibilities of trustees

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Independent auditor’s report Year ended 31 March 2023

Independent auditor’s report Year ended 31 March 2023

Use of our report

Date: 24 October 2023

Statement of financial activities

(incorporating an Income and Expenditure Account) Year ended 31 March 2023

Balance sheet as at 31 March 2023

Statement of cash flows 31 March 2023

A Reconciliation of net movement in funds to net cash used in operating activities

B Analysis of cash and cash equivalents, and net debt

Principal accounting policies 31 March 2023

Basis of preparation

Critical accounting estimates and areas of judgement

Assessment of going concern

Principal accounting policies 31 March 2023

Assessment of going concern (continued)

Income recognition

Expenditure recognition

Intangible fixed assets

Principal accounting policies 31 March 2023

Tangible fixed assets

Fund accounting

Investments

Debtors

Cash at bank and in hand

Creditors and provisions