2020-08-31-accounts

’ St Benedict S School ealing a m i n i m i s i n c i p e

ANNUAL REPORT & FINANCIAL STATEMENTS for the year ended 31[st] August 2020 Company Number 08093330

St Benedict’s School Ealing

ST BENEDICT’S SCHOOL EALING ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31[st] August 2020

CONTENTS	Page
Headmaster’s Report	1 - 4
Governors’ Report	5 - 13 6-14
Statement of Financial Activities	14 15
Balance Sheet	15 16
Statement of Cash Flows 16 - 17 17-18
Notes to the Financial Statements 18 - 31 19-32
Governing Body	32 33
Advisors	33 34
Independent Auditor’s Report 34 - 35 35-36

St Benedict’s School Ealing

HEADMASTER’S REPORT

For the year ended 31[st] August 2020

The St Benedict’s family of schools includes St Benedict’s Senior School and St Benedict’s Junior School in Ealing and St Bernard’s Preparatory School in Slough.

2019-20 has been an extraordinary academic year. The first half of the year at St Benedict’s and St Bernard’s played out as expected, and the schools enjoyed many successes, but in the second half of the Lent term, from 19[th] March onwards, the UK government instructed schools to close. This meant that teaching, learning, pastoral care, sports, music, dance, drama and other co-curricular activities all moved online. One of the unexpected successes of recent months has been how quickly and how effectively the schools transformed themselves into online learning providers.

Examination results

A level and GCSE results this year at the Senior School were awarded by Centre Assessment Grades, as the government cancelled public examinations in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This summer’s A level candidates achieved excellent results, the best ever achieved at St Benedict’s, with 61.2% of all A level papers scoring A/A and 87.9% scoring A-B. At GCSE, 72.5% of exams were awarded the top grades 9-7. These are also the school’s best ever results.

Academic opportunities and successes

It is a mark of the success and academic calibre of the outgoing U6th that 86% of them secured a place at their first choice university, and 70% of them will attend Russell Group (top 25) universities. Indeed, the proportion of leavers securing places at Russell Group universities has increased from 48% in 2016 to 70% in 2020. Of these, four Senior School students have places at Oxbridge this year, two at Oxford and two at Cambridge. There are also four students with places at medical schools.

The academic curriculum at the Senior School is designed to promote a love of learning, and to encourage intellectual curiosity. The Helikon Centre for Academic Challenge has continued to be an inspiring place for pupils in the school, where workshops, discussions and presentations take place every week. The school’s Thinking Forum has considered a number of challenging topics this year, including: “Are computers clever?” “Is the interest in dystopian novels a reflection of our society’s anxieties?” “Does disinformation change democracy?” “Is knowledge dangerous?” and “Is fantasy better than real life?”

The St Benedict’s Lecture Series continued in the first half of the academic year, with Harbinder Singh Birdi presenting on How will AI and data transform how we live, work and play in smart London and Roger Moorhouse’s talk on The Polish Campaign of 1939 . Oxford university Emeritus Professor of Demography, David Coleman, gave the Richard Baker Science lecture, and Lord Patten of Barnes addressed the academic scholars. One of the most memorable presentations of the year was the US Politics evening, which featured the BBC’s North America Editor, who attended by video link from Washington, and Channel 5 Political Editor, Andy Bell.

The first edition of a new pupil-run school newspaper, The Raven, included a colourful range of contributions from pupils throughout the Senior School.

When public examinations were cancelled for students in U6th and U5th, we used the summer term to help our students to get ahead. U5th students made a start on their A level courses while U6th students followed a special course and to prepare for undergraduate study. Upper 6[th] formers produced some impressive essays and presentations during the term on a whole range of subjects, including quantum numbers, green chemistry and Hitchcock’s films.

Opportunities for personal development and growth

We managed to run many educational trips this year for Senior School pupils before the pandemic struck, including the Classics trip to Greece, the Geography trip to Iceland and the History trip to Vietnam.

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St Benedict’s School Ealing

It has been a successful year for the Arts at St Benedict’s Senior School, with productions of High Society, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet , a very enjoyable St Cecilia’s Concert, the annual Music Festival and a number of lunchtime recitals.

The largest event in the St Benedict’s calendar is the biennial Careers Fair, which we held in February 2020. Representatives of over 150 organisations offered insights and advice on careers including medicine, engineering, law, teaching, marketing, architecture and journalism.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award has continued to go from strength to strength over the past year. Students have trekked and camped in all weathers, showing and developing their team spirit on every expedition.

The St Benedict’s Combined Cadet Force (CCF), which has for some years also been open to pupils from local Catholic state school, Cardinal Wiseman School, has been very active this year. Undoubtedly, the highlight of the year for the CCF was the 90[th] Anniversary dinner, held in January 2020, when several generations of Old Priorians, our senior cadets, parents and staff came together to celebrate the unique opportunities offered by the cadet force. The evening was greatly enhanced with a stunning performance given by the recently formed CCF Corps of Drums.

During their training course in September 2019, the Senior Decans (senior prefects) identified environmental issues as a key priority they wished to promote during their year of leadership. This led to the foundation of the Environmental Society, and a series of green initiatives including pupils giving presentations to the senior team on how St Benedict’s can reduce its carbon footprint.

St Benedict’s during lockdown

The second half of the academic year was uniquely challenging.

Between 19[th] March, when the school closed its doors, to the end of the academic year, all of the school’s activities moved online. These included virtual lessons in all subjects and at all levels, form time, weekly online assemblies and prayers, games sessions and co-curricular activities. As well as completing their usual academic work, students joined in with debates, sports challenges, online concerts and a dance show, CCF drills, and cookery classes, among other things.

In response to the unfolding financial crisis, the school launched a rescue fund to raise money in support of families who had lost jobs and so could no longer afford school fees. In April and May 2020 we raised just over £120,000 for the rescue fund, and a number of families received financial support thanks to the generosity of those who contributed to the fund.

Careful planning took place during June, July and August to ensure students and staff were able to return safely to the schools for the beginning of the new academic year.

Outreach and Benedictine values

In November 2019 St Benedict’s became a founder member of the Emmaus Catholic Schools Partnership, and is now working with three other schools, two of them Catholic state schools, and the third a Catholic independent school, to support and promote Catholic education in West London. The partnership’s first activity was ‘Red Wednesday’ when the schools raised awareness, in collaboration with Aid to the Church in Need, of the plight of persecuted Christians around the world. Further events are planned for the coming academic year 2020-21.

St Benedict’s also looked beyond itself and worked together to contribute to the wider community during lockdown. The Design Technology department and student volunteers made Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), producing and distributing over 3,000 face shields to the NHS and care homes. During the Easter holidays 2020, the science departments donated their supplies of PPE to the NHS, and in May 2020 many students took part in a sponsored run, the Montecassino Challenge, organised by the school covering over 2,500 miles and raising over £3,000 for the Trussell Trust UK food bank charity.

St Benedict’s School Ealing

St Benedict’s Junior School & Nursery

The children enjoyed the highly engaging creative curriculum topics, including Deliciously Different (food and nutrition); Zoom! / Fast & Furious (Transport); London Calling! (The City of London); Turrets and Tiaras (castles); Storms and Shipwrecks (the Mary Rose and Titanic); Swords and Sandals (Pompeii); and Tudors - Travel and Treason; Hillary’s Heights (mountain ranges and exploration), to name but a few of the topics that were covered. Acceleration, Challenge and Enrichment was provided through learning activities such as SCQ ( School Challenge Quest ), the SATIPS General Knowledge Quiz, and the Delancey UK Chess Challenge . The annual Book Week, including the traditional Dressing-Up Day, was highly successful. The children thoroughly enjoyed meeting the authors and illustrators who visited as guest speakers throughout Book Week .

The number of co-curricular activities open to the pupils continues to be extensive and very popular. Hobbies range from the Aviation Club to Cookery to Current Affairs Club to Dance to Debating to Football to Orchestra to Skateboarding and beyond. The children have also had many opportunities to engage in dance, drama, music concerts (including the inaugural Music Festival Finalists’ Concert and assorted Soloists’ Concerts ) and sports fixtures (athletics; cricket; fencing; field hockey; netball; rugby; and swimming). St Benedict’s hosted an U10 High 5 netball tournament (for girls), though unfortunately the cricket, field hockey and rugby festivals had to be cancelled due to COVID-19. Once again, Upper Key Stage 2 pupils benefited hugely from cookery classes provided by the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts as part of their Adopt a School programme.

The WiseUp Leadership and Teambuilding Day ( Form 2 and Form 1 ) ensured that the new school year began energetically, complemented by the various termly school trips which enriched the learning experience children across the School. Charity fundraising was organised for charities such as The Anti-Bullying Alliance , The Fair Trade Foundation , and The Trussell Trust .

St Bernard’s Preparatory School

This year the Preparatory School re-established links with the Sisters of St Paul Slough, and the whole of Year 3 took part in a community Advent Service.

Academic standards continue to be high at the Preparatory School. In the 11+ Transfer Test 2019/20 the school achieved a 78% pass rate. In the Primary Maths Challenge 2019/20 we achieved 1 x Bronze, 4 x Silver and 1 x Gold awards. At the Lambrook School Year 4 Maths Challenge St Bernard’s came 1[st] and 2[nd] . In the First Maths Challenge we achieved 5 x Platinum, 11 x Gold, 12 x Silver 3 x Bronze and in the Quiz Club - Science Quiz , St Bernard’s was placed 2[nd] and 3[rd] . St Bernard’s Preparatory School also joined with St Benedict’s Junior school for an excellent collaborative science session.

During lockdown lessons and other activities continued successfully online, and there was a successful Prize Giving session for our Year 6 leavers, where they were able to receive recognition for their individual achievements for Academic, Sporting and being a Prep School child.

The Preparatory School hosted its October Sports Festival, with local Prep schools invited to compete in our U11’s Rugby and Hockey competition. During the Lent Term St Bernard’s hosted an U9’s Football Festival. Before lockdown, the school continued to play a wide range of sporting fixtures against other schools.

Early Years children made regular visits to Oxford House Care home up until the March lockdown. These children also visited Slough Library. One of the highlights of the year in the Early Years Department was the successful incubation of 5 duckling eggs.

This year’s Preparatory School trips have included visits to The National Gallery, Matilda the musical, Henley Rowing Museum, as well as being asked to sing in the Great Hall at Windsor Castle.

There have also been weekly enrichment session for years 4, 5 and 6 this year where children have enjoyed Chess, Scrabble, Cookery, Sketching, Gardening and Yoga on a rotational basis.

St Benedict’s School Ealing

Buildings developments

St Benedict’s: Development of the site continues with a number of projects having taken place through the year. At the Sports field the irrigation system is now in use which has reduced the watering time of a rugby pitch from 12 hours to 3 hours using ground water from a borehole which has been created. The 3-year project to improve drainage of the pitches during the winter months has now also been completed. And work has taken place to improve the netball courts’ surfaces. Also during the year, some of the flats in our residential properties have been refurbished. On the main site, the landscaping project was completed with planting taking place during the October half term. A number of smaller projects have also been carried out including development of bag storage and redecoration.

St Bernard’s: New electric gates were installed at the entrance to the school site replacing the old gates which were obsolete. Repairs to the roof have been carried out to ensure it is water tight. Other, minor, redecoration and repair works have taken place.

Future Strategy

The Governors approved and introduced a new three year strategic plan in January 2020, which we will continue to implement over the next 3 years. The aim of St Benedict’s Senior and Junior Schools is to become the Independent and Catholic schools of choice in West London. We will achieve this by supporting all pupils to achieve their academic potential, and to enjoy a full co-curricular life, in a school which develops individual gifts and strengths. At St Bernard’s we aim to build upon the school’s high academic standards and to promote what we offer so that we increase enrolment at the school.

Andrew Johnson Headmaster

St Benedic School Ealing

St Benedict’s School Ealing

GOVERNORS’ REPORT

For the year ended 31[st] August 2020

The members of the St Benedicts School Ealing Board of Governors present their Annual Report for the year ended 31 August 2020 under the Charities Act 2011 and the Statement of Recommended Practice “Accounting and Reporting by Charities” SORP 2015 (FRS 102), second edition effective January 2019, including the Directors’ and Strategic Reports, under the Companies Act 2006, together with the audited financial statements for the year.

Governance Structure and Management

Structure

The charity’s objects, as set out in the Articles of Association, are to advance Roman Catholic education, and the Roman Catholic faith in particular, by running one or more independent schools in the charism of St Benedict and by ancillary religious and educational activities for the benefit of the community at large; and to support and promote the charitable purposes of the Ealing Monastic Community.

The School principally provides education to boys and girls from the ages of 3 to 18 in its three schools, St Benedict’s Junior School and Senior School in Ealing, and St Bernard’s Preparatory school in Slough. On 1[st] January 2019 St Benedict’s School acquired St Bernard’s Preparatory school from the Trustees of the Charity of the Bernadine sisters. The School admits baptised Roman Catholics as well as boys and girls of other Christian denominations and other faiths. Pupil numbers averaged 1,330 of which 775 were in Senior School and 303 Junior School, and 252 were in the Prep school. All the School’s activities are carried out through one legal body, which is a charitable company limited by guarantee. The school is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association, last amended on 6 December 2018.

The Directors, who are known as Governors, are required under the Articles to serve as members of the Company. As required by the Articles, one of the Governors is the Abbot of Ealing Abbey and two others are appointed by the Abbot. At least 75% of the Governors are required to be Roman Catholic. One third of the Governors (excluding the Abbot and his appointees) retire at each AGM and are eligible for re-election for consecutive periods not exceeding in aggregate twelve years from the date of their original appointment. There are 15 serving governors at 31[st] August 2020.

At appointment, new Governors are inducted into the workings of the School, including policies and procedures, by the Clerk to the Governors. Written information is provided by way of a Governor Handbook and Guidelines for Governors, drawn up by AGBIS (the Association of Governing Bodies of Independent Schools). Training courses are arranged with AGBIS. Training is also given in safeguarding and child protection. Regular training sessions are provided to keep Governors updated, a skills audit is carried out regularly and strategy days are held.

The Governors are legally responsible for the overall management and control of St Benedict’s School. They meet at least three times per year. The work of implementing most of their policies is carried out by a series of sub committees. These are as follows:

These are as follows:
Safeguarding	St Bernard’s Prep
Education	Scholarships and Bursaries
Finance & General Purposes	Health and Safety
Nominations (Governors)	Ethos

Safeguarding, Education, Finance & General Purposes, Health and Safety and St Bernard’s Prep Committees have their own terms of reference, meet at least termly in advance of the full Governing Body meeting and report to the full Governing Body. Members of senior management attend these meetings. The other three committees meet as required.

St Benedict’s School Ealing

St Benedict’s School is run by Mr A Johnson as Chief Executive. Mr Johnson, who joined the school on 1[st] September 2016, is also Headmaster of the Senior School. Mr R Simmons is Headmaster of the Junior School. He is responsible for day to day running of the Junior School and reports to Mr Johnson. Mr N Cheeseman is the Headmaster of the Preparatory School. He is responsible for the day to day running of the Preparatory School and reports to Mr Johnson. During the year, the Headmaster met regularly with the Chair of Governors, with the Bursar and with the Deputy Heads to facilitate the development and implementation of the strategy.

Staff and Volunteers

Inclusion is a thread which runs through all the School’s activities. In order to promote an environment within which the School can call upon the widest possible range of knowledge, skill and experience, the School’s policies facilitate the employment of disabled people and the provision, where appropriate, or training and career development. Were an employee to become disabled whilst in service, every effort would be made to retain them.

Governors place considerable importance on informing all staff of financial and other matters that affect them, consulting with them where appropriate. The Headmaster and the Junior School and Prep School Headmasters report the outcome of Governors’ meetings to staff through the School’s formal management structure. All other such matters are briefed to staff as they arise through regular staff meetings.

Key management personnel include Headteachers, Bursar and Deputy Heads. Remuneration is dependent on experience and is set by benchmarking pay for similar positions in other schools.

Many parents help as volunteers, particularly through the work of the Society of Parents and Friends (SPF) at St Benedict’s Junior and Senior School and through the work of Friends of the Preparatory School (FOPS) at St Bernard’s. Old Priorians, the former pupils of St Benedict’s Senior School, also give their time to assist the School. The School is very grateful to all its supporters.

Responsibilities

The Governors are responsible for preparing the Governors’ Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the Governors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the Governors have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law). Under company law the Governors must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the School and of the profit or loss of the School for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Governors are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

• observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;

• make judgments and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

• state whether applicable accounting standard have been followed subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;

• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the School will continue in business.

The Governors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the School’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the School and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, Companies Act 2006 and the Statement of Recommended Practice “Accounting and Reporting by Charities” SORP 2015 (FRS 102). They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the School and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

So far as each of the Governors is aware at the time the report is approved:

St Benedict’s School Ealing

• there is no relevant audit information of which the School's auditors are unaware; and

• the Governors have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditors are aware of that information.

Public Benefit

The Governors have complied with the duty in Section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit. The School is committed to ensuring that it is meeting its main aim and its charitable objective. During 2019-20, it has done so in a range of ways, as set out below.

St Benedict’s Senior and Junior School

Bursaries and Scholarships

This year the value of bursaries and scholarships made to the School’s pupils amounted to £977,289 (2019: £864,173). Scholarships provided amounted to £264,321 (2019: £249,013). The Governors’ policy, in line with that of other Independent Schools, is to make these awards on the basis of the individual’s educational potential. The remaining awards of £712,967 (2019: £615,161) were given as means-tested bursaries.

Supporting local maintained Schools

The School is committed to working with local maintained schools to support them in their own educational aims. It does this in a variety of ways, but notable examples include our partnership with Cardinal Wiseman in Greenford whose pupils may become members of the St Benedict’s CCF. There are currently around 25 Cardinal Wiseman pupils who are Cadets in the St Benedict’s CCF.

The School also provides experienced staff to help newer CCFs train their adult staff and their Cadets. This is in addition to the partnership with Cardinal Wiseman mentioned above.

Changing policies and Covid restrictions have made training Cardinal Wiseman Cadets difficult, yet the School has paid to insure the trips privately and is planning to send staff to Cardinal Wiseman to run separate training for pupils and staff, all voluntarily and at some cost to St Benedict’s.

MMR practice interviews for aspiring medics in December 2019 were opened up to pupils from St Augustine’s Priory and Sacred Heart, Hammersmith.

The School’s Careers Fair in February 2020 was opened up to pupils from Cardinal Wiseman, St Augustine’s Priory and Sacred Heart, Hammersmith.

The School, through its partnership with the world-renowned choral ensemble ‘Voces 8’, runs choral workshops and Abbey concert experiences for local school children (mainly from local maintained schools).

‘Voces 8’ trains some of the School’s talented musicians as ‘Young Leaders’ who are involved with the Gresham Centre’s outreach programme, with various maintained schools in London.

The School hosts the annual U18 Middlesex rugby sevens tournament as well as Junior School netball and cricket tournaments.

The School also performs at and provides financial support for local community events such as Pitshanger’s ‘Light up the Lane’ and ‘Party in the Park’.

Charity collections take place at various events in the Abbey such as remembrance concerts and carol services.

One teacher is a trustee of Ealing Choral Society, which is a registered charity offering bursaries to young members and discounts to those on limited income. Several thousand pounds is raised each year for a local charity via a Christmas Carol concert.

St Benedict’s School Ealing

One teacher is a trustee of Ealing Youth Orchestra and assists with the organisation and staffing of concerts.

The School supports Initial Teacher Training and, in 2017-18, became a member of the West London Teaching School Alliance (WLTSA), which is coordinated by Sacred Heart School, Hammersmith. St Benedict’s is the only independent School member of the WLTSA.

The School hosted a Greeks and Romans Day in November 2019, a Gifted and Talented Specialist Art Day in February 2020 and a Science Fair in March 2020 for local maintained primary schools. The annual Gifted and Talented Sports Day held in May was cancelled this year due to the coronavirus lockdown.

Members of the St Benedict’s teaching staff serve as Governors at Cardinal Wiseman Greenford, St. Joseph’s Primary School Hanwell and St. Mary’s Primary School Hammersmith. One member of staff is in the process of becoming a secondary school Governor for the Ealing Alternative Provision (EAP, which is an exclusion unit in old terms) run by Ealing Council.

One teacher teaches Latin to Year 5 and 6 pupils once a week at Holy Family Catholic Primary School in West Acton.

One of the School’s rugby coaches is a member of the Middlesex U16 coaching team. The School’s Head of Netball is the Head Coach for the Team Ealing London Youth Games U19 and U14 netball squads. Both of these positions are voluntary.

Offering use of the School’s facilities to local community groups

In addition to letting its facilities to various local sports clubs, the School also grants free use of its facilities to other charitable organisations, including Ealing Abbey and Parish and Met NW region of HCPT (a group which organises pilgrimages to Lourdes), which uses the School not only for meetings but also to host fundraising events. Even though the School has its own HCPT group, the staff and students involved are technically volunteers external to school.

The School is also used each Saturday during term time by the Tadeusz Kosciuzko Polish School. The School lets its facilities at heavily subsidised rates to this group, which welcomes approximately 500 pupils, who are members of the local Polish community.

As well as hosting the Polish School on Saturdays, the School is also the venue for meetings of Polish Scouts and Cubs. Two Polish volleyball clubs use the Sports Hall for training. One of these (Polonia) is of national standard.

External pupils attend fencing sessions at subsidised rates (restricted at present) . The School also funds the Ealing Youth Games fencing teams, the School Sports Hall is used for trials, and coaches volunteer their time to prepare the team.

Supporting local, national and international charities

The educational work of the School involves pupils and students engaging in various projects to promote and assist local, national and international charities. Despite many of the annual fundraising events not going ahead due to Covid, the School raised over £16,000 in support of charities in 2019-20. In addition to fundraising, the Lower Sixth Form Service programme also lends practical support to many local charities.

Students and staff at St Benedict’s made nearly 4,000 protective visors for frontline NHS staff, carers and key workers in Ealing and beyond, in response to the coronavirus crisis.

St. Benedict’s design technology teacher Mauricio Mendes, assisted by a team of Sixth Form volunteers, started to produce this essential PPE from mid-March 2020. The School received many requests for the visors, from hospitals, care homes and GP surgeries in West London, including West Middlesex University Hospital, Georgian House Nursing Home and Florence Road Surgery, Ealing. The visors were also distributed further afield, to care homes in

St Benedict’s School Ealing

Hertfordshire, Warwickshire and even North Wales, and to the Ealing police. St. Benedict’s staff came together to donate acetate.

The School’s St Vincent de Paul (SVP) societies are involved in a wide range of charitable fundraising throughout the year:

• Sixth Form pupils help at a local soup kitchen in Ealing – this is co-ordinated via the parish.

• The Sixth Form SVP hosted Christmas and summer senior citizen parties to which residents from local care homes are invited.

• A shoebox appeal was held for the homeless shelter, The Passage, asking for toiletries, warm clothes etc.

• The Middle School SVP raised funds for the WWF.

• The whole School took part in the Aid to the Church in Need ‘Red Wednesday’ fundraising day in aid of Christians in Sri Lanka.

• Over £3,000 for the Trussell Trust was raised during the coronavirus lockdown. Weekly collections continue to be held for the local foodbank.

• The School’s annual St Benedict’s Day fundraising was unfortunately cancelled due to the coronavirus lockdown. In 2019 funds were raised to help the charities Teenage Cancer Trust, Mary’s Meals, The Passage, Aid to the Church in Need and Papyrus.

Three of the School’s four houses organised charity days in the course of 2019-20, supporting guides and baggage handlers in Sri Lanka (in the wake of the Easter Sunday 2019 terrorist attacks), Young Minds and the Royal Brompton and Harefields Hospitals Charity. The other house’s charity day, in aid of St. Mungo’s, was postponed due to the coronavirus lockdown but will take place in October 2020.

The School’s ‘a cappella’ group the Pafties led a ‘Christmas Celebration’ event at St. John’s Church, Notting Hill in aid of Iraqi Christians in Need.

The School supports five local retirement homes (St. David’s, Kent Lodge, Acton Care Home, Torkington and Downhurst) through voluntary service. Students socialise and serve the elderly in the local community.

Throughout the year, various smaller fundraising events take place to raise funds for charities selected by the pupils themselves. During 2019-20, this included a Christmas jumper day. A day of fundraising for the Unique charity (rare chromosome disorders) had to be cancelled due the coronavirus lockdown.

The School’s Eco Club participates in annual Fairtrade Fortnight events and runs cake sales etc. to raise funds for outreach work. The School uses Ecosia as its search engine, and this helps to plant trees around the world.

The School has developed a significant link with the Foundation of Goodness, based in Hikkaduwa on the south coast of Sri Lanka. This charity has done incredible work to make a difference to the lives of extremely impoverished rural communities, especially in the wake of the 2004 Tsunami. St. Benedict’s has run three cricket tours to Sri Lanka since 2014, and on each tour students have visited the Foundation’s headquarters and spent an afternoon coaching and playing with local children who are beneficiaries of the project as well as presenting a donation (£7,000 in 2018). A further tour is planned for Easter 2022.

A planned cricket tour to India at Easter 2020 was cancelled due to coronavirus. However, the pupils who were due to tour still raised over £2,000 for the Armaan Charitable Trust, which provides aid and opportunities to litter pickers and their families and children

The ‘St. Benedict’s Hub’ (the second-hand uniform store) supports Porridge and Rice, a charity that helps children in the slums of Nairobi, providing meals and schooling, by supplying uniform and sports kit (a Sixth Form pupil also organised a book collection). It also donates rugby kit to a charity in Malawi and clothing to Acton Recycling Community.

Staff at St Benedict’s have supported charities in a range of other ways:

• Acting as Treasurer of the Northfields SVP.

St Benedict’s School Ealing

• Working as a volunteer teaching literacy for the Refugee Network.

• Working as a volunteer helping women and their children with literacy issues in a women’s domestic violence shelter.

• Taking part in a 10-kilometre race for Parkinsons UK and raising over £1,300.

• Volunteering as magistrates sitting in courts in Ealing and Uxbridge, and supporting the work of ‘Magistrates in the Community’, which helps to deliver the multi-agency workshop ‘Your Life, You Choose’ to Ealing Schools.

• Serving on the children’s liturgy team at Ealing Abbey on Sundays.

• Volunteering locally doing church flowers (curtailed during Covid) and at the Mary Portas Living and Giving charity shop in Ealing (curtailed during Covid) as well as supporting Mind Mental Health Charity and Shooting Star Children’s Hospice.

• Serving on the Parish Council of local church with special responsibility as the safeguarding representative.

• • Volunteering with ‘Mary’s Meals’ (collecting clothing from various parishes in and around London to raise funds).

• Being a volunteer driver for the local parish providing transport to Mass for elderly people.

• Assisting a blind man with his supermarket shopping in Brentford.

• Assisting the Salvation Army at Christmas, and volunteering for Crisis at Christmas.

• Volunteering with Ealing Churches Christian Night Shelter at Ealing Abbey.

St Bernard’s Prep School

This year the value of bursaries made to help support the School’s pupils amounted to £25,465.

At the Prep School, children are still given many opportunities to support others through prayer, fundraising and giving to others. The children support numerous charitable organisations.

In 2019/20, the Prep School supported CAFOD, Family Fast Day, The Children’s Society, Homeless Shelter, Link to Hope, Save the Children, Waves, and Langley Haven Dementia Home, raising a total of £1,398.60

In the Lent term, a CAFOD family breakfast was held. It was extremely well supported, with more families than ever taking part.

This year we re-established links with Sisters of St Paul, Slough – the whole of Year 3 took part and delivered a community Advent Service.

We were also asked to work with Our Lady of Peace Primary School to share our good practice with the creative teaching of RE.

We supported Holy Family Primary School with training, for them to offer Microsoft Teams remote learning for their pupils during the lockdown period.

Staff and pupils from Early Years continued to visit the elderly residents of Oxford House to spend time with one another and share their favourite books.

Local secondary school pupils continue to be welcomed, through the Education Business Partnership, to undertake valuable and meaningful work experience at the Prep school. Pupils from local feeder schools and more recently, from Universities and other Colleges, are also welcome to do Voluntary Service within the school.

Our Prep School minibus is loaned to local Catholic Schools when they need additional transport for their children.

Finally, the school always endeavours to make provision for families who may experience financial difficulty. During the Covid-19 lockdown period, all our families received a fee adjustment of 20% and the Early Years children received an additional 20% to help support them through a very difficult time.

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St Benedict’s School Ealing

Financial Review

The Covid pandemic had a significant impact on the School beginning with the requirement, by Government, to close the school completely for one half-term. Excellent education provision continued online and staff were largely able to continue their roles from home using the same software. The School took advantage of the Government Furlough scheme for those staff who were unable to continue their roles.

The school adjusted fees for the Trinity term in the form of a 20% reduction to recognise the difficult situation in which many parents found themselves. A sum was set aside for additional hardship provision and a rescue fund was launched whereby parents could donate money to help other parents who fell into financial difficulty.

Forecasts were re-worked to account for the impact of the measures taken and in light of the reduced cashflow some capital projects may be delayed by one to two years or remodelled to reduce costs. There is no requirement to adjust the reserves policy.

The School’s operating surplus to 31[st] August 2020 as shown on the Statement of Financial Activities was £814,498 (2019: £4,887,064 including £3,319,623 which represented the acquisition of St Bernard’s Preparatory School). Fees increased by 4.8% for the Senior School and 3.8% for the Junior School in 2019-20 and 3.8% for the Prep School.

The surplus this year has been affected by the the 20% adjustment on fees in the final term, however, very careful cost management and participation in the Furlough Scheme has ensured that the impact has been minimised as far as possible. The Cash Flow Statement shows a net increase in cash of £193,084.

Total reserves held at 31[st] August 2020 were £10,961,023 (2019: £10,146,526). The school currently has total unrestricted funds of £10,805,264 (2019: £10,112,510) split by general funds of £6,515,278 (2019: £5,803,715) and designated funds of £4,289,986 (2019: £4,308,795). Designated funds relates to the Land and Property Fund £4,289,986 (2019: £4,308,795). The Land and Property Fund is the value of land and property where property will depreciate at 2%.

The school has fixed assets of £17,441,113 (2019: £17,590,381). The increase in fixed assets during 2018-19 primarily related to the addition of £3,500,000 of land at the Prep School. The excess of fixed assets over unrestricted funds is £6,635,849 (2019: £7,477,871). The policy is to build up free reserves through annual surpluses in the coming years.

Reserves held at 31[st] August 2020 in restricted funds were £155,759 (2019: £34,016) mainly represented by the Bursary/Rescue Fund and Floodlight Appeal.

Reserves Policy

In drawing up their reserves policy the Governors have considered the following: the School’s activities, funding sources, future needs, opportunities, economic conditions, contingencies and the risks being faced. In view of the need to invest heavily in the Schools’ facilities, it is the Governors’ policy to maintain free, undesignated reserves of a minimum of one month’s expenditure. The policy has been reviewed in light of the Covid pandemic and Governors are satisfied that the policy meets the requirements of the School. The level of reserves held is monitored throughout the year through the use of monthly management accounts and termly meetings of the School’s Finance and General Purposes Committee.

Development

St Benedict’s School has a Development & Alumni Relations Office which has been in operation since September 2014. The Development & Alumni Relations Office is registered with the Fundraising Regulator and adheres to all fundraising codes of practice. It is staffed by a Development & Alumni Relations Director, who is a member of both CASE and IDPE, and a Development & Alumni Relations Officer. The office has a structured programme of fundraising events including an Annual Fund which seeks to support enhancing the materials and fabric of the school alongside Senior School Bursary fundraising. There have been no complaints made regarding the activity of the Development & Alumni Relations Office.

St Benedict’s School Ealing

The sixth year of the Development & Alumni Relations Office saw continued growth in key areas. Alumni Events; highlights included The Richard Baker Lecture Series (Endowed by Dr Francis Cuss, OP 1972), a first-ever “Behind the Scenes” invited audience event for a key School drama production; The Oxbridge Reunion Dinner and the St Benedict’s Careers Fair, which welcomed a large number key alumni supporting the event. Our alumni platform, St Benedict’s Connect, continues to go from strength to strength and now has over 900 members.

The fourth Annual fund programme was launched in October 2019 to support the installation of Floodlights at St Benedict’s Sports Fields and in support of Senior School Bursaries. Due to COVID-19, all fundraising was halted in March 2020, with the exception of a Rescue Fund, which was established to support current families facing financial difficulties. To date, the Rescue Fund has raised over £100,000. The Annual Fund 2020/21 will continue on from where we paused in March 2020. We continue to raise funds for the Bursary Programme and have had a successful Leavers’ Bursary appeal in 2020, which received excellent parental support.

Risk Management

The Governors have given consideration to the major risks to which the charity is exposed and satisfied themselves that systems or procedures are established in order to manage those risks. They have in place appropriate structures and procedures to assess risk. A “Risk Register” assists the process of identifying risks and controls, assessing risks and evaluating actions required. Whilst Governors have responsibility for identifying risks, senior staff play a key role in assisting in drawing up the risk register. The risk register for each category of risk sets out the following:

• The key risks

• Their expected impact and probability

• The controls in place to manage those risks

• The lead officer responsible for those controls

• The mechanism by which the controls are monitored

• The areas where the controls need to be strengthened or further action taken.

Sub committees of the Governing Board review those sections of the risk register delegated by the Board of Governors, as set down in the Risk Management Strategy.

The highest priority risks identified by the Governors and not related to the Covid pandemic were:

1. Lower pupil numbers lead to a reduction in our surplus.

2. Additional cost of employer contribution to Teachers’ Pensions leads to a reduction in our surplus, and so reduces capacity for spend on facilities and T&L.

3. Difficulty in recruiting good quality teachers (especially in key shortage subjects).

The risks will be mitigated as follows:

1. Pupil, and prospective pupil, numbers and information are regularly analysed and this information influences the marketing strategy which drives all marketing activity. Continued improvements in academic achievement also contribute to our marketing message.The strategy ensures publicity, advertising and events are appropriately targeted so that numbers of pupils applying are at a sufficient level.

2. We conduct robust financial modelling to include such scenarios and discuss actions to be taken if any of these events were to occur. We will exercise appropriate caution on capital spending.

3. The School produces a high quality recruitment pack and ensure terms and conditions offered to employees are favourable. The School supports new teacher training and is a member of the West London Teaching School Alliance.

The highest risks as a result of the Covid pandemic were:

1. Reduction in pupil numbers due to effect of Covid on affordability.

2. Risk of infection in school. Risk of illness amongst staff and closure of all or parts of our school.

3. Government guidelines impose restrictions which affect our ability to operate.

St Benedict’s School Ealing

The risks will be mitigated as follows:

1. The School will ensure any fee increases are reasonable. Support mechanisms have been put in place for existing parents whose financial circumstances have changed in the form of delayed payments and a hardship fund. A rescue fund has been put in place to provide additional funding.

2. The School has produced a Covid policy and Risk assessment. The Health and Safety Officer and senior teams have reviewed government guidelines and requirements and put systems in place to mitigate risks as far as possible. There have been other risk assessments including for vulnerable staff. New catering and cleaning procedures have been produced. Additional measures are in place such as staff temperature checking as they arrive on site.

3. A quality remote learning provision is in place so that education can continue for those children isolating and if the premises had to be closed again. The School will ensure that all communications with parents are clear.

The Governors approved the Governors’ Report, including the Strategic Report, on 26 November 2020 and signed on their behalf by

Jonathan Berger Chair of Governors

St Benedict’s School Ealing

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

For the year ended 31[st] August 2020

		Unrestricted	Restricted	Total	Total
		Funds	Funds	2020	2019
INCOME FROM:	Note	£	£	£	£
Charitable activities
Fees	3	16,846,949	-	16,846,949	16,830,392
Other academic income	4	1,356,941	-	1,356,941	1,285,598
Other educational income	5	529,898	-	529,898	729,074
Donations
Transfer of assets in respect of St	10
Bernard’s Preparatory School			-		3,319,623
Other donations and grants	6	463,548	265,518	729,066	406,891
Other trading activities
Lettings income		128,956	-	128,956	235,123
Bank interest		2,196	-	2,196	12
		-----------------------	---------------------	---------------------	---------------------
Total Income		19,328,488	265,518	19,594,006	22,806,713
		-----------------------	---------------------	---------------------	---------------------
EXPENDITURE ON:	7
Charitable activities:
Teaching		13,156,134	-	13,156,134	12,022,554
Establishment		3,224,450	143,775	3,368,225	3,517,173
Welfare		468,581	-	468,581	468,875
Administration		1,786,569	-	1,786,569	1,826,398
		-----------------------	---------------------	-----------------------	-----------------------
Total Expenditure		18,635,734	143,775	18,779,509	17,835,000
		------------------------	---------------------	-----------------------	-----------------------
Net income / (expenditure)	2	692,754	121,743	814,497	4,971,713
Pension provision movement		-	-	-	(84,649)
		------------------------	---------------------	-----------------------	-----------------------
Net movement in funds		692,754	121,743	814,497	4,887,064
Total funds at 1 September 2019		10,112,510	34,016	10,146,526	5,259,462
		---------------------	---------------------	---------------------	---------------------
Total funds at 31 August 2020		10,805,264	155,759	10,961,023	10,146,526
		==========	==========	==========	==========

CONTINUING OPERATIONS

The School acquired St Bernard’s Preparatory School on 1 January 2019. None of the School’s activities were discontinued during the year.

TOTAL RECOGNISED GAINS AND LOSSES

The School has no recognised gains or losses other than the surplus for the current period.

Details of comparative figures by fund are disclosed in note 20.

St Benedict’s School Ealing

BALANCE SHEET

Company Number: 08093330

For the year ended 31[st] August 2020

			2020		2019
	Notes	£	£	£	£
FIXED ASSETS
Tangible fixed assets	9		17,441,113		17,590,381
CURRENT ASSETS
Stock		15,064			3,746
Debtors	11	319,777		291,987
Cash at bank and in hand		1,698,373		1,505,289
		--------------------		--------------------
		2,033,214		1,801,022
CREDITORS:amounts falling due
within one year	12	(3,235,806)		(4,204,860)
		--------------------		--------------------
NET CURRENT LIABILITIES			(1,202,592)		(2,403,838)
			---------------------		---------------------
TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT			16,238,521		15,186,543
LIABILITIES
CREDITORS:amounts falling due
after more than one year	13		(5,277,498)		(5,040,017)
			---------------------		---------------------
NET ASSETS			10,961,023		10,146,526
			==========		==========
FUNDS
Unrestricted funds	14a
General			6,515,278		5,803,715
Designated			4,289,986		4,308,795
			---------------------		---------------------
			10,805,264		10,112,510
Restricted funds	14b		155,759		34,016
			---------------------		---------------------
TOTAL FUNDS	15		10,961,023		10,146,526
			==========		==========

The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Governors on 26 November 2020 and were signed below on its behalf by:

Jonathan Berger Chair of Governors

St Benedict’s School Ealing

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

For the year ended 31[st] August 2020

	2020			2019
	£	£	£	£
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by operating activities		780,601		4,154,760
Cash flows from investing activities:
Interest received	2,196			12
Purchase of tangible fixed assets	(417,414)		(390,031)
	---------------------		---------------------
Net cash used in investing activities		(415,218)		(390,019)
Cash flows from financing activities
Repayment of bank loan		(172,299)		(4,061,786)
		---------------------		---------------------
Change in cash and cash equivalents		193,084		(297,045)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of
the reporting period		1,505,289		1,802,334
		---------------------		---------------------
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the reporting period		1,698,373		1,505,289
		==========		===========
RECONCILIATION OF NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE) TO
NET CASH FLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES		2020		2019
		£		£
Net income/(expenditure) for the reporting per (as per the Statement of Financial Activities)		814,497		4,887,064
Adjustments for:
Transfer of land from St Bernard’s Prep School		-		(3,500,000)
Depreciation		566,682		473,447
(Increase)/decrease in stock		(11,318)		(325)
Decrease/(increase) in debtors		(27,790)		72,558
(Decrease)/Increase in creditors		(559,274)		2,222,028
Interest received		(2,196)		(12)
		---------------------		---------------------
Net cash provided by operating activities		780,601		4,154,760
		==========		==========
ANALYSIS OF CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
		2020		2019
		£		£
Cash in hand and at bank		1,698,373		1,505,289
		---------------------		---------------------
Total cash and cash equivalents		1,698,373		1,505,289
		==========		===========

St Benedict’s School Ealing

ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN NET DEBT
	At 1		At
	September	Cash flows	31 August
	2019		2020
	£'000	£'000	£'000
Cash and cash equivalents
Cash	1,505,289	193,084	1,698,373
Overdrafts	-	-	-
Cash equivalents	-	-
			-
	---------------------	---------------------	---------------------
	1,505,289	193,084	1,698,373
Borrowings
Debt due within one year	(230,640)	-	(230,640)
Debt due after one year	(1,662,400)	172,299	(1,490,101)
Finance lease obligations	-	-	-
	---------------------	---------------------	--------------------
	(1,893,040)	172,299	(1,720,741)
	---------------------	---------------------	---------------------
	(387,751)	365,383	(22,368)
Total	==========	===========	==========

17

St Benedict’s School Ealing

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

For the year ended 31[st] August 2020

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102), the Companies Act 2006 and the Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) – second edition effective 1[st] January 2019.

The functional currency of the School is considered to be GBP because that is the currency of the primary economic environment in which the School operates. The School is a Public Benefit Entity registered as a charity in England and Wales and a company limited by guarantee (company number: 08093330 and charity number: 1148512). The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, subject to the revaluation of certain fixed assets.

Going Concern

Governors have discussed the additional risks arising due to the Covid pandemic, and have reviewed the associated plans put in place to mitigate those risks. Revised budgets have been prepared to reflect the changes arising and these have been reviewed and approved. Governors have also reviewed the funding facilities available to the School together with the expected ongoing demand for places and the School’s future projected cash flows. The Governors have a reasonable expectation that the School has adequate resources to continue its activities for the foreseeable future and consider that there were no material uncertainties over the School’s financial viability. Accordingly, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements as outlined in the Statement of Accounting and Reporting Responsibilities on page 6.

Critical accounting judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty

In the application of the accounting policies, Governors are required to make judgement, estimates, and assumptions about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and underlying assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised if the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods if the revision affected current and future periods.

Judgements made by the Governors, in the application of these accounting policies that have significant effect on the financial statements and estimates with a significant risk of material adjustment in the next year are deemed to be in relation to the depreciation rates of tangible fixed assets and are discussed below.

In the view of the Governors, no assumptions concerning the future or estimation uncertainty affecting assets or liabilities at the balance sheet date are likely to result in a material adjustment to their carrying amounts in the next financial year.

Income

Fees receivable and other fees are accounted for in the period in which the service is provided. Fees receivable represent fees less bursaries and allowances and other income derived from the school’s continuing activities. Fundraising and other income is accounted for when entitlement arises, the amount can be reliably quantified and the economic benefit to the School is considered probable.

St Benedict’s School Ealing

Expenditure

Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and are recognised when there is a legal or constructive obligation to pay for expenditure.

All costs have been attributed to the functional categories of resources expended in the Statement of Financial Activities. The School is not registered for VAT and accordingly expenditure is included gross of irrecoverable VAT.

Governance costs comprise the costs of running the charity, including strategic planning for its future development, external audit, any legal advice for the School’s Governors, and all the costs of complying with constitutional and statutory requirements, such as costs of Board and Committee meetings and of preparing statutory accounts and satisfying public accountability.

Tangible fixed assets

Tangible assets, except the freehold property, are stated at cost less depreciation.

Depreciation is provided on all tangible fixed assets other than freehold land, at rates calculated to write off the cost less their estimated residual value of each asset over its expected useful life, as follows:

Freehold building	- 2% on cost
Motor vehicles	- 20% on cost
Furniture, fittings and equipment	- 33.3% on cost
Property improvements	- 20% on cost

Individual items costing less than £2,000 are normally written off as an expense on acquisition.

Stock

Stock is stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value. Stock reflects umbrellas and catering supplies.

Financial instruments

Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at amortised with the exception of investments which are held at fair value. Financial assets held amortised cost comprise cash at bank and in hand, together with trade and other debtors. A specific provision is made for debts for which recoverability is in doubt. Cash at bank and in hand is defined as all cash held in instant access bank accounts and used as working capital. Financial liabilities held at amortised cost comprise all creditors except social security and other taxes and provisions.

Debtors

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

Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments.

Creditors and provisions

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

Pensions

The Teachers’ Pension Scheme - This scheme is a multi-employer pension scheme. It is not possible to identify the School’s share of the underlying assets and liabilities of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme on a consistent and reasonable basis and therefore, as required by FRS102, accounts for the scheme as if it were a defined

St Benedict’s School Ealing

Pensions (continued)

contribution scheme. The School’s contributions, which are in accordance with the recommendations of the Government Actuary, are charged in the period in which the salaries to which they relate are payable.

The School also operates a defined contributory group personal pension schemes for non-teaching staff.

Operating lease commitments

The rentals payable under operating leases are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) on a straight line basis over the lease term.

Fund accounting

Funds held by the charity are:

Unrestricted funds – these are funds which can be used in accordance with the charitable objects at the discretion of the Governors.

Designated funds – these are unrestricted funds marked by the Board of Governors for particular purposes.

Restricted funds – these are funds that can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Further explanation of the nature and purpose of the restricted funds is included in note 13b to the accounts.

2.	NET INCOME	2020	2019
		£	£
	Net income is stated after charging
	Depreciation of owned tangible fixed assets	566,683	473,447
	Auditor’s remuneration – audit services	18,720	17,100
	Operating leases – buildings	495,371	492,819
	– equipment	74,760	92,483
		========	========
3.	FEES RECEIVABLE
		2020	2019
		£	£
	Fees receivable consist of:
	Gross fees	18,904,625	18,854,846
	Less: Bursaries, scholarships	(977,289)	(875,116)
	Less: Other awards	(1,080,387)	(1,149,338)
		------------------------	------------------------
		16,846,949	16,830,392
		===========	===========
4.	OTHER ACADEMIC INCOME	2020	2019
		£	£
	Examination fees	98,361	107,895
	Registration fees	38,150	33,300
	Extras	1,009,628	958,914
	Other Income	210,802	185,489
		----------------------	----------------------
		1,356,941	1,285,598
		==========	==========

St Benedict’s School Ealing

5.	OTHER EDUCATIONAL INCOME	2020	2019
		£	£
	Catering	505,135	697,132
	Minibus	24,763	29,040
	Other Income	-	2,902
		----------------	----------------
		529,898	729,074
		========	========
6.	OTHER DONATIONS AND GRANTS	2020	2019
		£	£
	Donations	265,518	406,891
	Grant	463,548	-
		----------------	----------------
		729,066	406,891
		========	========

Grant Income in 2020 represents income from the Government Furlough Scheme.

7.	EXPENDITURE
		Staff costs	Depreciation	Other costs	2020	2019
		£	£	£	£	£
	Charitable Activities:
	Teaching	11,458,175	-	1,697,959	13,156,134	12,022,554
	Establishment	788,756	566,682	2,012,787	3,368,225	3,517,173
	Welfare	334,732	-	133,849	468,581	468,875
	Support and
	Administration	1,462,516	-	324,052	1,786,569	1,826,398
		---------------------	---------------------	----------------------	----------------------	----------------------
		14,044,179	566,682	4,168,647	18,779,509	17,835,000
		==========	==========	==========	===========	===========
	Prior Year comparative:
		Staff costs	Depreciation	Other costs	2019	2018
		£	£	£	£	£
	Charitable Activities:
	Teaching	10,232,743	-	1,789,811	12,022,554	10,916,696
	Establishment	749,718	473,447	2,294,008	3,517,173	3,259,442
	Welfare	329,409	-	139,466	468,875	328,777
	Support and
	Administration	1,436,050	-	390,348	1,826,398	1,701,530
		---------------------	---------------------	----------------------	----------------------	----------------------
		12,747,920	473,447	4,613,633	17,835,000	16,206,445
		==========	==========	==========	===========	===========

Included within support and administration costs above are governance costs of £19,675 (2019: £17,513) in respect of auditors’ remuneration, governing body expenses and legal fees.

		St Benedict’s	School Ealing
8.	PARTICULARS OF EMPLOYEES	2020	2019
		No.	No.
	The average persons employed by the School
	during the year was:
	Education	257	248
	Administration and domestic	119	128
		-------------	-------------
		376	376
8.	PARTICULARS OF EMPLOYEES (continued)	2020	2019
	Their total remuneration was:	£	£
	Wages and salaries	11,195,046	10,460,345
	Social security costs	1,076,114	1,015,665
	Other pension costs	1,773,021	1,271,910
		------------------------	------------------------
		14,044,181	12,747,920
		===========	===========
	The number of staff with emoluments within the following ranges were:
		2020	2019
		No.	No.
	£60,000 - £69,999	9	8
	£70,000 - £79,999	3	3
	£80,000 - £89,999	2	2
	£90,000 - £99,999	1	1
	£100,000 - £109,999	1	1
	£140,000 - £154,999	1	1
		=====	=====

The total remuneration of key management personnel during the year was £848,032 (2019: £779,568).

The School made defined benefit pension contributions of £105,489 (2019: £75,915) in the year in respect of the 6 higher paid employees above.

There were no termination payments made in the year. (2019: £42,367).

GOVERNORS’ REMUNERTION AND REIMBURSED EXPENSES

None of the Governors received any form of remuneration (2019: none). None of the Governors claimed for travel expenses during the year (2019: none).

9. TAXATION

St Benedict’s School Ealing is a registered charity and is not liable to taxation.

St Benedict’s School Ealing

10. TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

	Freehold	Furniture	Property	New	Motor	Total
	Land and	fittings and	Improve-	Buildings	vehicles
	Property	equipment	ments
	£	£	£	£	£	£
Cost or valuation
At 1 September 2019	4,440,459	1,221,385	642,633	13,479,290	181,017	19,964,784
Additions at cost	-	169,229	261,029	(12,844)	-	417,414
Disposals	-	(33,044)	-	-	-	(33,044)
	-------------------	-----------------	--------------------	--------------------	--------------------	--------------------
At 31 August 2020	4,440,459	1,357,570	903,662	13,466,446	181,017	20,349,154
	-------------------	------------------	--------------------	--------------------	--------------------	--------------------
Depreciation
At 1 September 2019	131,664	1,004,765	331,310	791,309	115,355	2,374,403
Charge for the year	18,809	156,536	90,476	279,600	21,261	566,682
Disposals	-	(33,044)	-	-	-	(33,044)
	----------------	----------------	-----------------	-----------------	----------------	-------------------
At 31 August 2020	150,473	1,128,257	421,786	1,070,909	136,616	2,908,041
	-----------------	----------------	----------------	----------------	---------------	------------------
Net Book Value
At 31 August 2020	4,289,986	229,313	481,876	12,395,537	44,401	17,441,113
	========	==========	========	========	========	==========
At 31 August 2019	4,308,795	216,620	311,323	12,687,981	65,662	17,590,381
	========	==========	========	========	========	==========

On 1 January 2019 the School acquired St Bernard’s Preparatory School for a total consideration of £1,500,000. The following table summarises the fair value of the asset acquired at acquisition.

Tangible Assets Debtors and Prepayments Convent current accounts Cash at bank and in hand Trade creditors and deferred income Accruals and sundry creditors Total Purchase consideration Purchase consideration in cash Purchase consideration - deferred Costs incurred on purchase Surplus arising from acquisition	Fair value £ 3,500,000 35,848 55,026 1,309,099 (256,158) (41,256)
	4,602,559
	50,000 1,203,838 29,098 3,319,623
	4,602,559

St Benedict’s School Ealing

11. DEBTORS

			2020	2019
			£	£
		Unpaid fees and miscellaneous debtors	13,522	6,512
		Prepayments and accrued income	237,659	210,517
		Other debtors	68,596	74,958
			-------------------	-------------------
			319,777	291,987
			=========	=========
	12.	CREDITORS: amounts falling due within one year	2020	2019
			£	£
		Trade creditors	331,601	314,573
		Fees received in advance and deposits held	839,417	1,690,017
		Bank Loan	230,640	230,640
		Other taxation and social security	239,004	330,506
		Other creditors	829,789	741,398
		Pension deficit payments	55,489	53,209
		Accruals	609,866	744,517
		Amounts due to the Trustees of the Charity of the Bernadine Sisters	100,000	100,000
			---------------------	---------------------
			3,235,806	4,204,860
			===========	===========
13.		CREDITORS: amounts falling due after more than one year	2020	2019
			£	£
		Bank loan	1,490,101	1,662,400
		Pension deficit payments	525,540	533,628
		Fees received in advance and deposits held	2,160,008	1,698,151
		Deposit Holding	66,000	42,000
		Amounts due to the Trustees of the Charity of the Bernadine Sisters	1,035,849	1,103,838
			------------------	------------------
			5,277,498	5,040,017
			========	========

In 2018-19 the School renewed its loan with Allied Irish Bank set up to fund the new Junior School building, the Ark. The previous loan facility taken in 2016 was for £7.5m. The School has been able to pay back a significant proportion of this loan and therefore the renewal facility, agreed in July 2019, was for £2m, secured by a fixed and floating charge on the school and its buildings. Interest will be charged at 2.15% above base rate with the loan to be repaid or renegotiated after a term of 5 years.

On 1 January 2019 the School acquired St Bernard’s Preparatory School from the Charity of the Bernadine Sisters for £1,500,000 repayable in 30 instalments of £50,000 over a 15 year period. The first payment was made on acquisition, with subsequent instalments due twice a year on 30 September and 31 March. The net present value of this liability at 31 August 2020 is £1,135,849 which has been split between creditors due in less than one year and creditors due in more than one year accordingly. (2019: £1,203,838).

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14a. UNRESTRICTED FUNDS

	Brought			Movements	Carried
	forward at			in pension	forward at
	1 September			provision &	31 August
	2019	Income	Expenditure	Transfers	2020
	£	£	£	£	£
General funds	5,803,715	19,328,488	(18,635,734)	18,809	6,515,278
	-------------------	-------------------	---------------------	---------------------	-------------------
Designated funds
Land and Property	4,308,795	-	-	(18,809)	4,289,986
Fund
	-------------------	-------------------	---------------------	---------------------	-------------------
	4,308,795			(18,809)	4,289,986
	---------------------	-------------------	----------------------	---------------------	---------------------
	10,112,510	19,328,488	(18,635,734)	-	10,805,264
	==========	=========	===========	==========	==========

Land and Property Fund

The land and property fund represents the net book value of the School’s freehold land and property. A decision was made to separate this fund from the general fund in recognition of the fact that the freehold property is used to provide accommodation for staff and the fund value would not be easily realisable if needed to meet future contingencies. On the acquisition of St Bernard’s £3.5m of land was recognised in this fund.

Prior Year Comparative:

	Brought			Movements	Carried
	forward at			in pension	forward at
	1 September			provision &	31 August
	2018	Income	Expenditure	Transfers	2019
	£	£	£	£	£
General funds	3,936,348	19,139,534	(17,206,327)	(65,840)	5,803,715
	-------------------	-------------------	---------------------	---------------------	-------------------
Fowler Bursary Fund	8,911	-	(8,911)	-	-
Fowler leaving	5,000	-	(5,000)	-	-
award
Land and Property	827,604	3,500,000	-	(18,809)	4,308,795
Fund
	-------------------	-------------------	---------------------	---------------------	-------------------
	841,515	3,500,000	(13,911)	(18,809)	4,308,795
	---------------------	-------------------	----------------------	---------------------	---------------------
	4,777,863	22,639,534	(17,220,238)	(84,649)	10,112,510
	==========	=========	===========	==========	==========

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14a. UNRESTRICTED FUNDS (continued)

Fowler Bursary Fund

This fund represents monies set aside in memory of a former teacher at the School to provide bursaries for pupils. This fund was used to fund bursaries.

Fowler Leaving Award

This fund comprises monies to be used towards the purchase of leaving awards and prizes to pupils at the School. This fund was used to purchase prizes during the academic year 2018-19.

14b.	RESTRICTED FUNDS	Brought				Carried
		Forward on				forward at
		September				31 August
		2019	Income	Expenditure	Transfers	2020
		£	£	£	£	£
	Bursary Appeal	18,000	196,848	(127,417)	-	87,431
	Science Garden and Pond	2,885	200	-	5,893	8,978
	Annual Giving 2017-18	11,733	-	(5,840)	(5,893)	-
	Annual Giving 2019-20	-	49,374	(10,518)	648	39,504
	OPA Headmasters Fund	750	1,000	-	-	1,750
	Perivale	648	-	-	(648)	-
	Drama	-	294	-	-	294
	Richard Baker Lecture Series	-	12,593	-	-	12,593
	Sloboda Music	-	5,209	-	-	5,209
		------------------	------------------	------------------	------------------	------------------
		34,016	265,518	(143,775)	-	155,759
		=========	=========	=========	=========	=========

Bursary Appeal

This fund comprises monies to be used for the provision of bursaries for talented academic, sporting and musical pupils. In 2020 it also includes the Rescue Fund set up to support those families seeking hardship support due to the pandemic.

Science Garden and Pond

This fund incorporates monies donated by the Gulamhuseinwala family in memory of a former pupil and to be used for a science pond (£3,085). It also includes monies raised in the annual giving 2017-18 for a science garden and pond (£5,893). From 2020 these funds have been amalgamated.

Annual Giving 2017-18

This fund relates to the annual giving programme 2017-18 and funds have been used for specific projects at the school. Remaining funds were spent in 2019-20 as follows: Drama video camera £2,000, Computing – robots, raspberry Pi equipment £3,873. £5,893 has been transferred to the Science Garden and Pond fund.

Annual Giving 2019-20

This fund comprises annual giving monies received in 2019-20. Monies spent in the year included: landscaping, benches, laser printer for the Art Department and donations to create PPE for various settings including hospitals and care homes

Perivale Fund

This fund comprises monies raised through banner sales at the playing fields and is restricted to sports field improvements. These funds have been moved to the Floodlight fund (Annual Giving 2019-20).

St Benedict’s School Ealing

14b. RESTRICTED FUNDS (continued)

OPA Headmaster’s Fund

This fund relates to an annual donation from the Old Priorians’ Association for the Headmaster to award to pupil(s) for a specific project or educational experience.

Drama

Fund for drama equipment.

Richard Baker Lecture Series

Monies donated to fund a series of lectures by a former pupil who was inspired by Richard Baker.

Sloboda Music

Funds donated for music activities including concerts.

Prior Year Comparative:

ar Comparative:
RESTRICTED FUNDS	Brought			Carried
	Forward on			forward at
	1 September			31 August
	2018	Income	Expenditure	2019
	£	£	£	£
Bursary Appeal	409,903	106,035	(497,938)	18,000
Gulamhuseinwala Science Pond	2,685	200	-	2,885
Funds for Nominated Prizes	4,499	-	(4,499)	-
Perivale Fund	648	-	-	648
Annual Giving 2017-18	63,864	-	(52,131)	11,733
Annual Giving 2018-19	-	45,626	(45,626)	-
War Memorial	-	14,318	(14,318)	-
OPA Headmasters Fund	-	1000	(250)	750
	------------------	------------------	------------------	------------------
	481,599	167,179	(614,762)	34,016
	=========	=========	=========	=========

Funds for Nominated Prizes

This fund comprises monies to be used towards the provision of school prizes. This fund was used to purchase prizes during the academic year 2018-19.

Annual Giving 2018-19

This fund relates to the annual giving programme and funds were used for specific projects at the school. Funds raised in 2018-19 were used for a landscaping project.

War Memorial

This fund relates to monies raised for the new war memorial commissioned for the centenary of the end of the First World War.

St Benedict’s School Ealing

15. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS

	Tangible	Other assets/	Total	Total
	Fixed assets	(liabilities)	2020	2019
	£	£	£	£
Restricted funds	-	155,759	155,759	34,016
Unrestricted funds
General funds	13,151,127	(6,635,849)	6,515,278	5,803,715
Designated funds	4,289,986	-	4,289,986	4,308,795
	-------------------	----------------------	---------------------	---------------------
	17,441,113	(6,480,090)	10,961,023	10,146,526
	=========	==========	==========	==========
Prior Year Comparative:
	Tangible	Other assets/	Total	Total
	Fixed assets	(liabilities)	2019	2018
	£	£	£	£
Restricted funds	-	34,016	34,016	481,599
Unrestricted funds
General funds	13,281,586	(7,477,871)	5,803,715	3,936,348
Designated funds	4,308,795	-	4,308,795	841,515
	-------------------	----------------------	---------------------	---------------------
	17,590,381	(7,443,855)	10,146,526	5,259,462
	=========	==========	==========	==========

16. PENSION COSTS

(a) Teachers’ Pension Scheme

The School participates in the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (“the TPS”) for its teaching staff. The pension charge for the year includes contributions payable to the TPS of £1,502,653 (2019: £1,049,450) and at the year-end £20,387 (2019 - £17,451) was accrued in respect of contributions to this scheme.

The TPS is an unfunded multi-employer defined benefits pension scheme governed by The Teachers’ Pensions Regulations 2010 (as amended) and The Teachers’ Pension Scheme Regulations 2014 (as amended). Members contribute on a “pay as you go” basis with contributions from members and the employer being credited to the Exchequer. Retirement and other pension benefits are paid by public funds provided by Parliament.

The employer contribution rate is set by the Secretary of State following scheme valuations undertaken by the Government Actuary’s Department. The most recent actuarial valuation of the TPS was prepared as at 31 March 2016 and the Valuation Report, which was published in March 2019, confirmed that the employer contribution rate for the TPS would increase from 16.4% to 23.6% from 1 September 2019. Employers are also required to pay a scheme administration levy of 0.08% giving a total employer contribution rate of 23.68%.

The 31 March 2016 Valuation Report was prepared in accordance with the benefits set out in the scheme regulations and under the approach specified in the Directions, as they applied at 5 March 2019. However, the assumptions were considered and set by the Department for Education prior to the ruling in the ‘McCloud/Sargeant case’. This case has required the courts to consider cases regarding the implementation of the 2015 reforms to Public Service Pensions including the Teachers’ Pensions.

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16. PENSION COSTS (continued)

On 27 June 2019 the Supreme Court denied the government permission to appeal the Court of Appeal’s judgment that transitional provisions introduced to the reformed pension schemes in 2015 gave rise to unlawful age discrimination. The government is respecting the Court’s decision and has said it will engage fully with the Employment Tribunal as well as employer and member representatives to agree how the discriminations will be remedied. A consultation was launched by the government on 16 July 2020, and closed to responses on 11 October 2020.

(b) Support Staff Pension Scheme

The School runs four defined contribution schemes including two auto enrolment schemes for its teaching and nonteaching staff who are not in a final salary scheme. The cost for the year of the School’s contributions was £228,741 (2019: £207,729).

(c) Former Support Staff Pension Scheme

The company previously participated in The Independent Schools’ Pension Scheme (‘the Scheme’), the scheme was closed to future accruals on 30[th] September 2018. The scheme is a multi-employer scheme run by The Pensions Trust which provides benefits to some 66 non-associated employers. The scheme is a defined benefit scheme in the UK. It is not possible for the company to obtain sufficient information to enable it to account for the scheme as a defined benefit scheme, therefore it accounts for the scheme as a defined contribution scheme.

The scheme is subject to the funding legislation outlined in the Pensions Act 2004 which came into force on 30 December 2005. This, together with documents issued by the Pensions Regulator and Technical Actuarial Standards issued by the Financial Reporting Council, set out the framework for funding defined benefit occupational pension schemes in the UK.

The scheme is classified as a 'last-man standing arrangement'. Therefore the company is potentially liable for other participating employers' obligations if those employers are unable to meet their share of the scheme deficit following withdrawal from the scheme. Participating employers are legally required to meet their share of the scheme deficit on an annuity purchase basis on withdrawal from the scheme.

A full actuarial valuation for the scheme was carried out with an effective date of 30 September 2017. This actuarial valuation was certified on 27 December 2018 and showed assets of £149.4m, liabilities of £187.6m and a deficit of £38.2m. To eliminate this funding shortfall, the trustees and the participating employers have agreed that additional contributions will be paid, in combination from all employers, to the scheme as follows:

Deficit contributions

£2,387,357 per annum From 1 September 2019 to 30 April 2030: (payable monthly and increasing by 3% on each 1[st] September)

Note that the scheme’s previous valuation was carried out with an effective date of 30 September 2014. This valuation showed assets of £110.0m, liabilities of £147.4m and a deficit of £37.4m. To eliminate this funding shortfall, the Trustees had asked the participating employers to pay additional contributions to the scheme as follows:

Deficit contributions

£2,341,000 per annum From 1 September 2016 to 31 August 2029: (payable monthly and increasing by 3% on each 1[st] September)

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St Benedict’s School Ealing

The recovery plan contributions are allocated to each participating employer in line with their estimated share of the scheme liabilities. Where the scheme is in deficit and where the company has agreed to a deficit funding arrangement the company recognises a liability for this obligation. The liability at 31[st] August 2020 is £580,345. From 2019-20 the amount is recognised at the net present value of the deficit reduction contributions payable under the agreement that relates to the deficit. The present value is calculated using the discount rate 0.9% provided by the Pensions Trust and represents a discount of £24,097. The discount rate is the equivalent single discount rate which, when used to discount the future recovery plan contributions due, would give the same results as using a full AA corporate bond yield curve to discount the same recovery plan contributions. The unwinding of the discount rate will be recognised as a finance cost.

The deficit contribution paid by the School during the year was £53,209 (2019: £46,595)

17. OPERATING LEASE COMMITMENTS

At 31 August 2020 the School had total commitments under non-cancellable operating leases payable as follows:

	Land &		Land &
	Buildings	Other	Buildings	Other
	2020	2020	2019	2019
	£	£	£	£
Within one year	482,135	74,711	494,764	74,711
Between two and five years	1,902,312	161,874	2,044,838	287,648
More than 5 years	104,367	-	155,982	-
	------------------	-----------------	------------------	-----------------
	2,488,814	236,585	2,695,584	362,359
	=========	=========	==========	========

Operating lease commitments have been calculated at current rates and will be updated annually for RPIs as per the contracts.

18. SHARE CAPITAL AND CONTROLLING PARTY

The School is limited by guarantee and therefore has no share capital. The liability of the members in the event of a winding up is £1 each. No one member has overall control of the School.

19. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

Other than those disclosed in note 7, there are no other related party transactions in the current or preceding year.

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St Benedict’s School Ealing

20. PRIOR YEAR COMPARATIVES BY FUND

		Unrestricted	Restricted	Total
		Funds	Funds	2019
INCOME FROM:	Note	£	£	£
Charitable activities
Fees	3	16,830,392	-	16,830,392
Other academic income	4	1,285,598	-	1,285,598
Other educational income	5	729,074	-	729,074
Donations
Transfer of assets in respect of St	9
Bernard’s Preparatory School		3,319,623	-	3,319,623
Other donations		239,712	167,179	406,891
Other trading activities
Lettings income		235,123	-	235,123
Bank interest		12	-	12
		-----------------------	---------------------	---------------------
Total Income		22,639,534	167,179	22,806,713
		-----------------------	---------------------	---------------------
EXPENDITURE ON:	6
Charitable activities:
Teaching		12,022,554	-	12,022,554
Establishment		2,902,411	614,762	3,517,173
Welfare		468,875	-	468,875
Administration		1,826,398	-	1,826,398
		-----------------------	---------------------	-----------------------
Total Expenditure		17,220,238	614,762	17,835,000
		------------------------	---------------------	-----------------------
Net income / (expenditure)	2	5,419,296	(447,583)	4,971,713
Pension provision movement		(84,649)	-	(84,649)
		------------------------	---------------------	-----------------------
Net movement in funds		5,334,647	(447,583)	4,887,064
Total funds at 1 September 2018		4,777,863	481,599	5,259,462
		---------------------	---------------------	---------------------
Total funds at 31 August 2019		10,112,510	34,016	10,146,526
		==========	==========	==========

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St Benedict’s School Ealing

GOVERNING BODY

For the year ended 31[st] August 2020

GOVERNORS

The Governors are both charity trustees and directors of St Benedict’s School Ealing. They have all served in office throughout the period except where indicated.

Governors

Mr Jonathan Berger (Chair of Governors from 1[st] September 2018) Mr Mike Ainslie Ms Mary Boyle Ms Marian Doyle Ms Mary Edis Dr Philip Hopley Mr Paul Keyte Mr Mark Leonard Dom Ambrose McCambridge Mr Patrick Murphy-O'Connor Ms Liz Pilgrim Abbot Dominic Taylor Mr Brian Taylor Ms Susan Vale Mr Jonathan Walsh

Headmasters

Mr A Johnson (Chief Executive and Head of St Benedict’s Senior School) Mr R G Simmons (Head of St Benedict’s Junior School) Mr N Cheeseman (Head of St Bernard’s Preparatory School)

Clerk to the Governors and Bursar

Ms C Bedwin

Company number 08093330 Registered charity number 1148512 Registered Office 54 Eaton Rise, Ealing, London, W5 2ES Email address [e-mail] Website www.stbenedicts.org.uk

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St Benedict’s School Ealing

ADVISERS

For the year ended 31[st] August 2020

Bankers

Barclays Bank Onslow Hall Little Green Richmond Surrey TW9 1QS

HSBC PO Box 260 46 The Broadway Ealing London W5 5JR

Allied Irish Bank Ealing Cross 85 Uxbridge Road Ealing W5 5TH

Solicitors

Veale Wasbrough Vizards Orchard Court Orchard Lane Bristol BS1 5WS

Weightmans LLP 100 Old Hall Street Liverpool Merseryside L3 9QJ

Auditor

Haysmacintyre LLP 10 Queen Street Place London EC4R 1AG

Insurance Brokers D E Ford (Insurance Brokers) Limited Poppleton Grange Low Poppleton Lane York YO2 6AZ

33

St Benedict’s School Ealing

REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT AUDITORS

TO THE GOVERNORS OF ST BENEDICT’S SCHOOL EALING

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of St Benedict’s School Ealing for the year ended 31 August 2020 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, Balance Sheet, the Statement of Cash Flows and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

• give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company’s affairs as at 31 August 2020 and of the charitable company’s net movement in funds, including the income and expenditure, for the year then ended;

• have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and

• have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

Basis for opinion

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

Responsibilities of governors’ for the financial statements

As explained more fully in the governors’ responsibilities statement set out on page 6, the governors (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the governors 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 governors 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.

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.

Conclusions relating to going concern

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the ISAs (UK) require us to report to you where:

34

St Benedict’s School Ealing

• the governors’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is not appropriate; or

• the governors have not disclosed in the financial statements any identified material uncertainties that may cast significant doubt about the charitable company’s ability to continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting for a period of at least twelve months from the date when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Other information

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

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

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

• the information given in the Governors’ Report (which includes the strategic report and the directors’ report prepared for the purposes of company law) for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and

• the strategic report and the directors’ report included within the Governors’ Report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

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

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

• adequate accounting records have not been kept by the charitable company; or

• the charitable company financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

• certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or

• we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit

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.

Lee Stokes (Senior Statutory Auditor)	10 Queen Street Place
For and on behalf of Haysmacintyre LLP,	London
Statutory Auditors Date: 2 February 2021	EC4R 1AG

St Benedict’S School a m i n i m i s i n c i p e

Ealing ● London ● W5 2ES ● 020 8862 2000