## DECSY DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION CENTRE SOUTH YORKSHIRE EDUCATION FOR A JUST AND SUSTAINABLE WORLD Charitable Incorporated Organisation no: 1153377 ## Annual Report 2023 **Global Learning Resources, Advice, Training, Support** ## **Development Education Centre South Yorkshire 2023 Annual Report** The Development Education Centre South Yorkshire (DECSY) (Charitable Incorporated Organisation No. 1153377) works with teachers and others involved in education, promoting a global perspective in the curriculum. The Centre’s work focuses on building an understanding of the interdependence between global issues and people’s own lives. Using active learning methods, based on enquiry into issues and ideas, DECSY aims to help people to develop the skills and commitment to work together to bring about a more just and sustainable world. The Centre also works to promote a positive attitude towards diversity. DECSY is aware that many groups and individuals within society are discriminated against, and aims to promote effective equal opportunities in all its work. We take pride in our loan resources, which are researched, vetted and updated regularly by our specialist staff. They include items such as our Global Objects Collections which are not easily found elsewhere. In 2023, DECSY continued to settle in to new working practices. Post-pandemic, much of the work remains online, with staff largely home-based but meeting regularly in person. The office down-sizing process had ongoing implications for the Resource Centre, with ‘weeding’ and rationalising of both files and resources helping to keep the space tidy, accessible and user-friendly. The Resource Centre has seen parallel trends with those mentioned in this report regarding take-up of training courses. There are fewer visitors, fewer loans and reduced sales. However, we still have much to offer, including a wealth of useful free resources. Scotia Works remains the ‘hub’ of our operations and we hope that members will remember that, even in these days of virtual experiences, we can provide a range of stimulating, attractive teaching resources. ## **DECSY Resource Centre, Scotia Works** The Resource Centre is open from 10.30am to 5.30pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays during term time. There are over 2,000 titles in stock, including: photo-packs, DVDs, fiction and non-fiction books, posters and games, for early years, primary, secondary, further education, and for youth and community work. Almost every school curriculum area is represented. There is also a Global Objects Collections service, and staff can offer assistance in finding human resources in the form of artists/educators from countries of the ‘South’. Centre Staff can offer specialist advice on resources for teaching about citizenship, distant places, development, human rights, peace, environmental and equal opportunities issues, community cohesion, gender equality and Philosophy for Children. ## **Free Membership** Group membership or individual user membership of DECSY helps the Centre to plan ahead to meet users’ needs and entitles you to many benefits including: - free loan of Global collections/Early Years boxes - free loan of books, CDs, DVDs and teaching packs - tailor-made resource listings put together by experienced staff - free introductory session at Scotia Works (20 at a time) - newsletter and information on projects and courses - book ordering service from major publishers - chance to hold an ‘Away Day’ for staff at Scotia Works (subject to availability) The Centre would be delighted to hear from individuals who wish to support DECSY through donations. Please contact the DECSY office for details. 2 **DECSY Annual Report 2023** ## **2023 Highlights** ## **Welcome to Angharad Morgan** We were delighted to welcome Angharad to the staff team in July 2023 as the Gender Action Programme Coordinator (part time). Angharad is based in Newcastle and is also a secondary social science teacher. She is also completing a PhD in Education and Social Justice at Lancaster University. _‘Joining the Gender Action Programme has given me the opportunity to work with a passionate and knowledgeable team to tackle gender inequity in schools. It has been fantastic to meet so many educators and organisations who want to drive change to support their students. I am looking forward to continuing to grow the programme over the next year.’_ **Sheffield Hallam University PGCE Students Diversity Training Day** We had great feedback from our latest Diversity Day training: _‘The Diversity Day was very useful. It helped me to put myself into my students’ shoes.’_ _‘Interesting and informative – I’m embarrassingly ignorant of some of the issues in education when looking at diversity. Eye-opening session!’_ Linked In: DECSY – Development Education Centre South Yorkshire Facebook: Development Education Centre South Yorkshire – DECSY X: @dec_sy Instagram: decsy_globallearning ## **Our wonderful volunteers** Yao Xie, long-term volunteer, with Rob Unwin and Jane Anderson A very big thank you to all those who have given their time to DECSY this year, helping with finance, social media and fundraising, including Joy Paul, who stepped down as a trustee this year after 30 Joy Paul, years of service. Thankfully she volunteer and remains a volunteer. former trustee ## **Schools’ Climate Education South Yorkshire (SCESY) conference** SCESY supports students, teachers and schools on their climate education journey, and as a SCESY partner we were delighted to be involved in the third schools conference. Pupils and teachers from 13 Primary and 7 Secondary schools joined together for the day to talk and learn about sustainability activities that they can bring into their schools. ## **Philosophy for Children Level 1 training for schools** Due to generous support from funders, we have been able to train all teachers in five local schools at Philosophy for Children Level 1, with five more lined up for training in 2024. We thank the following: Ganton Educational Trust, Sheffield Bluecoat and Mount Pleasant Foundation, James Neill Trust, Church Burgesses Foundation, People’s Postcode Lottery. |**Contents**
**Page**| |---| |**Training Work .............................................................................................. 4**| |**Project Work ................................................................................................ 5**| |**Executive Committee Report ...................................................................... 9**| |**Financial Summary ...................................................................................... 10**| |**Staff ............................................................................................................. 10**| |**Trustees ....................................................................................................... 10**| |**Acknowledgements ..................................................................................... 11**| 3 **DECSY Annual Report 2023** ## **Training Work** Participants on a Philosophy for Children training course at Scotia Works ## **Global Learning Courses** This year we delivered 40 Global Learning training sessions to nearly 900 teachers, trainee teachers, school governors and university researchers. Our direct delivery to pupils remained similar to 2022 levels, at 350. Our indirect reach to pupils is significantly higher as teachers take their training into the classroom for years to come. ## _**‘A really insightful and engaging workshop that will help build on best practice.’** (Anti-Racist Education course feedback)_ Over the last few years we have been having to rethink how we connect with teachers with regards to global learning training. Direct feedback to us and from other training providers shows that school budgets are preventing teachers from attending training. We are considering the option of offering CPD on Saturdays as this means schools would not have to pay supply cover. In 2023, the majority of our training income came from local funders covering the course costs for five P4C Level 1 whole-school training sessions, and from staff delivering nine national SAPERE P4C courses (mostly online). Our Associate Trainer, Sarah Ahmed, also delivered two Anti-Racist Education twilight sessions. ## **Sheffield Hallam Uni Diversity Days** DECSY organised and ran the Diversity Days for all 162 SHU postgraduate Secondary trainees for the eighth year running. DECSY staff and Associate Trainers were again involved. Both days were evaluated very positively with words most often chosen to describe the course including: ‘Inspiring’, ‘Useful’, ‘Practical’, ‘Interesting.’ DECSY staff and Sarah Ahmed also ran workshops on Diversity Scenarios for all the SHU Secondary trainees (220) as part of an English as an Additional Language (EAL) day. Unfortunately, at short notice due to budget concerns, SHU cancelled DECSY’s involvement with the diversity training segment on the university’s PGCE course in the 23/24 academic year. DECSY’s input and expertise over the last eight years was favourably noted by the Dean. Indeed, when asked in the SHU PG Secondary Exit Survey to respond to the statement: ‘My training has developed my understanding of teaching learners from a range of ethnic backgrounds’, responses that ‘Strongly agreed’ or ‘Agreed’ were 54% in 2013/14 (before DECSY was involved), 75% in 2015/16 (when DECSY started helping the programme) and 98% in 2022/23. SHU and DECSY hope to continue some form of partnership, including engaging Future Now student volunteers with DECSY. ## _**‘We had discussions that people would usually shy away from... The openness of conversations was vastly beneficial.’** (SHU Teacher Trainee, January 2023)_ ## **Sustainability CPD** As part of a series of online CPD sessions for Learn Sheffield, DECSY delivered the final session on ‘Community’ in January 2023. The course is ‘A Whole-School Approach to Climate Change: The Four Cs (Culture, Curriculum, Campus & Community)’. These aimed to support Sheffield teachers to be confident to teach about the climate emergency. The Learn Sheffield sessions usually had 15-plus schools signing up but only three or four turning up on the day, even though they pay Learn Sheffield to access CPD. According to Learn Sheffield this is happening across the board with CPD. The Whole-School Approach was also delivered, covering all 4Cs, as a one-day course in November, with the first five places allocated free using funding to promote outdoor learning from the Nineveh Trust. There was input from Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust on how to develop nature-friendly schools, with the offer of half a day of free advice. There was also input from OASES (Outdoor and Sustainability Education Specialists, based in Durham) on using their Climate Friendly Schools programme which DECSY is now a partner in promoting. Five attended this session, three of whom were School Business Managers (SBMs). DECSY is now looking to develop a course aimed at SBMs. 4 **DECSY Annual Report 2023** ## **Training Work continued** ## **Philosophy for Global Citizenship** In 2023, DECSY delivered Philosophy for Children (P4C) training to around 250 teachers and trainees. There were two open Level 1 courses, three Level 2a courses and one Level 2b course, mostly run through SAPERE. In addition to this, DECSY delivered wholeschool training to Hucklow Primary, Norton Primary, Abbeyfield Primary, Sharrow Primary and Mundella Primary in Sheffield. We have continued to receive funding to allow us to offer whole-school training at a reduced rate – if you are an interested local school please do get in touch. DECSY continued to offer support to Littlecoates Primary in Grimsby, who were awarded SAPERE Bronze level in April, and to Deans Primary (previously a control school for a research project looking at the benefits of P4C). Following online training, DECSY responded to a special request from a school in London to support them through the Going for Gold programme. A P4C workshop was offered again to SHU secondary PGCE students on their Diversity day run by DECSY in January. This was also delivered to SHU’s School Direct students. P4C was used with many classes of primary and secondary children in the Linking Project. We conducted a small sustainability project in collaboration with SHU, ‘Just NetZ’, using P4C to examine sustainability issues with 30 KS2 pupils at Herringthorpe Primary in Rotherham. We continue to be a part of Think Together Sheffield and work closely with SAPERE, the umbrella organisation for P4C. We participate in their P4C Development Group, and contributed to the development of the new SAPERE modular Level 1 course which all three trainers are now qualified to run. We also contributed a P4C and Gender Equality workshop to the SAPERE annual conference. Feedback from 2023 training courses included: ‘Rob did a wonderful job. Engaging, encouraging. A model for the programme.’ ‘Professional, knowledgeable, supportive and approachable.’ Over 90% said the course was relevant to their work and that they would recommend it to others. ## _**‘Rob was fantastic – he led the sessions really well and helped push my thinking as a P4C facilitator forward.’**_ _(P4C course participant, 2023)_ ## **Project Work** ## **Networking** DECSY contributed to the Consortium of DECs, now renamed The Global Learning Network (TGLN), by holding one of the Director positions. An in-person event was held in the summer and an online AGM and workshops in the autumn. The Network has been working with others to develop and promote a ‘Case for Global Learning’ in the run-up to the next general election. DECSY continued to work with Schools’ Climate Education South Yorkshire (SCESY), the local consortium of organisations and teachers. SCESY put on their third conference in March, the first held face-to-face, at Victoria Hall, Sheffield. The places for 20 schools filled up within two weeks. Over 200 pupils and 40 teachers attended. We ran a workshop on Community with Thom Winterbotham from Learn Sheffield to get schools thinking about how to engage their whole-school community. DECSY also had a stall at the event. DECSY continued to attend Our Shared World (OSW) meetings and support TEESNet (Teacher Education for Equity and Sustainability Network) Steering Group through online meetings. ## **Gender Action** In February, the Gender Action programme started again in earnest after DECSY received funding from Mission 44 (founded by Sir Lewis Hamilton to build a fairer, more inclusive future in which every young person can thrive). The programme supports schools to develop and implement action plans for whole-school change in gender equity, moving through four programme levels: Supporter, Initiator, Champion, Beacon. We appointed a Gender Action Programme Co-ordinator, Angharad Morgan, who began the role in July 2023. Angharad is a secondary social science teacher in Newcastle who is completing her PhD in Education and Social Justice at Lancaster University. She is 5 **DECSY Annual Report 2023** ## **continued Project Work** Clive Belgeonne attending the Stemettes round-table event also the Vice-Chair of the National Women’s Organising forum at the National Education Union. She now splits her time between teaching and Gender Action. We are also pleased to welcome Rachel Whitehouse to the volunteer team. Rachel is an MA student at Sheffield University and has been using her fantastic skills to help us with our social media campaigns. During the summer months, the Gender Action team spent time building networks with organisations interested in working with Gender Action or with similar initiatives. This led to discussions with organisations such as ‘End Sexism in Schools’ and UK Feminista. We have also fostered strong working relationships with Stemettes and NCFE (a charity working in vocational and technical learning). NCFE have been hugely supportive, publishing our blog in November 2023 and distributing our campaign materials at National conferences and events. Stemettes invited us to attend their roundtable in Birmingham – part of a series of events to produce a White Paper about STEM learning and inclusion. Alongside this, we attended a series of conferences, including the Women’s Equality Party conference, CoDEC (Consortium of DECs – now The Global Learning Network), ACT (Association of Citizenship Teachers) and UCET (Universities’ Council for the Education of Teachers). We have been given the opportunity by the Chartered College of Teaching to be part of their series of webinars in Spring term 2024. We have set up briefing sessions for schools to learn more about the GA programme. 15 schools attended sessions in 2023 and we also created a briefing video for our website to further advertise the programme. School support continues with our Initiator level training sessions. Since May 2023, we have run four training blocks with 12 different schools. We have had some fantastic feedback from these training programmes, with educators emphasising that they enjoyed meeting fellow educators from across the country and learning about unfamiliar concepts (e.g. intersectionality). We have also run two networking sessions which have enabled educators to share best practice and meet others involved in the programme. We are pleased to have had over 30 supporters sign up in the past year, with five schools awarded Initiator status. These five schools have worked hard to demonstrate gender equality commitment through action plans and have worked closely with us to ensure maximum success as they begin to gather evidence. We are currently in the process of working with eight different schools who are busy creating their action plans. It is encouraging to see how many strong and innovative ideas are being created to suit the different needs of schools. This is particularly significant as we are currently working with five nurseries in London. It is interesting to see how their challenges differ from those of other settings and we look forward to supporting them along the way. Two particular schools have stood out: Pitmaston school in Worcestershire and King Edward IV school in Southampton. These schools have been awarded Champion status, which means that they have created an action plan to cover all six areas of our whole-school approach. They will be supported over the next year to achieve Beacon Status. We are looking forward to visiting the schools to see some of the amazing work they have done. We are working closely with our steering group to ensure that those schools reaching Beacon status are fully supported. We have regular meetings with our Steering Group, which comprises the founders of Gender Action (The Institute of Physics, Kings College, London, University College London and the University College of Modern Languages). We also have quarterly meetings with Mission 44, our funders, who have set us targets to achieve for the number of schools at different levels of the award during the academic year 2023/24. They are very pleased with our progress to date. 6 **DECSY Annual Report 2023** ## **continued** ## **Non-Violent Action: A Force for Change (NVAFC)** Using underspend from the project budget plus a small grant from Edith Ellis Trust, we were able, in 2023, to continue to disseminate the project materials. We achieved the ACT (Association of Citizenship Teaching) Quality Mark for the lesson plans and guidance, subject to a few additions, which we implemented. We were also able to improve some of the lessons, based on classroom experience and new information relating to the case studies. Furthermore we: • updated web links in lessons and examples of contemporary movements for change • added detailed Citizenship curriculum links to each lesson (as part of ACT Quality Mark) • included safeguarding advice in the guidance (as part of ACT Quality Mark) • developed a new case study on AntiApartheid in South Africa. We attended many conferences and other events: • Development Education Research Centre June 2023 online session: ‘Taking action in the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme.’ NVAFC materials were recommended by main speaker, Laura Griffin. Attended by over 100 educators from across the world. • UKLA (UK Literacy Association) conference, June: Paper presented on NVAFC. • ACT conference, June, for teachers and teacher educators: Workshop on NVAFC sustainability-related case studies. • Philosophy for Children (P4C) Advanced Seminar, January: presentation on NVAFC with teachers and academics. • CRESST Peer Mediation Conference, June: workshops with Y6 peer mediators (40 in total) using NVAFC lessons on non-violence. ## Conference exhibitions: - Historical Association conference, May - NEU conference, April (1600 delegates) Peace Education Network stall - UKLA conference, June (230 delegates) - ACT conference, June An independent evaluation was carried out and is published in full on the DECSY website here: www.decsy.org.uk/wp-content/ uploads/2020/12/NVAFC-Evaluation-Report.pdf ## **ACT Quality Mark** The ACT Quality Mark was obtained in June 2023 with the following endorsement: _‘The Non-Violent Action: A Force for Change resources provide a comprehensive introduction for younger pupils and students to different forms of non-violent protest and campaigning. The high-quality content includes a range of different case studies and lessons that explore interesting examples of action on a range of issues in different countries and contexts. Appropriate teaching strategies and pedagogies should help engage students with the issues and approaches to making change. Teachers will also find the ‘Resource Guidance’ and pathway through lessons helpful in knowing where to get started in using the resources.’_ We published an article on NVAFC in the ACT journal on ‘Conflict’ in Autumn 2022 and a teacher reviewed the lessons in the same journal. We had over 1,500 lesson plan downloads from the DECSY website and over 800 from the TES website. We will continue to keep the lessons live for the foreseeable future and invite any feedback from anyone using them. ## **CRESST** Rob Unwin continues to be seconded two days a week as Programme Director for CRESST, a charity which developed around 20 years ago out of a Helen Griffin DECSY project which supports conflict delivering a Non-violent resolution for young people, by young Action people, in schools. 2023 saw the staging of workshop at the first peer mediators’ conference since the the CRESST pandemic and work with 18 schools reaching Schools conference well over 1000 pupils and 100 teachers. Five schools (91 pupils in total) attended the conference and a film was made of the event. The CRESST team described the day as ‘aspirational’ in terms of providing young people with a vision of mediation in the wider world: the Lord Mayor (who was described as both ‘funny and informative’) 7 **DECSY Annual Report 2023** ## **continued Project Work** gave the example of the Council Chamber and guest speaker, Amrik Kandola (described by one headteacher as ‘very inspirational’), talked about mediation in the commercial world. The SHU venue provided a glimpse of a university. The conference enabled meeting and sharing experiences and ideas with peer mediators from other schools, which boosted confidence and feeling valued as a peer mediator. 75% of the 12 attending teachers rated the experience of the conference as ‘excellent’ with the other 25% all rating it as ‘good’, (the second highest rating). Pupils said things like ‘This is brilliant’ and ‘I’ve had a fantastic day!’ This year, data from 150 pupils from nine primary schools showed a statistically significant improvement in: pupils’ understanding of conflict; how it affects them; how good they are at listening to others’ problems; and how confident they feel, Schools Linking Project teachers at following peer mediation training, in helping a twilight training young people to sort out their problems. session at DECSY Primary teachers have said: _’Peer mediation is going really well here. It was lovely to see their responses after they had supported their first mediations.’ ‘Peer mediation has helped reduce low-level conflict in our school’. ‘There is daily positive evidence that it is working.’_ Pupils feedback includes: ‘I’ve learnt to be more patient and listen more.’ ## _**‘It’s nice to see children leave with a smile on their face when we’ve helped them.’** (CRESST pupil peer mediator feedback)_ ## **Schools Linking Programme** With funding from The Linking Network, DECSY continues to support schools across Sheffield and Rotherham to establish and sustain links with classes from other schools which serve contrasting demographics. Around 18 classes have been participating in links through the year, involving the sending and receiving of classwork, questions and answers, the holding of video meet-ups and in-person meet-ups around the themes of identity, diversity and how to live well together. There A meeting of was greater engagement by secondary Schools Linking schools wishing to develop links between Project pupils at a neutral venue pupils within their academy chains. Extra funding from local trusts, for school coach hire and activity session costs, enabled schools to participate in meetings and visits. The funders are: Sheffield Town Trust, Sheffield Grammar Schools Exhibition Foundation, Charles and Elsie Sykes Trust, Scurrah Wainwright Foundation, Pears Foundation. This included engaging visits to The Graves Art Gallery followed by philosophical enquiries involving pupils from Yewlands and Hinde House and five schools from the Wickersley Partnership Trust. Pairs or fours of pupils from both linked schools went around each gallery room choosing pieces of interest, making notes of their emotional responses and trying to identify some of the concepts or big ideas involved. Pupils then took part in Philosophy for Children enquiries. Projected images of art work that was of particular interest to them were used as stimuli to help them to build on their big ideas to generate enquiry questions. The democratically-chosen questions were then explored with the help of experienced facilitators. Some of the questions focused on the topic of art (e.g. ‘What makes art, art?’) while others considered questions around slavery and its effect on our lives today. In some cases pupils were able to get a deeper understanding of each others’ perspectives through this activity. Over 400 pupils and their teachers benefitted from the funding through being able to participate in shared in-person activity days (either neutral venue or visiting each others’ schools). In nearly all cases, pupils who took part were from schools with a much greater than national average percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals. 8 **DECSY Annual Report 2023** The contrasting demographics of the pairs of classes are illustrated, for example, by big differences between the pairs of schools in the percentage of non-white British pupils, or those with English as an Additional Language. Pupils spoke about how valuable it was to get to know people from different backgrounds. ‘I’ve learnt that lots of people have, like, different lifestyles and like different things but, like, people are, like, very similar when you get to know them.’ ## _**‘What I liked best was meeting new people from different schools.’** (Sheffield Schools Linking Pupil, 2023)_ ## **Just Netz** DECSY developed this project – a Just Transition to Net Zero – with DECSY Associate Trainer, Rosie Carnall, and two researchers from SHU who want to look at marginalised voices in climate change decision-making. School pupils represent a marginalised group. We ran a session at Herringthorpe Junior School in Rotherham with a group of Year seven pupils. They all visited tables with activities around travel, buildings and food, thinking about how these issues might be more sustainable in the future. They then thought of questions raised by these activities and chose one which was discussed using a P4C framework. At the end, pupils were invited to consider what this means for their school. The session was recorded by the researchers and their findings and recommendations will be produced in 2024. We will devise another set of activities to run with secondary pupils later this academic year. ## **Climate Fresk Training Day** DECSY staff were part of a group put together by SCESY to experience and then become trainers in ‘Climate Fresk’. This is an interactive workshop based on a set of cards developed from the latest climate science that teaches people about our changing climate system and empowers them to take high-impact climate action. Those trained will run workshops at the SCESY conference in February 2024. ## **Executive Committee Report** If you read our report last year, you will remember that, going into 2023, DECSY was feeling more hopeful for its future, having received a substantial grant for its Gender Action work. It has been exciting to see the progress of this project during the year, and to welcome Angharad, our new team member, to work on it. It is wonderful as usual to read of all the successes in terms of projects and training as described in this report. The trustees are extremely grateful to Rob, Clive, Helen, Jane and Angharad for their commitment and enthusiasm, and all their hard work on behalf of DECSY. As always, I am also hugely appreciative of all DECSY’s trustees and volunteers, who give their time so willingly for the benefit of the organisation. As well as our regular online meetings, we had two opportunities to meet in person this year – for the AGM and our annual away day. At the AGM we were sad to lose Paul Mosley and Joy Paul as trustees. We are grateful for all they contributed over many years, and are pleased that Joy has continued to be involved as a volunteer. In July, we were also sorry to lose Marie Lowe, with her teaching experience and valuable connections to Sheffield education networks. However, we were delighted to welcome Chris Winter as a new trustee, who brings considerable expertise and skill. We have continued to benefit from the advice of our HR adviser, John Gilbert, although he had to step back owing to ill health for part of the year, and from the advice and meticulous work of Brian Kerslake as Treasurer. Brian, Jane (staff member) and Ryan Scully (volunteer) have together ensured trustees have a clear and up-to-date view of finances at all times, which has been invaluable for an organisation working within such tight budgets. In summary, we are proud of the achievements of 2023 and look forward to our 40th anniversary year in 2024. The hard work and commitment of the team at DECSY is never in doubt – but we remain uncertain about our longer-term financial future. We look to all our supporters to ensure we can continue our work in global learning – work that becomes ever more important to our society and our world. Olwen Lintern-Smyth Chair of Executive Committee 9 **DECSY Annual Report 2023** ## **Financial Summary** The Executive Committee considers the financial outcome for the year and the financial position at the year end to be acceptable. Full details are set out in the separate document: Statement of Accounts 2023 and in particular, the Statement of Financial Activities and the Balance Sheet. The former statement reveals an excess of expenditure over income in Unrestricted Funds of £2,243 over the year. This is a considerable improvement on the position at the end of 2022 (a deficit of £24,061). Both the Finance Committee and the full Executive have continued to monitor the financial position over the course of the year, and the final position is close to what had been expected. Obviously there has still been a reduction in the Unrestricted Funds held at the end of 2023 as compared to the end of 2022, as shown in the following table. The balance of Restricted Funds has however increased reflecting some slippage in the spending of funds allocated to particular Projects. These funds will now be spent in 2024. ||Unrestricted
(CORE) Funds|Designated
Reserves|Total
Unrestricted
Funds|Restricted
Funds|Total Funds| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |**2023**|£39,476|£51,000|£90,476|£13,279|£103,755| |**2022**|£46,719|£46,000|£92,719|£6,863|£99,582| DECSY has policies in place to address the major financial risks identified by the Trustees. The Reserves Policy aims to have, at the end of each financial year, sufficient funds to cover 3 months’ normal expenditure together with funding to meet estimated statutory redundancy payments for all staff. The Total Unrestricted Funds figure at 31 December 2023 meets this requirement. The Executive Committee is grateful for donations from individuals and local organisations and for their continuing support for DECSY’s core work. The Committee is also grateful to the many organisations providing funding for current projects and continues to support staff in their ongoing search for additional sources of funding to support and expand the range of projects. |**Trustees**|**Staff**|| |---|---|---| |**2023 Honorary Offcers**|**Paid Workers**|| |Olwen Lintern-Smyth
Chair,|Clive Belgeonne|Global Education Advisor| |Executive Committee||Gender Action Consultant| |Paul Highfeld
Vice Chair|Helen Griffn
|Global Education Advisor| |Mary Stead
Secretary||Gender Action| |||Programme Manager| |**Executive Committee Members**|Rob Unwin
|Global Education Advisor| |Marie Lowe (up until July 2023), Donald|Jane Anderson|Administrator and| |McLean, Paul Mosley (up until April 2023),||Fundraising Manager| |Joy Paul (up until April 2023), Cheryl Smart,|Angharad Morgan|Gender Action| |Alison Twells, and Christine Winter (from May
2023), and the Honorary Offcers listed above.||Programme Co-ordinator| All trustees are elected at the AGM or co-opted during the year by the Executive Committee. **Associate Trainers** Sarah Ahmed, Linda Barker, Rosie Carnall, Ann Dawson, Kate Halliwell, Sara Nobili-Park ## **Volunteers** **Treasurer:** Brian Kerslake **HR Consultant:** John Gilbert Hamza Aamir, Libby Bull, Erin Hodnett, Milly Richards, Ryan Scully, Nina Timashilova, Rachel Whitehouse, Millie Wilson, Yao Xie ## **Sheffield University Placement students** Chenxi Huang, Beth Keller, Pavathy Nair Lathakumari 10 **DECSY Annual Report 2023** ## **Acknowledgements** ## **The trustees acknowledge with gratitude the financial support of many organisations and individuals, which enables the work of the Centre to continue.** ## **Funding for specific pieces of work has been received from:** Charles and Elsie Sykes Trust Church Burgesses Foundation Ganton Educational Trust Edith Ellis Trust James Neill Trust Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust The Linking Network Mission 44 Nineveh Charitable Trust Pears Foundation People’s Postcode Lottery Scurrah Wainwright Foundation Sheffield Bluecoat and Mount Pleasant Fdn Sheffield Grammar Schools Exhibition Fdn Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Town Trust Thanks to all the schools, Sheffield and Rotherham Local Authorities and the two Sheffield Universities which have worked with DECSY and to all our other partners including: The Global Learning Network; Llama Digital; People4Print; SAPERE Front cover photographs: (Clockwise from top): teacher and pupils at SCESY Climate conference; pupils meeting at a Schools Linking Programme day; Schools Linking Programme teachers support session; pupils at a Schools Linking Programme day. ## **Funding towards the essential core work of the Centre, which provides the basis for all our other activities, has been gratefully received from:** Sheffield Town Trust Covenants and donations have been gratefully received from many individuals and Global Justice Sheffield, in support of the core work of the Centre. **We are also extremely grateful for professional services from:** Voluntary Action Sheffield Community Accountancy Service White Rose Accounting for Charities ## **Finally to the many people who have supported the Centre and its activities throughout the year – Thank you.** Back cover photographs: (Clockwise from top): pupils at a Schools Linking Programme day; Clive Belgeonne at the Stemettes conference, London; Schools Linking Programme secondary schools meeting; Schools Linking Programme primary schools meeting Photographs (Clockwise from Top Left); Schools Linking Programme teachers support session; Climate Fresk training weekend at Scotia Works; DECSY trustee Cheryl Smart at the DECSY stall during the SCESY schools conference; Clive Belgeone promoting Gender Action at a conference 11 **DECSY Annual Report 2023** **Development Education Centre South Yorkshire** Scotia Works Leadmill Road Sheffield S1 4SE Tel: (0114) 2412750 Email: info@decsy.org.uk Website: www.decsy.org.uk Charitable Incorporated Organisation Registration Number 1153377 DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION CENTRE SOUTH YORKSHIRE Accounts for the Year Ended st 31 December 2023 Contents Lègal and Administrative DetaÈls Trustee5 Report Independent Examiners Report Statement of Financial Activities Balance Sheet Notes to the Accounts Notes io li Appendix I Le al and Admsnistrative Details The Development Education Centre South Yorkshire was originally established in 1984 and was registered with the Charity Commission (registration 5173541 as a charity whose primary purpose is to advance world development education, for the benefit of the public, in South Yorkshire and adjècent counties. A55ets were transferred to the new Charitable Incorporated Organisation ICIOI of the same name in 2014. The CIO was formed with similar objectives and with the new charity number 1153377 for the purpose of carrying on its 3Ctivity as an incorporated ch3rity. The current constitution provides that the charity is to be managed by the Executive Committee (who are a150 the Trustee51 which 15 elected by the members each year at the AGM. The Committee may also co-opt additional trustees andlor others as it agree5 appropriate. Address of Charity DECSY Scotia Work5 Leadmill Road Sheffield SI 45E Tel..1+4410845 458 2957 10114 241 2750 Email.. info decs www.decs .uk .or The Members of the Executive Committee are as follows: Olwen Lintern-smyth Chair of Executive Committee Paul Highfield Vice Chair of Executive Committee Mary Stead Marie Lowe Donald Maclean Paul Mosley Joy PaLJI Cheryl Smart Alison Twells Christine Winter Secretary Resigned with effett from 30 Septemk>er 2023 Resigned with effect from 26 April 2023 Resigned with effect from 26 April 2023 Coopted with effect from 22 May 2023 Treasurer Brian Kerslake HR Adviser John Gilbert Solicitors Bankers Independent Examlner Wake Smith 68 Clarkehouse Road Sheffield 5102 Triodos Bank Deanery Road Bristol BSI 5A5 White Rose Accounting The Ghyll Threapland Aspatria CA7 2EL Trustees Report for the Year Ending 31" December 2023 The Development Education Centre South Yorkshire publishes its annual report and annual accounts as two separate documents. The annual report describes our objectives, our activities over the past year and our plans for the f uture. It also contains a brief financial summary and a statement of our reserves policy. The a nnual accounts explain in more detail the f inar)ci31 effect of our activities during the year and our fina ncial position at the year-end. Statement of Trustee5 ResponsibilitlES Charity Law requires the Trustees to prepare Financial Statements for each financial year, which give a true a nd fair view of the state of financial affairs of the Ch3rity at the year end and of its incoming re50ur¢es and re50ur¢e5 expended during the year. In preparing these Financial Statements the Trustees are required to,. Select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently. ake jud8ements and estimate5 ihat are reasonable and prudent. State whether applicable accounting Standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements. Prepare the financi31 statements on a going concern basis, unless it is inappropriate to assume thatthe Charity will continue in business. The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose, with reasonable accuracy at any time, the financial position of the Charity. They are responsible for 53feguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of f raud and other irregularities. The Independent Examiner Iwhite Rose Accounting for Charities) was duly appointed by the Tru5tee5 prior to the AGM. Signed on Behalf of the Trustees Olwen Lintern-smyth (Chair of the Executive Committee I D3te'. LL. Iw/2_ Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees I report on the accounts of the Development Education Centre South Yorkshire for the year ended 31" December 2023 which are set out on pages 5 to 12. Respertlve responsibilities of the Trustee5 and the examiner The charitvs trustees are responsible for the p￿paration of the accounts. The charity'5 trustees consider that Oll 4udit Is not required for this year lunder Section 144121 of the Charities Act 2011 Ithe 2011 Actll and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to- Examine the accounts (under sertion 145 of the 2011 Attl,. To follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners lunder section 14515llbl of the 2011 Acl To state whether particular matter5 have come to my attention. Basis of Independent examlnerfs report My examination was carried out in accordance with the general directions given by the Charlty Commission. An examination includes a review of the 8ccountinE records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items of disclosures in the account5, and seeking an explanation from you as trustees concerning any such matters, The procetjures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view Biven by the accounts. Independent examinerf5 Statemerrt In connection with n7y examination, no matter has come to my attentlon which gives me reasonable Cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements.. to keep appropriate accounting records in accordance with sertion 130 of the 2011 Act- and to prepare account5 which accord with the accounting records and to cornply with the accountlng requirements of the 2011 Act have not been met; or 2. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in Order to enable a proper understanding of the ac ts to be reached. Signed- Date.. Craig WilliJm50n White Rose Accounting for Charltles The Ghyll Threapland patria CA7 2EL statement of Finantial Activities for the Year Ended 31, December 2023 2023 Unrestricted Funds 2023 RestrÈ¢ted Funds 2023 Total Funds 2022 Total Funds Notes In¢oming re50LErces Voluntary Income Donation5 Grants Income from charitable activities Resource Centre Sales Training Consultancy and Contracts Other Bank interest Other income Total 9,426 1,000 39 99,622 9,465 100,622 15,075 24,863 478 19,180 19,078 478 19,180 22,410 1,416 29,851 32,850 3,332 4,351 20 53,533 4,351 20 156,526 945 751 105,751 102,993 Resources expended Cost of ¢harit3ble activities Employment Costs Premises and equipment costs Operation costs Governance costs Other costs 53 5b 33,205 10,404 6,700 3,869 1,598 76,167 8,232 12,178 109,372 18,636 18,878 3,869 1,598 96,657 17,233 36,038 2,759 2,739 sc Total 55.776 96,577 152,353 155,426 Net incomellexpenditurel in year Transfers between funds Total Funds brought forward 12,2431 6,416 4,173 149,6751 92,719 6,863 99,582 149,257 Total Funds carried torward 90.476 13,279 103,755 99,582 Balance Sheet as at 31" December 2023 Notes 2023 Unrestricted Funds 2023 Restricted Funds 2023 Total Funds 2022 Total Funds Current Assets Debtors Debtor5 Gr3nLS Receivable 4,110 4,110 3,817 Cash at bank Total 88,089 92,199 57,268 57.268 145,357 149,467 129,272 133,089 Cuirènt Liabilities Creditors Creditors Deferred Income/Grants Total 723 1,000 1,723 723 44,989 45,712 4,488 29,019 33,507 43,989 43,989 Net Current Assets 90.476 13.279 103,755 99,582 Represented by.. Restricted Funds Designated Reserve Fund Gelleral Reserve Fund Total funds 13,279 13,279 51,000 39,476 103,755 6,863 46,000 46,719 99,582 51,000 39,476 90,476 13.279 Signed by two Trustees on behalf of all the Trustees.. Date of Approval.. Notes to the Account5 for the Year Ending 31, December 2023 l. General a} Basis of Preparation The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Prartice ISORPI. Accounting and Reportin8 by Charitie5 preparing their accounts in èccordance with the Financial Reportin8 Sta Trdard IFRS 1021, applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland, as modified for srllaller charities. The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102. bl Basis of Accounting Income and Expenditure.. Donations and other income is accounted for on receipt. Grants, Training income and Consultancy Fees paid for work to be done Dver a defined period are accounted for on an accruals basis, insofar as it is prudent to do so. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis. Fixed Assets: There are no Fixed Asset5 of any value included in the Account5 05 Item5 such as office equipment are written off in the year of purchase. Unrestricted (Corel and Restricted Funds.. Unrestricted Funds may be expended by the Charity at the discretion of the Tru5tee5. The Trustees have discretion over the management of Restricted Fund5 only within the litnit5 laid down by the donors. It IS therefore incumbent on the Trustees to ensure that any restricted activities funded by donors are consistent with the aims and objective5 of the charity. Transfers between these two types of Funds may take place. For example, Core costs such as Employment, Premises or Other Operational overheads maybe transferred to specific Projects where the conditions Of funding allow for the inclusion of such expenditure. Any fund ing surpluses or deficiencies at the conclusion of individual Projects will be transfe., red to Core f unds, the former of course, subject to any grant conditions. Pènsion Costs.. The charity mako5 an employer's contribution towards individual personal pension plans for employee5 and administer5 any additional employee contribution5 made to these plans. Employer contributions are paid at a level above the national pensions contribution rate. 2. Incoming resources All the funds of the charity are income funds. There are no capit31 endowment funds. Grant income is received in a variety of ways. A gr3nt may be paid in full at the beginning of the period in which activities are carried out. We account for the way in which funds have been u5ed13nd the outcomes achieved) at the end of the funded period. Alternatively, instalments of grant may be paid during that funding period. Payment5 may be dependent upon the submission of progress reports. Other funder5 provide income in arrea r5, or provide only a proportion of target income ' llp-front This creates ca5h-flow diff iculties, with a requirement to keep 3 higher current balance avai13ble to sustain spending u ntil re-imbursement is forthcoming. Grant i ncome shown in the Statement of Financial Activitie5 reflect5 only the funds attributable to the accounting period. 3. Grants Grants recelved in 2023 DECSY received a total of £116,592 grant funding in the year f rom the organisation5 listed belc>w. Some of this money w35 to finance work planned for the financial year 2023. Other funding was for work to be undertaken in 2024,. in some cases, funding was given to cover the academic year 2023124. Where funding re13tes to 2024, the grant figu res appear in the Ba lance Sheet as Deferred IncomelGrants Isee Note 7 below) rather than in the Statement of Financial Activities. DECSY also had the use of £25,019 Grant fundir)g in 2023 received during 2022 (full detai15 set OLJt in the 2022 Statement of Account51. Additionally, £4,000 also received in 2022 was further deferred for use into 2024. Total Received in 2023 For use in 2023 For use in 2024 Schools Linking Project The linking Network Non-violent Action Follow Up Joseph Rowntree C. Trust P4C Training Post Code Lottery Church Burgesses Fund Gender Action Project Mission 44 General Fund Sheffield Town Trust Total Other Funds received in 2022 Total 7,000 5,250 1,750 1,553 1,553 10,800 4,000 1,800 4,000 9,OOC> 92,239 63,000 29,239 1,000 116,592 1,000 40,989 75,603 25,019 100,622 4,000 44,989 4. Consultancy and Contracts DECSY staff undertake various short- term consultancy work where relevant opportLJnities arise (£913 income in 20231. During the year one member of staff wa5 seconded to work pa rt time foi CRESST, a charitable organisation with complementary aims to DECSY. CRESST reim bursed the direct employment costs Itotal £18,165) for this work. This arrangement is continuing into 2024. In addition, funding1£3,3321 for the Tran51tions to Net Zero Project was provided through a contract with Sheffield Hallam University. Total 22,410 22,410 5. Resources expended 5a Employment costs.. At the end of 2023, there were 5 employees.. 2.93 full time equivalent 12022- 4 or 2.23 FtEI. The cost to the employer of rem uneration was madE UP of.. Gross pay Etmployers NIC Em ployers Pension Contribution Total Employee Costs 100,837 3,806 7,612 112.255 N B In the SOFA this total of £112,255 is shown as Employee Costs1£109,3721 and Governance (Staff) Costs1£2,8831 see Note 5£ below. 5b Premises and Equipment Costs: Premise5 and equipment costs1£18.6361 are allocated between activities only where funding conditions allow for the inclusion of such expenditure. Items required for individual projects specifically identified within grant approvals are charged directly to projects. sc Governance Costs: The resources employed to govern the charity are as follows.. Cost of staff hours worked on this activity Independent Examination of Accounts other costs Total cost of governance 2,883 550 436 3.869 6. Debtors These include payments owed to the charity for work done in 2023 for which payment has ntst yet been received. There was no grant funding owed to DECSY for work undertaken in 2023. 2023 Unrestricted 2023 Restricted 2023 Total 2022 Tota I HMRC-Gift Aid refund CRESST- Reimbursement Rental Bond ILong Term) Other Total Debtors 1,474 1,514 1,122 1,474 1,514 1,122 3,817 3,817 4,110 4,110 Total Grants Receivaljle 7. Credltors falling due withln l year These incSude amounts owed for goods and services supplied in 2023 which have yet lo be paid for plus any fund ing received during 2023 IDeferred Income/Grantsl that are to fund charitable activities which are to take place during 2024. See Note 3 above for details of Deferred Income/Grants received. 2023 2023 Restricted 2023 Total 2022 Tot31 Unrestricted Credilors VA5 Accounts Exa mination Pension contribution Other Sub-Total 126 550 47 126 550 47 96 520 3,872 4.488 723 723 Deferred Income Grants Sub-Total 1,000 1,000 43,989 43,989 44,989 44,989 29,019 29,019 Total Creditors 1,723 43,989 45,712 33,507 8. Designated Funds These are funds normally set aside for "particular future purposes" (Para 7.34 SORP IFRS 10211. A single Designated Fund has been approved by the Trustees to cover the estimated statutory red undancy costs arising f rom the c105ure of the organi5ation Should that become necessary, The adequacy of the Designated Fund is a55e55ed arinually as part of the c105edown of the Accounts and has been increased by £5,000. This increase has been met by 3 tra nsfer from the General Reserve and that balance has fallen further because of the small deficit incLJrred during 2023. The final Fund bala nce for the year continues to satisfy DEC5Y'5 general reserves policy which requires that the f unds held at the end of the fina ncial year are sufficient to cover three months normal running costs. 9. Appendix I The attached schedu le provides details of income, expenditure and balances for each individual activity or project undertaken over the year, A comprehensive account of the aciivities carried out through the use of the resources provided is given in the Annual Report. io 111 Iiiiuiii IIIIIIIIIIIIIEI rMI 1111111 Independent Examlnerfs Report to the Trustees I report on the accounts of the Development Education Centre South Yorkshire for the year ended 31, December 2023 which are set out on pages 5 to 12. Respertlve responslbllltle5 of the Trustees and the examlner The charitys trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charitys trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year (under section 144121 of the Charities Act 2011 Ithe 2011 Actll and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to.. Examine the accounts (under sertion 145 of the 2011 Att): To follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions 8iven by the Charity Commissioners lunder section 14515llbl of the 2011 Act To state whether particular matters have come to my attentlon. Ba$15 of Independent examlnerfs report My examination was carried out in accordance with the general dirertions given by the Charity Commisslon. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items of disc105ures in the accounts, and seeking an explanation from you as tru5rees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evldence that would be required in an audit, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the vlew given by the accounts. Independent ex•rnlnerfs ststement In connection with my examlnation. no matter has come to my attentlon which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material re5pett the requirements: to keep appropriate accountin8 records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act; and to prepare accounts which accord with the accountin8 records and to comply with the accounting requlrements of the 2011 Act have not been met; or 2. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the ac ts to be reached. Si8ned'. Oate= 22 2Q21tr Craig Williamson WhSte Rose Accounting for Charities The Ghyll Threapland Aspatria CA7 2EL