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2021-08-31-accounts

WITHINGTON GIRLS’ SCHOOL Charity Number: 1158226 Company Limited by Guarantee Number: 09083954 ANNUAL REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021

WITHINGTON GIRLS’ SCHOOL

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE GOVERNORS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021

CONTENTS

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WITHINGTON GIRLS’ SCHOOL ANNUAL REPORT OF THE GOVERNORS FOR THE YEAR END E D 31 AUGUST 2021 O

GOVERNORS, OFFICERS AND ADVISERS Governors, Charity Trustees, and Directors The Governors listed below are the charity trustees of Withington Girls’ School at the current time. Mr M J Pike LLB (Chair) A Mr C M Poston BSc, FCA (Finance Governor) A Dr J P Allred MB, ChB, MRCGP, DRCOG, DFFP * MrMrM.JA H ChickenGriffin BA, MEd, FRSA Miss M El-Gonemy, BA, MA Mrs D M Hawkins DL JP LLB Dr R Dev-Jairath MBChB, MRCGP, DCH, DRCOG, DPD, FHEA # Prof D Leigh, BSc PhD CChem FRS FRSE FRSC MAE Ms M S Michael BA, PGCE Mr A R Pathak BSc * Mr H P Sinclair Mrs S J Stuffins BA, MSc, MRICS

Senior Leadership Team

Headmistress Mrs S J Haslam BA Deputy Head Ms J Baylis MA Director of Studies Mr | McKenna BA Assistant Head Dr S Madden PhD Head of the Junior School Ms B Howard BEd Bursar and Clerk to the Governors Mrs A Cohen LLB

Mrs Sharon Senn, former Bursar and Clerk to the Governors, retired from her position on 31% 2021.August 2021. Her successor, Mrs Anna Cohen, commenced in the role on 1st September

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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE GOVERNORS

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Registered address

Wellington Road Fallowfield Manchester M14 6BL

Website

Www.wgs.org

ADVISERS:

Auditor

Crowe U.K. LLP 3 Floor, The Lexicon Mount Street MANCHESTER M2 5NT

Bankers

Insurance Brokers

Solicitors

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WITHINGTON GIRLS’ SCHOOL

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE GOVERNORS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE GOVERNORS

The Governors present their annual report for the year ended 31 August 2021 under the Charities Act 2011, together with the audited accounts for the year, and confirm that the 2015.latter comply with the requirements of the Act, the Trust Deed, and the Charities SORP

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

The Charity was founded in 1890 as a charitable trust and was registered with the Charity Commission under charity number 526632. On 1st September 2015 a transfer of assets took place from this Charity to a new charitable company (company number 09083954 and registered charity number 1158226), which was set up by the Governors (as Trustees) to receive the assets of the Charity and the undertaking of Withington Girls' School as part of an "incorporation process" to modernise the legal structure of the Charity.

The Transfer Deed provided for all of the Charity's unrestricted assets and liabilities to be transferred to the new charitable company. The land and buildings, considered by the Charity Commission to be permanent endowment, remain within the charitable trust. The charitable company is the sole corporate trustee of the Charity.

On 9th December 2015, the Charity Commission made a "linking direction" which formally determined that the Charity (number 526632) be "linked" with charity number 1158226. This means that the two charities are registered under a single registration number and that the Governors can produce a single set of accounts for the reporting andnumber linked1158226-1. charity. As a result of the linking direction, the Charity is now registered under

The Withington Girls’ School Governors and Senior Leadership Team are listed on page 1. Particulars of the Charity’s address and professional advisers are given on page 2.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Governing Document

The Charity is governed by its Trust Deed dating from 1890 which was amended by a Scheme dated 8'" August 1985, a further Scheme dated 29th January 2004 as amended by Resolution dated 16 March 2015 and by Order dated 18 August 2015. The Company is governed by a Memorandum and Articles of Association which were amended bya special resolution dated 22™ June 2015.

Recruitment and Training of Governors

The power of appointing new Governors is vested in the existing board. Governors are generally appointed to fill a vacancy and to provide suitable skills, knowledge and 3

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experience as the board requires. While consideration has been given to the establishment of a Nominations Committee to recommend appointments to the Governing Body, it has been decided that the current practice of involving the whole Governing Body in the recruitment of Governors is preferable. The Headmistress and Chair of Governors meet prospective new Governors prior to ratification by the Governing Body.

Following appointment, new Governors are inducted into the workings of the Charity by the Headmistress and Bursar. All Governors are invited to attend external training courses and are invited to join School Committees and attend School events. Organised by the Director of Studies and the Deputy Head, a programme is in place to enable Governors to visit Academic Departments and attend departmental meetings thus gaining enhanced knowledge and understanding of the life of the School, as well as satisfying themselves that the practice in School is in line with the policies approved at the start of each academic year.

The annual away day for Governors and the Senior Leadership Team provides an opportunity to discuss strategic developments.

Organisational Management

The Governors, as the Trustees of the Charity, are legally responsible for the overall management and control of the School and meet at least three times a year. The work of monitoring the implementation of most of their policies is primarily carried out by the members of the Finance and General Purposes (F&GP) Committee who meet in advance of each Governors’ meeting. The F&GP Committee approves the budgets and finalises the audited accounts and annual report for approval by the Governing Body. The F&GP Committee works under the Chairmanship of the Finance Governor of the Governing Body.

During the previous academic year, a Pensions Sub-Group was created, consisting of members of the F&GP Committee plus Mr. Andrew Chicken (Governor), to consider the School's position in relation to the increased cost of offering teachers the opportunity to participate in the Teachers’ Pensions Scheme. The Pensions Sub-Group was chaired by the Finance Governor, and once the decision on pensions was made, the group ceased to meet.

The Remuneration Committee determines the salary levels for the Senior Leadership Team.

Nominated members of the Governing Body attend meetings of the Health & Safety Committee, Safeguarding Team (with the Deputy Head and Nurse) and Learning Support Team.

The day to day running of the School is delegated to the Headmistress supported by the Senior Leadership Team (consisting of the Deputy Head, the Director of Studies, the

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Assistant Head, the Head of the Junior School, and the Bursar). All members of the Senior Leadership Team attend Governing Body meetings. The Headmistress and Bursar attend meetings of the F&GP Committee.

The Headmistress is a qualified Team Inspector for the Independent Schools Inspectorate. The Bursar is a member of the Independent Schools Bursars’ Association (ISBA), and the Headmistress is a member of the Girls’ Schools Association (GSA). The School is a member of the Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference (HMC), The Association of Governing Bodies of Independent Schools (AGBIS) and the Forum of Independent Day Schools (FIDS).

Risk Management

The Governing Body is responsible for the management of the risks faced by the School. Detailed considerations of risk are delegated to the Finance & General Purposes Committee, who are assisted by the Senior Leadership Team. Risks are identified, assessed, and controls established throughout the year. A formal review of the charity’s risk management processes is undertaken on an annual basis. Governors extract the top ten risks which are summarised in an Executive Summary from the Risk Register. The Executive Summary is reviewed at each Governors’ meeting when the likelihood and financialimpact ofand eachreputationalis risk is consideredrisks. using a risk rating. The top ten risks include strategic,

The key controls used by the charity include:

Through the risk management processes established for the School, the Governors are Satisfied that the major risks identified have been adequately mitigated where necessary. It is recognised that systems can only provide reasonable but not absolute assurance that major risks have been adequately managed.

OBJECTS, AIMS, OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

Charitable Objects

The objects of the Charity as set out in the Articles of Association as amended on 22 June 2015, shall be to advance education for the public benefit by the provision and maintenance of a girls' school, where boys may be admitted to the Preparatory Department, and by ancillary or incidental educational activities and other associated activities for the benefit of the community.

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Mission Statement

The School is committed to providing the highest standard of education and care for all its pupils both within and outside the classroom, together with excellent facilities for teaching and learning. Through the provision of a wide range of extra-curricular activities we seek to ensure that girls have numerous opportunities to develop teamwork, leadership, responsibility, and service, in order to prepare them, not only for outstanding academic success, but also for life beyond school. We strive to encourage all our pupils to achieve their full potential in every sphere and to become mature, independent learners who can face with confidence the challenges and opportunities of adult life in the 21% Century.

Aims and Intended Impact

The specific aims of the School are:

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Objectives

The School's objectives continue to be as follows:

To ensure continued recruitment, retention and professional development of suitable highquality staff; To improve further the exceptional quality of pupils’ experience and outcomes through teaching and learning strategies; To maintain and develop the already excellent standards within Learning Support; To ensure that the School’s central ethos of respect and responsibility informs the work and life of the School: To explore, share and celebrate social, moral, spiritual and cultural (SMSC) values throughout all areas of school: To continue to deliver outstanding pastoral care and to ensure that all pupils are able to build habits to support health and wellbeing for life through access to excellent health, wellbeing and fitness education, and opportunities; To ensure that the School has first-class premises and accommodation appropriate for the curriculum delivery, for co-curricular activities, and for other support services to provide pupils and staff with an environment consistent with one of the country’s leading independent day schools; To ensure that our partnership work continues to develop strategically and to maintain and develop excellent links with parents, alumnae, schools, universities, professional associations, and buinesses; To develop the positive profile of the School locally, nationally and internationally, so that the School’s ethos, qualities and characteristics are understood and celebrated: To harness the opportunities afforded by technology for pupils and staff to work and communicate in the most efficient and effective ways;

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To ensure that academically able prospective pupils, and their parents, from a diverse range of backgrounds, are aware of the opportunity of a Withington education and understand its value.

In setting the School’s aims and planning its objectives, the Governors have given careful consideration to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit and, in particular, to its supplementary public benefit guidance on advancing education and on fee-charging.

Strategies to achieve the objectives

The School has sustained the quality and expertise of teaching and support staff through careful recruitment and ongoing support and staff development. Safeguarding of pupils is overseen by the team of Designated Safeguarding Leads and their deputies, comprising the Deputy Head, the Deputy Head of the Junior School, the School Health Lead, and the School Nurse respectively. All academic Heads of Department in the senior school report to the Director of Studies. The Heads of Year report to the Deputy Head who oversees pastoral arrangements for pupils and staff in senior school. The Assistant Head oversees the Co-Curriculum and co-ordinates the School’s programme of events.

The Head of the Junior School is responsible for its day-to-day running supported by a Deputy Head.

Our ethos

The School is a registered charity and charitable company which seeks to benefit the public through the pursuit of its stated aims. Fees are set at a level to ensure the financial viability of the School and to provide a first class education to our pupils.

The School welcomes pupils from all backgrounds. Entrance examinations, interviews, and references from candidates’ current schools enable the School to select pupils who will best benefit from the full range of opportunities on offer.

We are an equal opportunity organisation and are committed to a working environment that is free from any form of discrimination. We will make reasonable adjustments to meet the individual needs of staff or pupils.

The School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our pupils and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The School's most recent inspection was a Regulatory Compliance Inspection carried out by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) in September 2017. The School was judged to be fully compliant with all the Regulatory Standards. GCSE and A-level results for 2013-2016 were described as ‘well above’ and ‘far above the national average for maintained schools’ respectively.

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A Material Change Inspection took place in March 2019 by ISI at the request of the Department of Education to consider the School’s request to increase the maximum number of pupils. The request was approved.

In September 2013, ISI conducted an Integrated inspection of the School which, in addition to finding the school fully compliant with regulatory requirements, also incorporated qualitative judgements on the education provided at the School.

Withington Girls’ School was judged as ‘Excellent’ — the highest possible rating — in every category and our pupils’ achievements were judged to be ‘Exceptional’, a category awarded to very few schools nationally.

The report describes Withington pupils as ‘receptive, alert, articulate and highly motivated’, as well as being ‘confident, happy and self-reflective, with genuine concern and respect for both their peers and staff’.

The quality of care provided by the School is described as ‘excellent’, pupils’ behaviour ‘exemplary’ and the quality of the girls’ personal development is described as ‘a distinctive feature throughout both junior and senior schools’.

Parents are given regular information about their daughters’ social and academic progress through parents’ evenings, half-termly progress grades, and written reports. They are invited to a minimum of one Parents’ Evening annually, and these were held remotely during the pandemic. Regular contact with parents is maintained throughout the year with a weekly email setting out the activities for the week ahead, Parents’ Breakfasts, informal contacts, termly Bulletins and the annual Newsletter. Trained Sixth-form pupils act as Peer Supporters assisting the School’s pastoral team in creating an environment where every child can feel valued and safe.

Access Policy

The School greatly values the denominational, cultural, and social diversity of its community. It is important to the School that access to the education it offers is not restricted to those who can afford to pay fees.

There is an established bursary policy and this, together with various Community Initiatives, contributes to a widening of access to the education offered and the facilities available. Means-tested bursaries are available in the Junior School (for entry into Years 5 and 6) and the Senior School (for girls from age 11 to 18). Junior School bursaries were first offered from September 2015.

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Bursary policy

The School’s bursary awards are available to pupils who meet the entry requirements and are made solely on the basis of parental means or, to relieve hardship where a pupil's education would otherwise be at risk, for example in the case of redundancy. In assessing parental means a number of factors are taken into consideration including: family income; investments; savings; opportunity to generate additional income; and, family circumstances, for example: dependent relatives.

The School receives funding for bursaries from the WGS Trust (Charity number 505207) and from several other charitable trusts.

The bursary awards range from 10% to 100% remission of fees. A small fund supplements bursary awards to support academic school trips, individual instrumental lessons, LAMDA lessons, uniform and equipment. Information about fee assistance through bursaries is provided to all parents of girls applying to the senior school and Years 5 &6 in the Junior School. The existence of means-tested bursaries is publicised through advertisements in the press and promotional materials. Details of the bursary policy and how to apply are also on the School website.

The success of the bursary scheme is illustrated in the review of activities and achievements section of this report.

Other Policies on Assistance

Timely financial planning is often the key for many parents who are hoping to send their daughters to the School and flexible payment arrangements are available to fund educational costs through regular contributions.

Family discounts policy

To underline the value placed on continuity for families, a discount of £100 per term, for the second and any subsequent siblings is offered.

Scholarship policy

The School has never offered scholarships of any type.

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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE GOVERNORS

Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the School

The School re-opened to all pupils from the start of the 2020/21 academic year. A comprehensive Risk Assessment was in operation which required pupils to be organised into year group ‘bubbles’. Lessons took place in pupils’ Form Rooms for non-practical subjects which reduced the amount of movement in the corridors. The extra-curricular programme was re-written to ensure that activities were offered in year group bubbles only (unless the activity could be delivered remotely, in which case pupils from more than one year group were able to participate). Through very careful recording and editing, an extensive range of films were created of concerts and exhibitions, which were shared with pupils and parents. The School was responsible for ‘contact tracing’ and ensuring that contacts of any pupils who tested positive were sent home for the designated period. A daily return was submitted to the Department for Education showing the number of pupils present at School and those who were absent for either Covid-19 or non-related issues. The same information was provided in respect of staff.

Throughout the year, the School was able to continue to offer ‘Blended Learning’ which required teachers to be able to deliver their lessons to a combination of pupils in class or pupils at home. There were many occasions when the teacher was required to deliver his/her class from home to the pupils at School/or at home.

Teachers and pupils had become very accustomed to blended learning during the previous acadmic year. The on-line learning programme, delivered primarily through Microsoft Teams, was efficiently put in place to ensure that the highest quality of education could be provided to pupils.

The School's digital strategy had incorporated a mobile device programme, set up over four years ago, which ensured that all Senior School pupils were equipped with a suitable device to access the programme and, similarly, all staff had an appropriate mobile device. From the start of September 2020, all Junior School pupils were also required to have their own suitable digital device so that, in the event that they needed to work remotely at short notice, it would be possible for on-line lessons to be delivered seemlessly.

The educational experiences of pupils were enhanced and extended through remote Assemblies, live sessions with Form Teachers, and a ‘Virtual Withington Girls’ School’ OneNote continued to be used to make access to an extensive range of resources easy for pupils and staff.

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The second national lock-down started at the beginning of November 2020 and ended in March 2021. Pupils returned to School on 8" March 2021. Staff and pupils approached the second lock-down with determination; they were innovative, constructive and productive even though pupils very much missed being around their friends. The School ran a ‘Key Worker’ School, as had been done during the first lock-down, which was very much appreciated by parents. These pupils were able to join the on-line lessons from School, with their peers who were at home, and also participate in a range of face-to-face PE sessions with teachers at School.

For the second year in a row, external examinations for Year 11 and Year 13 pupils took a very different format. Pupils were required to sit a number of controlled assessments, in School, which formed the basis of the grades submitted by the School to the Examination Boards (the Teacher Assessed Grades - ‘TAG’) in respect of each pupil. This process was carried out with great care and integrity and involved all Heads of Department, Heads of Year and the Senior Leadership Team. The School invited these pupils, and their parents, to a celebratory Results Event, largely held outdoors, in August 2021.

The quality of the remote teaching programme was very much applauded by parents and pupils for the second year running.

Governors of the School continue to take their responsibilities for health and safety very seriously and ensured that the dynamic Risk Assessment was updated regularly to ensure that there were safe systems and protocols to allow the School to operate throughout the year.

A Covid-19 Risk Assessment Team, chaired by the Bursar, consisting of the Site Services Manager, the School Nurse, the General Manager (Catering), the HR Manager, the Office Manager, together with members of the Senior Leadership Team (the Headmistress, the Deputy Head, the Assistant Head, and the Head of the Junior School) has met weekly, in term-time, continuously from the beginning of first lockdown (in March 2019). These weekly meetings are continuing to operate in the 2021/22 academic year.

The key objectives of the group are to assess the way in which the School is operating based on the Risk Assessment in place and determine ways in which further improvements could be made, based on weekly feedback from an on-line questionnaire completed by staff on site. The School continues to be able to take advantage of support from external agencies including ISBA, GSA, HMC and Manchester City Council. The Safeguarding Governor, who also has responsibility for Health & Safety, has visited the School regularly during the 2020/21 academic year to observe the control measures physically in place and to report back to the Board of Governors.

During July and August 2021 the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) along with the Director of Admissions & Marketing, met to consider the arrangements for the Return to School for September 2021 and the Risk Assessment and protocols were updated accordingly. These documents were approved by Governors at the start of the 2021/22 Academic Year.

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A team of staff (teaching and non-teaching) was deployed to ensure that there are different entrances and exits for pupils to minimise Over-crowding at key times and the arrangements for the use of school buses have been re-written incorporating a new Code of Conduct which requires senior school pupils to wear face coverings. Catering arrangements were changed substantially ensuring that pupils were able to remain in year group ‘bubbles’ which involved hiring temporary counters enabling pupils to be served in three locations.

Additional pastoral support has been provided for pupils from the start of the lock-down period and this has continued throughout the 2020/21 academic year and beyond. The ofHRtheManagerSLT. continues to provide support to staff, in conjunction with relevant members

From a financial perspective, the School obtained Support from the Job Retention Scheme. Additional costs were incurred in ensuring that the School had the necessary sanitisation and cleaning equipment in place to minimise the risk of infection. The Bursar and her team allocated hardship funding to a number of families whose financial circumstances were significantly adversely affected by the pandemic; this primarily related to families in the retail and hospitality sectors.

Governors took the unprecedented decision to phase the fee increase across the 2020/21 Academic Year. There was no fee increase in the Autumn Term, half the planned increase in the Spring Term and the full increase in the Summer Term.

COMMUNITY INITIATIVES

The School enjoys strong links with the local community, and staff and pupils participate in local, national, and international initiatives. Comprehensive details of all the School’s partnership work can been seen on the Schools Together website: www.schoolstogether.org

A summary of the activities undertaken for the year is shown below:

Partnerships with local Schools

SHINE Educational Programme

Withington Girls’ Schoo! has organised and delivered a successful, community-focused series of Saturday School courses for the past 13 years. The programme is aimed at able students in Years 5 & 6 at maintained primary schools in and around South Manchester.

Previously, our series of courses offered on Saturday mornings was known as the SHINE programme, however last year we launched a new name which reflects the importance of the partnership between Withington and our local primary schools — SHINE Together. 13

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As we could not welcome visitors into school in person during 2020/21 the programme was delivered virtually via Zoom so that children could join them from home. Initially, we planned to offer three Saturday mornings in January and February, consisting of Art, Computing, Creative Writing, Design Technology, Drama and Spanish, however due to popular demand from the children these were then extended to five sessions, with Art running two separate groups each week. In addition, we also offered pupils interested in science and engineering the opportunity to take part in an independent project which led to the nationally recognised Bronze Crest Award. Overall, around 85 pupils took part in the SHINE Together programme.

Classics Programme

The School has worked with the University of Manchester and the Manchester Classical Association to establish a Classics programme in a local primary school with whom the School works closely in partnership. Withington pupils and staff work together to devise the programme of study and provide all the teaching resources. In previous years, two Year 5 classes have taken part in an initial six-week programme, before pupils are given the option to continue on another six-week course.

This year, we were not able to visit the school in person due to Covid-19. Eight Sixth Form classics students volunteered and helped to plan a series of eight PowerPoints which could be delivered by the teachers to their classes, including some film clips of them explaining grammar points. Studying Latin, one of the least common subjects to be taught in state schools, has a positive impact on pupils’ understanding of English grammar. For example, the students at Mauldeth Road Primary School learnt how sentences are constructed in Latin and thus improved their understanding of how sentences are formed in English. In the past, the Headteacher of Mauldeth Road reported that Spelling and Grammar in Key Stage 2 assessments notably improved after the Latin course.

This partnership benefited the two classes of Year 5 children (approximately 50) this year and helped our Sixth Form students develop valuable tutoring, IT and leadership skills.

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Physics Partnership

This year, six Lower Sixth Physicists, coordinated after school sessions for pupils at a local primary school on topics of light, energy, and electricity. The sessions were presented remotely, with our pupils creating several experiments for each lesson, and all the equipment needed for the experiments was provided by Withington Girls’ School.

Chemistry Communicators

Chemistry Communicators is a national scheme supported by the Royal Society of Chemistry and the intention is to encourage Chemistry enthusiasts to develop their science comunication skills, by working in teams to present a Chemistry based workshop or show to an audience of younger children.

Lower Sixth pupils were the 4! group of WGSA Level students to participate in this programme and 25 students took part in the challenge to devise experiments, develop methods and risk assessments and practising the safe delivery of these demonstrations in the chemistry labs.

Manchester Sings — everyone has a voice, every voice a song

Manchester Sings, initiated in 2019 by the Director of Music, was held at Manchester Cathedral on 4'" December 2020. This inspirational concert saw nearly 250 children from across Greater Manchester, along with the WGS Senior pop up choir, join together to perform a programme of six emotive songs. The performances and readings told a human Story of dreams, life’s setbacks, and ultimately hope. The event was in aid of the Booth Centre, a day centre for homeless people, while families supported by Wood Street Mission benefited from over 150 Christmas gift donations.

Community based initiatives

Senior Citizens’ Christmas Concert

The annual Senior Citizens’ Christmas Concert ran very differently this year as it was held remotely. Rehearsals started in the midst of Covid-19 restrictions and invitations to our virtual guests were sent out in October.

One benefit of the concert being held remotely was that we could facilitate a record number of audience members. 282 people watched the concert, which included 200 of our pupils and 83 staff members performing 19 songs.

As ever, Withington pupils, staff and parents rose to the challenge and ensured that the festive spirit would be delivered, not just the concert but presents, letters, cake boxes and raffle prizes.

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Duke of Edinburgh Awards,

From Year 9, the majority of our students embark on the Duke of Edinburgh Awards. Participants volunteer in their communities, make a positive contribution to society and demonstrate social responsibility.

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in some disruption to the planned expeditions. However, the easing of restrictions meant that the team were able to plan a series of expeditions in the Summer Term, ensuring that all girls in Years 9 to 12 were able to complete their awards before the summer break. Catch up expeditions are running for these girls who were isolating, and unable to take part.

Withington Foodbank

With great support from parents, pupils from both the Junior and Senior School organised a midsummer collection for the local Fallowfield and Withington Food Bank. By replenishing their stocks, it was hoped that they would be able to alleviate the significant issue of holiday hunger for those in need in the local area.

Summer Activities for the local community

The School was able to run summer activities for children in the local community for the first two weeks of the holidays. Multi-Sports and Dance courses were delivered in person, whilst our Art course ran online for three mornings. Attendance at courses was high and the School received fantastic feedback from both parents and children.

Multi-Sports was delivered by our qualified Tennis Coach, Lacrosse Coach, and a WGS PE Netball teacher. This was attended by over 100 children who also took part in exciting activities such as badminton, rounders, and mini tournaments.

New for this year was our Dance course, run by award-winning professional dancers, which offered a fantastic dancing experience where children learnt many new dances. The first week focused on Cha Cha Cha; Waltz; Samba; Quickstep and Salsa, and the second on Jive; Tango; Charleston; Paso Doble and Viennese Waltz. At the end of each week, dancers performed a short routine to the children attending the Multi-Sports course, and a video was sent home for parents/guardians to enjoy. Groups were kept small to allow for individual attention and a total of 16 children attended over the two weeks.

The Art programme was delivered interactively online by a WGS Art teacher and supported by members of the Development team. All materials were sent out to children in advance and they learnt a variety of different art processes and techniques, from simple print-making methods to colourful collages. This year’s theme was the ‘British Landscape’ and creations included drawings of animals that live in hedgerows, painting

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countryside scenes on canvases and making 3D flowers. 17 budding artists attended the course. Other Withington staff have attended various Cluster Meetings, albeit in virtual format, on a networks.range of academic and pastoral subjects within GSA, HMC, and other professional The School is a long-standing member of ISTip (the Independent Schools’ Teacher Induction Panel) and, in non Covid-19 times, hosts a day’s training each term for this group. In the region of 30 Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) attend the workshops which are delivered by teachers from the School. The School also supports the programme for PGCE students in conjunction with the University of Manchester. There were no new students during the 20/21 academic year, because of the difficulties presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, however this programme has resumed in 2021/22 and two new PGCE students have joined the School.

The English Department has continued to work with The Manchester Grammar School and Manchester High School for Girls, to provide a half termly Reading Group for Sixth undertake.Form pupils to extend the range and challenge of reading which A level students

Partnership with the Manchester Children’s Hospital

A magnificent eight foot mosaic, created by pupils from the School, is on permanent display in the Harrington Building belonging to Manchester Children’s Hospital.

In addition to the mosaic, twenty-five landscapes, created last year by pupils in Year 9, are on permanent exhibition in the Harrington Building. The theme for the landscapes is the Natural World.

Use of facilities There has been significant disruption to the School’s ability to open up its facilities to the local community since March 2020 due to the pandemic and resulting lockdown.

Free use The School makes its facilities available to the following groups free-of-charge as part of its role in supporting the community although some of these had to be cancelled this year.

e The Manchester Association of Cambridge University Women e The Association of Language Learners 17

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e SAT College Board for US university entrance examinations

The School is a centre for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) examinations. Examinations in person were held in December 2020 and May 2021.

Other use

The Sports Hall is used for netball by a number of local student groups from the University of Manchester and other professional groups of women from the local area. We also hire our outdoor facilities to a local children’s lacrosse team of which some of our pupils are members.

We have previously hosted an England Lacrosse training weekend, and there is another weekend planned on the 20" and 21% November 2021.

We usually hire our Arts Centre theatre facilities to the Manchester Muslim Preparatory School for their annual awards event and accommodatea local youth theatre company for rehearsals and performances, however these events needed to be cancelled during the pandemic.

We also planned to continue our partnership with Gloddaeth Holidays, a faith organisation, who run activity holidays for children from independent schools in the North of England and Midlands, by hosting their annual reunion party, however, this was unable to take place due to the pandemic.

We have regularly held training events for the Independent School Teacher Induction Panel (IStip).

Citizenship Day

Citizenship Day is one of the highlights of the calendar at the School and it provides an opportunity for the whole School to come together to contribute to the wider community and focus on what it means to be a good citizen.

This years’ focus was equality, diversity and inclusion and the day highlighted that equality, diversity and inclusion are interconnected as concepts. Pupils focused on creating greater multicultural awareness, increasing understanding of sexual equality, as well as celebrating diversity and inclusion to prepare students to thrive in a diverse world.

We were joined by several guest facilitators and speakers. Pupils in Years 9 to 13 were joined by Laura Bates, founder of the Everyday Sexism Project, an established feminist writer for many publications, including the Times, the Guardian and the Independent.

Our second speaker focusing on diversity was Louise Ishani, an experienced learning and development professional who has worked on the design and delivery of a number of programmes specifically targeted at supporting increased diversity in leadership.

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WITHINGTON GIRLS’ SCHOOL ANNUAL REPORT OF THE GOVERNORS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021 aicon d ol Years 7 and 8 undertook workshops with BelEve, a girl focused charity who believe, as we do, that it is crucial to inspire and empower girls and young women to maximise their potential and celebrate their achievements.

Annual Visit

The Religious Studies Department, would usually organise for all Year 10 girls to visit the Beth Shalom Holocaust Centre each year. The trip could not take place in the summer because of the pandemic. As an alternative, the School organised a virtual tour of Auschwitz, Poland, so that the pupils did not miss out on this vital learning opportunity.

Voluntary Service and Work Experience

The Sixth Form voluntary service scheme provides opportunities for senior girls to assist at local nurseries, primary schools, homes for the elderly, schools for severely disabled children, local hospitals, charity shops, and hospices. In 2020/21, Sixth Form girls organised a number of placements themselves which included working at charity shops, Brownie groups, sports clubs, hospices, and hospitals until the start of the pandemic. There are strong links with Barnardo’s, Wood Street Mission, Booth Street and other local charities. The school also fundraises for a number of charities in Africa, including a school and also a hospital for children with AIDS in Kenya.

WithGambia

Fundraising for, and visits to The Gambia have been in place since 2003; the School, through the WithGambia Charity, has funded numerous projects during the last seventeen years. The annual trip provides a unique opportunity for a group of girls to visit a less developed country and experience a different culture and lifestyle whilst assisting and coordinating small-scale charitable projects. Of note is the building and maintenance of our main primary school Mama Tamba Nursery School and associated Multi-Purpose Community Hall. Our charity has funded the construction of the school and additional classrooms, a bore hole for fresh water as well as electricity. In addition, we have funded fencing and farming projects to support the local community in the area.

We sponsor teachers at the nursery school so that the children can attend lessons free of charge, and we supply much needed Stationery and a feeding programme to ensure the children have enough to eat during the school day. We also take donations and provide equipment for other institutions including Illiassa Maternity Health Centre.

The Gambia 2020 team raised £7,130 to develop further the Gambian nursery school. Pupils achieved their aim of a collective 9,234 minutes of exercise (which is the

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return distance from Manchester to Banjul). The last annual trip to The Gambia took place in December 2019. The trip planned for December 2020 was cancelled, due to the pandemic, and the trip originally planned for December 2021 has been postponed until December 2022.

Uganda

The School has supported numerous projects in Uganda over the last eight years. A group of Sixth Form pupils and staff visit the country once a year to teach the children and help with the projects.

The last visit took place in October 2019 when the nine Upper Sixth Formers were able to visit all the charities that the School has supported. Of specific note is the Small Steps Foundation (which runs the Glory Be Nursery) which provides early years education for some of the poorest children in the local area.

Our pupils delivered lessons and painted a mural at the nursery. The pupils also raised money and collected clothing for Jinga Connections (a charity for street boys). Funds raised by our pupils provided malaria medication for 300 babies at a children’s hospital in Jinja (called Whispers). Finally, the pupils visited a home for boys who used to live on the street (called Giasco). They took clothes and shoe donations collected at School and the funds donated have paid the salary of a social worker (for six months) to support the boys. The charity which runs this home was set up by two former Withington pupils.

Worldwide Links

As mentioned above, the School has links and engages in community projects in both The Gambia and Uganda each year. The community projects aim to assist and coordinate small scale charitable projects in order to improve the quality of life for lowincome communities in rural areas with support in education, health and farming. All Sixth pupils are given the opportunity to go on an extended expedition run by the Student Travel Consultancy, an ethical school adventures company. The last STC trip was a two-week expedition to Kenya in the Summer of 2019 when eleven Sixth Form pupils took part.

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Charity Fundraising

All pupils engage in charity fundraising throughout the year for local, national, and international charitable organisations.

Despite the obstacles faced by the Covid-19 restricions during this acdemic year, the pupils still managed to raise money for many charities. Junior School pupils raised money for The Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal and Children in Need.

Senior School pupils organised some fundraising initiatives including for Jeans for Genes, Young Minds and Odd Socks.

Pupils from both the Senior and Junior School raised money for Comic Relief, the Captain Tom Foundation and an impressive £2,155 was raised for Covid-19 Childcare Taskforce, which was coordinated by two pupils who had joined the School in 2019 from India. They were devastated by the impact of the second wave of Covid-19 on the Indian population, and particularly children.

In total, for the academic year 2020/21, pupils raised £12,683 (2019/20: £31,173).

Volunteers

All former pupils and staff are automatically members of ‘Withington Onwards’ (formerly known as ‘The Senior Club’) which is a voluntary organisation. The Withington Onwards Committee, assisted by the Development Office, organises regular year-group reunions, produces the annual newsletter for alumnae, and runs the relevant section of the website.

Parent Teachers’ Association (PTA)

Current parents play a vital role on the Parent Teachers Association Committee which raises funds for School equipment and organises social events for all parents.

Dr Rashmi Dev-Jairath became the Chair of the PTA with effect from the start of the 2020/21 academic year, succeeding Mrs Jo Kinney who had held the post for the last six years.

The social events which normally take place, organised by the PTA, such as the Dinner Dance and the Junior Fun Night were not able to take place as a result of Covid-19. However, members of the PTA were able to run a special event for Year 6 pupils, which met the Covid-19 requirements (as it was a year-group bubble) to allow these pupils to celebrate the end of their Junior School days. This party took place in July 2021 in a large ventilated area (the Sports Hall) as well as outside.

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The PTA is very grateful for the hard work of committee members particularly those involved in the sale of second-hand uniform which has continued throughout the pandemic. Demand for second-hand uniform increased significantly and arrangements were put in place to ensure that sales could be made safely. The 300 club continues to be popular with parents and registration withThe Giving Machine enables parents to supplement PTA income whenever they shop online.

Parents also offer invaluable support in the extracurricular programme including assistance with work placements, mock interviews for university candidates, and careers advice. Junior and Senior School parents have provided talks to pupils about their careers. Governors and staff very much appreciate the continuing and valuable work undertaken by the above groups.

REVIEW OF ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE FOR THE YEAR

Pupil numbers and fees

This year the School averaged 727 (2020: 729) pupils. There were 158 girls in the Junior School and 569 girls in the Senior School. The School is over-subscribed for entry at age +1,

The fee increase for the academic year 2020/21 was set by the Governors at 2.5% for the Senior and Junior School, however, due to the pandemic, the fee increase was phased over the academic year. Fees were frozen for the Autumn Term, half the fee increase was charged in the Spring Term, and the full increase was implemented from the start of the Summer Term The fees for each term, before the deduction of means-tested bursaries, were:

Junior School

£3,160 per term (Autumn Term) £3,206 (Spring Term) £3,251 (Summer Term)

Senior School

£4,211 per term (Autumn Term) £4,272 (Spring Term) £4,333 (Summer Term)

Academic

For the second year in a row, as a result of the pandemic, pupils in Year 11 and Year 13 were not able to sit GCSE and A level examinations respectively in the normal format.

Pupils were required to sit a number of controlled assessments, in School, which formed the basis of the grades submitted by the School to the Examination Boards (the Teacher 22

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Assessed Grades - ‘TAG’) in respect of each pupil. This process was carried out with great care and integrity and involved all Heads of Department, Heads of Year and the Senior Leadership Team. Most pupils and parents were happy with the Teacher Assessed Grades. A small number of pupils have taken the opportunity to re-sit the examinations in either the Autumn of 2021 or the Summer of 2022.

There are no national league tables of results for 2021.

Year 11 pupils

We were delighted to be able to welcome pupils, and their parents, to the School on GCSE Results Day, following Covid-19 protocols. This provided an opportunity for the pupils to be congratulated on their hard work and commitment over the last two years. Pupils very much appreciated being allowed to return to School for this special day and to celebrate their achievements with friends and family.

For the second year running, Year 11 pupils were able to take the opportunity to camp on the School field as part of the Duke of Edinburgh Silver expedition. The Assistant Head, who leads the co-curricular programme at the School, ensured the expeditions took place, under strict Covid-19 rules, to allow pupils to benefit from this very popular activity.

Year 13 pupils

We were delighted to be able to welcome Upper Sixth pupils, and their parents, to the School on A-level Results Day, following Covid-19 protocols. This provided an opportunity for the pupils to be congratulated on their hard work and commitment over the last two years. Pupils very much appreciated being allowed to return to School for this special day and to celebrate their achievements with friends and family.

The Headmistress said that she was delighted that these pupils would be going on to Study at some of this country’s finest universities, pursuing a wide range of subjects, from Engineering, Fine Art, Law, Computer Science and Dentistry to English Literature, Geography, Sport Rehabilitation and Medicine. Thirteen pupils have confirmed their conditional offers to study at their chosen Oxbridge colleges.

Diversity and Inclusion

Alongside our fellow GSA and HMC schools, we are proud to be further developing our diversity and inclusion strategy which will allow us to reflect in depth on the inclusive culture of our school and to ensure that everyone benefits from the strength and success that a positive, active approach to inclusion brings.

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Governors commissioned an independent survey, carried out by RSAcademics and Allin Education in April 2021, to help the School understand the current picture of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) among pupils and staff. We are looking carefully at the insights that have been provided through this research, in conjunction with other work that we have been doing, to ensure that all pupils and staff feel safe, included and equal. The aim of this ‘Sense of Belonging’ survey was to further our understanding of the individuals who make up our Withington community, both in terms of their personal characteristics and their individual experiences. 91% of pupils and 90% of staff completed the survey.

With the support of our alumnae and current pupils who asked us to engage with these vital issues in the summer of 2020, Withington has committed to an embedded, strategic approach which will enable us to continue to reflect on the inclusive culture of our school. This will continue to be an ongoing focus in 2022 supported by independent specialists.

Facilities and equipment

Two-storey Dining Room Extension

Governors held an Extraordinary meeting in February 2021 to consider whether the twostorey extension to the Dining Room could go ahead. The project had been put on hold the previous academic year, as a result of uncertainties in relation to the pandemic. The design team had continued to work on the project so that the tender documentation was ready should a decision be made for the project to go ahead. At the meeting in February, Governors were able to review the tenders that had been received, which had been carefully analysed by the Design Team, who were present at the meeting. There was unanimous support for the project to be given the go-ahead and for the contract to be awarded to John Turner & Sons Limited, who had built the last major project, the Sports extension and new Fitness Suite, a few years earlier. Governors felt that that there was clear evidence that the project was needed and investing in the School at this critical time would be beneficial.

A pre-start meeting took place at the School on 24'" February 2021 the purpose of which was to bring all parties together in advance of the start of the project. Work began on site immediately after the Easter holiday period, on 6" April 2021. The expected completion date is February 2022.

The School is very grateful for the financial support for this project from the WGS Trust (Charity 505207) which has confirmed a capital grant of £1m. The total project cost is expected to be in the region of £2.4m. Our external catering contractor, Holroyd Howe Limited, is providing a capital contribution towards key elements of kitchen equipment in accordance with the School’s catering contract.

The extension will provide a much larger dining facility for pupils and staff on the ground floor. The new servery area will be substantially enlarged which will significantly change the way in which pupils select their lunch options and reduce the time spent in a queue.

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The upper floor incoporates a Multi-Function Suite which will have stunning views over the School's sports facilities and, adjacent to the library, will be a new bespoke area for Learning Support.

As at 31% August 2021, the main contract with John Turner & Sons was almost 40% complete. The Catering Design Group, the company commisioned to design and install the new kitchen and serveries, was working at capacity during the summer holiday to Strip out and re-fit the existing kitchen to ensure that it was ready for meals to be produced for the start of the 2021/22 academic year.

Progress on the building project is closely monitored at the monthly design meetings, which are attended by senior staff and Governors. Key milestones are reviewed carefully.

During the building phase the School is fortunate to be able to utilise the large internal ‘Hub’ as a temporary dining facility for pupils. The remembrance garden has been temporarily relocated to a quiet area alongside the all-weather pitch while building work iS Ongoing.

Other Works

The programme of replacing light fittings to LED models continued during the year; almost all light fittings across the entire School have now been replaced. An extensive schedule of external and internal decorating took place during the summer holidays which included the three-storey front elevation.

During the last academic year, senior pupils have taken the opportunity to have much enjoyment on the outdoor gym purchased through ‘The Great Outdoor Gym Company’. This exciting outdoor area, incorporating a wet-pour surface, a climbing frame, groundmounted trampolines, electricity-producing fitness equipment including a cross-trainer, and exercise bicycle, is extremely popular with pupils. A rota system was set up to ensure that pupils used the equipment in year group bubbles in the last academic year.

Governors have given the go-ahead for a Percussion Pod to be fitted in the central ‘hub’. A deposit was paid to a specialist supplier, Amadeus Performance Equipment, in July and the pod will be fitted in October half-term. The percussion pod will provide a much needed dedicated space for the growing number of pupils who are learning to play a percussion instrument while, at the same time, ensuring that the sound impact on the Surrounding areas is reduced.

Information Technology

The Management Information System (SchoolBase) was regularly updated during the year. The SchoolBase app is increasingly useful to parents and grants them quick access to their child’s attendance records and school reports on a mobile device. A new custom

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application form was built and launched this academic year. It is connected to the Schoolbase database and makes the application process more convenient for prospective parents, it also improves data accuracy and saves time for administrative staff. Use of the Parent portal continues to increase, it can now be used to collect important documents which are then attached directly to the pupil record.

Pupils have also been encouraged to log on to the SchoolbaseApp to check their timetable and the School Calendar.

Use of devices in teaching and pastoral care continues to improve, with Microsoft Teams being created for each teaching group on the timetable this year through Microsoft School Data Sync. Microsoft Teams has become a hub for most departments now and brings together OneNote class notebooks, SharePoint file libraries and a variety of communication methods. The assignments and insights modules in Teams have been selected as the platforms to bring our homework diaries into the digital world, with teaching staff attending training on their use during the summer term of 2021. Pupils now have a centralised list of allocated homework from across their timetable with the ability to hand in the work electronically where appropriate. Staff will gain access to at-a-glance data showing which pupils have viewed, handed in, or are yet to return work.

The School laptops that have been allocated to staff continue to perform well, allowing staff to work securely from anywhere, ensuring encryption, backup and multi-factor authentication are switched on.

The school undertook a programme of server operating system upgrades during the summer of 2021 to combat security vulnerabilities that are become more prevalent in older, unsupported operating systems. Each primary host is capable of running the entire network which provides an additional safeguard to the School in the event of a disaster. Under normal operation, the primary virtual hosts share the workload of the whole network.

A breach detection service has continued to operate (third year running) with an external specialist IT consultancy company. Quarterly reports are generated on the security of the school systems, which are then scrutinized by the school IT team who can take remediating action.

The School's internet connection continues to be more than sufficient for our needs, the contract was renewed for a further 4 years in August 2020 along with the inclusion of a new off-site backup service. The off-site backup has performed well and has proved useful for a handful of data recovery incidents this year.

Cyber security continues to be one of the top 10 risks included within the Risk Register. The School has a managed Fortinet firewall, which was renewed along with the internet contract, and has engaged the services of external specialist contractors who conduct ethical hacking, breach detection and advanced spam/phishing filtering services as detailed above. Governors have considered the additional risk from the

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prevalence of ransomware attacks in the sector and additional backup and security measures have been implemented.

Two-factor authentication is now standard across all staff and senior school pupil accounts when accessing school services. We are aware that this control has prevented a number of phishing attacks being successful in the year to 31 August 2021. The School and the Trust have taken all the necessary steps to comply with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) which came into effect from May 2018 and has continued to improve the controls regarding access to personal and sensitive information.

Environmental Initiatives: cutting the ‘carbon footprint’

The School community continues to promote sustainability and the programme for the replacement of light fittings to LED energy-efficient models has continued in 2021.

The School uses a waste removal company which recycles rubbish.

The IT Department ensures that print cartridges and computers are recycled in accordance with WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive) regulations. The school continues to use a compactor and baler in order to reduce the volume of waste packaging taken away, and baled cardboard is now being collected by Fresh Start Recycling Company.

The removal of desktop computers continued, further advancing towards the long-term goal of transitioning staff to laptops and to reduce further the fleet of desktop computers, which reduces the overall energy consumption significantly. There are very few staff who have no remote working opportunity.

The School's Contract Catering Company, Holroyd Howe Limited, has a dedicated Sustainability & Environment Manager who provides support and guidance to the School. The company is passionate about sustainable eating and has produced an initiative called Future Proof Food. It provides a balanced rounded approach, looks at increasing sustainable protein consumption, reducing waste and eating more local and seasonal produce. There is a current focus on plastics and the focus is on the ‘3’ R’s ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’. Where plastic is the only option, the aim is to use products that are made with a high percentage of recycled plastic.

Eco Society is a fully inclusive group, comprising girls from Year 7 to Upper Sixth, who meet regularly and organise events under the encouraging guidance of the Head of DT and one of the Biology teachers. Junior Outdoor Club is overseen by the Head of Classics. Eco Week in April 2020 was one of the first annual events to be adapted for lockdown and girls were encouraged to think about changing habits, broadening their knowledge, 27

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and supporting those who need it most. There were two eco-themed virtual assemblies including one led by alumna Dr Cal Major, ocean advocate, veterinary surgeon, and adventure-seeker. Dr Major’s words were truly inspiring just as everyone was adjusting to the new reality of lockdown.

The most recent Withington Onwards magazine was an ‘Eco Edition’, celebrating the efforts of Withington alumnae in various occupations and campaigns related to caring for our environment. The magazine was printed on Carbon Balanced Paper and every effort was made to reduce its carbon footprint.

A great year for Eco Society culminated with the renewal of the Eco-Schools Green Flag Award in January 2020. The School has now been recognised continuously as a Green Flag School since 2010 and the Award recognises the efforts of the School’s ‘Eco’ groups in creating and communicating a school ‘eco-code’ in which all pupils and staff cooperate and undertake to play their part. The assessor said in her letter confirming the Award:

“| would like to congratulate you for all the time and effort that has been invested in environmental education at your school. Your award is well deserved and reflects the hard work you have put into the programme so far.”

The School installed a dual electric charging point in the Victoria Road car park over a year ago and there is an increasing number of staff who own an electric vehicle.

Details of bursary awards — policy into practice

In addition to financial support received from other Educational Trusts, the School receives financial support from the WGS Trust (Charity Number 505207) for meanstested bursaries (details of the WGS Trust are provided in Note 12 on page 48 of these accounts).

The value of bursaries from the WGS Trust for 2021 was £734,973 (2020: £710,069).

The value of bursaries from other awarding bodies for 2021 was £128,000 (2020: £136,660). The total value of bursaries for 2021 was therefore £862,973 (2020: £846,729) representing 9.8% of fee income in 2021 (2020: 9.7%).

There were 112 girls in receipt of bursaries for the year to 31st August 2021; 6 from the Junior School and 106 in the Senior School. This equates to over 18% of girls in Senior School andover 6% of girls in Years 5/6 of the Junior School receiving support. Eighteen girls in the Senior School benefited from full remission of fees and thirty-two girls in the Senior School obtained a bursary worth 80% or more of fees. In the Senior School, therefore, 17% of the bursaries were worth 100% of the fees and 30% of the bursaries were worth 80% or more of the fees.

Bursaries were awarded in Years 5 and6 for the first time in 2015/16. The Junior School bursaries were made possible by the legacy from Miss Connell, a former teacher at the

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School. The introduction of these bursaries provided additional places for girls in Years 5 and 6 from September 2015 and coincided with the opening of the new Junior School building.

Fundraising Performance

Governors approved a new Development & Alumnae Strategy (2019 to 2024) at their meeting in September 2019. The key focus of this Strategy, which dovetails with the School’s Development Plan, is to continue to raise funds for school priorities. A significant focus will be to increase funding for means-tested bursaries as one of the aims of the School is to maintain and increase the level of Governors’ means-tested bursary support to secure the diversity of the school community, with the eventual aim of needs-blind admission. The majority of donations for bursaries are processed through the accounts of the WGS Trust.

Donations received by the WGS Trust for the bursary fund amount to £138,957 (2020: £125,662).

The Development Office launched a bursary/hardship appeal in July 2020, supported by an alumna (and her husband) who pledged to match the first £12,633 donated. The response from this direct mail appeal, the first carried out by the school, was exceptional. As at 9" October 2021 the amount raised in total (including pledges) is £114,339. The alumna increased her pledge to ensure that we raised over £100,000. These funds were processed through the accounts of the WGS Trust.

This direct mail appeal was part of the newly approved strategy to diversify our methods of making a fundraising ask. Pleasingly, half of all donors who gave to the appeal were either new donors or long lapsed donors who had not given for 10+ years.

One of the key priorities for the Development Office in the last year was to increase engagement with the alumnae body. In the last year, engaged alumnae have increased by over 17% and almost 50% of alumnae can now be classified as ‘engaged’ with the School. This has largely been driven by offering an increased number of virtual reunions which, through the lock-down period, has appealed to a greater number of former pupils from across the world. Engagement in new communications such as a new podcast, ‘Spotcast On’, the inaugural Ad Lucem Alumnae Awards and Withington Connect have all contributed to this success which has also been extremely beneficial for current pupils.

The winners of the first Ad Lucem Alumnae Awards were announced in October 2021 following nominations from the school community. The Head Girl team participated in the shortlisting process and a final vote was taken by all girls in the Senior School. The main Ad Lucem Alumna Award was awarded to world renowned neuroscientist, Brenda Milner. The Ad Lucem Young Alumna award was awarded to Bronya Sykes, a Cambridge University Student who was part of the winning 2021 Cambridge Boat Race team. During the course of the shortlisting process, it was

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decided that we would introduce a third award, the Rose Acton Ad Lucem Award. Rose, from the Class of 2010, died in December 2020 and this award will recognise those who display qualities such as courage, curiosity, kindness, humour, determination, resilience and a desire to improve things for others. Most importantly, like Rose, future recipients will inspire and support those around them to achieve more than they thought they could.

Programmes to enable our pupils to communicate directly with alumnae were established - a Pen Pal programme saw twenty-five junior school pupils take up their pens to correspond with their alumnae pen pals. Withington Connect saw Sixth Form pupils reaching out by phone to senior alumnae to connect, share common experiences and simply to talk. Our pupils and alumnae gained so much from these interactions, including a greater sense of connection during a time when social interactions have been so confined. Inspired by the national project, ‘Portraits for NHS Heroes’, which was initiated by artist, Tom Croft, our Art Department, in conjunction with the Development Team, decided to follow in Tom’s footsteps and offer a free portrait to our key worker alumnae to say thank you and to express the depth of our gratitude and our heartfelt thanks for all that they have done and are continuing to do for us during the pandemic. GCSE and A level pupils, as well as staff, created the portraits that were displayed in an online exhibition before the portraits were sent to the alumnae.

The last annual Emily Simon Society Lunch was held on 11'" March 2020. This provided an opportunity for members of the Society to visit the School, meet some current bursary recipients, and to learn about the School’s partnership, WithGambia, that has been running for many years. This year we met virtually in December 2020 when members were able to watch to highlights from our virtual Christmas concerts.

The Annual Fund was renamed and relaunched as the ‘Ad Lucem Fund’ and applications were invited from staff members to bid for funding to support projects which enhance and enrich the girls’ learning, but that normally fall outside the reach of the annual school budget. This year, we particularly encouraged projects that provide opportunities to compensate for experiences lost during the Covid-19 outbreak.

A telephone campaign, ‘Withington Calling 2021, ran for two weeks in August 2021. The campaign was run remotely and conducted by a calling team of 12 Sixth Form pupils and recent alumnae. The campaign was managed by an external company, supported by our Development Office, and the callers made contact with more than 450 alumnae. The purpose was not only to raise funds for bursaries and specific Annual Fund projects, but also to engage further with alumnae.

The running costs for the Development Office have been borne equally by the WGS Trust and the School. In the year ended 31st August 2021, the direct costs for each were £95,136 (2020: £77,764).

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The School’s approach to fundraising

The School employs an in-house Development Team to carry out fundraising on its behalf. The Director of Development reports directly to the Headmistress. A professional fundraising consultancy is engaged to assist with a biennial telephone campaign.

The WGS Trust (Charity 505207) registered as a member of the Fundraising Regulator in October 2017. Registration is optional for charities which spend less than £100,000 on fundraising each year and, as a result, there was no requirement for the WGS Trust to register. The Trust’s voluntary registration is evidence of its desire to follow best practice. The Trust also follows the Institute of Fundraising’s code of practice and we have published our own Fundraising Code of Practice.

The Development Team can confirm that all activities comply with the requirements of the Fundraising Regulator, that of the Institute of Fundraising’s Code of Practice and our own Code of Practice.

Careful monitoring of the activities of the Development Office is carried out by Governors of the School and Trustees of the WGS Trust. The Development Director submits a report on fundraising activities for each Governors’ meeting and each Trustees’ meeting and attends the meetings to answer any questions raised.

There have been no complaints about fundraising activities in the year to 31 August 2021 (2020: NIL).

FINANCIAL REVIEW AND RESULTS FOR THE YEAR

As an educational charity pupils’ parents have the assurance that all income of the School is applied for educational purposes.

The results for the year show net incoming resources of £191,172 (2020: £283,246). Expenditure on fixed assets for the year was £937,292 which comprises £746,494 for assets under construction, plus £190,798 for fixtures, fittings and equipment.

Governors have critically appraised the School's financial position, as a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic, and have taken appropriate measures to limit the fee increase for parents in the 2021/22 year.

RESERVES

In formulating their reserves policy, the Governors are committed to ensuring that the School has a sufficient level of reserves to enable it to meet its objectives, which have

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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE GOVERNORS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021

been described earlier in this report. The level of reserves is regularly scrutinized with these objectives in mind. The Governors’ aim is that the School should have sufficient free reserves to support the value of one term’s payroll costs for teachers, which equates to around £1.3m.

The School has retained reserves of £13,968,774 at 31st August 2021, which are considered to be appropriate for the objects of the School to be maintained. The actual free reserves as at 31st August 2021 are £358,588 (2020: £414,612), calculated as the value of Net Assets less Fixed Assets. There has been a reduction in free reserves following the Governors’ decision to commence the major building project, the two-storey extension to the Dining Room. Governors and the Senior Leadership Team consider that the School is a Going Concern and is able to meet its obligations as they fall due.

Within the free reserves, Governors have designated £50,058 as the proportion of the capital grant receivable from the external catering company in respect of new kitchen equipment for the kitchen.

Governors do not feel it is necessary to retain within Designated Reserves a sum for the on-going additional costs and support measures as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The School’s policy is to build up free reserves to the desirable level by annual operating surpluses.

FUTURE PLANS

The Board approved the School Development Plan in June 2019. A review of these strategic priorities will take place in January 2022.

The current strategic priorities are as follows:

32

WITHINGTON GIRLS’ SCHOOL

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE GOVERNORS Une FORRM THEeR YEAR ENDEDha di at carol31 AUGUSTali tai A 2021ps

Approved by the Governing Body of Withington Girls’ School on Qqm Nwembe, OL and signed on its behalf by: Mr Malcolm Pike “Hl, Chair of Governors

|

33

WITHINGTON GIRLS’ SCHOOL

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE GOVERNORS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021

STATEMENT OF GOVERNORS’ RESPONSIBILITIES

The Governors (who are also directors of Withington Girls’ School for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Governors’ Annual report, which includes the strategic 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 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 charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charity for that period.

In preparing these financial statements, the Governors are required to:

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

Financial statements are published on the charity's website in accordance with legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements, which may vary from legislation in other jurisdictions. The maintenance and integrity of the charity’s website is the responsibility of the Governors. The Governors’ responsibility also extends to the ongoing integrity of the financial statements contained therein.

Statement as to disclosure of information to auditors

Chair of Governors

Date:

34

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE GOVERNORS OF ———eeWITHINGTON GIRLS’ SCHOOL Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Withington Girls’ School (‘the charitable company’) for the year ended 31 August 2021 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Cash Flow Statement and notes to the financial statements, including 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:

Basis for opinion

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

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the Governors' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue. Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Governors with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The Governors are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial Statements and our auditor's report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

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 this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. 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 our audit

35

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE GOVERNORS OF WITHINGTON GIRLS’ SCHOOL

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and their environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the directors’ report included within the Governors’ 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:

e the Governors were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies’ exemptions in preparing the Governors’ report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report. Responsibilities of Governors As explained more fully in the Governors’ responsibilities statement set out on page 34, 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 contro! as the Governors 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 trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Details of the extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations are set out below.

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.

Extent to which the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We identified and assessed the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements from irregularities, whether due to fraud or error, and discussed these between our audit team

36

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE GOVERNORS OF —_--e———WITHINGTON GIRLS’ SCHOOL members. EEO ees obtaining We then designed and performed audit procedures responsive to those risks, including audit evidence sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our Opinion. We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks within which the charitable company operates, focusing on those laws and regulations that have a direct effect on the determination of material amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The laws and regulations we considered in this context were the Companies Act 2006, taxation legislation together with the Charities SORP (FRS 102). We assessed the required compliance with these laws and regulations as part of our audit procedures on the related financial statement items. In addition, we considered provisions of other laws and regulations that do not have a direct effect on the financial statements but compliance with which might be fundamental to the charitable company’s ability to operate or to avoid a material penalty. We also considered the opportunities and incentives that may exist within the charitable company for fraud. The laws and regulations we considered in this context for the UK operations were The Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014, Employment legislation and Health and Safety legislation. Auditing standards limit the required audit procedures to identify non-compliance with these laws and regulations to enquiry of the Trustees and other management and inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any. We identified the greatest risk of material impact on the financial statements from irregularities, including fraud, to be within the timing of recognition of other income, and the override of controls by management. Our audit procedures to respond to these risks included enquiries of management about their own identification and assessment of the risks of irregularities, sample testing on the posting ofjournals, reviewing accounting estimates for biases, reviewing regulatory correspondence with the Charity Commission, Independent Schools Inspectorate and reading minutes of meetings of those charged with governance.

Owing to the inherent limitations of an audit, there is an unavoidable risk that we may not have detected some material misstatements in the financial statements, even though we have properly planned and performed our audit in accordance with auditing standards. For example, the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations (irregularities) is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely the inherently limited procedures required by auditing standards would identify it. In addition, as with any audit, there remained a higher risk of non-detection of irregularities, as these may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal controls. We are not responsible for preventing non-compliance and cannot be expected to detect non-compliance with all laws and regulations.

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.

[This report has not yet been signed]

Vicky Szulist Senior Statutory Auditor For and on behalf of Crowe U.K. LLP Statutory Auditor The Lexicon Mount Street Manchester M2 5NT Date

37

WITHINGTON GIRLS' SCHOOL

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021

----- Start of picture text -----
||||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Unrestricted|Unrestricted| |Funds|Funds| |£|£| |Notes| |INCOME:| |Donations|2|75,961|192| |Income|from|charitable|activities:| |Tuition|fees|receivable|8,801,430|8,696,302| |School|meals|425,877|361,038| |Income|from|other|trading|activities:| |Other|income|3|97,640|201,623| |Investment|income|271|3,128| |Total|income|"9,401,179|9,262,283| |Expenditure| |Costs|of raising|funds|4|95,136|77,764| |Expenditure|on|charitable|activities|5|8,712,814|8,503,421| |Contributions|to|WGS|Trust|402,057|397,852| |Total expenditure|"9,210,007|~|8,979,037| |Net|income|and|net|movement|of funds|for the|year|191,172|283,246| |Other|recognised|gains/(losses)| |Actuarial|gain/(loss)|on|CARE|Pension|Scheme|15|66,419|(4,264)| |Net movement|in funds|~~|257,591.|278,982| |RECONCILIATION|OF|FUNDS| |TOTAL|FUNDS|BROUGHT|FORWARD|11|13,711,183|13,432,201| |TOTAL|FUNDS|CARRIED FORWARD|11|13,968,774|_—*‘13,711,183|

----- End of picture text -----

The notes on pages 41 to 53 form part of these accounts.

All amounts relate to continuing activities.

38

WITHINGTON GIRLS' SCHOOL

BALANCE SHEET

31 August 2021

2021 2020 2020
Notes £ £ £ £
FIXED ASSETS
Tangible assets 7 13,610,186 13,296,571
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors
Cash at bank		 8 199,580
1,965,594		 570,553
1,468,537
2,165,174 2,039,090
CREDITORS
Amounts falling due within one year 9 (1,504,039) (1,212,461)
NETCURRENT ASSETS 661,135 826,629
CREDITORS
Amounts falling due after more than one year
Pension Liability 10 (302,547) (412,017)
NETASSETS 13,968,774 13,711,183
ACCUMULATED UNRESTRICTED
FUNDS 11 13,968,774 13,711,183
13,968,774 13,711,183

The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the board of Governors onMr ZGMalcolm KCudiilig} Pike 21 and signed onGovernorits behalf by:Sell. Mr Christopher Poston Governor ope —

39

WITHINGTON GIRLS' SCHOOL

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

FOR YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021

----- Start of picture text -----
|||||||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |2021|2020| |£|£| |Reconciliation|of|net|movement|in|funds|to|net|cash|flow|from|operating|activities| |Net|movement|in|funds|257,591|278,982| |Add|back|depreciation|charge|623,677|631,581| |Deduct|interest|income|shown|in|investing|activities|(271)|(3,128)| |Decrease/(increase)|in|debtors|370,973|(136,388)| |Increase/(decrease)|in|creditors|291,578|(282,633)| |(Decrease)|in|Pension|Liability|(109,470)|(36,091)| |Net|cash|flow|from|operating|activities|1,434,078|452,323| |Cash|flows|from|investing|activities| |Interest|income|271|3,128| |Purchase|of tangible|fixed|assets|(937,292)|(169,122)| |Cash|used|in|investing|activities|(937,021)|(165,994)| |Reconciliation|of|Net|Cash/Debt| |Increase|in|cash|and|cash|equivalents|in|the|year|497,057|286,329| |Cash|and|cash|equivalents|at the|beginning|of|the|year|1,468,537|1,182,208| |Total|cash|and|cash|equivalents|at|the|end|of the|year|1,965,594|1,468,537|

----- End of picture text -----

40

WITHINGTON GIRLS’ SCHOOL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021

1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES

(a) Basis of preparation of financial statements The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015) - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006. Withington Girls' School meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy note. (b) Incoming resources All incoming resources are accounted for on an accruals basis and are after deducting allowances and other remissions granted by the School. (c) Resources expended All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and is allotted directly to the category to which it relates and includes irrecoverable VAT. Governance costs comprise those costs incurred complying with constitutional and statutory requirements. (d) Fund accounting All funds held by the Charity are unrestricted and can be used in accordance with the charitable objects at the discretion of the trustees. (e) Tangible fixed assets and depreciation Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost or valuation less depreciation. Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost or valuation of fixed assets over their expected lives on a straight line basis at the following annual rates: Buildings and external facilities 2% to 10% Fixtures, fittings and equipment, and computers 5% to 25% Capital grants are accounted for when the Charity is unconditionally entitled to receive the monies. (f) Expenditure on charitable activities This includes all items required to provide schooling for pupils. (g) Support costs This represents expenditure required to manage and administer the charity. (h) Pensions The School makes pension contributions in respect of eligible teaching staff to the Teachers’ Pensions Scheme. The School also makes contributions to the personal pension plans of other employees. The School joined the Career Revalued Earnings Scheme (CARE) offered by TPT Retirement Solutions which has been made available to all non-teaching staff appointed since 1 September 2004 and existing non-teaching staff up until 31st March 2016 (when the Scheme closed). From 1st April 2016 the School has offered a Defined Contribution Scheme through TPT Retirement Solutions (the Growth Plan Series The pension charge represents the amount payable in respect of the pension schemes mentioned above.

41

WITHINGTON GIRLS' SCHOOL

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021

1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES CONTINUED

(i) Financial Instruments

Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at amortised cost with the exception of investments which are held at fair value. Financial assets held at 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. Assets and liabilities held in foreign currency are translated to GBP at the balance sheet date at an appropriate year end exchange rate.

(j) 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.

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 other than the Provision for the pension deficit levy. The School has an obligation to pay deficit funding contributions towards the support staff defined benefit pension plan. This provision is dependent on a number of factors including discount rate, life expectancy and asset valuations. The assumptions reflect historical experience and current trends.

42

(k) Going Concern

WITHINGTON GIRLS’ SCHOOL

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021

The Governors and Senior Leadership Team have reviewed the Financial Forecast and Budget and consider that the School is a Going Concern. The Statement of Cash Flows shows the cash inflow from Operating Activities which enables investment in the fabric of the School. The School is also grateful for the support of the WGS Trust (Charity 505207) which provides financial assistance to the School for means-tested bursaries and capital projects. Governors have critically appraised the School's financial position, as a result of the COVID19 Pandemic, and have taken appropriate measures to limit the fee increase for parents in the 2021/22 year.

2 DONATIONS 2021
£		 2020
£
Donationfrom theWGS Trustforthe Sports Project
Partial capital contribution forthe Dining Room Extension
Annual Fund donation		 24,304
50,058
1,599		 0
0
192
75,961 192
The School's caterers have agreed a capital contribution to the building project.
3 OTHERINCOME 2021 2020
£ £
Entrance examination fees 19,010 20,890
Miscellaneous income §2,702 49,993
Erasmus (British Council) Income
Job Retention Scheme Income		 0
25,928		 43,751
86,989
97,640 201,623
4 COSTS OF RAISING FUNDS
2021 2020
£ £
Salaries
Pension costs		 58,075
5,802		 §3:3311
5,672
Social securitycosts
Total salarycosts		 5,730
69,607		 5,585
64,588
Otherfundraising expenditure
Administration expenditure		 20,504
5,025		 11,313
1,863
Totalcosts 95,136 77,764

The costs shown above represent 50% of the direct running costs for the Development Office. The other 50% of the costs have been borne by a separate charity, the WGS Trust (charity number 505207). Any income raised by the Development Office is included in the accounts of the WGS Trust.

43

WITHINGTON GIRLS' SCHOOL

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021

5 EXPENDITURE ON CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

5 EXPENDITURE ON CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES
TEACHING COSTS 2021
£		 2020
z
Teachers’ salaries
Superannuation charges
Social Securitycosts		 3,197,452
733,702
333,672		 3,191,708
739,710
332,339
SUPPORTCOSTS
Wages, salaries and support
Pension costs
Social securitycosts
Apprenticeship Levy
Supplies, equipmentand tools
Miscellaneousexpenses
Printing, stationery, advertisingand telephone
Operating lease payments
Professional fees (including HR, H&Sand Catering Consultancy)
Interestand charges forCARE PensionScheme
Insurance
Erasmus (British Council) Expenditure		 1,589,565
168,144
123,722
7,425
707,068
294,702
168,886
9,161
125,487
19,209
73,378
0		 1,407,150
150,784
106,408
7,208
677,983
336,738
133,411
9,161
75,591
15,052
65,701
43,751
PREMISES 3,286,747 3,028,938
Repairs, maintenanceand replacementof buildings
Professionalfeesforbuilding projecton hold
Repairs, maintenanceand replacementoffixtures and fittings
Minor buildingworks
Depreciation
Maintenance ofgrounds
Fuel, light, waterand refusecollection
COVID-19 additional costs toinclude sanitisersand hire ofmarquee
Rates
CCTV		 98,366
0
18,888
75,644
623,677
27,150
168,187
63,376
53,475
4,048		 109,901
127,961
4,373
45,991
631,581
12,509
137,895
45,516
47,036
6,968
GOVERNANCE COSTS
Audit fee
Otherfees paid tothe auditors
Legalandassociated costs		 13,020
0
15,410		 12,810
1,380
26,805
28,430 40,995
Total 8,712,814 8,503,421

The Trustees do not consider it to be practicable to allocate costs in connection with the furtherance of public benefit.

44

WITHINGTON GIRLS' SCHOOL

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021

6 STAFF COSTS

----- Start of picture text -----
||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |2021|2020| |Payroll|[costs]|£|£|£|£| |Wages and salaries|comprised:| |Teaching staff (full and part-time)|3,197,452|3,199,535| |Library and department support staff|442,652|411,937| |roomHousekeeper,staff|kitchen and dining|283,542|204,466| |Cleaners| |Premises|[staff]|151,280|132,413| |Administration|127,495|120,475| |592,022|537,239| |Development|1,596,991|1,406,530| |58,075|53,332| |Pension|[costs]|4,852,518|4,659,397| |Social|[security]|[costs]|907,648|896,166| |463,124|444,332| |The|6,223,290|5,999,895| |average number of full and part time employees during the year was|153 (2020:|152)| |including temporary appointments|to cover members of staff on maternity leave.| |The average number of full and part time employees during the year, expressed|as full-time| |equivalents,|was|110|(2020:|115).| |The average number of full and part time teachers during the year was 87 (2020: 89).| |No termination payments were made during the year|(2020:|NIL)|

----- End of picture text -----

The number of employees with emoluments exceeding £60,000 was as follows:

----- Start of picture text -----
|||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |2021|2020| |£60,000|to|£70,000|No|No| |£80,001|[to]|[£90,000]|4|4| |£100,001|[to]|[£110,000]|4|f| |£110,001|[to]|[£120,000]|0|0| |Contributions|1|1| |the|were made to the Teachers' Pensions Scheme which|is a defined|benefit scheme|for| |above higher paid employees.|The cost of the contributions|in respect of the above| |higher paid employees was £111,258|(2020: £11 1,212).| |(2020:The remuneration£638,356). of the Senior Leadership Team, including|social security and pension costs, was £638,502| |None|of the Trustees received any remuneration during the year (2020: ENIL)| |The Trustees received|travel expenses|of ENIL (2020: £1 260).| |Further details about the Teachers’ Pension Scheme, the CARE Pension Scheme and the Growth Plan 4| |Pension Scheme are provided|in Notes|13,|14,|15 and|16|in these accounts.|

----- End of picture text -----

.

45

i ; |

WITHINGTON GIRLS' SCHOOL

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021

7 TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS

7 TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETSASSETS
Freehold
buildings
and Assets under		 Fixtures
fittings
and
Costorvaluation
At
1 September2020
Additionsfortheyear
At 31August 2021		 grounds
construction
£
£
16,671,643
0
0
746,494
16,671,643
746,494
—<— s+
1]
ee		 equipment
£
4,488,070
190,798
4,678,868
018,868		 Total
£
21,159,713
937,292
22,097,005
22,097,005
Depreciation
At 1 September2020
Chargeforyear
At31August 2021
Net book value		 4,404,227
0
3,458,915
7,863,142
377,111
0
246,566
623,677
4,781,338
0
3,705,481
8,486,819
——€=<cce$sw$IIIMm
= _9:N9,481
8,486,819
At 31 August 2021
At
31August2020		 11,890,305
746,494
SS
12,267,416
0
SSS		 973,387
OF
1,029,155		 13,610,186
13,610,186
13,296,571
OE

Construction work is underway on a two-storey Dining Room extension which is due for completion in February 2022. A capital contribution towards this project has been confirmed from our catering contractor for specific items of equipment. This equipment has been capitalised when received and the corresponding entry has been reflected in donations. The equipment will be owned by the School at the end of the catering contract (in 2024). If the School were to ofchange the contracits ca t .ering contractor before this date there would be an amount repayable based on the remaining term

The charity has taken advantage of the transitional provisions available under FRS102 "Tangible Fixed Assets" not to update the revaluation of its fixed assets. The Governors are confident that the current value of the land and buildings is not less than the value stated above. On 1st September 2015 a transfer of assets took place as part of the incorporation process as described on Page3 of this Annual Report. The Transfer Deed provided for all the Charity's unrestricted assets and liabilities to be transferred to the new charitable company (company number 09083954 and registered charity number 1158226). The School's land and buildings, considered by the Charity Commission to be permanent endowment, remain within the Charitable Trust. The charitable company is the sole corporate trustee of the Charity.

The land is registered at HM Land Registry under the title number MAN246365.

46

WITHINGTON GIRLS' SCHOOL

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021

8 DEBTORS 2021 2020
£ £
Feesowingfromparents
Sundrydebtors
AmountduefromWGSTrust
Prepayments		 11,799
11,862
0
175,919
199,580		 31,394
36,278
402,309
100,572
570,553
9 CREDITORS 2021 2020
£ £
Amounts falling due within one year:
Tuitionfees
Taxandsocial security
Capitalaccruals
Otheraccruals
AmountpayabletoWGSTrust		 546,160
110,746
347,004
481,357
18,772
1,504,039		 378,266
106,788
87,594
639,813
0
1,212,461
40 PENSION LIABILITY 2021 2020
£ £
Pension Liability 302,547 412,017
ThePension Liabilityshownabove represents thePresentValueofthe ProvisionforthetheTPTRetirementSolutions
-CARE Pension Scheme- as detailed in Note 15.
41 ACCUMULATEDFUNDS
GeneralFunds 2021 2020
£ £
As 1 September 2020
Surplusfortheyear
Less transfertoDesignatedFund
Plus transferfrom DesignatedFund
At 31 August 2021		 13,461,183
257,591
(50,058)
250,000
13,918,716		 13,432,201
278,982
(250,000)
0
13,461,183
Designated Fund
As 1 September 2020
Plustransferfrom GeneralFund
LesstransfertoGeneralFund
At31 August2021		 250,000
50,058
(250,000)
50,058		 0
250,000
0
250,000
Total funds
As 1 September 2020
Surplusfortheyear
At 31August 2021		 13,711,183
257,591
13,968,774		 13,432,201
278,982
13,711,183

The Designated Fund was initially set up by Governors at 31st August 2020 to ear-mark specific funds for the on-going additional costs and support measures required as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the effects of the pandemic are less uncertain the designated amount has now been transferred to the general fund. For the year ended 31 August 2021, Governors hava ansferred a proportion of the capital grant receivable

WITHINGTON GIRLS' SCHOOL

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021

from the external catering company into the Designated Fund. The balance of funding will be received in the next accounting period when the project has been completed. Further information is included in Note 7.

The reserves shown above include those which have financed Fixed Assets (as shown in Note 7). Free reserves are £358,588 as at 31 August 2021 (2020: £414,612). The reduction in free reserves is as a result of the commencement of the major building project, the two-storey extension to the Dining Room, which started in April 2021 and is expected to be completed by February 2022.

12 RELATED PARTIES

The Governors of Withington Girls' School appoint the Trustees of WGS Trust, a registered charity. Transactions with the WGS Trust have been identified and disclosed within the accounts and annual report as appropriate.

The operation of the WGS Trust is independent of the School. The objects of the Trust are the advancement of the educational work of Withington Girls’ School, charitable purposes of, or associated with, the School and the advancement of education. A specific aim of the Trust is to maintain and enhance the level of means-tested bursary support to safeguard the diversity of the school community.

One of the Charity's Governors: Dr R Dev-Jairath (as listed on page 1), is a parent of current pupils at the School. Fees charged to this Governors during the year to 31st August 2021 were in line with the School's standard terms & conditions. There were no fees outstanding for this parent at 31 August 2021.

Included within Tuition Fees Receivable of £8,801,430 shown on Page 38 , is income from the WGS Trust, in respect of bursaries, of £734,973 (2020:£710,069). Each year, the School makesa voluntary contribution to the Trust to help finance the cost of means tested bursaries provided by the WGS Trust. The current contibution rate, determined by the Governors, is 4% of fee income.

There were no other related party transactions

48

WITHINGTON GIRLS’ SCHOOL

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021

13 PENSION COSTS

The School's employees belong to two principal pension schemes: the Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS) or a Scheme provided by TPT Retirement Solutions. Up until 31st March 2016, the Scheme offered through TPT Retirement Solutions was the CARE Pension Scheme (a Defined Benefit Scheme). This was closed to further contributions from that point and staff were able to join the Growth Plan Series 4 (a Defined Contribution Scheme) run by TPT Retirement Solutions from 1st April 2016). The Teachers Pension Scheme is a Defined Benefit Scheme.

The total pension cost for the year ended 31 August 2021 was £907,648 (2020: £896,166).

14 TEACHERS ' PENSION SCHEME

Introduction

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 £754,377 (2020: £760,384) and at the year-end ENIL (2020 :E£NIL) 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’ Pension Scheme.

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. The government announced on 4 February 2021 that it intends to proceed with a deferred choice underpin under which members will be able to choose either legacy or reformed scheme benefits in respect of their service during the period between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022 at the point they become payable.

scheme costs. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, having in 2018 announced that there would be a review of this cost cap mechanism, in January 2019 announced a pause to the cost cap mechanism following the Court of Appeal’s ruling in the McCloud/Sargeant case and until there is certainty about the value of pensions to employees from April 2015 onwards. The pause was lifted in July 2020 and a consultation was launched on 24 June on proposed changes to the cost control mechanism following a review by the Government Actuary. Following the public consultation, the Government have accepted three key proposals recommended by the Government Actuary, and are aiming to implement these changes in time for the 2020 valuations.

In view of the above rulings and decisions the assumptions used in the 31 March 2016 Actuarial Valuation may become inappropriate. In this scenario, a valuation prepared in accordance with revised benefits and suitably revised assumptions would yield different results than those contained in the Actuarial Valuation.

Until the consultation and the cost cap mechanism review are completed it is not possible to conclude on any financial impact or future changes to the contribution rates of the TPS. Accordingly no provision for any additional past benefit pension costs is included in these financial statements.

49

WITHINGTON GIRLS’ SCHOOL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021

15 TPT Retirement Solutions - Career Average Revalued Earnings ("CARE") Pension Scheme

The School participates in this scheme, a multi-employer scheme which provides benefits to some 37 non-associated employers. The scheme is a defined benefit scheme in the UK.

It is not possible for the School 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 School 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 employersare 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 at 30 September 2016. This actuarial valuation showed assets of £60.45m, liabilities of £85.3m and a deficit of £24.86m. To eliminate this funding shortfall, the Trustee asked the participating employers to pay additional contributions to the scheme as follows:

A full actuarial valuation for the scheme was carried out at 30 September 2019. This valuation showed assets of £79m, liabilities of £93.9m and a deficit of £14.9m. To eliminate this funding shortfall, the Trustee asked the participating employers to pay additional contributions to the scheme as follows:

Deficit contributions for all employers

From 1 April 2021 to 30 September 2027

(payable monthly and increasing by 3.0% each £1,530,000 per annum year on ‘1st April)

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 School has agreed to a deficit funding arrangement the School recognises a liability for this obligation. The amount recognised is 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 detailed in these disclosures. The unwinding of the discount rate is recognised as a finance cost.

50

WITHINGTON GIRLS' SCHOOL

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021

PRESENT VALUE OF PROVISION

----- Start of picture text -----
|||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |31|August|31|August|31|August| |2021|2020|2019| |(£000s)|(£000s)|(£000s)| |Present|Value|of|Provision|303|412|448| |RECONCILIATION|OF OPENING|AND|CLOSING|PROVISIONS| |YearEnding|Year|Ending| |31|August|31|August| |2021|2020| |(£000s)|(£000s)| |Provision|at|start|of|period|412|448| |Unwinding|of the|discount|factor| |(interest|expense)|3|4| |Deficit|contribution|paid|(46)|(44)| |Remeasurements|-|impact|of any| |change|in|assumptions|(1)|4| |Remeasurements|-|amendments| |to|the|contribution|schedule|(65)|0| |Provision|at end|of|period|303|412|

----- End of picture text -----

INCOME AND EXPENDITURE IMPACT

----- Start of picture text -----
||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |YearEnding|Year Ending| |31|August|31|August| |2021|2020| |(£000s)|(£000s)| |Interest expense|3|4| |Remeasurements —|impact|of any| |change|in|assumptions|(1)|4| |Remeasurements|—|amendments| |to|the|contribution|schedule|(65)|0| |Contributions|paid|in|respect|of| |future|service|0|0| |Contributions|recognised|in| |income|and|expenditure|account|0|0|

----- End of picture text -----

51

WITHINGTON GIRLS' SCHOOL

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021

ASSUMPTIONS

----- Start of picture text -----
||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |31|August|31|August|31|August| |2021|2020|2019| |Rate|% perannum|%perannum|%|per annum| |of discount|0.9|0.8|1.05|

----- End of picture text -----

The discount rates shown above are the equivalent single discount rates 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.

16 TPT Retirement Solutions - GROWTH PLAN SERIES 4

This pension scheme has been offered to Support Staff from 1st April 2016 following the closure of the CARE Scheme.

Growth Plan Series 4 is a Defined Contribution (“DC”) pension arrangement where the contribution rates are determined by the employer. A number of options are made available to members to invest the contributions paid into the Plan by members and employers. If a member does not make a decision where to invest their contributions, a “default” fund is made available. The default fund for Growth Plan Series 4 is a Target Date Fund that is provided by an external investment manager, AB (formerly known as Alliance Bernstein). The Employer contribution rate is 10.6% and the Employee is able to make any contribution from 1% upwards subject to the limits in place with HMRC.

There are 64 members of the Growth Plan Series 4 as at 31 August 2021 (2020: 59 employees).

17 Capital Commitments

There were capital commitments as at 31 August 2021 of £1,468,731 (2020: £NIL).

----- Start of picture text -----
|||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |18|Financial|Instruments| |2021|2020| |£|£| |Financial|assets|measured|at|amortised|cost|(a)|2,165,174|2,039,090| |Financial|liabilities|measured|at amortised|cost|(b)|(847,133)|(727,407)| |Net|financial|assets|measured|at amortised|cost|1,318,041|1,311,683|

----- End of picture text -----

(a) Financial assets include cash, trade and fee deposits and other debtors

(b) Financial liabilities include deposits, trade creditors and other creditors

52

WITHINGTON GIRLS' SCHOOL

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021

19 Operating Leases

The future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases are as follows: The future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases are as follows: The
cor
2021 2020 pay
£ £
Plant& Equipment
Less than 1 year
Between 2and 5years
Over 5years		 9,161
18,322
0		 9,161
27,483
0
27,483 36,644

53

WITHINGTON GIRLS' SCHOOL

SUNDRY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021

A TUITION FEES RECEIVABLE

A TUITION FEES RECEIVABLE
2021 2020
Parents £ .
Bursaries fromWGS Trust 7,938,457 7,849,573
Beaverbrooks
Charitable Trust(viaWGSTrust)
PeterKershawTrust		 734,973
22,000		 710,069
22,000
Zochonis Charitable Trust 3,000 6,660
Stoller Charitable Trust 75,000 70,000
28,000 38,000
( MISCELLANEOUSINCOME 8,801,430
(note 3)
2021 2020
Tuck shop £ s
Vending income 17,236 32,081
SummerSport courses 0 723
Summer ArtandMosaicscourses
Summer Dance Course		 12,157
1,166		 0
0
Junior Club income 2,520 0
Lettings 16,123 12,881
Community
partnerhips includingSHINE		 0
3,500		 4,308
0
C BANKBALANCES 52,702 49,993
At
NationalWestminsterBankple:
General Account		 2021
£		 2020
=
| LiquidityManager
Fees DepositAccount		 10,470
1,021,231		 (48,607)
349,751
Petty Cash 216,849 181,710
ranW4 2517
At Lloyds Bank plc: 1,251,067 485,371
General Account
Investment Account 657,320 925,990
Total 57,207 57,176
1,965,594 1,468,537

This page does not form part of the Statutory Accounts

54

WITHINGTON GIRLS' SCHOOL

SUNDRY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (CONTINUED)

YEARENDED 31 AUGUST2021
D SUPPLIES,EQUIPMENTANDTOOLS(note5) 2021 2020
‘ Library
books, textbooksanddepartmentalconsumables
Pupils’
stationery
Cleaninganddisposables
Apparatusandequipment
Informationtechnology
Foodand hospitality
CateringManagementFee
Kitchenandcleaningequipment		 E
114,283
10,144
65,738
30,158
186,534
232,102
41,494
26,615
707,068		 £
120,872
16,802
43,565
27,603
171,244
207,031
40,680
50,186
677,983
E MISCELLANEOUSEXPENSES(note5) 2021 2020
Medical fees £ z
Examination fees 8,649 Let?
Founders’
dayexpenses
Games,
matchexpenses, sport, trips,tennisactivities
Mini-bus		 48,669
2,807
8,922		 49,819
18,729
17,632
Transport
subsidy
Subscriptions,coursesetc.
Website development
DBS checks		 1,706
55,362
91,149
4,940		 5,193
43,718
88,784
5,779
_
~		 Provisionforbaddebtslessbaddebtrecovery
SummerCamps
SHINE project		 1,318
3,634
7,796		 2,748
41,092
370
NorthWestGifted&TalentedWorkshops
Car Park Facilities		 8,125
150		 7,862
825
Bursary
tripandhardship support
EntranceExamination Costs
I spection		 3,432
23,689
2,976		 2,808
39,338
2,560
Bank
charges
Heritage Fund		 4,571
4,801		 6,884
1,380
Pupil,
parentand Staffsurvey		 946
11,060		 0
0
294,702 336,738

This page does not form part of the Statutory Accounts

55