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2023-08-31-accounts

2023 Annual Report

Annual Report & Financial Statements for the year ended 31 August 2023

Company number: 09750864 Registered charity number: 1163932

Reference & Administrative Details

For the year ended 31 August 2023

2023 Annual Report

Contents

Page

Reference & Administrative Details

02

Trustees' Report

03-34

Independent Auditor's Report

35-37

Statement of Financial Activities 38

Balance Sheet

39

Cash Flow Statement

40

Notes to the Financial Statements

41-51

1

Reference & Administrative Details

For the year ended 31 August 2023

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2023 Annual Report
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Status

The organisation is a charitable company limited by guarantee, incorporated on 26 August 2015 and registered as a charity on 12 October 2015.

Governing Document

The company was established under Memorandum and Articles which established the objects and powers of the charitable company.

Company Number

09750864

Charity Number

1163932

CAN Mezzanine, 7-14 Great Dover Street, London, SE1 4YR

Trustees

Stuart Roden (Chair) Brian Linden (Vice – Chair) William de Winton (Treasurer) Thomas Bible Tatiana Amory Emily Meeyoung Sun (resigned 10 May 2023) Jonathan Clark (Safeguarding Lead) Derek Nasseri (Clinical Trustee) Carrie Herbert (Chair of the Corner School Education Committee) Andrew Cook (appointed 10 August 2023)

Chief Executive

Cassie Oakeshott

Current Leadership Team

Cassie Oakeshott - CEO & Clinical Director Amelia Maling – Head of Fundraising Daniela Caton - Headteacher Corner School

Helen Twigg - Director of Safeguarding & Business Development Lucy Freeman - Director of the Schools Programme

Zoe Hibbert - Director of the Schools Programme (Maternity Cover) Sasha Chipperfield - Head of HR

Tracy True - Finance & Resources Director

Auditors

Haysmacintyre LLP

Chartered accountants & registered auditors 10 Queen Street Place, London, EC4R 1AG

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Trustees’ Report For the year ended 31 August 2023

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2023 Annual Report
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once again been a challenging year for children, families, teachers, and staff managing an increase in safeguarding concerns, the impact of the cost-of-living crisis and general economic uncertainty. There has been a noticeable increase in referrals. We have seen an increase in demand for both our Schools Programme services and for placements at our Corner School. We are also seeing a greater range and complexity of cases that the children we are working with are presenting, indicative of how so many children's lives are blighted by the issues faced by adults in their lives.

Our Mission

Unlocking Potential's mission is to work collaboratively with communities to enable children and young people with social, emotional, and mental health (SEMH) needs to unlock their full potential.

We achieve our mission through our strategic goals:

Strategic goals

We deliver high performing therapeutic programmes and education provision for children and young people with SEMH needs.

We work in collaboration with families, communities, and other partners to ensure that children and young people access the interventions they need in order to thrive.

We work in a trauma informed way that is child centric and attachment based, with a total commitment to excellent safeguarding practice.

who are passionate about supporting children and young people to make positive changes in their lives.

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Our Values
Trust
We build trust by being honest, transparent, and
accountable in the way we work with children and young
people, staff, and partners and by providing services and Collaborative
programmes whose outcomes are measurable and
Relationships are at the heart of our work. We prioritise
evidenced based.
communication and collaboration with partners, families,
and communities, believing that by working together we
create more effective and holistic outcomes for children
Empowering
and young people.
We co-create opportunities for our children, young
people, parents/carers and staff to actively participate in
decision-making that influences change. We promote the
voices of children and young people in our organisation Nurturing
and the wider community.
We provide a nurturing approach based on safety and
space for creativity, exploration, and growth. We support
and care for our children, young people, and staff to
Impact realise their potential.
We are committed to measuring our impact through a
data driven method in order to develop our programmes
and make a greater difference to the lives of children,
young people, and their parents and carers.
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Trustees’ Report For the year ended 31 August 2023

2023 Annual Report

Activities

We deliver high performing therapeutic programmes and education provision for children and young people with SEMH needs. We work in collaboration with families, communities, and other partners to ensure that children and young people access the interventions they need in order to thrive.

The Schools Programme

The Schools Programme is a school-based mental health service offering therapeutic interventions and wellbeing activities to children and young people with SEMH needs. We support partner schools, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and the NHS by providing a high-quality therapeutic service to schools around London that support the most vulnerable children. Increasingly and following government guidance that all schools have a designated mental health lead, schools are recognising the value of having an in-house mental health service, which ensures that children showing signs of distress can be assessed quickly and offered a timely and appropriate intervention.

Our multi-disciplinary team of Psychotherapists, Creative Arts therapists, Occupational therapists and Speech and Language therapists provide flexible, timely and targeted interventions to improve emotional wellbeing and support children to thrive. Therapeutic interventions offered by our team work alongside those delivered by school staff to create a holistic and robust pastoral system. The inclusion of child therapists at pastoral meetings ofen adds a valuable perspective to the staff and administration about how best to support the child’s academic progress and emotional wellbeing.

The Schools Programme provides an exceptional mental health and wellbeing service to primary and secondary schools across London. Delivering a range of interventions designed to meet the needs of children across our partner schools including:

1:1 Therapy (Child Psychotherapy)

Speech and Language Therapy

Online Parent Group

supported 671 children

Children with SEMH needs are amongst the most vulnerable and at risk in society, they are more ofen excluded from school, more likely to be involved with gang and criminal activity and have lower academic attainment than their peers. We recognise that intervening in a child’s life as early as possible can make a huge difference to their educational outcomes and life chances.

In the year ended 31 August 2023 we worked in twenty-four schools across ten London boroughs. We treat each school as a unique community and adapt the service according to the school’s own needs and priorities.

speech and language therapy (SaLT), short term therapeutic interventions and during / afer school clubs and activities. Our staff are fully integrated into the school pastoral and inclusion team, picking up on emerging issues ofen through informal engagement in the playground with children, teachers, and parents, to meet previously

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2023 Annual Report

Trainee Placements

Trainee therapists are a core part of our work, without the incredibly valuable input of Psychotherapy, Occupational therapy and Speech and Language therapy trainees on our trainee placement programme, we simply could not reach the number of children we do. We worked with 67 trainees in the year. We have built up significant relationships with the largest and most well-known training colleges, including the following:

We have a rigorous recruitment and selection process, overseen by our placement team. Once a trainee passes the two-part recruitment process, they are allocated to one of our qualified and accredited in-house UP supervisors.

“From application to induction I have felt listened to and held by the placement lead. I have grown in confidence and I have enjoyed working with the children and adults in my placement school.”

Trainee therapist

trainees, and we frequently receive positive testimonials for both trainees and training college tutors and supervisors. They recognise both the learning opportunities and strength and rigour of an UP Placement. In some cases, trainees are able to go on to become valued UP staff.

Positive Parenting Programme

Parents and carers are a vital part of any school community, and at UP we understand the role they play in supporting their children to progress in their academic and social, emotional wellbeing, providing their children with the roots and wings to unlock their potential. We meet with parents one-to-one every six weeks or so, as part of their child’s therapy check ins, or we refer parents/carers onto the UP Positive Parenting Group or other Parenting Groups provided by the local authority. The UP Positive Parenting group is an 8 week Parent Group, based on the philosophy of positive parenting, drawing on theories of child development, active listening, insights from neuroscience and the central tenet of ‘limits with love’.

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2023 Annual Report

The Corner School (TCS)

The Corner School is a specialist, independent primary school in Brent for children who have been excluded or are at risk of exclusion from mainstream education due to the challenges their SEMH needs present. We provide quality learning opportunities in a multi-disciplinary, nurturing, and therapeutic environment where children can grow and thrive.

Our school follows the national curriculum, which is then tailored to suit the specific needs of our pupils through bespoke educational programmes and lesson plans. Our approach is both trauma informed and sensory-aware, to ensure we view a child's learning interests, their needs and their behaviour in the context of their wider family system and historic and emerging SEMH needs.

Therapeutic support at the Corner School

In addition to our academic work, our children access a tri-part therapeutic model of Occupational Therapy (OT), Speech and Language Therapy (SaLT) and Psychotherapy/Emotion Coaching. We support learning and academic progression by ensuring diagnosed or emerging SEMH needs are met through our team of therapists in the wider charity and a dedicated child psychotherapist who is on the school team.

Parent & family support at the Corner School

Our work is regularly reviewed in light of the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit, and the Trustees confirm that the main activities of the Charity are for the public benefit. We work for the public (defined as a section of the public identified by their social and emotional difficulties) benefit. We define our benefit as reducing social and emotional difficulties faced by children and young people, which is in line with our objectives.

We understand that families are a vital part of our children’s lives and believe in working in partnership with parents and carers to support our children at school and at home. This starts from the first meeting we have with parents and carers, where we aim for them to experience our child-centered, warm and nurturing approach so that we can begin to get to know each other and build the first steps towards a trusting alliance.

Many parents or carers will have experienced multiple complex challenges in their previous relationships with schools and outside agencies. Part of our work is about understanding their experiences and ensuring we offer a new relational experience to support them to move beyond these historic blocks and have a transformational experience of working in partnership with their child’s school. Therapeutic support lies at the heart of this relationship.

support parents; from making daily calls home to talk through a particular challenge their son or daughter is having, to being involved in Reflective Parenting sessions. Reflective Parenting sessions enable parents/carers to meet regularly with their child’s therapist to work on and understand specific issues, strengthening the parent-child connection and developing parenting skills for closer and more positive relationships.

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Achievements and Performance

For the year ended 31 August 2023

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2023 Annual Report
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Impact Report

Our full Impact Report for the year may be found here:

Impact Report ››

The Schools Programme

The Schools Programme is a school–based mental health service offering therapeutic interventions and wellbeing activities to children with SEMH needs. Our multi-disciplinary team of Psychotherapists, Creative Arts therapists, Occupational therapists and Speech and Language therapists provide flexible, timely and targeted interventions to improve emotional wellbeing and help children thrive.

Referrals and the Referral Process

The Schools Programme seeks to address the crisis in children and young people’s mental health that impacts on all aspects of their life including their ability to engage fully in education.

NHS data shows that at the end of February 2022, 420,314 young people were receiving mental health support or were waiting to start support, the highest number since records began and a 54% increase since February 2020, and these figures are the tip of the iceberg. Many children are refused CAMHS support because they don’t meet the high thresholds to be seen.

Children are referred to the Schools Programme by the school’s senior leadership team, classroom teachers, parents and children themselves. Once a child is referred to the service, the UP therapist conducts a detailed assessment with the parent or carer of the child before they start the appropriate chosen intervention. Children are referred for a variety of reasons, however, emotional regulation, family trauma, behaviour problems in school and safeguarding concerns make up the highest proportion of our referrals.

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2023 Annual Report
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Who We Support
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44% were eligible for pupil premium
15% were involved with social care
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15%
38%
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were referred to 1:1 therapy for known family trauma or serious safeguarding concerns

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Ethnicity Key
Any other Asian background 3%
Any other Black background 7%
Any other ethnic group 2%
Any other Mixed background 5%
Any other White background 3%
Arab 3%
Asian or Asian British: Bangladeshi 4%
Asian or Asian British: Indian 1%
Asian or Asian British: Pakistani 2%
Black British 1%
Black or Black British: African 6%
Black or Black British: Caribbean 10%
Mixed: White and Asian 1%
Mixed: White and Black African 2%
Mixed: White and Black Caribbean 7%
Turkish 1%
White: British 22%
White: Other European 5%
White: Roma 0.3%
Not Given 13%
Gender Key
FemaleBlack British/African/Caribbean 39%
Male White 59%
Not GivenMixed Background 2%
Data obtained from School MIS systems
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Ethnicity
Gender
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2023 Annual Report

Overview of Therapeutic Services

Safeguarding

We supported over 2,500 children in 22 primary schools and two secondary schools across ten London boroughs. This was an increase from 17 primary schools and one secondary school in the prior year.

Ensuring the appropriate safeguarding of the children and young people that we work with is a vital component of the work that we do. In the year 312 safeguarding concerns were identified a 333% increase from September 2020.

the schools as their delivery partner. The table below shows the number of children attending / sessions delivered of the various interventions offered in the year.

The top three reasons that safeguarding concerns were raised were physical abuse, mental health concerns of the child/young person and self-harm. We have seen a 2200% increase in reports of self-harm from one in the prior year to 23 in the current year.

Children seen for 1:1 Therapy 314
1:1 Therapy sessions attended 5,353
Children seen for 6xTT 138
6xTT sessions attended 810
Children seen for OT 207
OT sessions attended 1,553
Children seen for SaLT 82
SaLT sessions attended 524
Universal SaLT 180
Children seen in Wellbeing/Transition Groups 253
Children that attended Speak UP 3,132
Children seen in Check Ins 2,224

To ensure that we continue to address these issues effectively we have further developed our procedure and processes when

UP’s multi-disciplinary approach enables us to support children and young people with the most complex needs who require support through multiple different interventions. In the year we supported 64 children who accessed more than one intervention, ofen at the same time. For example 1:1 therapy and Occupational therapy.

1:1 Therapy

many ways by providing time, space and a supportive relationship in which to explore aspects of life that cause preoccupation or worry and impacts their day-to-day wellbeing and functioning. During weekly sessions in the designated UP therapy room, children are invited to engage in play, imagination and the use of creative media. Art, drawing, painting, puppetry, sand play and music; all of which assist the child to explore their inner and outer worlds, their relationship to themselves and others, in order to facilitate psychological healing, growth and transformation.

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2023 Annual Report

Children are referred for 1:1 therapy for a variety of reasons, the most common include:

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Emotional regulation 20%
Family trauma 15%
Behaviour problems at school 12%
Self-esteem & anxiety issues 9%
Behaviour problems at home 7%
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Goal Based Outcomes (GBOs) for 1:1 therapeutic evaluation

GBOs are a recognised and widely-used tool to evaluate progress in clinical work. GBOs fit with the Choice and Partnership Approach and the Children and Young People's Improving Access to Psychological Therapies model of service, and have recently been more widely rolled out across the NHS in child, adult and physical health settings.

For children in 1:1 therapy, three goals are set at the start of the intervention: a goal with the child, with their teacher and with their parent/carer. It is always interesting to see if there are any themes or correlation between the three goals (e.g. if a child and parent or parent and teacher both want to see progress in the same area). We re-score the child’s own-determined goal every six sessions, and re-score the teacher and parent goals once a term.

The chart below displays the average child, teacher and parent goal scores at the beginning, middle, and end of 1:1 therapy for the 116 children that finished therapy during the year.

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79%
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Average Child, Parent and Teacher Goal Scores

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9
8 Goal Score Key Afer attending
1:1 therapy:
7 1-4 Emerging
of children reported
6 5-7 Developing 93% an improvement in their mental health
5 and wellbeing
4 8-9 Securing of teachers reported
100% an improvement in children’s engagement
3 10 Mastered with school/ education
2 of parents reported
Initial Goal that their children
1 Middle Goal 91% were better able to
manage their
End Goal emotions
0
Child Goal Parent Goal Teacher Goal
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2023 Annual Report

Case Study

9-year-old Xavier was referred to 1:1 therapy by his mother who was concerned by Xavier’s anxiety and self-critical behaviour. Xavier had also said on several occasions that he ‘didn’t want to be alive.’

The last few years had been unsettled for Xavier as the family moved to London from overseas. Mum moved to London alone before Xavier, and during this parental separation, his paternal grandmother died in unexpected and traumatic circumstances. This was very hard on Xavier, and then his parents also separated, following incidences of domestic abuse that led to the police being called and dad moving out of the family home.

The Unlocking Potential Therapy Team Manager met with mum to complete an assessment. Mum shared her concerns about Xavier being hard on himself and being unable to accept when he has done well, ofen speaking negatively about himself. Following the assessment, UP staff identified long term 1:1 therapy with a complex case therapist as the appropriate intervention as he would benefit from extended support to aid his understanding of his experiences and improve his self-confidence.

In 1:1 therapy, Goal Based Outcomes (GBOs) are used to measure the effectiveness of the intervention with the child, parent, and teacher all setting a goal. Xavier, his mum, and his teacher were all keen that through the therapy he develop his confidence and set goals to reflect this, initially both scoring low, Xavier scored himself at a 2 and mum a 1. While Xavier and mum were focused on his perception of himself, his teacher was focused on his confidence in the classroom, initially scoring him at 5.

“I don’t know what magic wand you have, but he is like a new child since starting sessions.”

Xavier’s mum

Xavier engaged well in therapy in sessions; he made use of the toys to explore a range of themes, particularly using construction toys to create different worlds and playing competitive board games with the therapist. At the beginning of the work, Xavier found it hard to reflect on his feelings, and was very critical of himself and seemed anxious about losing. Over the period of the therapy, Xavier developed his confidence, becoming more open with the therapist, appearing happier and playing board games without the pressure of winning or the fear of losing.

score was 9, a clinically significant 7 point improvement, mum‘s goal increased by 6 points and his teacher’s final score was 9, a 4 point increase on the initial score. His teacher described Xavier as being much more confident, displaying his personality more in class and developing his friendships. Xavier’s mum shared that he was more confident, happier and had made significant progress, “I don’t know what magic wand you have, but he is like a new child since starting sessions.”

All names and some details have been changed to protect the children and families that we work with. All the photos used in this report are stock images.

2023 Annual Report

Trainees on Placement

worked with 40 trainee psychotherapists during the year, from six colleges and universities. The placement partnerships we have allow us to deliver 1:1 therapy to many more children than would otherwise be possible. We greatly value the mutually beneficial placements we offer and are proud to help train so many trainees on their journey to becoming fully qualified.

6 Times Talk Time (6xTT)

Self-Esteem, Social Skills, Emotional Literacy, Anger Management, Transition and Change (moving to a new school; moving home; divorce and separation; bereavement).

Children are referred to 6xTT for a variety of reasons, the most common include:

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Managing anxiety 26%
Self esteem/confidence 23%
Social skills 20%
Emotional literacy: general 19%
Emotional literacy: understanding anger 12%
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Goal Based Outcomes (GBOs) for 6xTT evaluation

For children in 6xTT, we set a goal with the child and their teacher at the beginning and end of the 6 sessions. The chart displays the average child and teacher goal scores at the beginning and end of 6xTalkTime for the 89 children that completed their sessions in the year.

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8
7 Goal Score Key
6 1-4 Emerging
5
5-7 Developing
4
8-9 Securing
3
10 Mastered
2
1 Initial Goal
0 End Goal
Child Goal Teacher Goal
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of children reported that they improved 93% afer attending 6xTT

100%

of teachers reported an improvement in children’s confidence afer attending 6xTT

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2023 Annual Report
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Occupational Therapy (OT)

Occupational therapy aims to give practical support to help increase childrens’ independence and satisfaction in all aspects of their life. In schools, the goal of OT is to improve childrens’ performance of the tasks and activities that are important for successful school functioning such as handwriting and paying attention in class. OTs work alongside the child and their teacher to support positive change in the child, environment and task.

Occupational therapists worked alongside trainees on their college/ university placement with us in the year to enable us to reach more children.

Children are referred for a variety of reasons, the most common include:

Attention/focus 27%
Emotional/sensory regulation 24%
Handwriting 21%
Fine motor skills 14%
Social skills 14%

Occupational Therapy Goals

UP Occupational therapists are responsive to the needs of the child so goals can be adjusted during the intervention to ensure that we are continuing to meet the child’s needs. Therefore, children are ofen supported to work towards several goals during an OT intervention and in the year children engaging with OT worked towards 355 goals.

Reception Class Teacher from a school in Lambeth

Afer attending OT:

of the 355 goals were fully or partially met

92%

This year’s goals included ‘learning’ goals designed to support children develop their handwriting and fine motor skills.

94%

85%

of teachers reported an improvement in children’s engagement with school/ education

of children reported improved self esteem

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2023 Annual Report

Speech and Language Therapy (SaLT)

Speech and Language therapists (SaLTs) are Allied Health Professionals. At UP, our SaLTs work with parents, carers, teachers, and other professionals providing intervention and care for children who have various difficulties with communication, but SaLTs can also support where eating, drinking or swallowing is an issue.

During a standard half termly package, UP SaLTs work with School Leads/SENCos to identify two high need classes and to select an age range to work with who will receive universal-to-small-scale-targeted SaLT support that will benefit the communication development of the whole class setting. Children presenting with individual communication needs are identified and benefit from appropriate small SaLT groups led by a SaLT or SaLT trainee. School staff are also offered relevant in-person training.

The combination of these three elements helps to secure better communication outcomes and reach the highest number of children possible.

poor SEMH, UP’s SaLT works in a preventative manner initially addressing communication needs as part of UP’s Tri-Part approach. Many SaLT referrals to UP are the child’s first contact with the charity.

In the year the UP SaLT service provided this universal approach to 180 children across four of our partner schools Reception classes. In addition to universal in-class support, we provided training to the staff in these four partner schools on visuals, colourful semantics and zones of regulation, which was very well received.

“It was wonderful to learn how simple changes in class like using visuals and Makaton signs can impact the children’s understanding so greatly.” Classroom Teacher, school in Wandsworth.

Children are referred for SaLT for a variety of reasons, the most common include:

Expressive language 22%
Receptive language
Social skills		 17%
16%
Attention and listening 13%
Speech 13%

Afer attending SaLT:

95% of goals were either fully or partially met

of children were able to communicate their needs more effectively

95%

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2023 Annual Report

Speak-UPs

school an opportunity to self-refer to our service to talk about a worry or concern. This self-referral service makes sure that children who would not necessarily meet the criteria for a 1:1 therapy referral or who have been managing their issues in silence find their way to a compassionate adult when they need the support.

3,132 children referred themselves toSpeak-UPs in the year

Wellbeing Groups

Wellbeing groups are designed to meet the needs of the children and are based around a variety of themes including chess, Lego, mindful colouring and social skills. These groups offer children a chance to focus on increasing confidence and self-esteem and building friendships in a relaxed and nurturing environment. Group membership is usually set at maximum 5-6 children, and rotates every term or half term, to ensure that children attending have enough time to learn new skills and make new friends, but also so that the huge waiting list can be moved along – wellbeing groups are a very popular alternative to regular playground break time!

Check-Ins

from some reassurance and a friendly ear. Sometimes a parent or carer may arrive at school to disclose a particularly tough challenge they are facing, or the family might have experienced a sudden crisis. Knowing that a child can be seen on the same day for a check-in is very comforting for parents and school staff alike. Check-ins may also be offered to children who are on the waiting list for 1:1 therapy and would benefit from consistent contact with the service before the therapy starts, or for those who have finished therapy and are transitioning to greater self-sufficiency but might still benefit from an encouraging chat and a reminder of how far they’ve come.

2,224 children were seen in Check-Ins inthe year

Transition to Secondary School for year 6 children

who are having to manage both loss and excitement, preparing to say goodbye to friends and teachers while also anticipating new beginnings, with all that this entails. All children benefit from the transitional groups we run, but particularly those who may be vulnerable due to additional needs or challenges.

The series of workshops we provide are tailored to each year 6 cohort's specific preoccupations and worries, and this year, we ran some of the classes as well as supported school staff to deliver sessions, which included creating memory books of primary school, top tips for making new friends, and practical tools for helping them settle in and flourish in their first year at secondary school. Giving children time to talk and feel their way through this process, and seeing that others too feel similarly, creates connection points and alleviates worries that 'everyone else has this sorted and it's just me who isn't managing well'.

children attended wellbeing / transition groups across our service in the year

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253
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“The groups created a safe space for all children to explore their feelings and worries, whilst learning useful tools and strategies to form new friendships and prepare for the different expectations of secondary school. The children were very engaged and enjoyed sharing their fears and expectations with their classmates, finding some common ground and comfort that lessened their worries in the process.”

Therapy Team Manager, school in Hackney

other Professionals

bespoke and trauma-informed. Our staff seek opportunities to support and upskill school staff across the school day, both through informal chats and scheduled 1:1s booked by staff to discuss how to manage challenging or concerning behaviour and increase children and staff wellbeing.

149 Professionals Meetings 541 Teacher Meetings

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2023 Annual Report

Parent Support

We know that supporting parents and carers is key to providing effective support to children and young people, so we ensure that regular meetings and check-ins are a key part of our service. We recognise the value of positive relationships, and prioritise these at every stage of the work: when introducing our parents/carers to UP and our team members, when booking regular check-ins to hear how a child is progressing at home and school, when thinking with the parent/carer about how family life is supporting a child’s development, and when responding to parents in crisis on the phone or at the school gate.

It can be hard for parents/carers to take the step to engage with external services, but the positive relationship they have with UP staff builds their confidence to accept help from social care, housing and adult mental health services.

Parent Meetings Attended

607

537

Parent Phone Calls Made

Positive Parenting Group

we began our Positive Parenting Group.

The group has grown each year and in the year supported 20 parents/carers across three groups. This year participants had children attending schools in Brent, Camden, Hackney, Lambeth, Lewisham and Wandsworth. The groups are co-facilitated by members of the UP team, a child therapist trained in Parent Group Facilitation and able to hold in mind the needs of the child, and an adult therapist able to work with any strong feelings evoked in parents.

The 8-week programme includes sessions on empathy and communication, the power of connection, helping children with their big feelings, how to get the most out of your day, encouragement and praise, self-care, and family relationships.

A key and unique aspect of the group is the mid-week 1:1 phone calls, to follow up and check in with parents/carers to see how they experienced the group, what they took away to put into practice, how their child is responding to the new strategies/ways of thinking and being, and answer any questions in a timely way. It is in these calls that our staff can ofen identify if a parent has their own learning/additional needs themselves or is struggling with their own mental health and would benefit from closer connection with the school and the possibility of onward signposting/referral to other supportive services.

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2023 Annual Report
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Our Participants

Risk Factors

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Participating Parents Ethnicity
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We consider children to be more vulnerable if they receive pupil premium, have a mental health diagnosis or an EHC plan, or are on a statutory service plan.

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service plan.
Any other White background 10%
44% Premium
Asian or Asian British: Indian 5%
Black or Black British: African 5%
38%
diagnosis
Black or Black British: Caribbean 10%
White: British 40% 31% EHCP
White: Other European 10%
19%
need)
Not Given 5%
Risk Levels of children whose parents participated in the Positive Parenting Group.
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44% were parents of children receiving Pupil Premium
38% were parents of children with a SEMH
diagnosis
31% were parents of children with an EHCP
were parents of children on statutory
19% service plans (child protection, child in
need)
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High 50% Medium
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19% Low 31%
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Our Impact

To measure the impact of our parent group we use Goal Based Outcomes (GBOs). Parents set goals to support their children to improve their communication, manage their feelings and to more effectively manage boundaries.

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8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Initial Goal Score End Goal Score
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Parent goals improved by an average of 4.1 points.

“

Thank you so much for inviting me onto your course. I strongly feel that society quite ofen pits parents against each other right from the start with debates on birthing, breastfeeding, vaccinating, screen time, discipline, schooling etc etc, the opinion and judgment are endless! Something so refreshing and powerful happens when parents come together to simply share their experiences, and listen to each other, under the gentle guidance of people like A & N. No judgement, just grace and support.

of parents agreed that their children could communicate their needs more effectively afer they attended the parent group

100%

of parents agreed that their children were better able to manage their emotions afer they attended the parent group

100%

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Children’s Mental Health Week

Every year February sees the celebration of Children's Mental Health Week during which we provide a themed out-reach day to children, parents/carers and staff.

celebrate good mental health, and enable children to discover new tools to support their wellbeing. This year’s theme was ‘Express Yourself’.

activities across all our partner schools, designed to help children and young people get to know themselves and each other better. A variety of resources were also created and provided for free to schools and on the UP website.

ImpactEd

organisation that supports schools and charities working in the education sector to improve the evaluation of their interventions. Working with ImpactEd we conducted a small-scale pilot of our School’s Programme in five schools in Brent, Lambeth and Wandsworth. We used the ImpactEd platform to collect pre- and post-intervention data from school Management Information Systems on attendance, behaviour, and exclusions, and used academically validated survey tools to measure pupil wellbeing (the Stirling Children’s Wellbeing Scale) and school engagement (the School Engagement Survey).

environmental and social crisis, the average wellbeing of all children declined from start to end of measuring period. However, those children supported by Unlocking Potential were bolstered by their interventions as their wellbeing fell only 0.05 points (from 3.48 to 3.43), in contrast to children not supported by UP, whose wellbeing fell more sharply by 0.10 points (from 3.66 to 3.56).

School engagement declined, on average over the course of the evaluation, for all pupils. This can be part-way explained by the fact that children's engagement naturally reduces as the school year progresses from September through into the summer months, and as children are coping with more and more stressors. As with wellbeing, Unlocking Potential offers a buffer against this, with UP children only falling by 0.10 points (from 3.52 to 3.42), in contrast to children not supported by UP, whose engagement fell steeply by 0.17 points (from 3.70 to 3.53).

We have continued to work with ImpactEd in the 2023/24 school year to further develop our impact measurement process.

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Ofsted Inspections

We are proud to have achieved a ‘Good’ Ofsted rating at our first inspection in 2019 and again at our last standard inspection in February 2022.

See the full reports here:

www.reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/27/145849

Ofsted report February 2022

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2023 Annual Report

The Corner School Learner Child Charter.

Children's outcomes: We want our children to develop competencies for:

Self:

Belonging: Children feel safe and understand that they are valued members of the school community.

Sense of self: Children have a strong sense of their own identity and can explain what makes them unique.

Growth mindset and resilience: Children believe that they can be successful if they try hard and they demonstrate determination and perseverance in the face of challenge.

Engagement and agency: Children are inspired and enthusiastic and are able to imagine a bright future and know how to get there.

Learning:

Creative mindset: Children are inquisitive, curious and imaginative.

Depth of knowledge: Children will learn broadly across a range of subjects, but they will also ignite a deep interest in and understanding of the areas they love and want to explore further over time.

who are able to articulate their ideas and understand how words can open their world.

Relationships:

Empathetic citizens: Children appreciate other perspectives, values and traditions and understand their contribution to their family, their community and the wider world. Respect and fairness: Children are kind and empathetic and go out of their way to help others.

Strong bonds: Children build responsible and healthy connections based on trust with their family, their friends and their community.

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2023 Annual Report

The Children

We started at the beginning of the year with 12 children. We had one new admission and ended the year with 13 children across KS1 and KS2. Four children transitioned to secondary school from September 2023.

Our child-teacher ratio is 2:1 or 1:1. We limit our class sizes because we recognise that small and one-to-one work with teachers is crucial to the academic development of our children. We also offer exclusive one-to-one learning if a child struggles in the classroom with other children.

Our children are typically managing a range of issues that have made mainstream schooling challenging. We receive referrals for children with the following conditions and behaviours (whether diagnosed or still emerging):

An assessment of need: we want to understand a child’s needs, from a learning perspective but also to understand their behaviour in the context of their family and SEMH needs.

A tailored, personalised curriculum: we follow the national curriculum where appropriate, and all learners have a personalised, individual, ‘learning pathway’. This approach means that each child experiences success and can reach their full potential.

A trauma-informed, sensory-aware teaching and learning approach: this considers how children feel, think and behave, based on the belief that as bio-psycho-social beings, how our bodies feel in any given environment will

A tri-part therapeutic model: this ensures that every child has access to additional, personalised support for their specific needs, and that insights from their therapies can be shared with teaching staff so that children have the opportunity to understand themselves and how they learn, and develop a growth mindset.

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2023 Annual Report

Academic Progress

Children at the Corner School are assessed against National Curriculum levels. Children are also set bespoke academic goals which reflect where they are against the national curriculum. We then embed these targets into classroom learning and therapists, teachers, and other staff members work collaboratively to help children reach their goals. We encourage children to become independent learners who take ownership of their goals, instilling a love of learning and a desire to become their best selves. All individual goals are shared with the parents and carers to support progress at school and at home.

Our team is utterly committed to transforming life chances of children, ensuring that they have opportunities to thrive. Our dedicated team of teachers, teaching assistants and therapists work together to support each child to develop as individuals in their own unique way. We offer a safe and nurturing environment and the stability needed to gain an emotional balance and to develop their self-esteem and resilience.

to take ownership of their learning and be proud of their achievements. We use an imaginative and innovative curriculum to bring out the best in our children.

Reading & Writing

We use Read Write Inc. Phonics, a literacy programme validated by the Department for Education, designed to teach children to read and write with ease and fluency.

Read Write Inc. is used in more than a quarter of UK primary schools and was designed to ensure progress for every child. It has proven success in all types of schools, including those with high numbers of children with SEND and those in the least privileged areas. Read Write Inc. Phonics is split into different literacy groups represented by a group. There are 9 groups each having at least 10 books.

33 modules. Once children complete Fresh Start they move on to accessing further reading that is more appropriate for their age.

Progress in Reading

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of the children made of the children made of the children engaged
positive progress in more than 3 levels of in further reading having
100% reading 77% progress in reading 31% completed Read Write Inc Phonics and Fresh Start
Progress in Writing Progress in Mathematics
Children were assessed for writing at three points in the year. Children were assessed for mathematics at three points in the year.
100% of children made progress at each timepoint. 100% of children made progress at each timepoint.
100% of children moved up at least 1 yeargroup level between September and June. 38% of children have moved up a year grouplevel between September and June.
of children were able to access work up to
23% two year group levels and above, between
September and June.
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potential to learn. SNAP follows the ‘Assess – Plan – Do – Review’ model set out in the SEND Code of Practice. The SNAP report identifies key areas of strengths and difficulties for the child being assessed. This enables settings to employ interventions to support the child in order to improve their capacity to be regulated and learn. Children at the Corner School were assessed throughout the year. Provision has been adjusted and remains under review to enable staff to be responsive to the children’s needs.

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2023 Annual Report

herapeutic Support at
he Corner School
Corner School is a unique, specialist provision, where a
rapeutic approach underpins our work with the children. We
e a dedicated, experienced, in-house Child Psychotherapist
king 3 days a week in the school, who works to support
dren’s
social-relational,
psychological,
emotional		 and
ntal health needs. We also have dedicated occupational
rapy and speech and language therapy support.
chart below shows the number of therapeutic interventions that
k place during the year.
Number of children Number of
that accessed sessions attended
5
Formal 1:1 Therapy		 48
13
Informal 1:1 Therapy		 105
Therapeutic contact (this Every child has
1:1 dedicated
13
includes clinical observations,		 therapeutic
universal and targeted support) contact each
week
9
OT		 14
12
SaLT		 94

Therapeutic Support at The Corner School

The Corner School is a unique, specialist provision, where a therapeutic approach underpins our work with the children. We have a dedicated, experienced, in-house Child Psychotherapist working 3 days a week in the school, who works to support children’s social-relational, psychological, emotional and mental health needs. We also have dedicated occupational therapy and speech and language therapy support.

The chart below shows the number of therapeutic interventions that took place during the year.

1:1 Therapy

The Corner School Psychotherapist is an integrative practitioner, who will observe, assess and work to support each child depending on their specific needs and presentations. Very ofen children have a range of multi-layered needs that the Corner School Therapist can help to assess and work with. These clinical areas may include:

Range of presenting issues, difficulties, diagnosed and undiagnosed educational and social, emotional and mental health needs

separations/moves/ loss/family issues

Social, relationships to others, attachment issues and roles in group

Psychological factors, Emotion & Affect, Including relationship to Self

Regulation/Dysregulation – their norm, length of regulation/in crisis, known triggers & de-escalation strategies

Patterns of play and creative expression (self and with / alongside / interactive with others)

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2023 Annual Report

Tiered Psychotherapeutic Support

Parent / Carer Support and reflective practice

Multiworking with disciplinary teaching and liaison – work behaviour with other colleagues to specialist better understand colleagues, both the underlying internal and communication external and behaviours from a therapeutic perspective

Signposting families to external support services

1:1 therapeutic support in the Classroom, in the Calming Zone or in Rainbow/Green Rooms –therapeutic contact with individual children working in the moment/context

Therapy Cabin

The Corner School therapist has worked to refurbish the therapy cabin in line with our children’s and parent's/carers needs.

Newly renovated it has become a very popular space in the school grounds for both children and parents, and now includes the following:

Play Zone: including miniatures, puppets and projective play, interactive games, construction, storytelling

Sensory Zone: a safe space to support nervous system regulation, grounding, calming, supporting the children’s sensory seeking and sensory avoidant needs

Art and Craf zone: allows for art and creative media as therapeutic tools to encourage safe, non-judgement expression

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2023 Annual Report

Speech and Language Therapy (SaLT)

Speech and Language Therapy (SaLT) at The Corner School supports children to develop their communication and interaction skills which are essential for accessing learning, building and maintaining meaningful relationships and developing awareness of self, others and emotional literacy. SaLT is embedded in the school through communication-friendly environments and differentiated learning curriculums.

All children at the Corner School access SaLT at a universal level which includes communication environment audits, joint target setting, and bespoke training for all staff. Children requiring more support access targeted interventions, for example, social groups, attention and listening groups, joint PSHE lessons and social stories. These may be delivered by the SaLT and other therapists, or a member of staff who has received training from the SaLT. Children requiring a high level of specialised support access 1:1 intervention. The SaLT also works with families to support communication and interaction in the home environment.

You have no idea how proud it makes me to hear her (child) saying those words” – sessions with a parent of child using communication board.

In the year, the Corner School has accessed 2 days per week of speech and language therapy which has increased the level of direct and indirect support the SaLT has been able to provide across the school. Direct interventions delivered this year include: Lego-based therapy, Attention Autism, Playground Games, Social Conversation Skills, Secondary Transition, Communication Boards, Emotional Literacy Development. SaLT has also focused on supporting emotional regulation and wellbeing throughout the day. Formal training sessions delivered by the SaLT have included: ‘Creating Quality Interactions’ and ‘De-escalation and Restorative Approaches’.

Secondary Transition

This year the therapy team have created a transition programme for 4 students who transitioned to secondary school. The programme has been shared with the class teams and families and covers a range of functional skills and activities to prepare for secondary school including using public transport, managing feelings around transition and reading school timetables. All children who transitioned to secondary school were offered weekly sessions with therapists, and therapists have worked closely with the class teams to support discussions and preparation around transition to secondary school.

Parent of child in KS1

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2023 Annual Report

Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy (OT) at The Corner School supports children to regulate their emotions and sensory system so that they can engage in lessons and develop their foundational skills. OT is embedded in the school curriculum through child centered teaching activities and meaningful enrichment activities.

Each child in the Corner School receives an annual holistic occupational therapy assessment which combines class observations, discussions with staff, and one to one work with the child. An intervention plan is created based on the holistic assessment which may consist of one-to-one sessions outside of the classroom, integrated activities with teachers, or occupational therapy-based group work with other students.

It is UP’s belief that a deeper understanding and level of empathy for ourselves will in turn lead to an improved relationship with our children.

Parent & family support at The Corner School

on their child's needs

Termly or half termly parent/carer meetings for all children accessing individual therapy

Themes covered:

This year we supported ten families with parent coaching and counselling.

Building mentalising capacity and empathy Different parenting ‘styles’

Cultural parenting

Family and systemic/environmental factors

fostering, trauma, abandonment, separation and divorce, eating, sleep, screens and internet Understanding EHCP diagnoses Identifying additional external specialist support Home visits for new referrals

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2023 Annual Report

Case Study

Ben has been a student at the Corner School since February 2022. In terms of early learning skills, Ben was significantly below age related expectations. His attention and concentration skills for an adult-led task were significantly limited. Ben also displayed difficulties with his gross and fine-motor skills. Ben required support with dressing and undressing, eating with cutlery and playing safely by himself or alongside others. Ben was diagnosed with ADHD in mid-2023 and has been on medication since July 2023.

difficulties with his social communication and interaction. He required considerable support to develop his receptive and expressive language skills.

Reason for referral to The Corner School:

“I enjoy coming to the Corner School, I love Enrichment and my phonics is getting really good!”

Quote from Ben

Impact of Intervention and strategies:

Financial Review For the year ended 31 August 2023

2023 Annual Report

Financial Review

Full details are given on pages 00-00.

Total income for the year amounted to £2,748,481 (prior year: £2,476,698) and total expenditure incurred amounted to £2,727,695 (prior year: £2,486,344). The surplus of income over expenditure for the year was £20,786 (prior year deficit: £9,646).

Just over half of our income came from donations and grants. Total donations and grants in the year were £1,473,200 (prior year: £1,535,894).

With the aim of diversifying our income and securing the future sustainability of our work, the senior leadership team have given time and attention to fundraising in the year. Although down on the prior year, fundraising has been successful with total restricted donations being £103,090 (prior year: £112,834) and total restricted grants being £225,855 (£264,371) for the Schools Programme.

Our appreciation goes to all of our supporters who have given so generously in the year to support our work. Particular thanks are given to those who have pledged to multiyear funding which allows us to plan and develop our work and has enabled us to grow our Schools Programme and reach more vulnerable children.

Income from charitable activities is growing as a percentage of overall income with fee income from our Schools Programme being £516,033 (prior year: £350,430) and income from local authorities for school placement fees at the Corner School being £705,610 (prior year: £554,400).

As shown in the Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA), most of the Charity’s expenditure was attributable to its charitable activities.

Our fee income from our partner schools in the Schools Programme contributed 35% (prior year: 29%) towards the total cost of the programme. The balance was met by donations and grants.

Schools choose a package of support that matches their needs and budget, however for some schools this is becoming increasingly difficult, as their budgets have shrunk with the cost-of-living crisis, falling birth rates and migration out of London, and they are having to make hard decisions.

The Corner School ended the year with thirteen children on the pupil roll, of whom four were transitioning to secondary school. The income from four local authorities for the school placement fees for the children contributed 59% (prior year: 51%) towards the total cost of the Programme in the year. The balance was met by donations, grants and the designated fund set up for this purpose. In view of the forecast shortfall for the next academic year we have transferred a further £350,000 to the designated fund for the Corner School at the year end.

The Schools Programme earned income and Corner School local authority placement fees have been treated as restricted income.

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Reserves

The charity needs reserves to meet the needs of beneficiaries and to fulfil its charitable aims and objectives. The Trustees have a policy as to the level of unrestricted reserves (that is those funds that are freely available) that the charity ought to have. The policy is linked to the strategic business plans of the charity and remains that the charity's reserves should be equivalent to three to six months’ operational expenditure.

Total reserves at 31 August 2023 amounted to £1,654,365.

The free reserves at 31 August 2023 were £1,120,132 which excludes designated funds of £350,000, fixed asset funds of £156,858 and restricted funds of £27,375.

costs of the charity, which is considered adequate by the Trustees.

The reserves policy is regularly reviewed by the Trustees, to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of the charity. The Trustees have considered the impact of the cost-of-living crisis and general economic uncertainty on the reserves and financial health of the charity. The Trustees are satisfied that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operation for the foreseeable future and, accordingly these financial statements have been prepared on the basis that we are a going concern.

Income Generation

The charity did not actively fundraise from the public during the year. However, we did participate in three BigGive matched giving campaigns in the year. We have received no complaints with regards to fundraising activities. The charity is registered with the Fundraising Regulator.

A Head of Fundraising was appointed in September 2023 to grow our non-founder Trustee financial support base by diversifying our network of high-net-worth donors, increasing funding from trusts and foundations for our programmes, and exploring potential commissioning routes.

We remain extremely grateful to all of our supporters in the year.

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Risk Management

The Board and the leadership team acknowledge that sound risk management is fundamental to good governance and best management practice. Risk management forms an essential part of the charity’s decision-making process and is integrated into strategic and operational planning. Risk assessments are carried out on all required activities. A risk register covering all key risks is maintained and carefully updated and reviewed four times a year by the leadership team. Further the Finance and Risk Committee and Trustee Board review the Risk Register at every meeting. The principal risks and uncertainties identified by the charity are as follows:

Safeguarding

As we work with vulnerable children, young people and families, safeguarding is central to everything we do. We have a comprehensive safeguarding framework to manage the associated risks and act appropriately to all safeguarding concerns. All staff are required to complete a safeguarding on-line training (from the NSPCC) before commencing their role and safeguarding is a key part of staff induction including how to apply the safeguarding policy and procedures. Depending on the role, staff also have classroom based safeguarding training. All managers have regular safeguarding updates from a variety of sources, including Andrew Hall’s Safeguarding Extras. We have a stand-alone Clinical & Safeguarding Subcommittee; whose role is to oversee clinical governance, safeguarding, and ensure continuous development of our practice. We have a lead Safeguarding Trustee, who supports good practice across the charity. We also have a lead Clinical Trustee and a Director of Safeguarding & Business Development. We maintain a standalone Safeguarding Risk Register, which is reviewed at the Clinical Governance and Safeguarding Committee and the main board meetings.

Financial

The charity is reliant on a small number of individuals; however, they have demonstrated their longstanding commitment to the charity. The CEO and leadership team together with Trustees are working on diversifying our income streams and we have made some demonstrable progress to date, for example through securing grants from Trusts and Foundations for specific areas of our work and multiyear funding from high-net-worth individuals. Our Schools Programme has grown significantly in the past two years, and although we are very aware of the ever increasing pressure on school budgets, we work with them to deliver a high quality service that they can afford and one that supports the financial sustainability of the charity.

Skills

services; this is particularly a risk in our Corner School, as there are sector wide issues in recruiting educational staff. In order to be an attractive employer, we pay substantially more than the average for Teaching Assistants and have a training and development plan in place for our school staff.

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Future Plans

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Future plans will focus on

1

We will continue to expand the SP, aiming to be delivering services in 28 schools by August 2024.

We will develop a strategy for either following our children into secondary school and/or a secondary school support model, focusing on secondary schools that our primary schools feed into.

We will develop a Teacher Training Programme of stand-alone and interconnected INSETs that includes trauma informed teaching practice and understanding attachment based teaching in order to support the most vulnerable children in school and to support teachers’ well-being and expertise. These trainings will include input from psychotherapy, occupational therapy and speech and language therapy.

We will seek to work in partnership with like-minded charities to widen the benefits available to the children in the partner schools we are working in.

2

We will continue to expand the roll out of the current online Parent Group course by reaching more of the SP schools’ parents, running a total of 3 blocks of courses in the year.

We will review our parent support and identify areas for development based on feedback from schools.

3

We will continue to raise awareness of the Corner School and deliver stronger marketing initiatives to promote an online presence.

We will ensure we build upon the existing good practices to maintain at least a good Ofsted rating.

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4

Each year some of the more vulnerable families we work with who have multiple children, the issues that were present when we worked with their oldest child are still present for the youngest.

This is predominantly the case for families experiencing poverty, trauma and poor mental health, who are on the cyclical conveyor belt of Early Help, Child In Need, Child Protection and back again.

Interventions targeted at one child can only do so much if there are entrenched, intergenerational issues that mean a child's home life is chaotic, and their basic needs are not being met.

In response to this, we are developing a new pilot programme, taking a holistic family approach to support transformational change and will be looking at funding to enable implementation.

5

We will nurture high performing Leadership / Management.

We will provide relevant training and development, additional internal support/resources.

We will review and improve ways of working together, enhancing our whole-charity culture, collaboratively and transparently.

6

7

We will expand our fundraising initiatives, this will include Trusts, Foundations, philanthropists and corporate giving. We will build on our Fundraising Strategy outlining how our vision will be achieved.

We will deliver a pilot with ImpactEd to identify if this will enable us to improve our impact reporting and understanding.

We will review the way we report on goals to demonstrate our impact to potential funders and others.

We will evaluate the success of our pilot with ImpactEd measuring wellbeing and school engagement in KS2 children across 15 of our schools.

Structure, Governance & Management

For the year ended 31 August 2023

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Organisation

UP – Unlocking Potential is a company limited by guarantee governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association dated 26 August 2015; updated by special resolution on 18 October 2022. It is registered with the Charity Commission and is a company limited by guarantee.

The Board of Trustees administers the Charity. The Trustees met as a Board three times in the year. Throughout the year the board operated the following committees, made up of Trustees, leadership team members and advisers:

Finance & Risk Committee: This committee is Chaired by the treasurer.

Clinical & Safeguarding Committee: This committee is Chaired by the lead Clinical Trustee.

Corner School Education Committee: This committee is Chaired by Carrie Herbert.

Our Chief Executive appointed by the board manages the day-to-day operations of the charity.

The Chief Executive has delegated authority, within the terms of delegation approved by the Trustees, for operational matters including finance, employment, and the delivery of the services.

The Chief Executive is supported by a leadership team – this year our leadership team included:

Chief Executive & Clinical Director Director of Safeguarding & Business Development Finance and Resources Director Headteacher Corner School Head of HR Schools Programme Director Schools Programme Director (Maternity Cover)

The Trustees recognise the need to invest in experienced and talented staff to ensure their agreed programmes, policies and procedures can be implemented.

The Trustees consider the Board of Trustees and the leadership team to comprise the key leadership personnel of the charity in charge of directing and controlling, running and operating the Charity on a day to day basis. All Trustees give of their time freely. Expenses and related party transactions are disclosed in note 8, 9 and 18 to the accounts. The remuneration of the key management personnel is discussed and approved by the Board who ensure salary packages are benchmarked against comparable parts of the voluntary sector.

The Charity would like to warmly thank the Trustees for their tremendous support that they have provided over the year.

Charity Governance Code for larger charities

The Board recognises the importance of the Charity Governance Code for larger charities in promoting good governance in the charity sector. Trustees have assessed the charity’s application of the relevant principles from the code.

Appointment of Trustees

The Board currently comprises 9 members. When considering new Trustees, the Board has regard to the requirements for any specialised skills needed.

Trustee Induction and Training

New Trustees undergo an induction process to brief them on their legal obligations under charity and company law, the content of the Memorandum and Articles of Association, the decision-making process, the business plan and recent financial performance of the Charity.

Trustees are encouraged to undertake appropriate training which will facilitate them in undertaking their role. All Trustees continue to receive training on an ongoing basis.

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2023 Annual Report

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI)

The Trustees and leadership team are committed to creating a more diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace for our staff and beneficiaries. We have established a working group with a representative from each service area to champion and improve EDI within the organisation and an action plan is under continual review, identifying key objectives for the year for each Programme and UP as an employer, this will be driven by the EDI working group.

Statement of the Board of Trustees Responsibilities for the Financial Statements

The Trustees, who are also directors of UP – Unlocking Potential for the purpose of company law, are responsible for preparing the Trustee’s Report and the accounts in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

statements for each financial year and not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that the financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of the affairs of the Charity as at the balance sheet date and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including income and expenditure, for the year then ended.

and fair view, the Trustees should follow best practice and:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and which enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006.

The Trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable Company’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of Financial Statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

Observe the methods and principles of the Charities SORP;

Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

State whether applicable accounting standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;

concern basis unless it is inappropriate to assume that the charitable company will continue on that basis.

approval of this Trustees’ Report, has confirmed that there is no information of which they are aware which is relevant to the audit but of which the auditor is unaware. They have further confirmed that they have taken appropriate steps to identify such relevant information and to establish that the auditors are made aware of such information.

In preparing this report, the trustees have taken advantage of the exemptions available to small companies and have not prepared a strategic report.

Approved by the Trustees on 13 May 2024 and signed on their behalf by:

Stuart Roden Trustee (Chair)

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Independent auditor’s report to the members of UP - Unlocking Potential

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Opinion

the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Statement of Cash Flows and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Basis for opinion

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

Conclusions relating to going concern

in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

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

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

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

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

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Independent auditor’s report to the members of UP - Unlocking Potential

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Matters on which we are required to report by exception

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

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

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement set out on page 34, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

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.

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

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

the principal risks of non-compliance with laws and regulations related to compliance with OFSTED regulations and compliance with company and charity law applicable in England and Wales, we considered the extent to which non-compliance might have a material effect on the ¬financial statements. We also considered those laws and regulations that have a direct impact on the preparation of the fi¬nancial statements such as Companies Act 2006, the Charities Act 2011 and payroll taxes.

36

Independent auditor’s report to the members of UP - Unlocking Potential

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2023 Annual Report
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(including the risk of override of controls), and determined that the principal risks were related to the cut-off of income, posting inappropriate journal entries to income and management bias. Audit procedures performed by the engagement team included:

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

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.

Steve Harper (Senior Statutory Auditor) For and on behalf of Haysmacintyre LLP, Statutory Auditor

Date:

10 Queen Street Place London EC4R 1AG

37

Statement Of Financial Activities (Incorporating an Income and Expenditure Account) For the year ended 31 August 2023

2023 Annual Report Company Number 09750864

2023 2023 Year Ended Year Ended
Unrestricted Restricted 31 August 2023 31 August 2022
Funds Funds Total Funds Total Funds
£ £ £ £
INCOME FROM: Notes
Donations and grants 2 1,135,000 338,200 1,473,200 1,535,894
Charitable activities 3 - 1,244,253 1,244,253 939,563
Investments 31,028 - 31,028 1,241
Total Income: 13 1,166,028 1,582,453 2,748,481 2,476,698
EXPENDITURE ON:
Charitable activities 4 1,087,530 1,580,078 2,667,608 2,421,254
Raising funds 5 60,087 - 60,087 65,090
Total Expenditure: 13 1,147,617 1,580,078 2,727,695 2,486,344
Net income / (expenditure) 8 18,411 2,375 20,786 (9,646)
Net movement in Funds 18,411 2,375 20,786 (9,646)
Funds brought Forward 1,608,579 25,000 1,633,579 1,643,225
Funds at 1,626,990 27,375 1,654,365 1,633,579
31 August 2023

All of the above results were derived from continuing activities.

Full comparatives for the Statement of Financial Activities are shown in note 20.

38

Balance Sheet At 31 August 2023

2023 Annual Report Company Number 09750864

31 August 31 August
2023 2022
£ £
Notes
FIXED ASSETS
Tangible assets 10 156,858 189,652
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors 11 439,960 411,765
Short term deposits and cash in hand 1,405,747 1,415,540
1,845,707 1,827,305
CURRENT LIABILITIES
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year 12 348,200 383,378
NET CURRENT ASSETS 1,497,507 1,443,927
NET ASSETS 1,654,365 1,633,579
FUNDS
Unrestricted funds
General fund 13,14 1,120,132 1,068,927
Fixed asset fund 13,14 156,858 189,652
Designated funds 13,14 350,000 350,000
1,626,990 1,608,579
Restricted funds 27,375 25,000
TOTAL CHARITY FUNDS 1,654,365 1,633,579

Approved and authorised for issue by the Trustees on 13 May 2024 and signed on their behalf by:

William de Winton Trustee (Treasurer)

39

2023 Annual Report Company Number 09750864

Statement Of Cash Flows

For the year ended 31 August 2023

31 August 31 August
2023 2022
£ £
Notes
Cash fows (used in) operating activities 17 (24,196) (6,454)
Cash fows from investing activities
Interest income 31,028 1,241
Purchase of tangible fxed assets (16,625) (14,689)
Cash provided by / (used in) investing activities 14,403 (13,448)
(Decrease) in cash and cash equivalents in the year (9,793) (19,902)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year 1,415,540 1,435,442
TOTAL CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS AT THE END OF THE YEAR 1,405,747 1,415,540

40

Notes To The Financial Statements For the year ended 31 August 2023

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1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The principal accounting policies adopted, judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty in the preparation of

Basis of preparation

Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities (Second Edition, effective 1 January 2019), and in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard 102 (FRS 102).

recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy note(s).

Preparation of accounts on a going concern basis

The trustees consider there are no material uncertainties about the Charity's ability to continue as a going concern. The review of our financial position, reserves levels and future plans gives Trustees confidence the charity remains a going concern for the foreseeable future. Additionally, the Trustees have considered the impact of the cost of living crisis and general economic uncertainty on the reserves and financial health of the Charity and are satisfied that the Charity has adequate resources to continue in operation for the foreseeable future and, accordingly these financial statements have been prepared on the basis that the Charity is a going concern.

Critical accounting judgements and estimates

the application of the charity’s accounting policies and the reported assets, liabilities, income and expenditure and the disclosures made in the financial statements. Estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances.

The Trustees consider that there are no critical areas of judgement or estimation uncertainty in preparing these accounts.

Income recognition

All income is recognised once the charity has entitlement to income, it is probable that income will be received and the amount of income receivable can be measured reliably.

Donations and legacies

Donations and gifs and are included in full in the Statement of Financial Activities when there is entitlement, probability of receipt and the amount of income receivable can be measured reliably.

Grants

the income, the amount of income receivable can be measured reliably and there is probability of receipt.

Government Grants

Government grant income represents Department for Education funding for the Recovery Premium Grant and Tutoring Grant for Brent pupils at the Corner School.

Income from charitable activities

Income from charitable activities is recognised as earned as the related services are provided. Income from other trading activities is recognised as earned as the related goods are provided.

41

Notes To The Financial Statements For the year ended 31 August 2023

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Investment income

Investment income is recognised on a receivable basis once the amounts can be measured reliably.

Expenditure

Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required, and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is classified under the following activity headings:

Expenditure on charitable activities comprises costs of services and support costs.

Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.

Expenditure is allocated to the particular activity where the cost relates directly to that activity. However, the cost of overall direction and administration of each activity, comprising the salary and overhead costs of the central function, is apportioned based on staff time attributable to each activity.

Allocation of costs

activities. Other costs are allocated directly to the relevant heading.

Operating leases

Rental charges are charged on a straight-line basis over the life of the lease.

Fixed assets

Fixed assets are stated at cost or deemed cost (donated valuation at estimated fair value) less accumulated depreciation and impairment losses. Assets costing more than £500 are capitalised.

Computer Equipment 3 years straight line Catering Equipment 3 years straight line Leasehold improvements Life of lease Playground Equipment Over the life of the lease at the Corner School

Financial instruments

financial instruments, including trade and other debtors and creditors are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value.

Debtors

are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.

Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of twelve months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar account.

Creditors and provisions

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

42

Notes To The Financial Statements For the year ended 31 August 2023

2023 Annual Report

Funds

Unrestricted funds are donations and other income receivable or generated for the objects of the charity. Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the trustees for particular purposes.

trust deed.

• Pension scheme

Scheme for employees.

Foreign currency translation

The charities functional and presentation currency is pound sterling. Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated into sterling at the rates of exchange ruling at the balance sheet date. Transactions in foreign currencies are recorded at the rate ruling at the date of the transaction. All differences are recognised in the SOFA.

Legal status

UP - Unlocking Potential is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales and has no share capital. In the event of the charity being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of the charity. Its operating office is shown on page 2.

2. DONATIONS AND GRANTS

2023 2022
Total Total
£ £
Donations 1,463,945 1,532,894
Government Grants 9,255 3,000
1,473,200 1,535,894

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Notes To The Financial Statements For the year ended 31 August 2023

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3. INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

Schools &
Universities
£		 Local
Authority
£		 2023 Total
£
Schools Programme 538,643 - 538,643
Corner School - 705,610 705,610
538,643 705,610 1,244,253
Schools &
Universities
£		 Local
Authority
£		 2022 Total
£
Schools Programme 385,163 - 385,163
Corner School - 554,400 554,400
385,163 554,400 939,563

4. ANALYSIS OF CHARITABLE EXPENDITURE

Direct
Costs
Staf
£		 Direct
Costs
Other
£		 Support
Costs
(Note 6)
£		 2023
Total
£
Schools Programme 1,099,771 169,483 200,682 1,469,936
Corner School 603,316 425,997 161,863 1,191,176
Community Outreach 2,400 866 3,230 6,496
1,705,487 596,346 365,775 2,667,608
Direct
Costs
Staf
£		 Direct
Costs
Other
£		 Support
Costs
(Note 6)
£		 2022
Total
£
Schools Programme 870,558 136,372 196,383 1,203,313
Corner School 572,847 305,841 213,563 1,092,251
Young People’s Programme 74,268 10,090 27,376 111,734
Community Outreach 3,500 5,039 5,417 13,956
1,521,173 457,342 442,739 2,421,254

44

Notes To The Financial Statements

For the year ended 31 August 2023

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5. COSTS OF GENERATING FUNDS

Direct
Costs
Staf
£		 Direct
Costs
Other
£		 Support
Costs
(Note 6)
£		 2023
Total
£
Costs of generating funds - 16,516 43,571 60,087
Direct
Costs
Staf
£		 Direct
Costs
Other
£		 Support
Costs
(Note 6)
£		 2022
Total
£
Costs of generating funds - 2,662 62,428 65,090

6. ANALYSIS OF SUPPORT COSTS

Staf
Costs
£		 Resources
£		 Professional
Fees
£		 Governance
£		 2023 Total
£
Schools Programme 132,441 15,254 23,308 29,679 200,682
Corner School 109,829 8,169 19,751 24,114 161,863
Community Outreach 3,230 - - - 3,230
Charitable Expenditure (note 4) 245,500 23,423 43,059 53,793 365,775
Generating Funds (note 5) 35,533 - - 8,038 43,571
281,033 23,423 43,059 61,831 409,346
Staf
Costs
£		 Resources
£		 Professional
Fees
£		 Governance
£		 2022 Total
£
Schools Programme 133,806 17,251 23,311 22,015 196,383
Corner School 141,677 15,542 32,593 23,751 213,563
Young People’s Programme 19,677 2,042 2,180 3,477 27,376
Community Outreach 3,935 861 621 - 5,417
Charitable Expenditure (note 4) 299,095 35,696 58,705 49,243 442,739
Generating Funds (note 5) 51,161 2,578 - 8,689 62,428
350,256 38,274 58,705 57,932 505,167

45

Notes To The Financial Statements For the year ended 31 August 2023

2023 Annual Report

7. GOVERNANCE COSTS INCLUDE

7. GOVERNANCE COSTS INCLUDE
2023 2022
£ £
Staf Costs 41,993 43,292
Auditor’s renumeration 18,000 14,640
Other 1,838 -
61,831 57,932
8. NET INCOME
2023 2022
£ £
This is stated afer charging
Auditor’s renumeration (including VAT)
Audit 18,000 14,640
Other services - -
Expenses reimbursed to Trustees 610 -
Depreciation 49,419 47,961
9. STAFF COSTS AND NUMBERS
2023 2022
£ £
Staf costs were as follows:
Salaries and wages 1,784,908 1,683,724
National Insurance 175,196 169,576
Pension Contributions 68,410 61,421
2,028,513 1,914,721

Included in the amounts above is the amount of £5,000 (2022: £70,869) for termination payments.

The number of employees whose emoluments fell within the following bands were:

2023 2022
£60,001 - £70,000 1 -
£90,001 - £100,000 1 -
£100,001 - £110,000 - 1
£110,001 - £120,000 - 1

The total amount of expenses reimbursed to one Trustee in the year was £610 (2022: £0). No Trustee received remuneration in the current or prior year.

The key management personnel of the charity in the period are considered to be the Chief Executive & Clinical Director, Finance & Resources Director, Head of HR, the Schools Programme Director, the Schools Programme Director ( Maternity Cover), the Headteacher of the Corner School and the Director of Safeguarding & Business Development.

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Notes To The Financial Statements For the year ended 31 August 2023

2023 Annual Report

9. STAFF COSTS AND NUMBERS (continued)

The average number of employees during
the year was as follows:		 2023 Full time
equivalent
staf numbers		 2022 Full time
equivalent
staf numbers		 2023
Staf
Numbers		 2022
Staf
Numbers
Schools Programme 22 18 37 26
Corner School 14 13 17 17
Young People’s Programme / Young Adults - 1 - 1
Support – Management 5 6 6 8
Raising Funds - - - -
Average number of 41 38 60 52

10. FIXED ASSETS

Catering
Equipment		 Leasehold
Improvements
£		 Furniture,
Fittings &
Equipment
£		 Playground
Equipment
£		 Total
£
Cost
At 1 September 2022 2,925 203,514 127,588 37,566 371,593
Additions - 4,446 12,179 - 16,625
Disposals - - - - -
Balance at 31 August 2023 2,925 207,960 139,767 37,566 388,218
Accumulated depreciation
At 1 September 2022 932 75,456 93,159 12,394 181,941
Charge for the period 585 22,488 22,031 4,315 49,419
Disposals - - - - -
Balance at 31 August 2023 1,517 97,944 115,190 16,709 231,360
Net Book Value
Brought forward at 1 September 2022 1,993 128,058 34,429 25,172 189,652
Carried forward at 31 August 2023 1,408 110,016 24,577 20,857 156,858

11. DEBTORS: amounts falling due within one year

11. DEBTORS:amounts falling due within one year
2023 2022
£ £
Trade debtors 202,391 259,473
Prepayments and accrued income 76,868 44,335
Other debtors 160,701 107,957
439,960 411,765

47

Notes To The Financial Statements

2023 Annual Report

For the year ended 31 August 2023

2023 2022
12. CREDITORS:amounts falling due within one year £ £
Trade creditors 32,096 31,306
Other taxation and social security 51,454 45,899
Accruals and deferred income 232,988 260,270
Other creditors 31,662 45,903
348,200 383,378

13. ANALYSIS OF FUNDS

1 At
September 2022
£		 Income
£		 Expenditure
£		 Transfers
£		 At
31 August 2023
£
General Fund 1,068,927 1,166,028 748,198 (366,625) 1,120,132
Designated Funds 350,000 - 350,000 350,000 350,000
Fixed Asset Fund 189,652 - 49,419 16,625 156,858
Total Unrestricted Funds 1,608,579 1,166,028 1,147,617 - 1,626,990
Restricted Funds:
Schools Programme - Schools - 516,033 516,033 - -
Schools Programme - Universities - 22,610 22,610 - -
Schools Programme – Grants 25,000 225,855 225,855 - 25,000
Schools Programme – Donations - 103,090 103,090 - -
The Corner School – Local Authority - 705,610 705,610 - -
The Corner School – Grants - 9,255 6,880 - 2,375
Total Restricted Funds 25,000 1,582,453 1,580,078 - 27,375
Total Funds 1,633,579 2,748,481 2,727,695 - 1,654,365
1 At
September 2021
£		 Income
£		 Expenditure
£		 Transfers
£		 At
31 August 2022
£
General Fund 1,070,301 1,136,241 772,926 (364,689) 1,068,927
Designated Funds 350,000 - 350,000 350,000 350,000
Fixed Asset Fund 222,924 - 47,961 14,689 189,652
Total Unrestricted Funds 1,643,225 1,136,241 1,170,887 - 1,608,579
Restricted Funds:
Schools Programme - Schools - 350,430 350,430 - -
Schools Programme - Universities - 34,733 34,733 - -
Schools Programme – Grants - 264,371 239,371 - 25,000
Schools Programme – Donations - 112,834 112,834 - -
The Corner School – Local Authority - 554,400 554,400 - -
Community – Homework Club - 7,231 7,231 - -
Young People’s Programme – Grants - 12,800 12,800 - -
The Corner School – Grants - 658 658 - -
Government Grants - 3,000 3,000 - -
Total Restricted Funds - 1,340,457 1,315,457 - 25,000
Total Funds 1,643,225 2,476,698 2,486,344 - 1,633,579

48

Notes To The Financial Statements For the year ended 31 August 2023

2023 Annual Report

Designated funds

A designated fund was initially created to develop the Corner School. With 11 children being on the school roll at the start of the 2023-24 academic year the school is still working towards full capacity. In view of the forecast operating deficit for the next academic year we have transferred a further £350,000 to the designated fund for the Corner School at the year end.

Fixed Asset fund

are in a separate fund to show they are not freely available to be utilised by the charity.

Restricted funds

14. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BY FUND

General
Funds
£		 Designated
Funds
£		 Restricted
Funds
£		 2023 Total
£
Fixed assets 156,858 - - 156,858
Net current assets 1,120,132 350,000 27,375 1,497,507
Total 1,276,990 350,000 27,375 1,654,365
General
Funds
£		 Designated
Funds
£		 Restricted
Funds
£		 2022 Total
£
Fixed assets 189,652 - - 189,652
Net current assets 1,068,927 350,000 25,000 1,443,927
Total 1,258,579 350,000 25,000 1,633,579

15. OPERATING LEASE COMMITMENTS

At the year end the charity was committed to making the following payments in total in respect of operating leases.

Equipment Equipment
2023 2022 re-stated
Falling due: £ £
Within one year from 31 August 2023 2,859 3,761
Within two to fve years from 31 August 2023 5,718 5,622
Land and Land and
buildings buildings
2023 2022 re-stated
£ £
Falling due:
Within one year from 31 August 2023 55,000 55,000
Within two to fve years from 31 August 2023 220,000 275,000

Operating lease costs charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the year ended 31 August 2023 amounted to £91,109 (2022: £83,318).

49

Notes To The Financial Statements For the year ended 31 August 2023

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16. TAXATION

The charity is exempt from corporation tax as all its income is charitable and is applied for charitable purpose. The charity is not exempt from VAT which is included with the expenses to which it relates on the Statement of Financial Activities.

17. RECONCILIATION OF NET INCOME TO NET CASH INFLOW FROM

OPERATING ACTIVITIES


OPERATING ACTIVITIES
2023 2022
£ £
Net income / (expenditure) for the year 20,786 (9,646)
Add back depreciation charge 49,419 47,961
Deduct interest income shown in investing activities (31,028) (1,241)
(Increase) in debtors (28,195) (209,748)
(Decrease) / increase in creditors (35,178) 166,220
Net cash (used) in operating activities (24,196) (6,454)

18. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

The total amount of donations received from four Trustees in the year was £835,000 (2022: £835,000 from four Trustees).

During the prior year Trustees agreed to fund the Beckmead Trust £2,207 being the VAT incurred on the purchase of 50 laptops purchased in the period ended 31 August 2020. The laptops were distributed to vulnerable children and young people living in Brent during the Covid-19 pandemic. Stuart Roden is a Trustee of the Beckmead Trust and Jonathan Clark is the Chief Executive of the Beckmead Trust. All transactions were made at arms length. There were no other related party transactions in the year or prior year.

19. THE TEACHERS' PENSION SCHEME

includes contributions payable to the TPS of £7,727 (2022: £0) and at the year end £7,727 (2022: £0) was accrued in respect of contributions to this scheme.

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 2020 and the Valuation Report, which was published in October 2023.

them from either the reformed or legacy schemes for the period 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022. The actuaries have assumed that members are likely to choose the option that provides them with the greater benefits, and in preparing the 2020 valuation have valued the ‘greater value’ benefits for groups of relevant members.

Employers are also required to pay a scheme administration levy of 0.08% giving a total employer contribution rate of 28.68%.

As the Corner School is an independent school, a requirement of joining the TPS was that we set up a guarantee of £30,000. The guarantee is held with HSBC bank.

50

Notes To The Financial Statements For the year ended 31 August 2023

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20. COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2022


YEAR ENDED
31 AUGUST
2022
2022 2022 Year Ended
Unrestricted Restricted 31 August 2022
Funds Funds Total Funds
£ £ £
INCOME FROM: Notes
Donations & grants 2 1,135,000 400,894 1,535,894
Charitable activities 3 - 939,563 939,563
Investments 1,241 - 1,241
Total Income: 1,136,241 1,340,457 2,476,698
EXPENDITURE ON:
Charitable activities 4 1,105,797 1,315,457 2,421,254
Raising funds 5 65,090 - 65,090
Total Expenditure: 1,170,887 1,315,457 2,486,344
Net (expenditure) / income 5 (34,646) 25,000 (9,646)
Net movement in Funds (34,646) 25,000 (9,646)
Funds brought Forward 1,643,225 - 1,643,225
Funds at 1,608,579 25,000 1,633,579
31 August 2022

51

www.up.org.uk

Company number: 09750864 Registered charity number: 1163932