September 2021 - August 2022 Report for Les Petits Caméléons
About the charity
Les Petits Caméléons, which was founded in 2013, is a school which teaches French language and French culture to primary school age pupils living within a French family environment or who have been exposed to enough French language to be able to understand spoken french. The aim is to provide support to these families who speak french; develop their children’s French skills; help them improve their communication skills and facilitate their possible integration into a French school in the future.
Les Petits Caméléons’ school is based in Cambridge at these locations:
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Parkside Community College, Parkside, Cambridge (CB1 1EH)
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Morley Memorial Primary School, 91 Blinco Grove (CB1 7TX)
On Saturday mornings, the school operates in Parkside Community College for three hours. Our pupils are divided into six classes mostly according to their age and level:
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2 classes to improve french spoken skills (4 to 6 years old);
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2 class to learn how to read french (6 to 8 years old);
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2 classes to master reading skills and learn written French (8 to 13 years old).
Les Petits Caméléons also runs an afterschool club every Tuesdays at the Morley Memorial Primary School.
In total, the school now has around a hundred pupils, six teachers and up to three teacher assistants.
The teachers meet regularly to work on course content and exchange on teaching practices. Les Petits Caméléons’ head teacher, Mrs Sandès Gaudin, meets regularly with all the teachers to discuss teaching practices, materials and the curriculum which is based on the one from France. The teaching staff have four yearly meetings to discuss the preparation of the new school year as well as at the end of each term to discuss the term's achievements and issues as well as future plans.
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Parents/teachers meetings are organised yearly. Usually Les Petits Caméléons brings all of the community together during the school Christmas and summer fetes, but these events were paused during the Covid-19 pandemic.
School’s organisation
From an administrative point of view, the school is a charity and elected trustees take all decisions regarding the running of the school. The school also recruits the services of a Head Teacher, a School Administrator and a Communication Officer. The trustees and the administrative staff are:
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Chair: Céline Ramond
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Deputy Chair: Anne Pajon
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Treasurer: Thomas Godard
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Deputy Treasurer: Loan Nguyen
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Secretary: Fabienne Ericher
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Deputy secretary: Jean-Charles Callu
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Member : Hélène Grislin
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Member : Aliénor Vellay
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Head teacher: Sandès Gaudin
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School administrator: Amandine Ricciardi-Baquié
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Communication officer: Lynda Jeannot
Les Petits Caméléons’ charity recruits its trustees mostly among parents of pupils and school’s teachers, but anyone can be appointed. New members may come forward at the general assembly meeting in July. Those obtaining a majority of charity members’ votes are elected to become new trustees.
The committee of trustees meets one to three times per quarter depending on the level of activity, with peaks at the beginning and the end of the school year. All changes in the way the school operates are voted by the trustees during these meetings.
In 2019/2020, the committee of trustees, administrative and teaching staff worked on Les Petits Caméléons’ new Covid-19 school procedures. The school was able to operate a smooth transition to online teaching in a very short period of time and to accommodate the need of homeschooling during periods of lockdown.
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School’s objectives and planned activities
The school’s objectives are to achieve:
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High quality education
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Financial balance (no profit)
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Fair practice for all
Training will continuously be provided for teachers and effort will be put on improving the organisation of the school’s resources. We had training for Safeguarding, First Aid have been provided to teachers and volunteers. Some teachers have also attended specialised training provided by a french organisation based in London helping french schools established outside France to get set-up and operate called “Les Parapluies FLAM”.
Continuous review and improvement of Les Petits Caméléons’ school’s policies are carried out every year.
Contribution to the community
Les Petits Caméléons contribute to the community by offering a unique french education and french environment to french speaking pupils. The school delivers about 140 hours of teaching every year to a hundred pupils. In addition to the success of teaching French to pupils, Les Petits Caméléons bring together the french-speaking community twice a year at specific events, though these events were paused during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The school has been steadily growing since its creation and, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, managed to keep the same level of enrolment in the past couple of years. Most pupils stay year after year in the school after joining. Les Petits Caméléons want to thank all the family for their support and the confidence they are showing in the charity.
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Financial report (1st September 2021 - 31st August 2022)
The following table shows the income and spending of the school in the period.
| MONEY IN | |
|---|---|
| School Fees | 49751.99 |
| Saving Account Credit Interest | 30.21 |
| Saving Account Transfer | 1000.00 |
| Amazon Credit | 5.00 |
| Refund Parapluie FLAM | 33.46 |
| Total IN | 50820.66 |
| MONEY OUT | |
|---|---|
| Teaching+Direction Services | 34525.87 |
| Training | 78.00 |
| Rent | 9854.00 |
| Disclosure Services | 388.00 |
| Refunds misc. | 1305.73 |
| School Material Purchase | 565.40 |
| Insurance | 710.00 |
| Total OUT | 47427.00 |
| Difference IN/OUT | 3393.66 |
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CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Report to the trusteesl members of Les Pelits Camélèons On accounts for the year ended August 2022 Charlty no (If any) 1164264 Set out on pages I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity ("the Trust") for the year ended 3110812023 Responsibilities and As the charity truslees of the Trust. you are responsible for the preparatlon basis of report of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Ad 2011 {Ihe Act"). I report in respecl of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examinalion, I have followed the applicable Directions given by th8 Charity Commission under section 145{51{b} of the Act. I have completed my examination. I confimi that no material matters have come to my attentio } in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that In, any material respect". accounting records were not kept in a¢cordance with section 130 of the Act or the accounts do not accord with the accounting records Independent examiner's statement I have no concerns and have come across no olher matters in connection with the examination to which 8ttenlion should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Please delele Ihe words in Ihe brackets rf they do not apply. Signed: Date: 25 202 Name: 1gFki)LE IER October 2018
Relevant professlonal quallflcatlon(s} or body {if any): Address: vl Li)f¢fli) WJL IELI) 2¢ Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32. Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners). IER October 2018
Glve here brlef detalls of any items that the examiner wishes to dlsclose. IER October 2018