Ecole des Copains Trustee’s report – Academic year: Aug 2022 – Jul 2023
May 2024
Introduction and background
École des Copains (EdC) is a charity created in June 2016, to promote the French language and French culture amongst bilingual families, and families wanting to make French part of their daily lives. A committee of volunteers, alongside the core support team (administrator, bookkeeper) support the teaching team & librarian to oversee the running of EdC. This report covers the period of the year from the date of our last AGM in Aug 2022 to July . 2023
The Academic Year 2022/2023
This year has been marked by our imminent departure from Hilden Grange in July 2023. Finding a new school was a big challenge given that we had been established at Hilden grange for over a decade (previously as Petite Ecole Kentoise Tonbridge), with a very competitive rental rate. We initially focussed our search around Tonbridge and Hildenborough, but it soon became apparent that schools within those areas were too small, out of budget (given the recent energy price rises), or not available. We then cast the net wider, and found Beechwood school in Tunbridge Wells, which shares many of the same values, and our passion for promoting languages to their students. We have been fortunate to secure this location at a good rate, which should set us in good stead for future years.
Beechwood School will provide us with a stable base where both our members from the Tonbridge/Tunbridge Wells area as well as those from further afield can reach EdC easily. The school’s headmaster shares our passion for languages, and we hope that this will be the start of a fruitful relationship between EdC and Beechwood with some collaborative projects together.
The start of the academic year was also marked with a recruitment drive for teachers and teaching assistant positions. We are always in need of teachers and teaching assistants, so please let us know if you or anyone you know can be on our list of contacts for teaching staff.
Teaching highlights:
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A new programme, the Alpha method, which leverages phonics as learnt by our children in their English schools has had much success this year. This method has allowed the children to make excellent progress in their reading, and also writing. Thank you to Helene Stevens for introducing this and to the teachers for continuing to support it
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The playgroup has seen a rise in the number of students. The group boasts various activities such as messy play, themed activities, e.g. playdough or using leaves and twigs around the school, and learning through songs, dance and rhythms. This group also provides a network of parents who are trying to raise bilingual children
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We have also introduced reading support, which is run by volunteer parents, to give additional 1:1 support to our students who need it the most. Thank you to all volunteer parents
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The first secondary class, Les tigres, Leida’s class, have made some fantastic posters on the French overseas territory – New Caledonia, which is now published on our website
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Each year, all our year groups are given the opportunity to make a Christmas cards for elderly pensioners in france, which really cheers them up
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Curriculum reviews - each year, we have at least one meeting amongst the teaching staff to allow us to re-evaluate our teaching method and delivery, and to harmonise our approach based on the progress made by the students. Our last meeting in June has allowed us to share what has worked well, and to prepare and refine our delivery of the curriculum for next year. This has allowed us over the years to see progress in our classes and to raise the bar of what we expect of both our students and teachers
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Observing classes also allows us to provide feedback to the teachers as to what they are doing well as well as provide constructive feedback
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We are pleased to report that all our teaching staff have pledged to continue our journey with us at Beechwood. We are grateful for their continuous commitment to our school
Events and other highlights:
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We have again this year been able to give back to our community with EdC funded events: Galettes des Rois, easter egg hunt, summer fête
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We have restyled our website with complimentary information, and wish to showcase a few of the projects the classes have been working on. Please look out for further updates via the newsletter
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The safeguarding policy has been updated this year. It is signposted on the website
Recognition and thank you’s
EdC would not exist without all the people who believe in our cause and help make it a reality – and I would like to take the time to thank all of our teams - volunteers and teaching staff
Trustees and committee members (the Committee)
Our team of trustees work behind the scenes, and share the load, together with the administrator (Koko) and the curriculum lead’s (Hélène Stevens) with matters such as: insurance, website maintenance, hire agreement, organising events including the upcoming School Fête, grants application from the French authorities, safeguarding including DBS checks.
We have had three new trustees, elected in June 2022:
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I ( Rachel Wallis) have taken the role of chair since June 2022. I have two children attending EdC: Sophie in Hélène Moon’s class and Louis in Lucy’s playgroup class.
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I, Rachel, am happy to remain Chair for the next academic year
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Gail Carmarans Catterick, our secretary, has 3 children - the family has spent a number of years in France, and would like to contribute to our bilingual community
Gail is happy to remain the Secretary for the next academic year
- Karima Blackman is our treasurer. Her daughter Khloe attends Hélène Moon’s class.
Karima will step down from her position as treasurer. Thank you Karima for stepping in as our treasury to ensure the survival of our organisation.
The following trustees have carried on supporting the daily functioning of the EdC
- Emilie Dupuy (events lead). Emilie has been organising and coordinating EdC events such as Tonton Gilles, Galette des rois, Easter raffles. She is also on hand most Saturday mornings at the school as a friendly face to support families or teachers as and when needed. Her daughter Marylou is in Olivia’s class
Emilie is happy to remain the Events lead for the next academic year
- Julie Costa: Julie has been supporting EdC as a trustee for a number of years, designing our posters promoting various events or recruitment drive, as well as helping with the grant application with STAFE. Julie is Leon’s mum in Helene Moon’s class
Julie will step down EdC from her position as trustee. Thank you Julie for your many years of supporting EdC in various roles.
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Aurelie Ander has been supporting the team as a trustee . She has stepped in to clever absences on Saturday mornings and helped for different events. Aurelie is Charlie's mum in Helene Moon’s class
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Aurelie is happy to remain trustee for the next academic year
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Stephanie Ramos is our teacher liaison. She has been ensuring communication between the committee and the teachers during the year. Her role is to ensure good communication between the committee and the curriculum lead. She is the mum to Leo in Helene Moon’s class and Maxime in Nadia D’s class.
Stephanie is happy to remain Teacher Liaison for the next academic year
I want to take this opportunity to thank all the trustees for their hard work and dedication to keep EdC functioning as a well-oiled organisation. Joining the EdC as a trustee continues to be a great opportunity to support our wonderful teachers and teaching assistants who are the soul of the school.
School community and summary
In 22/23, the EdC community included some 78 families, amounting to up to 114 children and 6 adults, attending 11 classes and a playgroup every Saturday. The team comprises 11 teachers, 4 assistants, a playgroup leader, a librarian, an administrator & now bookkeeper, a curriculum lead and the Committee.
Finance summary
It is difficult to provide a complete analysis knowing that revenue and expenditure items have not necessarily been allocated in the same way as in previous years. We are putting in place a system which should allow a more detailed analysis from next year. The year closed with an additional reserve of over £18k, which is more than the previous year.
1) There has been a significant drop in rental costs, simply due to the fact that HildenGrange's invoices were not received before the closing date of the accounts.
2) We also received a donation from an organisation, of around £7k, which we had not received the previous year. So, apart from this pending expenditure (1) and this exceptional entry (2), the year ended with an amount equivalent to the previous year.
Inputs and outputs are grouped into the positions below:
Bookkeeping -£960.00 Events -£462.93 Fees -£449.76 Fundraising £479.20 Galettes -£300.00 Gilles £543.46 Insurance -£362.32 Interest £53.65 Rent -£500.00 Sponsorship £6,421.37 Stationary -£981.12 Summer Fete -£793.55 Teaching -£32,155.99 Tuition £43,675.83 Membership £4,070.00
Fundraising, donations & grants
We have been able to raise £543.36 thanks to Tonton Gilles, family donations and the book fair.
For next year, we are putting in place procedures to allocate bursaries to families who need it, renewable on an annual basis, to ensure that we support those who need additional financial support. This year, the trustees have approved bursaries for two families.
We have been fortunate to be granted two grants of 6952€ (£5930) (AEFE) and £491 (569€ - STAFE) to renew our book stock. This should allow us to keep fees for the upcoming year mostly unchanged while giving a small uptick in the rate paid to both teachers and teaching assistants
Conclusion
The EdC is a unique community that aims to promote the use and love of the French language and French culture. Thanks to the work of the Committee, the teachers, support team and, critically, the support of our Members, the EdC has had a good year, despite some key challenges.
The EdC is turning a new page in its history as we move to Beechwood school, and I am sure we will all work together to ensure that the EdC goes from strength to strength.
Section A Statement of financial activities Descriptions by natural category
Incoming resources (Note 3)
Donations, legacies and Grants Income resources from charitable activities Donations adjust from previous years Other income
Total incoming resources Resources expended (Notes 4-7)
cost of charitable activities Governance cost management and administration cost
Total resources expended Net incoming/(outgoing) resources before transfers Gross transfers between funds
Net incoming/(outgoing) resources before other recognised gains/(losses) Other recognised gains/(losses)
Gains and losses on revaluation of fixed assets for the charity’s own use Gains and losses on investment assets Net movement in funds Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward
Page 1
Charity Name Ecole des Copains Annual accounts for the period Period start date
08/01/22 To
| Note | Unrestricted | funds | Restricted income funds |
|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | ||
| F01 | F02 | ||
| - | - | ||
| 479 | - | ||
| 47799 | - | ||
| - | - | ||
| 6965 | - | ||
| - | - | ||
| - | - | ||
| - | - | ||
| - | - | ||
| - | - | ||
| - | - | ||
| S01 | 55244 | - | |
| - | - | ||
| 30005 | - | ||
| 6961 | - | ||
| - | - | ||
| - | - | ||
| - | - | ||
| - | - | ||
| - | - | ||
| - | - | ||
| - | - | ||
| - | - | ||
| - | - | ||
| - | - | ||
| - | - | ||
| S02 | 36966 | - | |
| S03 | 18278 | - | |
| S04 | - | - | |
| S05 | 18278 | - | |
| S06 | - | - | |
| S07 | - | - | |
| S08 | 18278 | - | |
| S09 | - | - | |
| S10 | 18278 | - |
Page 2
Charity No (if any) 1167503 CC39a Period end date 07/31/23
| Endowment funds | Total this year | Total last year |
|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | £ |
| F03 | F04 | F05 |
| - | - | - |
| - | 479 | 2014 |
| - | 47799 | 50763 |
| - | - | 8500 |
| - | 6965 | - |
| - | - | - |
| - | - | - |
| - | - | - |
| - | - | - |
| - | - | - |
| - | - | - |
| - | 55244 | 61277 |
| - | - | - |
| - | 30005 | 34420 |
| - | 6961 | 21501 |
| - | - | - |
| - | - | - |
| - | - | - |
| - | - | - |
| - | - | - |
| - | - | - |
| - | - | - |
| - | - | - |
| - | - | - |
| - | - | - |
| - | - | - |
| - | 36966 | 55920 |
| - | 18278 | 5357 |
| - | - | - |
| - | 18278 | 5357 |
| - | - | - |
| - | - | - |
| - | 18278 | 5357 |
| - | - | - |
| - | 18278 | 6909 |
Page 3
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Roportto th• trust0051 member5 of EGcle des Copaln8 On accounts forthe year •ndod 31st Juty 2023 Charlty no lif 3nyl 1167503 set out on page8 I r8port ¢0 the IrLth on my 8xamlnallon ofthe a¢[ty ofthe above trity (Yhe Trusfi for the y88rended 31107 12023. Rosponslblllt1 and A5 the thanty lThJsteès of iho Twst, you ar8 resportsir forthe prop8ration ba$1$ ol report of Ihe aceounts in occordarKe &th the requlrernwjts of the Ch8rits8s A¢t 2011 fthÈ Acri. I report in respect of my examlnakn of the Trust's accounts (2rrfed out under 5ectnn 145 of 2011 Act and in carrying out my 8xamln8tion, I hav8 folkM8d Ihe Ditis gN8n by th8 Charity Commission ndèr se¢tion 14515llbl of thg Ad. I have completed my examination. l ojnfim? that rlo matèrial matters hav• ccme to rny attenbon lolher than thai disdosed bebw"l in connection wilh the èxatnination whKh gives me &qus8 to helve that in, any mateiial respect." • accwntirKJ records We kept in 8coxd8nc8 with se¢tiw 130 of the A( or th& a¢Gounts do not accord %silh lh8 accounbng records Ind8pend•nt •xamln•rfs statsrnent I have no concems aThl have crne a¢rtsss no other rnatt8 In Conon the exarnina1n to which attention shoukj b8 drawn in (KileT to enable 8 proper undèrstsndlng ofthe accwnts to bo rwathed. ' Rease é*ete Wofrts in the bCk8t$teYdo nol 8ppty. S[10d. 4M•I?hJy 11¢DJAM firtrt IER October 2018
R•levant profosslonal qualificallon(sl or body lrfanyl= Addr•55: JA Onty wmpiete the eXamIneredS to hhlIght tnatter5 of con Isee CC32, IndepeThY8nt examlnation of ¢harty accounts.. directions and guidanca for ex8min8rsl. IER Octobor 2018