## **Trustees' Annual Report for the period**
Period start date Period end date 01 08 2022 31 07 2023
**From**
**To**
Section A Reference and administration details
## **Charity name** CZECH SCHOOL BERKSHIRE
**Other names charity is known by**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|Registered charity number (if any)|1167861|
|Charity's principal address|12 STONEY ROAD|
|BRACKNELL|
|Postcode|RG42 1XX|
|ee|
|Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity|
|Dates acted if not for whole|Name of person (or body) entitled|
|Trustee name|Office (if any)|
|year|to|appoint|trustee|(if any)|
|GABRIELA THOMAS|Chairman|Board of Trustees|
|1|
|GABRIELA THOMAS|Treasurer|Board of Trustees|
|2|
|JAROMIR BILEK|Trustee|Board of Trustees|
|3|
|LUCIE FALLA|Trustee &|Board of Trustees|
|4|
|Secretary|
|PETRA WOODWARD|Trustee|Board of Trustees|
|5|
|ZDENKA SVOBODOVA|Trustee|Board of Trustees|
|6|
**----- End of picture text -----**
**Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)**
**Name Dates acted if not for whole year** n/a ~~—SS==~~ **Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information) Type of adviser Name Address n/a Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)** Yvona Kantorova ~~se~~ **TAR** 1 17.5. 2024
17.5. 2024
## **Section B Structure, governance, and management**
## **Description of the charity’s trusts**
Type of governing document
Constitution adopted on 23.10.2015
(e.g., trust deed, constitution)
How the charity is constituted
CIO
(e.g., trust, association, company)
Trustee selection methods
APPOINTED BY
(e.g., appointed by, elected by)
## **Additional governance issues (Optional information)**
You **may choose** to include additional information, where relevant, about:
- policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees.
- the charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works;
- relationship with any related parties;
- trustees’ consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them.
Our charity has currently 5 Trustees who are responsible for the overall management and control of the charity. The Trustees work closely with its Managing Director, teachers, assistants, and volunteers.
The charity employs 12 regular teachers, 3 supply teachers and a Managing Director. Czech School Berkshire has approximately 30 volunteers who play a very important role in our charity. Volunteers contribute greatly during our school operations and cultural events. All employed teachers, Trustees, Managing Director, and volunteers are subject to DBS checks where required/appropriate prior their involvement in our charity. Our charity uses services of an accounting & payroll company and a DBS check agency.
New Trustees are appointed in accordance with the charity’s governing document by ordinary resolution if the person is willing to act as a Trustee. New Trustees are appointed at our regular trustee’s meetings. New Trustees are welcome to join our charity at any time through the year. As Trustees are involved in all school’s operations and planning of additional events they meet regularly, at least once per 2 months during academic year. Urgent matters are dealt with by email.
The charity has adopted the following policies that are reviewed on a yearly basis:
Child Protection Policy Health and Safety Policy Volunteers Policy Equality and Diversity Policy GDPR privacy policy
Our charity cooperates with other Czech and Slovak schools in United Kingdom and is a member of Association of Czech and Slovak Schools in UK. Our school also closely cooperates with Czech Embassy in London, Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Czech Republic.
The Trustees identified major risks to our school as follows: Dependency on a set of 3 rental premises which are located very close to each other and where our school operations take place; Cost of rental;
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17.5. 2024
Possible future influence of Brexit on a number of pupils; Departure of senior teachers; Successful securing of qualified teaching members of staff; Securing suitable candidates for Trustees to cover all aspects of operations, management, and administrative tasks. Above identified risks were reviewed by Trustees and procedures are being established to manage the risks.
Managing Director’s responsibilities include mainly the overall management and supervision of the school’s operations, administration of all sections of the organisation, leadership and supervision of all employed staff and volunteers. The Managing Director participates in strategic planning with Trustee’s Board & implementation of agreed plans, attends and reports to Trustee’s Board as required.
## **Section C Objectives and activities**
|**Summary of the objects of the**
**charity set out in its**
**governing document**
**Summary of the main**
**activities undertaken for the**
**public benefit in relation to**
**these objects (include within**
**this section the statutory**
**declaration that trustees have**
**had regard to the guidance**
**issued by the Charity**
**Commission on public**
**benefit)**|The main purpose of Czech School Berkshire is to advance education for
the public benefit in the language, history, geography, culture, and
heritage of the Czech Republic.|
|---|---|
||The Trustees have considered the Charity Commission’s Guidance on
public benefit and concluded that they fulfilled their duties in the light of
that guidance.
Czech School Berkshire was established on 23.10.2015.
Our school opened its doors for enrolment on the 24.01.2016.
Our first teaching day & playgroup was on 07.02.2016
Official Charity registration status was received on 27.06.2016
Our charity offers following:
-
Czech & Slovak Sunday Preschool playgroup for children from 0-
4 years old and their parents.
-
Czech Sunday school for children 4-15 years old
-
Czech Sunday tuition classes for adults
-
Czech & Slovak cultural events through the year
-
Czech children’s library
Our teaching classes take place on Sundays, usually twice per month for
2 hours.
Classes take place in**The Oakwood Centre**, Headley Road, Headley
Rd, Woodley, Reading RG5 4JZ and**Woodford Park Leisure Centre,**
Haddon Drive, Woodley, Reading, RG5 4LY.
Classes are open to all children willing to learn Czech language
regardless of their level. Children need to be enrolled for the classes and
classes schedule operates on school terms basis, the number of students
is limited by classes’ capacity.
The Czech and Slovak playgroup setting is open for children from birth to
4-year-olds and their parents/carers.
The playgroup is running at the same time as teaching classes.
The playgroup takes place at**Coronation Hall**, Headley Rd, Woodley,
Reading RG5 4JB.
Our playgroup is open to anyone with children in specified age group and|
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17.5. 2024
operates on pay as you go system.
Our Czech tuition classes for adults are open to any adults wishing to learn Czech as a second language. The number of students is limited by class capacity. Since 2021 the classes only take place online every week. Such an arrangement benefits both students and teachers. During the reporting period there were 4 adult classes available offering range of levels from complete beginners to an advanced level.
All our classes are closely connected and are designed to be available at the same time to suit all family members’ needs and very often involve participation of all members of individual families. Older children are studying in our children’s classes, while younger sibling/s is/are with one or both parents in the playgroup setting or alternatively one of the parents is involved as a volunteer at school or playgroup setting during its duration.
We believe that attendance of Czech School Berkshire leads to strengthening of children’s bilingual abilities and promotes awareness of their Czech background and roots, which in future might be important for their relationship with their families and the Czech Republic as a country. Czech School Berkshire offers families support in teaching children or adults’ Czech language as a first/second language by providing them with the environment where Czech language can be used, promoted and learnt.
The school also provides other culturally rich activities & national celebrations throughout its academic year, as these events provide students and other members of the community with many opportunities to understand the fundamentals of the Czech Republic’s history, geography, and ethnic lifestyle.
Summary of activities organised during reporting period:
- 17 teaching Sundays for 102 pupils
- 33 weekly online classes for 18 adult students
- 17 playgroups
- In October 2022 we organised a Czech theatre company Viola’s visit to our school. To our great joy, the artists Lábus and Viklický visited us and not only showed us a performance for adult audiences ‘Why won't you dance’, but they also organized a very funny discussion for our students. The event was very successful, members of Czechoslovak community both from our school and from the wider area praised it very much and hope that a similar event will take place as soon as possible.
- In October 2022 our school held a Halloween party for our young students (especially for visitors to our preschool group). In addition to spooky costumes, the celebration also includes good food and drink, a disco and fun games and competitions for children.
- In December 2022 we organised our traditional St Nicolas party for our wide Czechoslovak community. St. Nicholas is a traditional Czech & Slovak pre-Christmas celebration with traditional food and drink, raffle, photo booth and much more. This event was
**TAR**
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4
attended by approximately 300 members of our community.
- Each year at the beginning of February we celebrate the school’s anniversary and treat our students, teachers, and volunteers to a slice of birthday cake. This year's celebration was in the spirit of dancing - we organized both a disco for children and a disco for adults. Both events were well attended and very successful. We plan to continue this tradition in the coming years.
- In addition to the planned projects, a visit by Lady Milena GrenfellBaines took place in May 2023. Due to Lady Milena's age and the great interest of our children and their parents in her fate, we organised the event unplanned and spontaneously. In the first part of the event, we screened the film ‘Hands on Glass’ for children and parents. One of the main heroines of the film, Lady Milena, also participated in the screening. The documentary film discusses the greatest heroes of the rescue of the so-called Winton children - their parents. Through five rescued children, the film tells the story of their families, their memories of the train journey to Britain and how they lived in Britain afterwards.
- In the second part of the event, there was a lecture by Lady Milena about her participation in the rescue operation of Nicholas Winton and other events of her rich life.
- Both the screening and the discussion had a high turnout, and the whole event was extremely interesting and very beneficial for our children and their parents.
- In June 2023 our school (together with the Slovak school Skolacik) organised a traditional Children’s Day celebration. About 150 children from our Czechoslovak community took part in the event. The event included sports competitions for children, prizes for young athletes, bouncy castles for young and old, sumo wrestling for children, a stand with Czechoslovak food and sales stands with hot dogs, typical East European dish ‘langos’, hot drinks and refreshments.
- At the beginning of July 2023, we organised a weekend community camping trip, which was enjoyed by 24 families. The family camping was a great success, the event included the traditional roasting of sausages, singing by the fire with the guitar and lots of games for children during the day.
- End of school year celebration took place in July 2023. We feel it’s very important to recognize our students’ hard work throughout the whole year. Therefore, every year we treat our students to a little gift in form of a book or similar small gift along with an achievement certificate. Teachers and assistants received free coffee on the school's account as a reward for their year-long work.
**TAR**
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5
## **Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)**
Our volunteers form a very important part of our charity. During the reporting period we had approximately 30 volunteers, who contributed to running of all parts of our charity.
You **may choose** to include further statements, where relevant, about:
- policy on grant making;
Our playgroup setting is entirely managed by volunteers. Volunteers also carry out an important role of teaching assistants in the individual classes. Volunteers support our teaching staff in the reception area and supervise safety of our students in the rented premises. Our children’s library is also run by volunteers.
Our Trustees appreciate that without support and huge contribution of our volunteers we would not be able to organize any of our cultural events which are attended by large volume of people.
- policy programme related investment;
- contribution made by volunteers.
## Section D Achievements and performance
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17.5. 2024
Section D Achievements and performance
**Summary of the main** During the reporting period our school offered 10 Czech teaching classes **achievements of the charity** for children with total number of 102 pupils and 4 teaching classes for **during the year** adults with the total number of 18: - 17 teaching Sundays for 102 pupils - 33 weekly online classes for 18 adult students - 17 playgroups By the end of July 2023, the charity employed 12 regular teachers, 3 supply teachers, and a Managing Director. Trustees believe that through the devotion and energy of all members of school – the trustees, Managing Director, teachers, volunteers, students, and their parents, an outstanding team has been established and maintained. Many students made progress in their learning and continue to strengthen their relationship within the community. Last but not least, several students sit annual exams in Czech schools in the Czech Republic to prove their knowledge of Czech language and our school helps them achieve their goals. Trustees are especially proud to have modernised the school’s teaching methods. The school transitioned from less effective bi-monthly teaching for adults to much more effective and convenient online weekly teaching. Finally, our charity maintains a successful co-operation with various universities in the Czech Republic. University students are welcome to join our school as internship students through Erasmus programme (or similar programme for undergraduate students).
## **Section E Financial review**
Although Trustees did not establish an official policy on reserves during **Brief statement of the** this period, they considered it crucial to set aside enough funds to cover **charity’s policy on reserves** the cost of at least one school term for all school operations. **Details of any funds materially** n/a **in deficit**
## **Further financial review details (Optional information)**
You **may choose** to include additional information, where relevant about:
- the charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising);
- how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity;
- investment policy and objectives including any ethical investment policy
The charity activities for the reporting period were mainly funded from tuition fees collected from its students with small contribution from fundraising activities & small donations.
During this reporting period our organisation received restricted grants from Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Education of Czech Republic.
- Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs supported the following projects: Czech & Slovak Playgroup, Halloween Celebration, St. Nicolas Celebration, School Disco party, Czech theatre company Viola’s visit, Children’s Day celebration, Family Camping, End of Year Celebration and our project of children’s Czech library.
**TAR**
17.5. 2024
7
adopted. Czech Ministry of Education supported our organisation with a grant for our school section. **Section F Other optional information** Future plans: Our greatest goal is to find new premises by the end of 2024, preferably in a local primary school. The aim is to have all classrooms and the playgroup together in one building and thereby strengthen the co-operation between teachers and other school staff as well as community spirit. The Trustees intend to continue with their current strategy to maintain and improve the quality of provided education. The teachers and Trustees would like to develop structured methods for individual classes to ensure the curriculum followed is appropriate for all students and their individual level. The Trustees will continue searching for new sources of finance to strengthen the financial position of the charity. The charity would like to attract more volunteers and teaching staff to offer its services to a larger volume of students and widen the areas of activities it provides for the community. For December 2024 we are planning a Christmas concert with a popular Czech actor and singer. ~~=~~ **Section G Declaration The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above. Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees**
## **Signature(s)**
**TAR**
8
17.5. 2024
**Full name(s)** GABRIELA THOMAS
**Position (e.g., Secretary, Chair,** CHAIRMAN **etc)**
**Date** 17/5/2024
**The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.**
**Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees**
**Signature(s)**
**Full name(s)** LUCIE FALLA
**Position (e.g., Secretary, Chair,** TRUSTEE & SECRETARY **etc) Date** 17/5/2024
**The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.**
**Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees**
## **Signature(s)**
**Full name(s)** ZDENKA SVOBODOVA **Position (e.g., Secretary, Chair,** TRUSTEE & TREASURER **etc) Date** 17/5/2024
**The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.**
**Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Signature(s)
**----- End of picture text -----**
**TAR**
9
17.5. 2024
**Full name(s)** JAROMIR BILEK **Position (e.g., Secretary, Chair,** TRUSTEE **etc)** ~~—~~ **Date** 17/5/2024 ~~pF~~
## **The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.**
**Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Signature(s)
Full name(s) PETRA WOODWARD
Position (e.g., Secretary, Chair, TRUSTEE
etc) ee
Date
17/5/2024
**----- End of picture text -----**
**TAR**
10
17.5. 2024
CHARITY COMMISSION
FOR ENGLAND AND WAIES
Independent examinerfs report on the
accounts
Section A
Independent Examiner's Report
Report to the trustee$
Czech School Berkshire
On accounts for the year
ended
Charity no
lif any)
31 July 2023
1167861
Set out on pages
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above
charity (Ihe Trust") for tPe year ended 31 July 2023.
Re$pon$ibilities and
basis of r•port
As the charrtrfs trustees. you are responsible for the preparation of the
accounts in accordan with the requirements of the Charitie5 Act 2011
1.the Act'i.
l pOrt in SpeCI of my examination of the T1,8 accounts carried out
under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I
have followed all the appli¢able DireIOnS given by the Char¢ty Commission
under section 145{5llb) of the Act.
Indep8nd8nt I have Completed my examination. I confirn that no material matters have
oxamln8¢8 Statemant come to my attention in connection with the examination {other than that
disclosed below") which gives me cause to believe that in, any material
respect..
th8 accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130
of the Charities A¢t.' or
the accounts did not accord with the accounting records,. or
the a¢¢ounls did not comply wrth the applicable requirements
Concerning the form and content of a¢vnI$ sel out in the Charities
(Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement
that the accounts give a 'lnJe and fair. view which is not a matter
considered as part of an independent examination.
I have no cOnrn$ and have come across no other matters in conne¢lion
with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in
order to enable a pyoper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Slgned:
14 May 2024
Name:
Helen Clafke, Paragon Accounts Solutions Ltd
Relevant professlonal
qualificaon(sI or body
(if any}:
ATh
MICB
Address:
104 Straight Road
Old Windsor
ndsor. SL4 2SB
IER
Oct 2018
Section B
Disclosure
Only complete If the examiner needs lo highlight material matters of concern
(see CC32, Independent examination of chanty accounts.. directions and
guidance for examiners).
Give here brief details of
any items that the
examiner wishes to
discloso.
IER
Oct 2018
CHARITY COMMISSIOPI
FOR ENGIANO fvJIO WAlfS
C2eeh Sehool Berkshirg
1167861
Recei
tsand
ments accounts
CC16a
For the period
01108r2Q2
3110712023
Section A Receipts and payments
Unrestricted Rtricted
tunds
lunds
Èndowment
lun(ts
tr*th• £ lothe Ii•ir••t£ ioth• wm•¢e foth• nMMt£
Tot•1 fund•
t ywr
A1 Recol
16.301
21.521
Dtridtions
Fundiaisino Eb*nis
Grant
2,192
1192
1.274
.OB2
9.155
ARJ
3T.141
31.L>J
men
18ge t•bl•l.
37.144
AJPa
ents
Gli10b1 Acbvilio5
5.205
5.504
19.097
5,50J
39
2,941
380
Pram13e¥ Rent
C¢51 ol FunOr01¥inB Ev•ntJ
Mil 8 Ad1[[traI
Insuf3nce
Bank ChirgE¥
& Prtsyioiiw
1.295
1.866
IS8
13B
Sub total
*1$0
34,177
A4 As8et and I81M¢t
Sub total
30.325
9,155
39.480
34.177
Net of receiptsl(paymentsJ
A5 Ttanslers bÈtweÈn lund¥
A6 Cash lunds last vear end
Cash funds this year•ftd
2.335
3.171
3.811
3,811
6.147
CCXX Rl ants{S$)
21m5Qtr24
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
UnrE5lricted
lund5
Re5tricled
funds
to nr•st£
En rwros1£
fund¥
Ion•JrnBi £
FuAd
Cuir•nt Val
Dp•,?jl%
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Deta115
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oharfty'o own u••
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behJWof oll tho tru¢lee¢
Date of
Swjrwtwe
PrMI Name
roval
CCXX R2 GrOnI2 (-"
21105r2024
CHARITY COMMISSION
FOR ENGLAND AND WAIES
Independent examinerfs report on the
accounts
Section A
Independent Examiner's Report
Report to the trustee$
Czech School Berkshire
On accounts for the year
ended
Charity no
lif any)
31 July 2023
1167861
Set out on pages
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above
charity (Ihe Trust") for tPe year ended 31 July 2023.
Re$pon$ibilities and
basis of r•port
As the charrtrfs trustees. you are responsible for the preparation of the
accounts in accordan with the requirements of the Charitie5 Act 2011
1.the Act'i.
l pOrt in SpeCI of my examination of the T1,8 accounts carried out
under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I
have followed all the appli¢able DireIOnS given by the Char¢ty Commission
under section 145{5llb) of the Act.
Indep8nd8nt I have Completed my examination. I confirn that no material matters have
oxamln8¢8 Statemant come to my attention in connection with the examination {other than that
disclosed below") which gives me cause to believe that in, any material
respect..
th8 accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130
of the Charities A¢t.' or
the accounts did not accord with the accounting records,. or
the a¢¢ounls did not comply wrth the applicable requirements
Concerning the form and content of a¢vnI$ sel out in the Charities
(Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement
that the accounts give a 'lnJe and fair. view which is not a matter
considered as part of an independent examination.
I have no cOnrn$ and have come across no other matters in conne¢lion
with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in
order to enable a pyoper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Slgned:
14 May 2024
Name:
Helen Clafke, Paragon Accounts Solutions Ltd
Relevant professlonal
qualificaon(sI or body
(if any}:
ATh
MICB
Address:
104 Straight Road
Old Windsor
ndsor. SL4 2SB
IER
Oct 2018
Section B
Disclosure
Only complete If the examiner needs lo highlight material matters of concern
(see CC32, Independent examination of chanty accounts.. directions and
guidance for examiners).
Give here brief details of
any items that the
examiner wishes to
discloso.
IER
Oct 2018
CHARITY COMMISSIOPI
FOR ENGIANO fvJIO WAlfS
C2eeh Sehool Berkshirg
1167861
Recei
tsand
ments accounts
CC16a
For the period
01108r2Q2
3110712023
Section A Receipts and payments
Unrestricted Rtricted
tunds
lunds
Èndowment
lun(ts
tr*th• £ lothe Ii•ir••t£ ioth• wm•¢e foth• nMMt£
Tot•1 fund•
t ywr
A1 Recol
16.301
21.521
Dtridtions
Fundiaisino Eb*nis
Grant
2,192
1192
1.274
.OB2
9.155
ARJ
3T.141
31.L>J
men
18ge t•bl•l.
37.144
AJPa
ents
Gli10b1 Acbvilio5
5.205
5.504
19.097
5,50J
39
2,941
380
Pram13e¥ Rent
C¢51 ol FunOr01¥inB Ev•ntJ
Mil 8 Ad1[[traI
Insuf3nce
Bank ChirgE¥
& Prtsyioiiw
1.295
1.866
IS8
13B
Sub total
*1$0
34,177
A4 As8et and I81M¢t
Sub total
30.325
9,155
39.480
34.177
Net of receiptsl(paymentsJ
A5 Ttanslers bÈtweÈn lund¥
A6 Cash lunds last vear end
Cash funds this year•ftd
2.335
3.171
3.811
3,811
6.147
CCXX Rl ants{S$)
21m5Qtr24
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
UnrE5lricted
lund5
Re5tricled
funds
to nr•st£
En rwros1£
fund¥
Ion•JrnBi £
FuAd
Cuir•nt Val
Dp•,?jl%
Fwftlto*hkh
CurhMtvalu¢
Deta115
84 A88•ts retaIn for tho
oharfty'o own u••
Wh•n du•
lonil
I1 ZOZ3
B6 Llabllltl••
PAYC
Imrn*dlatdv
Slgnul by one ort*0 tyust&5 C
behJWof oll tho tru¢lee¢
Date of
Swjrwtwe
PrMI Name
roval
CCXX R2 GrOnI2 (-"
21105r2024