## **Learning with Parents** 

**Charity No. 1189812** 

**Trustees' Report and Unaudited Accounts** 

**Period ended 31 August 2024** 



## **Learning with Parents** 

## **Contents** 

||Pages|
|---|---|
|Trustees' Annual Report|1 - 14|
|Independent Examiner's Report|15|
|Statement of Financial Activities|16|
|Balance Sheet|17|
|Notes to the Accounts|18 - 23|





## **Reference and Administrative Details** 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
Charity Name Learning with Parents<br>Registered charity number 1189812<br>Type of governing document Constitution<br>How the charity is constituted Charitable Incorporated Organisation<br>Trustee selection methods New trustees are appointed by the existing trustees following a recruitment<br>and interview process.<br>Newminster House,<br>27-29 Baldwin Street,<br>Bristol, BS1 1LT<br>Newminster House,<br>27-29 Baldwin Street,<br>Bristol, BS1 1LT<br>Multiply Accountancy<br>71-75 Shelton Street<br>London, WC2H 9JQ<br>Metro Bank<br>1 Southampton Row<br>London, WC1B 5HA<br>The following trustees served during  Dame Sally Dicketts appointed June 2022<br>the year: Shanaj Salahuddin     appointed May 2020<br>Tarun Abraham           appointed November 2020<br>Ben Cole                     appointed February 2022<br>Marva Rollins              appointed October 2022<br>Amanda Shepard        appointed October 2022<br>Lesley Birch                appointed October 2022<br>Cedric Ntumba            appointed August 2023<br>Key Personnel Tom Harbour (CEO)<br>Gemma Davis (Programme Director)<br>Astrid Jenkinson (COO)<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


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**Trustees Annual Report** 

The Trustees present their report with the unaudited financial statements of the charity for the period ended 31 August 2024. 

## **OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES** 

to advance education for the public benefit by improving educational outcomes amongst young 

as a charity and through partnerships, to provide parental engagement programmes to support disadvantaged areas, by providing them with videos and activities through their inclusive online platform. They also lead the Parental Engagement Forum; a group of organisations mobilised to improve home learning across the sector. 

## **The problem** 

In the UK not all children have a fair shot at education. Children from low-income households are on average ten months behind their peers by the time they leave primary school (EPI, 2024). The Institute of Fiscal Studies found that almost half (49%) of this disadvantage gap is related to what happens at home, compared to just 14% they attributed to school. 

Although all parents want the best for their children, some find it harder to convert their good intentions into daily habits and routines. Indeed, disadvantaged parents want to do the same things, such as reading to their children, but they are nonetheless less likely to do those things (Kalil, 2020). 

Due to its complexity, and the fact that it happens behind closed doors, there is limited evidence about how best to drive inclusive parental engagement. Best practice in one community may not apply to another. As a result, many schools, charities and policy makers struggle to prioritise it effectively. 

This is a critical moment in tackling educational inequality. The sector continues to focus overwhelmingly on what happens in classrooms, but Learning with Parents knows that parents are key. 

Only by supporting all parents and carers can the sector hope to build a fair education system in which every child has the chance to fulfil their potential. 

Learning with Parents is tackling educational inequality through supporting all families to have positive learning interactions together at home. They drive inclusive parental engagement by partnering with schools and through leading the sector to learn what works. Their research and insights inform their programme and are shared with the sector to encourage best practice. 

As a tech-based charity with a test-andlot of data, which they use to generate actionable insights. These insights help improve how schools and early years settings, partner charities and they support those families who face the biggest barriers 

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## **ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE** 

## **Achievements and performance in numbers** 

## In 2023-2024: 

22,663 pupils and their families engaged with the Learning with Parents programme from 150 schools across the UK (compared to 9,595 children and their families from 78 schools in 202223). 

- 93,476 Maths and English activities were completed by families. 

- 1,146,138 reading sessions were recorded by families, an average of 56 sessions per child. 86% of teachers agreed that our activities are accessible for all children in their class. 

- 75% of parents agreed that they enjoy learning together with their child through our videos and activities. 

- 72% of parents said they have done a game or activity again since it was first set. 

From September 2023 - August 2024, Learning with Parents strengthened their support to disadvantaged families through: 

## _Increased engagement and deepening impact_ 

In the 23-24 academic year, Learning with Parents worked with 22,663 pupils and their families across 150 primary schools, enabling over 1.2 million learning interactions in Reading, Maths and English. These are the highest numbers of families Learning with Parents has supported since inception and more than double the number reached in the previous year. This significant increase is due in large part ing log. 

Not only is Learning with Parents reaching more families than ever before due to the reading log, but the families are also doing more activities. Initial analysis shows that the reading log leads to deeper engagement with the Learning with Parents full programme, with families being significantly more likely to do Maths and English activities if they are also using their reading log. Families accessing the  full Maths and English programme in 2023-24 completed an average of 20.5 activities over the year, with a total of 93,476 activities completed. This engagement in the Learning with Parents programmes has led to: 

- **More habitual learning interactions** , with 72% of parents who responded to Learning with teacher first set them 

- **More time for teachers** to focus on the most disadvantaged families in their classroom 

- **Improved understanding of topics** for pupils, with 84% of teachers saying their support helps pupils to embed their understanding of the topics covered. 

These positive parent-child interactions contribute to a broad spectrum of outcomes, including greater confidence, improved socio-emotional skills and other key areas of child development. 

at home - 

Hanane Benhamama - teacher from Millbank Academy 

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## _Launching the Learning with Parents Digital Reading Log_ 

Learning with Parents completed the launch year of their digital reading log in July 2024. The log surpassed their expectations for impact, supporting 20,600 children and their families in over 100 schools to record over 1,146,000 reading sessions over the academic year. 

ading that happens in school. Likewise, teachers gain valuable insights into reading at home, as well as a powerful tool for long-term assessment. Most importantly, teachers are also able to easily identify children who are not receiving reading support at home, and appropriately channel additional support within the classroom to ensure no child is left behind. 

"All of the hours the librarian used to spend checking the reading journals she now spends the time - Steve Sutton, teacher from Yorkmead Primary School 

is going on. There have been some children going to the museum and reading at the museum. When I see this on the platform, I then catch children, and families, at the gate to celebrate what they have Emma Wilson, teacher from Camestone Primary School 

The value of this innovation was 

Bett Award for Educational Resource for Parents or Home Learning, with judges saying: 

opportunity for positive parental engagement, fostering positive home- 

further enrich the content on their platform. The majority of these are short videos of age-appropriate children explaining new topics in accessible language created based on the Maths or English curriculum of poetry topics in Key Stage 2 and broadening the Reception Maths offer by adding more space, shape and measure topics. The topic videos are designed to give all parents an understanding of the topics that their child is studying in school and the confidence to support their learning at home. 

Eighty-eight of the videos filmed were activity demonstration videos to support parental engagement for parents of Reception-aged children. These videos were a mixture of two children or a parent and a child demonstrating an activity which supports learning in a fun way. These videos are intended to breakdown language and confidence barriers, and give parents more tools to have positive, learning interactions at home. 

## _Technological enhancements_ 

Learning with Parents has continued to implement strong feedback loops, with feedback collected from parent voice workshops, teacher panels and surveys informing programme developments. As well as numerous changes to their content and how they support schools, this feedback has led to a number of significant technological enhancements over the past year, including: 

- allowing parents to support multiple siblings easily, by simplifying the process for switching between children; 

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- option for teachers to log reading as a group in one go; 

- encouraging parental engagement by enabling teachers to respond to parent entries through ticks, comments, and/or stickers; 

- adding a feature so that parents and teachers are able to see all of the books the child has read; and 

- raising the visibility of parental engagement for schools, especially for Pupil Premium Eligible families, by giving schools the option to download a csv version of the engagement data. This also allows schools to plan targeted responses. 

## _Designing a Learning with Parents financial literacy programme_ 

With the support of the IG Group and building on research and scoping done, Learning with Parents spent 2023-24 developing their Financial Literacy programme. Its purpose is to give children the knowledge, skills and experiences that enable them to manage their own money in the future. It also encourages families to have conversations about money with their children and gives them the starting points to do so. 

to Year 6. This programme will have six-strands, with a topic for each year group in each strand. Topics include Types of Money, Spending and Saving and Money in Society. 

developed 126 activities for parents and children to do together, as well as scripting and filming 42 videos. The activities are a mixture of real-world experiences, conversations and games. They are designed with the most disadvantaged families in mind. Nine partner schools have been identified to pilot this new programme in September 2024. 

Learning with Parents is sharing their approaches and what they are learning with others working in the financial literacy space, including through the Financial Education Forum and by engaging with organisations such as the Financial Literacy and Inclusion Campaign, to drive best practice and ensure these interventions are reaching _all_ 

Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Financial Education for Young People Report (2023). 

## _Launching a pilot programme in the Early Years space_ 

In April 2024, with the support of the Ardian Foundation, Learning with Parents launched their early years pilot in partnership with Peeple, a like-minded charity committed to supporting low-income families. To date, they have tested the Learning with Parents platform with the Peeple parent groups to the Peeple team to film new videos with children aged 0-4 and create age-appropriate activities on the platform 

To ensure good mechanisms for learning and sharing best practice, Learning with Parents has continued to participate in a number of groups including the Fair Education Alliance (FEA) Early Years Working Group. 

## _Strengthening their research and insights work_ 

In 2023-24, Learning with Parents collaborated with DataKind UK, an organisation that works with data scientists to support charities to effectively use their data. This partnership focused on analysing the data Learning with Parents collected on an ongoing basis through their platform and culminated in a 

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data deep dive weekend in March 2024. This data deep dive  produced a range of valuable insights around how the digital reading log drives engagement with the Maths and English activities, what makes an accessible activity, and the factors that drive reading engagement. For each of these areas, they considered the differences in how Pupil-Premium eligible and non-Pupil Premium eligible families interact with different types of activities. An example of a key finding from this analysis work was that schools which choose a reading target of three rather than five days have a higher proportion of pupils reading at least once a week, without reducing the amount of reading done overall. 

## _Running the Parental Engagement Forum_ 

Learning with Parents brings together like-minded organisations in the Parental Engagement Forum from across the education space to network, collaborate, share best practice and explore the research about supporting disadvantaged families. With support from the Fair Education Alliance, Learning with Parents has grown the forum to include a diverse group of 39 organisations, ranging from national charities to place-based organisations working deep in local communities. During this period, eight different organisations presented their work. Topics covered included reading for pleasure, the role of home-school link workers, the role of fathers in learning, and parental engagement in the Early Years. Through the forum, new projects have been fostered drawing on the skills of member organisations coming together to serve the needs of disadvantaged families. 

During this period, Learning with parents has also engaged in a series of webinars on effective parental engagement strategies, including hosting two webinars with the Education Endowment Foundation 


## **Strengthening the charity** 

As well as continuing to build and expand their programme, Learning with Parents has also focused on strengthening the organisation. Areas of focus included: 

- Updating the Theory of Change: Working with experts in evaluation in education, ImpactED, Learning with Parents has developed an organisation-wide Theory of Change to help them to better articulate the full breadth of our impact and inform future impact evaluations. This will be a precursor to drafting principles of evaluation and developing a framework to measure impact more robustly. 

- Financial sustainability: Learning with Parents raised over £670k in 2023-24, making it their most successful fundraising year to date. This strong performance allowed them to deliver all the activities they had planned and achieve the other outcomes listed in this report. This was also the first year Learning with Parents secured multi-year sign ups from schools. Not only does this multi-year income enable them to better plan and support partners; it is also a testimony to the quality of the relationships being built with schools. 

- Moving offices: In February 2024, Learning with Parents moved into a new, unfurnished space and became the primary tenant on a premise for the first time. This was a significant piece of work, requiring identifying a new space and new sub-tenants, purchasing furniture and equipment, and establishing new policies and processes. This was achieved in a cost-effective and timely  way and with minimal disruption and inconvenience to staff. 

- Strengthening financial systems: During this period, Learning with Parents has continued to strengthen their financial management, including developing a financial manual and payroll guide to ensure all systems and processes are documented and updating authorisation processes to support more checks and balances, as the organisation grows. 

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- Developing their communication and marketing strategy: In 2023-24, with the support of the FEA, Learning with Parents works with a consultant to review their branding and messaging and develop a more cohesive communications and marketing strategy. Outcomes from this work also included a short-term communications plan and updating the organisational brand guidelines to reflect their broader offerings. To capitalise on and deliver this work, Learning with Parents recruited a Fundraising and Communications Officer in July 2024. 

## **FINANCIAL REVIEW** 

Learning with Parents' income comes from fundraising and subsidised fees from partner schools. 

Through subsidised fees, partner schools contribute towards the costs of staff training, being set up on the platform, participating in induction sessions for the parents and teachers, accessing the platform and activities, receiving ongoing technical support and sharing relevant data and reflections to strengthen engagement. This contribution equated to £45,532 for the period September 2023 to August 2024. 

To supplement this income and allow Learning with Parents to continue to strengthen and expand their programme, they also secured funding from a number of generous corporate partners and Trusts and Foundations. These included the 80-20 Charitable Fund, the Acumen Fund, the Ardian Foundation, the Barratt Foundation, the Credit Suisse EMEA Foundation, the Dulverton Trust, the FEA, the Garfield Weston Foundation, IG Group, the Rigby Foundation, the Schroder Charity Trust and the UBS Optimus Foundation. Learning with Parents also benefited from the fundraising efforts of UBS staff, who raised over £80,000 through a number of events including a charity auction and Disney on Ice event for staff and family. These grants and donations equated to £656,459 for the period September 2023 to August 2024. 

## **Financial Activity and Financial Position** 

2023-2024 has been another strong year from a financial perspective for Learning with Parents, enabling them to strengthen and grow their programmes and invest in their sustainability. The organisation secured £701,991 of income for the period September 2023-August 2024, exceeding last 4,990. 

This has been Learning with Parents' most successful year to date in terms of securing school income and is also the first year Learning with Parents secured multi-year commitments from partner schools, with over £13k secured for 2025-26 and £3k for 2026-27. 

of their reading log and creating new resources to support the schools using it, developed Financial Literacy content, made strategic technological enhancements and grew their team to increase the support they could offer to their school partners. Moving offices to an unfurnished premise and taking from a start-up to a more established organisation and increased resilience and ability to respond to new opportunities. 

-year income because they started the year with £173,060, of which £54,616 was restricted funding earmarked for activities planned for 2023-24. 

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## **Reserves Policy** 

Learning with Parents requires some funds to be held in reserves to protect themselves from situations such as the following: 

1. The risk of an unforeseen emergency or other unexpected need for funds, eg an unexpected 

2. Covering unforeseen day-to-day operational costs, e.g. employing temporary staff to cover a long-term sick absence. 

3. The need to fund short-term deficits in a cash budget, e.g. money may need to be spent before a funding grant is received. 

4. A source of income, eg a grant, not being renewed. Funds might be needed to give the Chief Executive and trustees time to take action if revenue falls below expectations. The priority would be to ensure that the charity can continue providing a stable and quality service. Within this context, Learning with Parents would seek to minimise recruitment, staff training, staff induction and marketing costs and seek to avoid the need for redundancies caused by a financial crisis. 

5. Meet contractual liabilities should the organisation have to close. This includes redundancy pay, amounts due to creditors and commitments under leases. 

resilience that reserves provide, with the limitation on their ability to fulfil their vision. As the organisation has grown, the decision has been made to 

£153,000 for the period September 2023-August 2024. This  policy is being reviewed annually to ensure that it remains fit for purpose. 

Learning with Parents finished the year with free reserves of £158,791. This is in line with the Learning context and will allow them to respond to new opportunities which may arise. 

## **PLANS FOR FUTURE PERIODS** 

In the coming year, Learning with Parents will strive to strengthen and deepen their reach, working closely with the schools they partner with and supporting more parents and carers to engage in their families with pre-school aged children. To deliver this ambitious programme, Learning with Parents will also continue to strengthen the organisation, ensuring that they have the resources they need, robust systems and processes and motivated, happy staff to deliver the programmes. 

## -2025 include: 


## _number of partner schools to date_ 

In September 2024, Learning with Parents will be launching the new academic year with over 160 schools, the largest number of schools they have worked with to date. They will be ensuring that all schools have a smooth launch, supporting with issues and continuing to make enhancements to respond to any new needs identified. To ensure that they have the capacity to meet the needs of this larger number of schools, in July 2024 Learning with Parents recruited a School Partnership Officer, a 

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new role dedicated to supporting schools to launch and implement the programme and respond to 

## _Strengthening the Reading Log_ 

Learning with Parents will be exploring how they can strengthen their digital reading log to further support positive interactions around reading at home. They want to make content and technological enhancements to the reading log to enable it to suggest different, fun ways in which parents and children can read together. Enjoyment is a significant contributor to whether families read together, particularly for those facing the greatest barriers, and Learning with Parents wants to strengthen their programme to better support this. 

Learning with Parents is also in conversations with several national phonics scheme providers around integrations with their reading log. These partnerships could provide more guidance to families who struggle to support their children with phonics, including those with lower literacy rates or with English as an additional language. 

## _Developing a new Training on Parental Engagement programme_ 

Learning with Parents plans to develop a new Continuing Professional Development (CPD) offering on attitude and engagement is key to supporting parents to engage. As parental engagement is not covered in much detail in most teacher training courses, Learning with Parents wants to plug this gap. Their training will upskill teachers and other staff to forge better relationships and support children's learning at home and in school. 

Children from low-income families are on average 5 months behind their peers at the point when they start school (Sutton Trust, 2020). Learning with Parents has the technology and parental engagement experience to support families before children reach school, at a critical age in brain development and habit forming. A focus for 2024-25 will be to further explore how Learning with Parents can most effectively and strategically support low-income families with pre-school aged children to have positive learning interactions which will have a lasting impact. 

From October 2024, Learning with Parents will be launching the second phase of the pilot with 10 early years settings, working closely with the team at Peeple to support the early years practitioners, capture learnings and evaluate the programme. This evaluation will inform the next steps for this strand of work. 

Learning with Parents has also started exploring how they can support transition into school for disadvantaged families. School readiness is a growing problem, with teachers reporting that 37% of children cannot dress independently and 24% are not toilet trained (Kindred Squared, 2023). Following a period of research and planning, Learning with Parents has begun designing their school readiness programme involves sending families with 3-4 year-olds a physical teddy bear, and supporting them to get teddy ready to start school. If successful in securing funding, they plan to pilot the programme from summer 2025. 

## _Piloting the new Learning with Parents Financial Literacy Programme_ 

Learning with Parents will launch the pilot of their financial literacy programme in September 2024 and evaluate its uptake and impact through feedback from teachers, parents and children over the coming year. They will support the nine schools to implement the programme, including responding to queries and developing any new resources required to support teachers and parents. They will monitor on an ongoing basis how schools and families are engaging with the content, making any necessary amendments to ensure that it is as accessible as possible for those families who struggle to engage in 

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engagement, particularly from low-income families, and feedback gathered both on the content and on any changes to how families discuss money. This will be done through teacher panels, parent focus groups and surveys. 

## _Data analysis_ 

Data analysis is a priority for Learning with Parents for the coming year. They want to build on the work done with DataKind and Loughborough University to further strengthen their programme and share with the sector what works in terms of supporting disadvantaged families. They are currently planning a Hackathon with the team at IG Group in November 2024 to further support this work. They also hope to deepen their data analysis work by increasing their capacity in this area, such as by recruiting a data scientist to do more exploration and creating frameworks to automate the analysis process. 

## _Developing Principles of Evaluation_ 

Building on the Theory of Change review in the previous year, with the support of the FEA, Learning with Parents will be working with ImpactEd to develop principles of evaluation. These will inform the ework and inform plans for possible external evaluation in the coming years. 

## _Strengthening the board_ 

Learning with Parents will continue actively recruiting new members to board to ensure that it can oversee the implementation of the five-year strategy and support a resilient organisation in a period of rapid growth. In particular, they will be looking for trustees who have an understanding of the edtech space and educational inequality in the UK. 

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## **Trustees statement of responsibilities** 

The Trustees shall manage the affairs of the CIO and may for that purpose exercise all the powers of the CIO. It is the duty of each Truste ~~e~~ 

(a) to exercise his or her powers and to perform his or her functions in his or her capacity as a Trustee of the CIO in the way he or she decides in good faith would be most likely to further the purposes of the CIO; and 

(b) to exercise, in the performance of those functions, such care and skill as is reasonable in the circumstances having regard in particular to 

i) any special knowledge or experience that he or she has or holds herself out as having; and, 

ii) if he or she acts as a Trustee of the CIO in the course of a business or profession, to any special knowledge or experience that it is reasonable to expect of a person acting in the course of that kind of business or profession. 

The Trustees are also responsible for the contents of the Trustee Annual report, and the responsibility of the Independent Examiner in relation to the Trustee report is limited to examining the report and ensuring that, on the face of the report, there are no inconsistencies with the figures disclosed and the financial statements. 

## **Structure, Governance and Management** 

The Board is composed of a minimum of three Trustees, one of whom will be the Chair. New Trustees are appointed by the existing Trustees following a recruitment and interview process. Appointments during this period to the Board are for a period of two years, which may be extended for up to two further three-year periods. Trustees are not remunerated but are entitled to claim reasonable out-of-pocket expenses in relation to attendance of meetings. 

For the period September 2023-August 2024, Learning with Parents did not recruit any new Trustees. During this period, one Trustee, Lesley Birch, had to step back from Trustee responsibilities. Learning with Parents will continue to recruit new trustees to build their board and ensure an even greater range of experience and expertise. 

The Board meets four times a year (quarterly) to discuss strategic and operational issues, review risks, monitor income and expenditure, sign off on any new or updated organisational policies, and discuss any other matters arising. All decisions and agreed actions are recorded in the meeting minutes. The 

## **Risk Management** 

The Trustees have a responsibility for the identification and proper management of risks faced by Learning with Parents in achieving its primary aims. A Risk Management Framework has been developed which is reviewed by the Trustees on a quarterly basis and Management Team on a monthly basis. This framework captures major risks to which Learning with Parents is exposed, including those relating to operational, financial and reputational areas. 

The Trustees believe that, by monitoring reserve levels, by ensuring that controls exist over key financial systems, and by examining the operational risks faced by the Charity, they have established effective systems and procedures to mitigate those risks. 

Key risks for the period September 2023-August 2024 and their main mitigations were as follows: 

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**1. Balancing new opportunities with ongoing programmes -** This has been an exciting year with a lot of significant new developments for Learning with Parents, including supporting more schools and families than ever before, launching a new reading log, designing and developing a financial literacy programme and launching an early years pilot. All of these new developments have been incredibly positive, taking Learning with Parents closer towards its mission of ensuring that _all_ children are supported at home to fulfil their potential. However, they have required careful management to ensure that the team does not get overwhelmed and that the quality of the core programme does not slip. This need to effectively balance competing demands was a focus for the Trustees who provided a clear steer in terms of prioritising. 

**2. Data protection -** As a technology platform which has access to a lot of personal data, one of in the fields of IT security, privacy and data protection to prevent any risk of data breaches or infringements of data protection legislation. Last year, Learning with Parents was awarded Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation, which recognises the strength of systems, policies and programmes. They have continued to review and update their Information Security Policy and Checklist annually to ensure it remains adequate and inline with current best practice. All Learning with Parents staff undergo training on IT security and UK GDPR compliance. To further support this work, over this period, Learning with Parents recruited Judicium Education Ltd, an external advisor that specialises in supporting educational institutions with data compliance and best practice. 

**3. Safeguarding -** Whilst Learning with Parents does not work directly with children, they do sometimes come into contact with them on school visits or whilst filming. Where parents have given consent to do so, Learning with Parents also has access to images of children carrying out the activities set through the platform. It is therefore essential that all staff, trustees, consultants, volunteers and interns at Learning with Parents understand their responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people, to keep them safe and to operate in a way that protects them. 

To mitigate against the risk that staff or other individual associated with the organisation perpetuates or fails to report a safeguarding incident, Learning with Parents developed a Safeguarding Policy and Procedure and a Code of Conduct which sets out what would constitute a safeguarding incident and what steps should be taken if someone has any concerns for the welfare of a child. These policies were reviewed and updated in this period and will continue to be reviewed annually. 

Learning with Parents requires all those working with or for the organisation to read and commit to upholding and adhering to their Safeguarding Policy and Procedure on an annual basis. They also carry out a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check for all staff and any consultants working on their behalf. They have a safeguarding lead on their Board of Trustees and the Programme Director acts as Safeguarding Officer. Safeguarding training, provided by the NSPCC, is also mandatory for all staff. 

**4. Changing premises** - In October 2023, Learning with Parents were informed that they would need to find new offices. They were able to find new premises and a sub-tennant and moved in February 2024. With these new offices came a number of additional charges, responsibilities and risks which needed to be accounted for, managed and mitigated against. New policies and processes have been developed to keep the Learning with Parents team safe and additional training has been procured. Two members of the team attended Fire Marshall training and First Aid training. 

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**5. Staff satisfaction -** Learning with Parents is committed to ensuring the workplace satisfaction and welfare of their staff. They recognise that there has been a lot of growth and change within the organisation which can be unsettling. They hold regular team and one-to-one check-ins as these continue to be perceived as valuable to maintaining a sense of belonging and positive relationships across the team. A survey was sent out to the team in May 2024 to gather anonymous feedback on how the staff were feeling and what would help them feel better informed and happy at work. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive with 100% of staff agreeing or strongly agreeing that Learning with Parents is a good place to work. Where issues were raised, steps are being taken to address them. 

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## **Responsibilities of Trustees for the Financial Statements** 

The Trustees are responsible for preparing the report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice. Charity law in England and Wales requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Charity and of income and expenditure of the Charity for that period. 

In preparing those financial statements, the Trustees are required to: 

- select suitable accounting policies and 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 have been followed, subject to any departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and 

- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the activities of the Charity will continue. 

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charity and enables them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the provisions of the governing document. The Trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the Charity 

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and to 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 charity and hence taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. 

The above report has been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102). 

Signed on behalf of the trustees 

Sally Dicketts, Chair 

> Date: 13/01/2025 

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## **Learning with Parents** 

## **Independent Examiner's Report to the trustees of Learning with Parents** 

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of Learning with Parents for the period ended 31 August 2024 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities (incorporating the Summary Income and Expenditure Account), the Balance Sheet and the related notes. 

## **Responsibilities and basis of report** 

As the trustees of the charity you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 ('the 2006 Act). 

Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the charity are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity's accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 ('the 2011 Act'). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act. 

## **Independent examiner's statement** 

As the charity's gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the 2011 Act. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination as a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. 

I have completed my examination. I can confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that: 

- accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 386 of the 2006 Act ; or the accounts do not accord with those records; or 

- the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements under section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fair' view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or 

the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102). 

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. 


**Chris Conway** 

Multiply Accountancy Limited 71-75 Shelton Street London WC2H 9JQ 

> Date: 13/01/2025 

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## **Learning with Parents** 

## **Statement of Financial Activities (incorporating the Summary Income and Expenditure Account) for the year ended 31 August 2024** 

|**Notes**<br>**Income and endowments from:**<br>Donations and legacies<br>**3**<br>Charitable activities<br>**4**<br>Other<br>**Total incoming resources**<br>**Expenditure on:**<br>Raising funds<br>**5**<br>Charitable activities<br>**6**<br>Other<br>**7**<br>**Total outgoing resources**<br>Net gains on investments<br>**Net incoming resources**<br>**8**<br>Transfers between funds<br>**Net incoming resources before other**<br>**gains/(losses)**<br>Other gains and losses<br>**Net movement in funds**<br>**Reconciliation of funds:**<br>Total funds brought forward<br>**Total funds carried forward**|**Unrestricted**<br>**funds 2024**<br>**Restricted**<br>**funds 2024**<br>**Total funds**<br>**2024**<br>**£**<br>**£**<br>**£**<br>632,351<br>24,108<br>656,459<br>45,532<br>-<br>45,532<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>**677,883**<br>**24,108**<br>**701,991**<br>68,086<br>-<br>68,086<br>476,604<br>74,424<br>551,028<br>92,846<br>-<br>92,846<br>**637,536**<br>**74,424**<br>**711,960**<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>**40,347**<br>**(50,316)**<br>**(9,969)**<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>**40,347**<br>**(50,316)**<br>**(9,969)**<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>**40,347**<br>**(50,316)**<br>**(9,969)**<br>118,444<br>54,616<br>173,060<br>**158,791**<br>**4,300**<br>**163,091**|**Total funds**<br>**2023**<br>**(as restated)**<br>**£**<br>613,389<br>41,601<br>-<br>**654,990**<br>44,673<br>388,450<br>108,610<br>**541,733**<br>-<br>**113,257**<br>-<br>**113,257**<br>-<br>**113,257**<br>59,803<br>**173,060**|
|---|---|---|



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## **Learning with Parents** 

## **Balance Sheet at 31 August 2024** 

|**Notes**<br>**ixed assets**<br>Investments<br>**10**<br>Tangible assets<br>**11**<br>**Current assets**<br>Debtors<br>**12**<br>Cash at bank and in hand<br>**Creditors:**Amounts falling due within one year<br>**13**<br>**Net current assets**<br>**otal assets less current liabilities**<br>**otal net assets**<br>**he funds of the charity**<br>Unrestricted funds<br>**14**<br>Restricted funds<br>**14**<br>**otal funds**|**2024**<br>**£**<br>-<br>6,815<br>**6,815**<br>202,489<br>207,908<br>**410,397**<br>(254,121)<br>**156,276**<br>**163,091**<br>**163,091**<br>158,791<br>4,300<br>**163,091**|**2023**<br>**(as restated)**<br>**£**<br>-<br>3,200<br>**3,200**<br>15,007<br>193,731<br>**208,738**<br>(38,878)<br>**169,860**<br>**173,060**<br>**173,060**<br>118,444<br>54,616<br>**173,060**|
|---|---|---|



11/12/2024 


Sally Dicketts Chair 

Date: january 13th 2025 

Page | 17 



## **Learning with Parents** 

## **Notes to the Accounts for the period ended 31 August 2024** 

## **1 Accounting policies** 

## **Basis of preparation** 

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015) - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006. 

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. They are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Amounts presented are rounded to the nearest pound. 

## **Going concern** 

The Trustees have reasonable expectation that the charity will have access to adequate resources to continue in existence for the foreseeable future. In making this assessment, the Trustees have considered a period of at least 12 months from the date of authorising the financial statements. Accordingly, the charity continues to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements. 

## **Fund accounting** 

Unrestricted funds These are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objects of the charity. Restricted funds These are available for use subject to restrictions imposed by the donor or through terms of an appeal. 

## **Prior year adjustment** 

The comparative amounts on the financial statements have been restated to reflect an error in the prior period. Fee income of £24,981 was included in income from charitable activities in the period ended 31st August 2023 which was received in advance, and should have been deferred to the period ended 31st August 2024. The effect of correcting this, and the prior period ended 31st August 2022 (£23,670), is that income from charitable activities in the period ended 31st August 2023 has decreased by £1,311, and the unrestricted funds carried forward at 31st August 2023 have decreased by £24,981. 

## **Income** 

## Recognition of income 

Income is included in the Statement of Financial Activities (SoFA) when the charity becomes entitled to, and virtually certain to receive, the income and the amount of the income can be measured with sufficient reliability. 

## Income with related expenditure 

Where income has related expenditure the income and related expenditure is reported gross in the SoFA. 

## Donations and legacies 

Voluntary income received by way of grants, donations and gifts is included in the SoFA when receivable and only when the Charity has unconditional entitlement to the income. 

## Tax reclaims on donations and gifts 

Income from tax reclaims is included in the SoFA at the same time as the gift/donation to which it relates. 

## Donated services and facilities 

These are only included in income (with an equivalent amount in expenditure) where the benefit to the Charity is reasonably quantifiable, measurable and material. 

## Volunteer help 

The value of any volunteer help received is not included in the accounts. 

## Investment income 

This is included in the accounts when receivable. 

## Gains/(losses) on revaluation of fixed assets 

This includes any gain or loss resulting from revaluing investments to market value at the end of the year. 

## Gains/(losses) on revaluation on investment assets 

This includes any gain or loss on the sale of investments. 

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**Learning with Parents** 

## **Notes to the Accounts for the period ended 31 August 2024** 

## **Accounting policies** 

## **Expenditure** 

## Recognition of expenditure 

Expenditure is recognised on an accruals basis. Expenditure includes any VAT which cannot be fully recovered, and is reported as part of the expenditure to which it relates. 

## Expenditure on raising funds 

These comprise the costs associated with attracting voluntary income, fundraising trading costs and investment management costs. 

## Expenditure on charitable activities 

These comprise the costs incurred by the Charity in the delivery of its activities and services in the furtherance of its objects, including the making of grants and governance costs. 

## Governance costs 

These include those costs associated with meeting the constitutional and statutory requirements of the Charity, including any audit/independent examination fees, costs linked to the strategic management of the Charity, together with a share of other administration costs. 

## Other expenditure 

These are support costs not allocated to a particular activity. 

## **Investments** 

Investments in subsidiaries are held at cost less impairment. 

## **Depreciation of fixed assets** 

Tangible fixed assets are written off over their estimated useful economic lives at the following annual rates: 

Computer equipment 25% per annum straight line 

The carrying values of tangible fixed assets are reviewed for impairment when events or circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable. 

## **Taxation** 

## **Trade and other debtors** 

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due. 

## **Cash and cash equivalents** 

Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash at bank and on hand, demand deposits with banks and other short-term highly liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less and bank overdrafts. In the statement of financial position, bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings or current liabilities. In the Statement of Cash Flows, cash and cash equivalents are shown net of bank overdrafts that are repayable on demand and form an integral part of the company's cash management. 

## **Trade and other creditors** 

Short term creditors are measured at the transaction price. Other 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 after allowing for any trade discounts due. 

## **Pension costs** 

The charity operates a defined contribution plan for its employees. A defined contribution plan is a pension plan under which the company pays fixed contributions into a separate entity. Once the contributions have been paid the charity has no further payments obligations. The contributions are recognised as expenses when they fall due. Amounts not paid are shown in accruals in the balance sheet. The assets of the plan are held separately from the company in independently administered funds. 

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## **Learning with Parents** 

## **Notes to the Accounts for the period ended 31 August 2024** 

## **2 Charity status** 

Learning with Parents is a charitable incorporated orgnisation and is not a registered company at Companies House. 

|**Income from donations and legacies**|**2024**|**2023**|
|---|---|---|
|Grants and donations|656,459|613,389|



- **3 Income from donations and legacies** 

In the year to 31 August 2024, £24,108 of grants received comprise restricted funds (2023: £140,043). Further information is available in note 14. 

|**4**<br>**Income from charitable activities**<br>Programme delivery<br>**5**<br>**Expenditure on raising funds**<br>Costs of activities for generating income<br>**6**<br>**Expenditure on charitable activities**<br>Cost of programme delivery<br>Governance costs<br>Independent examination fee<br>Other accountancy fees paid to independent examiner|**2024**<br>45,532<br>**2024**<br>68,086<br>68,086<br>**2024**<br>545,188<br>1,350<br>4,490<br>551,028|**2023**<br>41,601<br>**2023**<br>44,673<br>44,673<br>**2023**<br>384,312<br>1,350<br>2,788<br>388,450|
|---|---|---|



In the year to 31 August 2024, £40,863 of staff costs, £27,614 of programme delivery costs, and £3,614 of accountancy fees were spent from restricted funds (2023: £59,490 staff costs and £69,849 programme delivery costs). Further information is available in note 14. 

|**7**<br>**Other expenditure**<br>Staff costs (Note 9)<br>Premises costs<br>Depreciation<br>Charitable donations<br>General administrative costs<br>Exceptional costs related to the cessation of the subsidiary company|**2024**<br>57,004<br>16,783<br>2,342<br>-<br>16,717<br>-<br>92,846|**2023**<br>42,505<br>11,362<br>1,115<br>-<br>25,640<br>27,988<br>108,610|
|---|---|---|



Other expenditure includes £2,303 expended from restricted funds (2023: £15,177). Further information is available in note 14. 

|**8**|**Net income before transfers**|**2024**|**2023**|
|---|---|---|---|
||This is stated after charging:|||
||Depreciation of owned fixed assets|2,342|1,115|



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## **Learning with Parents** 

## **Notes to the Accounts for the period ended 31 August 2024** 

|**9**<br>**Staff costs**<br>Salaries and wages<br>Social security costs<br>Pension costs<br>Staff recruitment and training costs|**2024**<br>338,110<br>25,643<br>7,658<br>3,330<br>374,741|**2023**<br>232,935<br>16,921<br>5,497<br>3,763<br>259,116|
|---|---|---|



No employee received emoluments in excess of £60,000. 

One trustee (2023: 1) was reimbursed for travel expenses totalling £89 incurred in the period to 31 August 2024 (2023: £90). No trustee (2023: none) received any remuneration in the period. 

Key management personnel comprise the trustees, the CEO, the COO, and the Programme Director as laid out on page 1. Total remuneration paid to these individuals was £147,965 (2023: £137,636). 

During the period, an ex-gratia payment for termination was made to an employee for £11,155. 

The average number of staff employed, including part time staff was 13 (2023: 10). 

|**10**<br>**Tangible fixed assets**<br>**Cost**<br>At 1 September 2023<br>Additions<br>Disposals<br>At 31 August 2024<br>**Depreciation**<br>At 1 September 2023<br>Charge for the year<br>Eliminated on disposal<br>At 31 August 2024<br>**Net Book Value**<br>At 31 August 2024<br>At 1 September 2023<br>**11**<br>**Debtors**<br>Trade debtors<br>Amounts owed from subsidiary undertaking<br>Other debtors|**Computer**<br>**equipment**<br>5,741<br>5,957<br>-<br>11,698<br>2,541<br>2,342<br>-<br>4,883<br>6,815<br>3,200<br>**2024**<br>191,701<br>-<br>10,788<br>202,489|**Total**<br>5,741<br>5,957<br>-<br>11,698<br>2,541<br>2,342<br>-<br>4,883<br>6,815<br>3,200<br>**2023**<br>9,340<br>-<br>5,667<br>15,007|
|---|---|---|



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## **Learning with Parents** 

## **Notes to the Accounts for the period ended 31 August 2024** 

|**12**<br>**Creditors falling due within one year**<br>Other taxes and social security<br>Deferred income<br>(note 15)<br>Other creditors<br>**13**<br>**Movement in funds**<br>**At 1 September**<br>**2023**<br>Unrestricted funds:<br>General funds<br>118,444<br>Restricted funds:<br>Acumen<br>-<br>The 80-20 Charitable Fund<br>49,716<br>The Fair Education Alliance<br>4,900<br>54,616<br>173,060<br>**At 1 September**<br>**2022**<br>Unrestricted funds:<br>General funds<br>29,284<br>Restricted funds:<br>Big Give<br>-<br>Credit Suisse<br>-<br>The Access Foundation<br>54,189<br>The 80-20 Charitable Fund<br>-<br>The Fair Education Alliance<br>-<br>Mercers<br>-<br>54,189<br>83,473|**Incoming**<br>**resources**<br>**including other**<br>**gains/(losses)**<br>677,883<br>18,958<br>5,150<br>24,108<br>701,991<br>**Incoming**<br>**resources**<br>**including other**<br>**gains/(losses)**<br>511,358<br>10,043<br>25,000<br>-<br>100,000<br>4,900<br>5,000<br>144,943<br>656,301|**2024**<br>5,769<br>241,250<br>7,102<br>254,121<br>**Outgoing**<br>**resources**<br>(637,536)<br>(18,958)<br>(49,716)<br>(5,750)<br>(74,424)<br>(711,960)<br>**Outgoing**<br>**resources**<br>(397,217)<br>(10,043)<br>(25,000)<br>(54,189)<br>(50,284)<br>-<br>(5,000)<br>(144,516)<br>(541,733)|**2023**<br>7,624<br>24,981<br>6,273<br>38,878<br>**At 31 August**<br>**2024**<br>158,791<br>-<br>-<br>4,300<br>4,300<br>163,091<br>**At 31 August**<br>**2023**<br>143,425<br>-<br>-<br>-<br>49,716<br>4,900<br>-<br>54,616<br>198,041|
|---|---|---|---|



## **The Fair Education Alliance** 

Funding to support us to update our Theory of Change and develop Principles of Evaluation. This will help us to better evidence our impact and effectively communicate how our work is supporting families facing the greatest barriers and tackling the attainment gap. The remaining restricted funds are expected to be expended in the current period to 31st August 2025. 

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## **Learning with Parents** 

## **Notes to the Accounts for the period ended 31 August 2024** 

|**14**<br>**Analysis of net assets between funds**<br>Fixed assets<br>Net current assets<br>Fixed assets<br>Net current assets<br>**15**<br>**Deferred income**<br>Deferred during the year<br>Released from previous periods<br>Movement in the period|**Unrestricted**<br>**Funds**<br>6,815<br>151,976<br>158,791<br>**Unrestricted**<br>**Funds**<br>3,200<br>140,225<br>143,425|**Restricted**<br>**Funds**<br>-<br>4,300<br>4,300<br>**Restricted**<br>**Funds**<br>-<br>54,616<br>54,616<br>**2024**<br>241,250<br>(24,981)<br>216,269|**Total 2024**<br>6,815<br>156,276<br>163,091<br>**Total 2023**<br>3,200<br>194,841<br>198,041<br>**2023**<br>24,981<br>(23,670)<br>1,311|
|---|---|---|---|



At a donor's request, an invoice of £175,000 was issued in July 2024, to be paid in the first quarter of 202324. This funding is for activities planned for 2024-25. These are unrestricted funds, however, as they had not been received, and no resources expended on the planned activities by the end of the period, the income has been deferred. 

The remaining deferred income of £66,250 relates to school income received in the period, for advanced subscriptions related to future periods. 

Page | 23