## Copernicus Polish Saturday School New Malden Also known as: Polska Sobotnia Szkoła Przedmiotów Ojczystych im. Mikołaja Kopernika w New Malden Trustee’s Report and Financial Statements For the period started 1[st] September 2023 and ended 31[st] August 2024 Charity Registration Number: 1194930 Governing Document: CIO Foundation Registered 24[th] June 2021 ## **Our Objectives** Copernicus Polish Saturday School New Malden opened in October 2012. It was established due to a huge demand by the Chair of Governors of the Polish School in Putney/Wimbledon with initiative from its Headteacher. Copernicus teaches Polish language, history, culture and heritage to children between the ages of 3 and 16. On 24th June 2021 the School was formally registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales as CIO Foundation. Copernicus is a member of the Polish Educational Society “Macierz Polska” (registered in England and Wales - Charity no 1159980) which supports Polish education in Great Britain. Our aim is to advance the education of children and young people aged 3-19 primarily, but not exclusively, residing in the Royal Borough of Kingston and its environs through providing supplementary education consistent with primary and secondary level based on the Polish Ministry of Education and Science’s core curriculum concerning primarily the Polish language, history and geography of Poland, arts, culture, and Polish heritage. We prepare students to take GCSE and A level exams under the AQA examination board. Through cultural events and activities, we broaden the students’ knowledge of Poland and its heritage. We aim to create an ethos of being a community in which all students and their families feel at home, respected and involved. Our objectives for the year 2023-24 were to reflect our academic aims in our work, as well as our ethos as stated by objectives of a charitable organisation. We aimed to: ∙ Offer a broad, relevant curriculum, helping our students to learn Polish language, history and traditions alongside achieving excellent end of year results and our first in person GCSE examinations results. ∙ Broaden the curriculum through well planned and prepared extracurricular activities such as school trips. ∙ Form good relationships and play a part in our community through organising charitable events such as Christmas cards for nursing homes. ∙ Provide bursaries to families with financial difficulties to help with the payment of school fees. ∙ Strengthen our school community through events aimed to involve our parents in the life of our school, while fundraising for its needs such as the Easter Workshop and a Christmas cake sale. ## **Pupil numbers and fees during 2023-24** The number of pupils in the reporting period was 315 in 21 classes which can slightly fluctuate due to resignations and new enrolments. The sizes of classes varied between 12-20 children per class. We were able to offer places to all children and young people who applied. Our fees in 2023-24 were as follows: 1st child £420 per academic year 2nd child £330 per academic year 3rd child £190 per academic year 4th and above child- exempt from fees The GSCE and A-Level classes had £20 extra fee per year to cover additional cost of exams materials. ## **Finances** The Board of Trustees make every effort to ensure that the school finances are well managed, and the accounts maintain a good cash flow. A school accountant regularly presents to the Board of Trustees financial reports and the budget forecasts which inform Trustees’ planning of budgets for the next academic year. The school financial year starts on 1[st] September and ends on 31st of August. This report covers the period 1st September 2023 to 31st of August 2024. The cash receipts during the year were £142,102 and the cash expenditures were £144,716. On an accruals basis the income and loss were as follows: ||12 month period
to 31 August 2024|
12 month period
to 31 August 2023| |---|---|---| |Revenue for theperiod|£156,778|£134,353| |Loss for theperiod|£11,752|- £20,203| |Reserves at 31 August|£37,538|£25,568| ## **Revenue** The School’s main source of income is school fees. Trustees every year look for opportunities to identify and secure additional funding to supplement revenue from school fees. The Trustees were successful in applying for a grant from Stowarzyszenie Wspólnota Polska (The Polish Community Association). A small portion of school revenue comes from various fund-raising activities like fun fairs and cake sales organised by the PTA. To support the school budget the Governing Body sourced free school textbooks for years 5-8 which we lend to students for the duration of the school year free of charge. They introduced a second hand book exchange scheme to help keep the costs down. ## **Expenditure** The main expenses of the School are teachers’ salaries and rent for using the premises of Richard Challoner RC School in New Malden. The School also paid for teachers’ training and membership of the Polish Educational Society. ## **Bursaries Scheme** The Governing Body aims to keep our fees competitive but at a lowest possible level. To support families who require and qualify for financial support, we have in place a bursaries scheme which offers discounts or instalments. During 2023-24 we offered help to some families in financial need by reducing the fees or spreading the payment over the year. To attract and retain high quality staff we offer a discount scheme for children of those employed by the School. ## **Reserves** The Governing Body aims to keep a healthy surplus to be able to meet unforeseen financial obligations like force majeure. The financial reserves are there to provide additional funding in case of events such as the need to find new premises in case of being given a notice by the Landlord. ## **Academic achievements** During 2023-24 academic year: 21 students took GCSE exams and achieved 4 grades “8” and 17 grades “9”. First time we had students taking A-level exams. 10 students achieved following grades: 2 grades A*, 6 grades A and 2 grades B. These are results we are immensely proud of. ## **Review of activities and achievements:** During 2023-24 we did the following: - We enhanced our students' experience of Polish culture through an organised trip to The Rural Life Museum in Milford where children were able to participate in a workshop about a Polish Resettlement Camp. - In the spring 2024 our A-level class went for a trip to Poland. The itinerary supported the exam curriculum: visits to the Warsaw uprising museum, Katyń massacre museum, visit to the Jewish museum POLIN and Kopernik science centre, plus a theatre visit to see „Tango”(a set text for A-level exam). The three-day trip was financed by students plus fundraising. - 1 trip to a Polish Theatre in POSK London was organised in this period for our students. Younger pupils in year 1-5 watched live theatre show "Trzy Małe Świnki" (Three little pigs). - Our students participated in the “Wierszowisko” Poetry Competition XIII edition organised by the Polish Educational Society, we had three individual contestants. One of our performers received a trophy. - Our students participated in an international historical board game competition “Miś Wojtek” organised by IPN (INSTYTUT PAMIĘCI NARODOWEJ - Institute of National Remembrance). After successfully competing in the local semi-finals, a group of 5 children, accompanied by our schoolteacher, have been selected to represent our school at the finals in Warsaw. Children had a chance to socialise with other 23 teams from all around the world, visit important historical places in the capital city of Poland, and compete as a team in a range of historical board games, often being the youngest against their opponents. Finally, after 5 days, they came back with 11th place and a bag of great memories. - Our students for a first time took A-level exams. - The school provides opportunities for staff continuous professional and personal development through the following training: ∙ A 2 day teacher training course organised by the Polish Educational Society at the University of Kent ∙ Webinars ∙ Courses and webinars preparing teachers at all levels to deliver curriculum including GCSE and A level teachers ∙ CPR and First Aid courses - The Trustees and parents planned and coordinated several school-wide events to mark special occasions, international and local holidays and to cultivate Polish customs such as Christmas show, Easter Workshop and Performance, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day and for inclusion extended to all Carer’s, Sports Day to name a few. All these events were designed to bring the school community together, educate children and young people and keep our Polish traditions alive. - We organise regular parent teacher meetings for all year groups where parents have the opportunity to review and discuss with a teacher student’s progress and support required. - We are proud of being able to offer all our pupils and their families a library facility, well led and staffed by volunteers. The library prides itself in an impressive book collection for children and adults, continuously updated and restocked by the library team. The Library is funded from school donations and second hand book sale ## **The School Structure** The school is led by the Head Teacher, Mrs Minka Dyszyńska-Bonnage. The Governors of the Copernicus Polish Saturday School New Malden are the charity trustees. New Trustees, apart from the first charity trustees, are appointed by the existing Board of Trustees. The governing document is the Constitution of the Copernicus Polish Saturday School New Malden. The Governing Body consisted of 5 trustees. All Trustees have served throughout the year except where indicated: ||**Trustee Name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for whole year**| |---|---|---|---| |1|Magda Drossaert|Chair of
Trustees|Appointed 25 September 2021| |2|Monika Minka Dyszyńska-
Bonnage|Head Teacher|Appointed 24 June 2021| |3|Beata Magdalena Frois|Head of Parent
Committee|Appointed 24 June 2021| |4|Violetta Ramnarace|Business and
Finance|Appointed 25 September 2021| |5|Piotr Burczyk|Finance and
Library|Appointed 14 January 2023| |6|Krzysztof Rafal Blasiak-Wal|IT Coordinator|Appointed 24 June 2021 –
finished 14/07/2024| ## **Staffing** In the academic year 2023-2024 the Head Teacher led a team of 26 teachers and 11 teacher assistants. The school maintains a small bank of supply staff to provide cover for absent employees. Apart from the teaching staff, the School also employs 2 administrative officers and 1 accountant. All Trustees except The Head Teacher are volunteers. The Head Teacher has been paid remuneration for the period of this report in the amount of £3685.34 We have 4 Duty Officers, which are added to the school payroll. Duty Officers increase security of the pupils and improve operation of the whole school. ## **Premises** The Copernicus Polish Saturday School New Malden rents its premises from Richard Challoner School in New Malden, London. Lessons take place during Saturday mornings, 30-31 Saturdays a year. The lessons take place between 9:30-13:00. During the lessons and breaks designated parents’ volunteers who are appointed on rota bases and allocated specific duties, provide additional help along duty officers to ensure a secure environment for all the pupils and staff. All staff and volunteers of the School have undergone DBS checks. ## **Plans and aspirations** We were planning for the recruitment and training of new staff. We have been working towards making our School paperless by moving all our records into Google Workspace. ## **Contact details:** Address: RICHARD CHALLONER SECONDARY SCHOOL MANOR DRIVE NORTH NEW MALDEN KT3 5PE Website address: www.polskaszkolanewmalden.org.uk Professional advisors: Bank : Bank: Lloyds Sort code: 30-84-68 Account number: 40501868 ## Insurers : Zurich Insurance Independent examiner: Aleksandra Zakrzewska Magda Drossaert 7[th] of June 2025 ||**Copernicus Polish Saturday School New Malden**|**Copernicus Polish Saturday School New Malden**|**Copernicus Polish Saturday School New Malden**|**Copernicus Polish Saturday School New Malden**|**Copernicus Polish Saturday School New Malden**|**1194930**|**1194930**|**1194930**|**CC16a**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||**Receipts and payments accounts**||||||| ||**For the period**
**from**||01/09/2023
Period start date||**To**||31/08/2024
Period end date||| ||||||||||| |**Section A Receipts and payments**|||||||||| |**A1 Receipts**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest**
**£**||**Restricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest**
**£**||**Endowment**
**funds**
**to the nearest**
**£**||**Total funds**
**to the nearest**
**£**
**113,128**
**10,371**
**-**
**229**
**18,375**
**-**
**-**
**142,102**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**142,102**
**27,585**
**88,276**
**11,790**
**10,381 **
**6,684**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**144,716**
**-**
**-**
**-**||**Last year**
**to the nearest**
**£**| |School fees|**113,128**||**-**||**-**||**113,128**||**105,902**| |Education receivable|**10,371**||**-**||**-**||**10,371**||**10,309**| |Fundraising|||**-**||**-**||**-**||**212**| |Grant and donations|**229**||**-**||**-**||**229**||**18,733**| |Othercharitable activities|**-**||**18,375**||**-**||**18,375**||**15,195**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| |**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for AR)_|**123,728**||**18,375**||**-**||**142,102**||**150,351**| ||||||||||| |**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table).**|||||||||| ||**-**||||||||| ||**-**||||||||**-**| |**_Sub total_**|**-**||||||||**-**| |**_Total receipts_ **
**A3 Payments**|||||||||| ||||||||||**150,351**| ||||||||||| |
Rent|**14,756**||||||||**29,895**| |Salaries|**88,276**||||||||**83,331 **| |Educational expenditure|**11,790**||||||||**19,143**| |
Other charitable activities|**10,381 **||||||||**14,290**| |Administrative expenses|**6,684**||||||||**8,651**| ||||||||||**-**| ||**-**||||||||**-**| ||**-**||||||||**-**| ||**-**||||||||**-**| |**_Sub total_ **|**131,886**||||||||**155,310**| ||||||||||| |**A4 Asset and investment**
**purchases (see table)**|||||||||| |**,**|**-**||||||||| ||**-**||||||||| |**_Sub total_ **|**-**||||||||**-**| |**_Total payments_ **
**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**
**A5 Transfers between funds**
**A6 Cash funds last year end**
**_Cash funds this year end_**|||||||||| ||||||||**144,716**||**155,310**| ||||||||**- 2,613**||| ||**- 8,159**||||||**- 2,613**||**- 4,959**| ||**5,545**||||||**-**||**-**| ||**82,352**||||||**82,352**||**87,311**| ||**79,739**||||||**79,739**||**82,352**| CCXX R1 accounts (SS) 12/06/2025 1 |**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|||| |---|---|---|---|---| |**Categories**
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees
**B1 Cash funds**
**B2 Other monetary assets**
**B4 Assets retained for the**
**charity’s own use**
**B5 Liabilities**
**B3 Investment assets**|Signature
accounts payable
advance fees
**Details**
Cash at Bank
**Details**
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and
payments account(s))
Accounts Receivable
**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
Reserves|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
79,739
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**79,739**
**-**
OK
OK
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**12,832**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**- 37,538**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which**
**liability relates**
**Amount due**
**(optional)**
**- 1,754**
**-**
**- 53,278**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
Print Name||**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||OK| |||||**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**Current value**
**(optional)**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**Current value**
**(optional)**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**-**| |||||**When due**
**(optional)**| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||Date of
approval| |||||| |||||| CCXX R2 accounts (SS) 12/06/2025 2 Independent examinerfs roport to the trustees of Copemlcus Polish Saturday School New Malden {Charity number 1194930) I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Copemicus Polrsh Saturday School New Maklen (The Trust) for the year ended 31st August 2024. Responslbilities and basls of report As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance wilh the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('the Acf). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions gNen by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b} of the Act. Independont oxamlnerfs statement I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come lo my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect.. 1. accounting records were not kept in fespect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or 2. the accounts do not accord with those records. I have no COn￿mS and have come across no other matters in connection wrth the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. S￿ned.. Name.. Aleksandra Zakrzewska Qualification: FCA Address". 16 Avondale Avenue. Worcester Park, Surrey KT47PD Date: 7 June 2025