2024-07-31-accounts - Wildwood Nature School

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REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1204278 COMPANY REGISTRATION NUMBER: 14117966

CHARITABLE COMPANY

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st JULY 2024

Wildwood Nature School

Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statement for the year ended 31st July 2024

INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED JULY 2024

Trustees’ Annual Report p 2-8
Independent Examiner’s Report p9
Income Statement p10
Statement of Changes in Equity p11
Statement of Financial Position p12-14
Detailed Income Statement p15-18

Wildwood Nature School Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statement for the year ended 31st July 2024

Trustees’ Annual Report

The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for Wildwood Nature School for the year ended 31 July 2024 and confirm they comply with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011, the trust deed and the Charities SORP (FRS 102).

In shaping the objectives for the year and planning the charity's activities, the trustees referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the charity's aims and objectives and in planning future activities.

Objectives

The objectives as established in the governing document are:

to advance the education of children by the provision and maintenance of a primary school or schools; and
insofar as it is incidental or ancillary to the advancement of education, such other charitable purposes as the Trustees in their absolute discretion shall from time to time decide.

The main public-facing aims and articulations are:

Wildwood Nature School is a charitable, independent, nature-based primary school for children aged 4-11 years in North London. We offer an alternative to mainstream education with a strong focus on children’s well-being and spending time in nature following the Forest School principles.

Our mission is to create a different kind of school: one where children can learn, play and feel good about who they are, lovingly held by community and nature.

Our values are:

ᐧ Well-being - we prioritise the well-being of the children who attend the school. We do this by having a very small school, high adult:child ratios and a trauma-informed approach to behaviour - without rewards and punishments - that aims to meet each child’s unique needs;
ᐧ Community - we place great emphasis on forging caring relationships between children and their teachers, with each other, with the family community and beyond.
ᐧ Everybody - we create an environment where everybody is welcome. Our hope is for our small school community to reflect the rich diversity of London. This value also covers our commitment

Wildwood Nature School Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statement for the year ended 31st July 2024

to equity - 20% of our places are fee free, we also offer another 30% of our places at reduced fees. We believe that this model allows a truly diverse spectrum of families to access Wildwood.

ᐧ Play - Children learn best through play. Play allows them the freedom, time and space to be curious, to explore, to experiment, to take risks, to create & to problem-solve. We prioritise play and dedicate a portion of every day to uninterrupted play.
ᐧ Empowerment - We give the children at Wildwood the opportunity to determine how they learn, what they learn and how they build their community so that they have a sense of agency over their lives.
ᐧ Nature - We commit to being outside every day and a minimum of 50% of our time over the week is spent outdoors in nature. By being in nature, children’s well-being improves, as does their curiosity and ability to learn.

Activity in this period

2023-24 was Wildwood Nature School’s first year of operation as a primary school, registered with the Department for Education after a successful pre-registration inspection by Ofsted in June 2023. We had 16 children enrolled at the start of the academic year between the ages of 4 and 6, comprising the year groups Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. We employed 6 teachers (5 of them also Forest School Leaders) - 1 full time and 5 part time - as well as one of the founders (Steve Tromans) working on a consultancy basis 2 days a week as the School Business Manager. Tara Royle, one of the founders and a trustee, was co-head of school on a voluntary (unpaid) basis.

We operated out of our main premises - St Mary Brookfield Hall, NW5 - as our indoor base. The organisation took out a long lease (of 15 years) in August 2022 with the Parochial Church Council of St Mary Brookfield as the lessor. Significant building work to make the space fit for purpose, including bespoke design to suit the alternative educational approach, was carried out between January to August 2023.

As the school spends part of each day outside, we also made use of several outdoor premises. Twice a week, the children visited Mortimer Terrace nature reserve - a small nature reserve a 10-minute walk from the school. Wildwood Nature School had an agreement with the local nursery who leased the site from Camden Council to develop and use part of the space.

The school spent one whole day a week at Queen’s Wood, a large, ancient woodland in Haringey. Families dropped off their children in the morning, and some picked up from there, while other children returned to school at the end of the day on the bus with the teachers. The school also spent one

Wildwood Nature School Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statement for the year ended 31st July 2024

afternoon at the Parliament Hill training grids on Hampstead Heath for their weekly PE sessions, as well as walks through the Heath.

In this first year of operation, 25% of children were on free places (fully funded), 56% were on supported fees (ranging from 25% to 80% of the full cost of fees) and 19% were paying full fees (£18,000). Significant additional funding was still required to cover operating costs, and this was provided as a charitable donation from the Koukab Trust (see below).

The main priorities for the year were to establish the practices that would ensure we delivered on our values and ethos. The focus was on the children’s well-being and forming positive relationships with teachers that would support this. Many of the children in Year 1 and Year 2 had experienced some other schooling and had a very negative reaction to mainstream schooling, which was why their parents had chosen to send them to Wildwood. The teachers had to do a lot of work around this to get them emotionally ready for learning, since many of them were resistant to anything that looked like formal learning. The teaching team, along with leaders, had to keep adapting techniques, timetables and pedagogical approaches to figure out what worked best for the children and the environment. This meant that teaching and learning was not well established in this first year, and this was reflected in our first full inspection by Ofsted in July 2023, which found that we had not met the independent school standard for quality of education. The team, however, felt that they had done very well on our values around well-being over the year, with happy children, keen to come to school, with good relationships with their teachers and friends. Parent feedback - in the form of twice yearly parent surveys - corroborated the feeling that we had done well on the values around well-being, as well as staying committed to being in nature and allowing time for free play. At the end of the year, leaders decided to put teaching and learning as a high priority focus for the next academic year.

The work done to build the family community links with the school was positive. We had regular coffee mornings among parents, a few parents came in to share specific skills e.g. music, science, and towards the end of the year, leaders started regular community forums each half term as a space for parents to give feedback to the founders about the school.

In terms of staffing, we had one teacher leave at the end of December 2023 due to pregnancy. She was replaced in January by a practitioner who supported a child with additional needs with funding from Westminster Local Authority for the child’s Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP). The teacher employed to be the co-head decided to leave at the end of the academic year. Founders decided to change that role to be lead teacher, with Tara Royle as head of school. This position was filled for September with an experienced teacher. We also hired for an additional role of play assistant, 2 days a week.

We had 3 children leave at the end of the year but admissions for the following academic year received a lot of interest and 7 new children (6 in Reception and 1 in Year 3) were enrolled to start in September 2024.

Wildwood Nature School Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statement for the year ended 31st July 2024

Future Plans

Following our first full year of operation, the trustees and leadership team have identified several priorities for the 2024–25 academic year and beyond, to strengthen our delivery of the charity’s objectives and further embed our values.

1. Strengthen teaching and learning

Improving the quality of education is a key focus area, following feedback from our first Ofsted inspection. We plan to:

ᐧ Embed a more structured teaching and learning framework that supports academic progress while remaining aligned with our child-led, play-based ethos;
ᐧ Provide targeted professional development and peer mentoring for staff;
ᐧ Develop systems to monitor and assess children’s progress in a way that is meaningful, non-intrusive and consistent with our values.

2. Increase financial sustainability

We aim to move closer towards financial self-sufficiency by:

ᐧ Gradually increasing the proportion of full-fee places to 50% while maintaining our commitment to equity;
ᐧ Applying for grants and exploring philanthropic and corporate partnerships to support subsidised places and operational costs.

3. Deepen community engagement

We will continue to grow a strong and inclusive school community by:

ᐧ Continuing with our half-termly community forums;
ᐧ Supporting parents to create a parents group;
ᐧ Increasing opportunities for parents and carers to contribute to the life of the school through workshops, volunteering and social events;
ᐧ Enhancing our outreach to families from underrepresented backgrounds.

4. Expand outdoor learning opportunities

Nature remains a central pillar of our approach. In the year ahead we plan to:

Wildwood Nature School Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statement for the year ended 31st July 2024

ᐧ Strengthen our partnerships with existing outdoor sites such as Queen’s Wood and Hampstead Heath, especially as the lease for Mortimer Terrace nature reserve terminated at the end of this period;
ᐧ Explore options for securing longer-term or dedicated access to outdoor spaces;
ᐧ Further integrate nature-based learning into our educational approach.

5. Governance and trustee development

As we grow, we recognise the need to strengthen our governance capacity. Over the next year we will:

ᐧ Review the skills and experience of the board and identify any gaps;
ᐧ Begin the search to recruit at least one additional trustee, ideally with expertise in education (e.g. a former headteacher), or fundraising;
ᐧ Formalise induction and training for trustees to support effective oversight.

These plans are underpinned by our ongoing commitment to the well-being of our pupils, staff and community, and to delivering high-quality, nature-based education that is inclusive, compassionate and responsive to children's needs.

Grants and Corporate Sponsorship

We did not receive any grants or corporate sponsorship in this period.

Financial Review

The total income for the charity in this period was £487,096, made up by:

ᐧ £161,663 in fees from parents;
ᐧ £300,000 charitable donation from the Koukab Trust - this is an unrestricted donation for the charity to use to fund the free and supported places and cover operating costs while the charity is still working towards breaking even;
ᐧ funding from Westminster Local Authority to partially cover the costs of a 1:1 support teacher for a child with an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP), as mentioned above;
ᐧ some smaller donations from individuals as well.

The on-going charitable expenditure incurred in the year was £351,686. The greatest expense is on staffing costs (£179,612), followed by the lease on the school premises (£75,000). There were still some building works ongoing in this period - adding a fence and planting area to the front of the school.

Wildwood Nature School Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statement for the year ended 31st July 2024

Additional costs relate to licences for outdoor spaces, educational resources, staff training and other day-to-day expenses.

Reserves policy

It is the charity’s policy to hold reserves amounting to a minimum of £60,000, or approximately 3 months’ operating costs.

The present level of funding is adequate to support the continuation of the charity for the medium term and the trustees consider the financial position of the charity to be satisfactory. The longer term plan is for the proportion of full fee places to increase to 50% to be able to cover a larger proportion of the free and supported places. We also aim to apply for grants and other funding in the future.

Principal funding sources

The principal funding source for the charity is currently by way of fees from parents and charitable donations. Some families pay full fees which support the charity’s offering of reduced fees or free places for those children who are eligible (full financial assessments are carried out by a third party organisation to determine the level of support provided).

Structure, governance and management

Wildwood Nature School is controlled by its governing document, the articles of association, which was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee on 19 May 2022. It was amended by special resolution and registered as a charitable company on 16 June 2023.

The board of trustees, chaired by the chairperson, is responsible for the organisation's good governance, and delegates day-to-day management responsibility to the team of employees who run the school who are overseen by two of the founders. New trustees are recruited by word of mouth. None of the trustees are employed by the charity and do not receive remuneration for their services.

The charity trustees are also the directors of the board of the charitable company. There are additional school trustees who attend trustee meetings and support the trustees in their discussions and decisions. At present, these are Steve Tromans (founder and business manager) and Mariam Sbaiti (a parent from the school community).

Wildwood Nature School Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statement for the year ended 31st July 2024

Risk management and child protection policy

The trustees have a duty to identify and review the risks to which the charity is exposed and to ensure appropriate controls are in place to provide reasonable assurance against fraud and error. All staff, trustees (both charity and school trustees), regular additional adults (e.g. after-school club providers, cover teachers), and regular volunteers have an enhanced DBS check, certification of ID documents, 2 references and full employment history. All staff and trustees have up to date safeguarding training, as well as regular safeguarding updates throughout the year. The safeguarding of children has an extremely high profile within the organisation - it is on the agenda at every trustee meeting, staff meeting and staff supervision - and everyone is aware of their statutory duty to keep children safe.

The Board of Trustees

Ms Emma Shaw (Chairperson) Mrs Tara Royle (Secretary) Mrs Susannah Knox

Registered address

Wildwood Nature School St Mary Brookfield Hall York Rise London NW5 1SB

Registered charity number

1204278

Company registration number 14117966

Independent Examiner

Grosvenor Partners LLP Chartered Accountants 80 Coleman Street London EC2R 5BJ

On behalf of the board,

Tara Royle Signed on Monday 12 May 2025

Docusign Envelope ID: EF6E84D6-82BE-4A21-A319-FCDBDCA022FE

Wildwood Nature School

Chartered accountants report to the board of directors on the preparation of the unaudited statutory financial statements of Wildwood Nature School Year ended 31st July 2024

In order to assist you to fulfil your duties under the Companies Act 2006, we have prepared for your approval the financial statements of Wildwood Nature School for the year ended 31st July 2024 which comprise the income statement, statement of financial position and related notes from the company's accounting records and from information and explanations you have given us.

As a practising member firm of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), we are subject to its ethical and other professional requirements which are detailed at http://www.icaew.com /en/members/regulations-standards-and-guidance/.

This report is made solely to the board of directors of Wildwood Nature School, as a body, in accordance with the terms of our engagement letter dated 22nd November 2024. Our work has been undertaken solely to prepare for your approval the financial statements of Wildwood Nature School and state those matters that we have agreed to state to the board of directors of Wildwood Nature School as a body, in this report in accordance with ICAEW Technical Release 07/16 AAF. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than Wildwood Nature School and its board of directors as a body for our work or for this report.

It is your duty to ensure that Wildwood Nature School has kept adequate accounting records and to prepare statutory financial statements that give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit of Wildwood Nature School. You consider that Wildwood Nature School is exempt from the statutory audit requirement for the year.

We have not been instructed to carry out an audit or a review of the financial statements of Wildwood Nature School. For this reason, we have not verified the accuracy or completeness of the accounting records or information and explanations you have given to us and we do not, therefore, express any opinion on the statutory financial statements.

Grosvenor Partners LLP

Chartered Accountants 80 Coleman Street London EC2R 5BJ

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Wildwood Nature School

Income statement

Year ended 31st July 2024

Turnover Cost of raw materials and consumables Staff costs Depreciation and other amounts written off assets Other charges Profit/(loss)	Year ended 31/07/24 £ 487,096 ) (18,775 ) (179,612 ) (13,929 ) (153,299 121,481	Period ended 31/07/23 £ 1,969 ) (15,374 - ) (4,988 ) (138,960 ) (157,353

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Docusign Envelope ID: EF6E84D6-82BE-4A21-A319-FCDBDCA022FE

Wildwood Nature School

Statement of changes in equity

Year ended 31st July 2024

At 1st August 2022 Profit/(loss) for the year Total comprehensive income for the year At 31st July 2023 and 1st August 2023 Profit/(loss) for the year Total comprehensive income for the year At 31st July 2024	Profit and loss account Total £ £ - - ) (157,353 ) (157,353 ) (157,353 ) (157,353 ) (157,353 ) (157,353 121,481 121,481 121,481 121,481 ) (35,872 ) (35,872

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Docusign Envelope ID: EF6E84D6-82BE-4A21-A319-FCDBDCA022FE

Wildwood Nature School

Statement of financial position

31st July 2024

31/07/24
£
£
Fixed assets
124,381
Current assets
126,849
Prepayments and accrued income
12,500
139,349
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
)
(817
Net current assets
138,532
Total assets less current liabilities
262,913
Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year
)
(280,500
Accruals and deferred income
)
(18,285
Net liabilities
)
(35,872
Capital and reserves
)
(35,872
Notes to the financial statements

31/07/23
£
£
37,772
96,054
10,417
106,471
)
(203
106,268
144,040
)
(280,500
)
(20,893
)
(157,353
)
(157,353

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Wildwood Nature School

Statement of financial position (continued)

Year ended 31st July 2024

1. Tangible assets

Improvements to leasehold property £ Cost At 1st August 2023 - Additions 87,580 At 31st July 2024 87,580 Depreciation At 1st August 2023 - Charge for the year - At 31st July 2024 - Carrying amount At 31st July 2024 87,580 At 31st July 2023 -	Plant and machinery £ 31,363 9,530 40,893 2,614 10,223 12,837 28,056 28,749	Fixtures, fittings and equipment £ 11,397 3,428 14,825 2,374 3,706 6,080 8,745 9,023	Total £ 42,760 100,538 143,298 4,988 13,929 18,917 124,381 37,772

2. Directors advances, credits and guarantees

During the year the directors entered into the following advances and credits with the company:

Year ended 31/07/24

Tara Royle Period ended 31/07/23 Tara Royle	Balance brought forward Advances /(credits) to the directors Balance o/standing £ £ £ ) (280,500 - ) (280,500 Balance brought forward Advances /(credits) to the directors Balance o/standing £ £ £ - ) (280,500 ) (280,500

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Wildwood Nature School

Statement of financial position (continued)

Year ended 31st July 2024

For the year ending 31st July 2024 the company was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

Directors responsiblities:

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its accounts for the year in question in accordance with section 476.
The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the micro-entity provisions.

These financial statements were approved by the board of directors and authorised for issue on 22nd November 2024, and are signed on behalf of the board by:

Tara Royle Director

Company registration number: 14117966 Registered charity number: 1204278

The company is a private company limited by guarentee, registered in England & Wales.

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Wildwood Nature School

Detailed income statement

Year ended 31st July 2024

Turnover Fees Receivable Other income Charitable receipts SEN provision receipts Cost of raw materials and consumables Direct costs Staff costs Wages and salaries Employer's social security contributions Staff pension costs - defined contribution Depreciation and other amounts written off assets Depreciation of tangible assets	Year ended 31/07/24 £ 161,663 20,182 303,500 1,751 487,096 ) (18,775 ) (18,775 ) (169,462 ) (6,377 ) (3,773 ) (179,612 ) (13,929 ) (13,929	Period ended 31/07/23 £ - 1,969 - - 1,969 ) (15,374 ) (15,374 - - - - ) (4,988 ) (4,988

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Docusign Envelope ID: EF6E84D6-82BE-4A21-A319-FCDBDCA022FE

Wildwood Nature School

Year ended 31st July 2024

Other charges Subcontract labour Staff training Rent payable Insurance Light and heat Cleaning Repairs and maintenance Printing, postage and stationery Advertising Telephone Computer costs Travelling and entertainment Entertaining Legal and professional Consultancy fees Accountancy fees Bank charges Staff welfare General expenses Recruitment fees Charitable donations Subscriptions	Year ended 31/07/24 £ ) (9,500 ) (3,311 ) (84,244 - ) (3,792 ) (9,823 ) (2,190 ) (347 ) (1,249 ) (1,605 ) (615 ) (430 ) (119 ) (8,827 ) (15,547 ) (2,450 ) (144 ) (3,005 ) (1,502 ) (3,741 ) (30 ) (828 ) (153,299	Period ended 31/07/23 £ ) (4,000 ) (1,333 ) (71,980 ) (5,945 - ) (140 ) (3,818 - ) (6,877 ) (480 - - - ) (27,576 ) (14,119 ) (1,786 ) (3 - ) (524 - - ) (379 ) (138,960

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Wildwood Nature School

Debtors

Amounts falling due within one year Other debtors Other debtors VAT recoverable PAYE recoverable Prepayments and accrued income Prepayments Total	2024 £ 37,500 17,751 10,000 65,251 12,500 12,500 77,751	2023 £ 37,500 - -
		37,500
		10,417
		10,417

		47,917

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Wildwood Nature School

Creditors

Amounts falling due within one year Trade creditors Trade creditors Other creditors Pension contributions Accruals and deferred income Accountancy accrual Deposits Total	2024 £ - - 817 817 2,450 15,835 18,285 19,102	2023 £ 203
		203
		-
		-
		2,143 18,750
		20,893

		21,096

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