Registered number: 00940118 Charlty number: 311293 TOWN CLOSE EDUCATIONAL TRUST LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee) TRUSTEES, REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024 TOWN CLOSE EDUCATIONAL TRUST LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee) CONTENTS Page Reference and admlnl8trativ• detslls of the company, Its Trustoes and advlsers Trustges. report Independent auditors. report on the flnancial statements Stat•ment of financlal actlvities 2-10 15 Balance 8hoot 16 Statement of cash flows 17 Notes to the financlal stat•ments 18-33 TOWN CLOSE EDUCATIONAL TRUST LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee) REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS OF THE COMPANY, ITS TRUSTEES AND ADVISERS FOR THEYEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024 Trustees Ms S J Anthony Dr S A Patel Mr D Costello MrA M A Fennell Mr M M Graham Ms J L North Ms F V Fenton-stone Ms H R Ripman Ms I Webster lapwinted 1 September 2023) Ms G Hord8m (appointed 10 June 2024) Prof Gerard Parr (appointed 22 January 2024) Mr S l George (appointed 13 September 2024) Company reg18tered number 00940118 Charity rngistsrnd number 311293 Registerod offlc• Town Close Educational Trust Limited 14 Ipwch Road Norhich NR2 2LR Company socretary Mrs K D Artherton Independent auditors Larking Gowen LLP statutory Auditors 1 st Floor Prospect House Rouen Road Norwich Norfolk NR11RE Bankars Handelsbanken Suite 8 1 Prince of Wales Road Norwch NR118D Solicitors Leathes Prior 74 The Close Norwich Norfolk NR14DR Headmaster Mr C Wilson {reggned 31 August 2024) Mr N Tiley-Nunn (appointed 1 September 2024) Page 1 TOWN CLOSE EDUCATIONAL TRUST LIMITED (A company Ilmlted by guarantse) TRUSTEES. REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024 The Trustees present their r8POrt and audited financial statements for the year ended 31 July 2024 which comply with the requirements of the Charities Acts 2011. wryth other current statutory requirements and with the requirements of the charity's goveming document. The Trustees have adopted the provisions of the 2019 Charities SORP (FRS 102) °Accounting and Reporting by Charities Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicab18 in the UK and Republic of Irelan￿ in preparing the annual report and financial ststements of the charity. Principal activity and status Town Close is an independent p￿paratOry ￿h0￿, 8Stablished in 1932 and. as Town Close House Educational Trust Limited. providing day education for girls and boys befv￿en the ages of 2 and 14. The Trust is a company limited by guarantee (company number 940118), incorporated upon trusts set out in the scheme of the Charity Commission dated 7 October 1968 (registered charity number 311293). Since 2012, ihe School has no longer used the word 'House' in its branding. With a change to the articles required for the reason outlined below, Trustees took the opportunity to also remove the *Drd 'House' from the name of the Tnjst with effect from 8 July 2021. Mlsslon and objectives of the School The Trust is govemed by its MemorarKlum and Artides of Association. These Y￿re last amendad on 20 June 2021 in order to remove the right of the Norwich Town Close Estate Charity to 'require the apFX)intment of up to three parsons as Governors,. The Charity had previously owned the ￿te on which the School is housed but, followng the purchase of the site by the Trust in 2016, this daus8 vras no longer relevant. The articles were previously amended on 9 September 2011 in order to change the fomial to that wified by the Companies Act 2006 and to allow for more up-to￿al8 thf)rking practices such as the use of 818Ctronic communicatlons. The 2011 amendment also enabled the Trust to revise its primary objects from being.to acquire and carry on in the United Kingdom any boarding or day school or schools for the education of either sex or both sexes., specifying particularly Town Close House Preparatory Schwl, Norwich, to Yor the public benefit to advance education of young people (under the age of 21) through the provision, support. conduct and maintenance of a day andlor boarding school or schools and such other ancillary educational activities and other associated activities for the benefit of the community.. In furtherance of these objects, Town Close aims, by the education of all its pupils, to develop an avrareness of their full potential and encourage them to strive to attain this potential. It expects to equip them Viith the intellectual, emotbonol and physical attfibutes, as V￿11 as moral and spiriiual values. that they need to live their lives fruiffully. Page 2 TOWN CLOSE EDUCATIONAL TRUST LIMITED (A company limlted by guarantee) TRUSTEES, REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024 structure. Governanco and Management The Trustees are the Governors of the Schcol and Directors of the Company (The single term 'Trustee(s)' is used in this annual report in describing the discharging of their various duties.) The Trustees seNed during the year ended 31 July 2024 y￿re as follov#8: Mrs SJ Anthony. (Chair) Mrs K D Artherton- (Secretary) Mr D Costello Mr A Fennell ' Mrs F Fenton-stone Mr M Graham ' Mrs G Hordem (appointed 10 June 2024) Dr S Kaushal (resigned 25 February 2025) Mrs L North Prof. G Parr (appointed 22 January 2024) Dr S Patel Mr A Possener. (resigned 31 July 2024) Mrs Ruth Ripman Mrs I Webster . (appointed 1 September 2023) ('indicates membership of the Finance & General Purposes Committee during the year ended 31 July 2024.) Trustees retire from office by rotation and are eligible for re-appointment in accordance Wth the Articles of Association. Appointments to vacancies arising during the year are made by the Trustees on the recommendations of the Nominations Committe8. The functions of this Committee include reviewng the composition of the Goveming Body and its subday basis. All di￿torS give of Iheir time fredy and no director received remuneration in the year. Details of directors, expenses and related party transactions are disclosed in note 21 to the accounts. The pay of the Head and Bursar is increased annually in line with any general increase giv8n to teaching staff as agreed by the Goveming Body. Their pay is also benchmarked against other Heads and Bursars in similar schools and is reVIe￿d to consider vthether it conb.nues to be appropriate in the light of this and of.. (a) performance: .(b) any changes in individual responsibilities or functions. (c) structural changes in the School. (d) relative salaries of others on the Leadership scale or those on the main scale; (e) any other elements agreed by the Committee to be relevant. In the absence of any significant grounds, under any of th&se headings, for increasing the fixed salary, the exp8Ctation is that their salary will remain at the fixed point. Public bonofft The Trustee5 confimi that they have compli8d ￿ryth the duty in section 4 of the Chariti8s Act 2011 to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission In detemiining the activities undertak8n. An annual review of this is conducted and th8 Trust continues to review its activities regularly to ensure public benefil is a consideration in all decisions. To this end. public benefit is a regular agenda ilem for meetings of the SMT. Heads of Department have public benefit as a reporting criteria, and it is regularly discussed at common room meetings. The provision of education to a large number of pupils remains the Trusf s core charitable purpose and activity and its fundamental contribution to public benefit. In a practice ￿leh accords with principles set out in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit, Tovm Close has for some years provided bursary assistance to the parents of a number of pupils vtho are unable to pay the full fees and has a means-tested framework for providing such assistance. This has been applied in respect of pupils already in the School and to new admissions. Recipients of bursary avRrds are spread throughout th6 School, and from the fvEnty pupils in receipt of financial support this year, thirteen received a remission of 50°/o or more wth eight pupils receiving at least 750/0 fees remission and five receiving 1000/0 remission. More broadly, the Trust provides public benefit by opening the School's sports and other faalities to outside Users, including school-age children. some usage being without charge. Access to the Sch￿1 library continues to be given fre8 of charge io The Norfolk Reading Project (TNRP) for use to train volunteers to go into primary g£hools to supporl children's r8ading. TNRP had previously used the Norfolk and NO￿l¢h Millennium Library for their training *ssons but. lik8 many other public buildings, this was closed for an extended period due to the pandemic.Not rmly did Tovm Close provide altemative accommcrfjation but doing so free of charge meant TNRP could use its limited resources on other aspects of their work. This Kork continues to grow with TNRP being invited to all public school events to publicise the excellent work that they do. Since their inception in 2015. the TNRP have trained over 500 volunteers who now read with children in primary schools across Norfolk. Page 4 TOWN CLOSE EDUCATIONAL TRUST LIMITED (A company limlted by guarantee) TRUSTEES. REPORT {CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY2024 Public beneflt (continued) Th8 School is part of a hockey consortium fonned a local sports club (N0￿Ch Dragons Hockey Club) and what was a local maintained sector school (The H&¥vett Schcol). While The Hev￿tt Schwl no longer exists, Town Close's substantial contribution to the development is enabling its successor schwl (The Hewett Academy), while not a member of the Consortium. to extend hockey provision to pupils for whom there was previously no opportunity. 11 also enables tha partner hockey club to run free coaching sessions introducing the sport to local children. 0th8r local schools can hire the pitch at a reduced hourly rate. The Hockey Consortium also sublets land free of charge to another independent school on whlch a second Astroturf has been constructad. One of the conditions associated with the sulTrlease was that this second pitch must be made available for community use in the evenings and al weekends. Other activities through whlch Town Close has provided public benefit consistent with its aims and objectives have induded.. the provision of five free places to the School's summer holiday club for children from a local school in receipt of pupil pr8mium; free use of the School swmming pool for a local Maintain￿ school for children with complex needs; the free use of the main sports field for maintained school events e.g. sports days and donating books to other schools. The School has also been instrumental in supporting maintain8d schools across Norfolk to introduce the use of Goblin electric go-karts. The cars come in kit fom which children belween the ages of 9 to 11 are able to build and race. The project aims to inspire children to take an interest in engineering in a fun and innovative way. The H8ad of DT helped source funding lo support the initial cost of th8 kits and then provided training sessions to share leaming and to give instruction in how to introduce the project in their SLhools. He went on to find suitable venue for a Norfolk-based racing event and coordinated a group of sponsors. 18 schools took 25 cars to the event, along with an average of 6 pupils per car. This would not have happened without Town Close's involvement and wthout tha School agreeing to release the Head of DT to vnrk on this project. Over the last three years, the Head of DT has continued to work with Greenpower and helped to secur8 grant funding for maintained schools to introduce the category of go-karts for secondary age pupils (F24). He attended several exlemal events and visited other schLTh)Is lo generate interest in this category, as well as holding meetings and twilight sessions at TO￿ Close School. He secured the use of the Lotus test track for the inaugural F24 event in Norfolk held in June 2019 which attracted participants from across the region and further afield, Another F24 heat was held at the Lotustrack again in July this year. This year the Head of DT ￿ds instrumental in organising the marshals for the Hethel race, engaging the assistance of the Snotterton Marshals club vh)ich meant the Hethel race was able to go ahead for all of the schools and children involved. Support and assistance have alg) b88n directly provided to a number of local schools and sixth forms. inviting them to visit Town Close. And Finally, Town Close's Phantom team benefittad greatly from the development of a bespoke heatsink for their car. Town Close then organised the manufactur8 of a number of these to help other schfX)Is. The Colin Chapman Foundation has contributed annually over the past four years to fund innovation and the replac8ment of work components for the F24. Phantom Team car. The School has a minibus Ileet vthich is not used during ￿h0o1 holidays, this year t￿) local Scout groups have being making use of the School's minibuse& The School's charity for this year was Friend Indeed and the School community raised in eX￿SS of £10k for this worthy cause. The School community also thoroughly enjoyed visting the residents of some of the care homes. writing to them and welcoming them to School for lunches, aftemoon teas and some wonderful musical events. Page 5 TOWN CLOSE EDUCATIONAL TRUST LIMITED (A company limkted by guarantee) TRUSTEES, REPORT {CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024 Public benerrt {contlnued) The Sch￿1 also WBlcomed 240 24 year c4ds as part of its MiniExplorers programme. Ty￿nty places were offered over six sessions in two temis, albwing local young people to enjoy the School's woodland walk which culminated in a tedty bears. picnic They )hEre also given the opportunity to have fun in the swimming pool, experience yoga taught by a specialist teacher, as well as tuming their hands to being mini musc makers and artists with sessions lead by the School's music and art departments. Twenty iPads were donated to a local sixth fomi college to gjpport a group of young peop18 lyith their ent8rprise studies. Visiting authors to School saw Several local Pfimary *hools bring puplls to enjoy the events. The School's art department participated in GOGO Safari in support of the Break charity. Book donations vrfere made to a new school which opened locally as WEII as further donations made to Safe Intemational, a charity based in Wymondham and partnered with a transformation charity in Westem Kenya. The Whery School attended the School's Year 6 production of Twelfth Night and finally, our Schoo5 site vms made available for a local charity to carry out search and rescue training for dogs. Strategic objectlves and achievements The five-year strdtegic plan. initially presented in February 2023 continues to encapsulate the strategic objectives for the School and the ethos of the School forms the foundations of that plan. School Ethos - To provide a broad and balanced curriculum, underpinned by academic rigour that develops Interested, passionate and morally confident citizens of the future. The five-year plan provides a roadmap for delivering the SchcM)I's vision. w+hich is to build on School's reputation as Norwich's finest day Coweducational Prep School for children age 2-14. To offer our pupils an unrivalled educational experience Vlith the space to grow. The strategy d8veloped to deliver the aims of the plan remained active. H(Avever. the decision of Mr Wilson. the Head to take up a role overseas at the end of th8 23124 academic year meant thal Ihe Schc(Jl was preparing to welcome its new Head, Mr Tiley-Nunn at the start of the 24125 academic year. With that exciting appointment will come the developmenl of the School's strategy and five-year plan. During the year the slrateglc plan based around delivering ￿Ccessful community events included a from-the- heart4ay in February which involved I￿al care home residents being in School to enjoy music and craft activities with pupils. A well-attend8d free menopau* event hosted in the Read Hall saw members of the School. local community and alumni come together. The School conkn'nued to invest in its pu￿.IS the establishment of an Education Committee to tske delegated r8sponsibility on behalf of the Goveming Body to vntk wth pupils. leadership and management to monitor and review the academic and pastoral provision of the School. Ensuring pupils. y￿lIbeIng is actively promoted and making recommendations as appropriate to the Govemors. The Schcd successfully obtained allergy awareness accreditation during this year. Investment in the School estate included significant IT investsnent which in part enabled Cyber E&8entials accreditation to be achieved. This ￿as facilitated in no small vrdy by the introduction of Smoothwall filtering and monitoring on all deVi￿S. to help to keep our thildren safe in Iheir digital lives Page 6 TOWN CLOSE EDUCATIONAL TRUST LIMITED (A company limited by guarantee) TRUSTEES. REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024 strateglc obje¢tlves and achievoments (contlnued) Careful review of the School's utility purchasng was not only financially beneficial but also enabled the School lo switch to entirely sustainab18 energy ￿lIst continuing to work with planning advisors to facilitate the development of solar arrays on site. The EC￿SChool Green Flag accreditstion the School had been working lo￿ardS was obtained during this year. The School's staff are central to the delivery of the School's ethos and the successful journey of our pupils through the School. Supporting our Stsff wth an independent counselling seNice provided off site when they need it has proved invaluable. The introduction of an EDI Lead. along with membership of the Global Equality Collective has produc8d an action plan for the senior leadership to deliv8r against. Whilst the deliv8ry of the aims of the plan, is a priority for the Senior Management Team and Board of Trustees, safeguarding and compliance with Keeping Child￿n Safe in Education remains the over8rching priority of the School. Operatlonal performance Year 8 pupils vtho sat their Common Entrance exams in the Summer Tern 2024 performed very well. 97°/0 of all grades were A. to C grades. An impressive 510/0 of the overall grades were graded as either A. or A. These results were the strongest set of results for our Year 8 cohorts since 2019, with the average grade sitting above a B grade. Puplls performed stronger overall in History, Theology Politics & Religion, Geography 8nd Spanish when comparing their results to the year group average. The following awards were given to our pupils at their Senior SchcK)Is: 8 academic scholarships 12 sports scholarship5 10 Headmasterfs awards 2 drama scholarships 3 music scholarships 1 music exhibition 1 academic exhibition 1 art scholarship 2 pupils accepted onto the Talented Athlete Development Programme at Gresham's 1 languages scholarship The School continues to use standardised NFER English and maths exams in KS1 and KS2, alongside other in- house tesling, to monitor attainment and progress. These sho1￿￿ that in Year 6. 790/0 of pupils were working at age-related expectations or above in maths. 940/0 of pupils were at age-related expectations or above in reading. CAT 4 lesting continued across the Prep department, to provide yearly data to help us to understand the children's learning profiles as effeth'vety as possible, along with our other formative and summative assessments. Page 7 TOWN CLOSE EDUCATIONAL TRUST LIMITED (A company Ilmited by guarantee) TRUSTEES. REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024 Financlal revlew and reserves pollcy The Sch13 year olds. ¥*thich enables all of our pupils to shine and guides them towards their brightest future. Making the m05t out of every moment in guiding our children to not only become great pupils. but more importantly great people. Page 8 TOWN CLOSE EDUCATIONAL TRUST LIMITED (A company limlted by guarantee) TRUSTEES. REPORT {CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024 Objectives and Plans (continued) Mr filey-Nunn create teams comprising the Senior Leaderthip Team and Govemors lo Working wth the Senior Leadership Team the new Head will create teams of seni(K leaders and govemors to work towards delivering development plans in ten key areas: One School Academic People EYFS Co-curricular Pastoral EDI Sustainability Estates Community This vision inrjudes d8veloping underutillsed areas of the School to provide an additional sdence lab. a common room for the Year 8 pupils and the development of a new dining facility. All this wll be done wth the values embodied in the Town Close Way. These values act as a signpost for both children and adults across all their endeavours at School. Cares for our School and wider c￿￿munity Acts po￿tIvelY, honestly and y￿th ambiti Respects themselves and others Enjoys and celebrates learning Supports others to be th￿r best Investmènt power The Trustees are empowered to invest funds in a manner appropriate to the financial requirements of the School, having regard to the security of any investments made and the requirements of the Charity Commissioners, order. The only investment held by the School has provided capital funding to the Central Norwich Hockey Consortium. a registered charity of vthich it is a member. Th6 funding is recognised as a programme related investment and asssted V#ith the construction of an artificial turf hockey pitch which is available to the School and for community use (see note 9). Asset cover for funds The Trustees are satisfied that on a fund-by-fund basis the assets are sufficient to fulfil all the School's cUr￿nt obligations. Systems r•view and risk management The Trustees, Risk Management Policy and accompanying risk register are monitored by a working group comprising a number of Trustees and the School's Bursar. The vKrk of this group is grounded in th& operational aspects of th8 Schcol. but it also has an important strategic role in reviewing higher level issues such as the educational, economic, legal and political context in which the School operates, and thereby hdps to inform the Trustees. strategic planning and decision-making. The Risk Management Wothing Group reports at least annually to the Trustees. This commitiee in tum seeks specific advic8 and guidance on systems matters from the appointed auditor or from other professional advisers then required. Page 9 TOWN CLOSE EDUCATIONAL TRUST LIMITED (A company Ilmited by guarantee) TRUSTEES. REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2024 Statement of Trustees. responsibilltles The Trustees (vtho a￿ also directors of TowTr Close House Educational Trust Limited for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees, Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance V4ith applicable law and regulats'ons. Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Und8r that law, the Trustees have elected to prepare financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practs'ce>. The financial statements are required by law to give a tru8 and fair view of the stste of affairs of th8 charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources. including the income and exp8nditur8, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing these financial stslements, the Trustees are required to: select suitsble accounting policies and then apply them con9stentl￿, observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP: make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; prepare the financial statements on the going concem basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in business. The Trustees are responsble for keeping adequate accounting re￿8 that disclose véith reasonable accuracy, at any time, the financial position of th8 charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply wth the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsble for safeguarding th8 assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. In so far as each of the Trustees is awtsre.. there is no relevant audit infomats'on of which the charitable company's auditor is unaware, and the Trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit infomiation and to establish that the auditor is aware of the information. Audltor Lart