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The Leeds Menorah School Trust
Charity number 517679
Trustees' Annual Report Financial year 01 September 2023 - 31 August 2024
REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS OF THE CHARITY, ITS TRUSTEES AND ADVISERS
The name of the charity: The Leeds Menorah School Trust
Charity Number: 517679
Address: 24 Falkland Rise Leeds LS17 6JQ
The names of trustees who served during the year are:
Mrs Ethel Refson Rabbi Reuven Zanvill Cohen Rabbi Eliyohu Pink
STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT
The charity was formed and is governed by a Declaration of Trust dated 28 January 1986 for the purpose of promoting the Orthodox Jewish Religion, religious education and education in general, and in particular through the running of the Leeds Menorah School.
All funds are used in the educational activities of the school and in furtherance and promotion of the Orthodox Jewish religion. The School aims to produce educated and well-adjusted observant Jews who will become an integral part of and contributors to modern society. This result is achieved by providing a standard of secular education to allow pupils to go on to secondary schools integrated with an intense religious study as to give the pupils a deep understanding of the moral and ethical richness of their Jewish heritage and traditions, and to provide them with a solid foundation for their lives.
Day-to-day governance of the charity is managed by the trustees They are assisted by a managing committee, a Board of Governors, Head Teacher and staff. The trustees have regard to the views of parents and teachers, where and to the extent appropriate, in their decision making.
New Trustees are appointed by the trustees for the time being and are expected to understand and support the needs and the ethos of the School, its pupils, parents and staff.
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FINANCIAL REVIEW
Charity Bank: Yorkshire Bank Branch: Moortown Address: 370 Harrogate Road, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS17 6QA.
Independent financial examiner: David Scott FCCA Chartered (certified accountant) 21 Willow Park, Wakefield, West Yorkshire WF1 2JP.
Financial Performance
Income received was £142,612.96 (£139,025.14 in 2022-23) and expenditure was £158,212.71 (£170,026.61 in 2022-23), resulting in a deficit of £15,599.75 compared to the deficit last year of £31,001.47. Funds brought forward were £51,615.27. The “Building Improvements” figure refers to improvements to the leasehold property housing the school. This figure is being depreciated over the remaining six years of the lease from 2024 to 2029.
The income of the school comes from fees, and charitable donations. Full fees are currently £5,500.00 a year, but provision is made from charitable donations for those parents who cannot pay the fees in full or at all. The school is unlike most private schools, in that it is not a luxury for parents of means. The school is the only Orthodox Jewish school in Yorkshire which provides the education required by Haredi (Orthodox) parents and children, in which category most Jewish men of the cloth in Leeds belong, along with a number of lay people.
Despite these challenges, the trustees are committed to ensuring that all liabilities, especially salaries, are paid in timely fashion. Nevertheless, fundraising and the generous support of donors to the School are essential to our operations, with the annual Charidy campaign of particular importance.
Campaigns:
We ran a very successful Charidy Campaign 28[th] – 30[th] January, raising altogether about £53,000. It is most impressive, reassuring, and rewarding to note that over 400 people supported the campaign. This is a statement of very long-standing appreciation of the school by ex-pupils. A further grant of £1500 (Seedlings) was also secured.
Innovative ideas:
A useful conversation was held with Mr Bill Holledge, a member of the Lubavitch London School MAT to discuss the possibility of the school joining that MAT, thereby becoming eligible for Government funding. This requires a long-term process and might take over a year to come to fruition if viable. This has not yet been followed up.
Insurance:
Insurance costs have risen as an automatic response to notes in our most recent OFSTED inspection, but regrettably were not been correspondingly reduced again after these issues were addressed. However, a new provider has now been found which will see a saving of £1,200.
Conclusion:
The Charidy campaign produced much needed funds for general overheads but also for some pending matters such as Early Years’ equipment and additional SENCO training. However, there was a deficit at the end of the year which means that not all of these items of expenditure could be addressed as comprehensively as the trustees would have liked.
Along with other costs pressures relating to the rise in the minimum wage and building repairs, it remains a constant challenge to maximise the returns on expenditure and control overheads. A very thorough draft plan has been prepared to consider the way in which staff are deployed with a view to reducing costs. We continue to look into creative fund-raising schemes to ensure continuous, rather than sporadic, stability.
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Policy on reserves
The charity’s funds are used for the day-to-day running of the School and any funds accrued throughout the year are reserved to meet these and additional needs as they present themselves. To the extent that surplus funds are received, these will be applied to meet medium and longer-term strategic goals and plans.
Public benefit statement
The trustee(s) confirm that they have complied with their duty to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the Charity Commission in exercising their powers or duties and are satisfied that the charity provides such a benefit.
Achievements and performance
We began the school year with the appointment of Mrs Rachel Levy as the HR and Compliance Officer as well as the new role of Mental Health and Wellbeing Lead. Unfortunately, she was soon required to earn her stripes, as the October 7[th] attacks on Israel had repercussions for the Jewish community around the world, including in Leeds. Immediately after the attacks, the school was in touch with CST and the Police to review our security arrangements until half term we had additional daily security volunteers arranged by CST. We further reviewed our security when one of the families received death threats from extremists. Although this was covered in the national press, fortunately the school which their children attended was never publicised. In addition to the effect on the young family, it had a wider effect on the school – children were asking questions about the protection officer that accompanied the father and what this meant for them. This persisted throughout the year and was closely monitored by our Senior Leadership and Safeguarding Team.
The school community also suffered losses with the passing of Mrs Louise Diamond who was a nursery assistant for 30 years and Mr Douglas Taylor, wife of Mrs Ruth Taylor, the school’s long-time assistant and a supporter of the school.
The successful Charidy matching campaign, which has become an annual feature of the school calendar, provided a boost for the school both just financially and mentally as messages of support, as well as donations, poured in from across the Leeds Jewish community and the wider world. In order the promote the campaign, the school activated its Facebook account, and we have now connected with many families and alumni. We will continue to post appropriate content to raise the profile of the school.
We undertook a community and parent consultation about the expansion of our nursery to cater for children ages 2-3. There was a lot of support for the idea, and we have rehired Mrs Juliette Jacobs who will be the new full day Nursery and Reception teacher and coordinator. Mrs Jacobs used to work for the school several years ago. She brings with a wealth of experience and is a good fit for the school’s ethos.
We produced a Nursery Prospectus and held an Open Day which was the first for many years and showcased the school to the wider community. Our hope is that the nursery will attract children from outside our usual school families and that these children will continue to attend the school.
We continued to engage Dr Rabbi Y Yodaiken M.A. B.A.I (Hons) P.G.C.E. PhD (Education) L.L.E. CEO Executive Headteacher of MAT and he ran a mock OFSTED visit in June 2024. This was followed by an actual visit by OFSTED in July 2024. (Although we did not officially receive the report until September 2024, the visit was successful.) When OFSTED saw how we were meeting their standards, including those related to curriculum, they were more in a mode of helping us with useful advice than criticising. Their advice has been noted and will enable us to tweak our planning to be even more confident in the future. Key areas that will be focusing on moving forward are computing and social enrichment. Unfortunately, the huge rise in antisemitism has meant that opportunities for trips for the children has been extremely limited, but we are hopeful the situation will improve.
The relief of a successful OFSTED visit means that we look forward to the coming year with anticipation as we can concentrate on energies on continued positive developments. We are extremely grateful to our staff,
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governors and educational advisors for all their efforts. We will continue to work on striving for the very best for our pupils. ~~ee~~
Signature and declaration:
I declare, in my capacity of charity trustee that the trustees have approved the report above and have authorised me to sign it on their behalf
Mrs Ethel Refson Trustee 27[th] May 2025
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CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examinerfs Report Report to the trusteesldirectorsl members of Ch3fiLy Name LEEDS fyEwoRAH SLHQ)L Tlusr 31 Av&usr 202* On accounts for the year ended Charity no.: 517£ Company no.: Set out on pages 1ren1ombLf lo inclvdo Ihc pagc i)Ii¥riburs ol addilioi)dl ,.l)t:. I report to the charity trustees on my examlnation of the accounts of the Company for the year ended Responsibilities and basis of report As the charity's trustees of the Company (who are also the directors of the company for the purposes of company law}, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirernents of the Companies Act 2006 ("the 2006 Act"). Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the Company are not required to be audited for this year under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligib18 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 epp1+6 Delete [ ] if not applicable. I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention. which gives me cause to believe that: accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 386 of the Companies Act 2006; or the accounts do not accord with such records; or the accounts do not comply with relevant accounting requirements under section 396 of the Companies Act 2006 other than any requirernent that the accounts give a 'true and fairf 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 {FRS102). IER October 2018
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. Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply. Slgned: Date: /2 2è2f Name: Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any): HARTFREP AccoUrAT C FC4? Addross: ILLok/ Att WAkFFlf WFI IJP Section B Disclosure Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners). Glve here brief details of any items that the examinerwishes to disclose. IER October 2018
LEEDS MENORAH SCHOOL- REGISTERED CHARrrY NUMBER547679 YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024 INCOME & EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT 2024 2023 INCOME Fees received Donations received Grant Advertising £43.306.97 £45,959.22 £43,346.77 £10,000.00 33,247.77 68,587.62 37,189.75 142.612.96 139,025.14 Wagesand Pension Self employed Rent & rates Light & heat Insurance15ecurity Telephone Repairs & renewals Books, stationery & equipment Miscellaneous & swimming fees Legal and Professlonal Sundry Gardenlcleaning Depreciation Fee5 46,948.16 36A55.55 9,113.32 7.782.97 30,607.59 839.95 1,867.99 1,626.28 265.82 1,159.80 1,222.52 2,701.00 15,571.76 1.650.00 158.212.71 50,524.65 38,787.92 7.369.20 10,129.18 25,970.67 659.51 7,443.75 5,386.20 1,904.14 1,443.60 2.519.03 2,317.OD 15,57L76 170,026.61 Surplus/Defiat forthe year 15,599.75 31.IyJI.47
LEEDS MENORAH SCHOOL - REGISTERED CHARrrY NUMBER 547679 YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024 BALANCE SHEEr FIXED ASSETS 2024 2023 Building Improvements 51,017.18 66,588.94 CURRENT ASSETS Cash at bank: Yorkshlre Bank Current Account 889.93 889.93 889.93 889.93 CURRENT LL4BILITIES NIC & PAYE 294.54 294.54 ET CURRENT LIABILITI 595.39 889.93 TOTA 51.612,57 67.478.87 REPRESENTEO BY: Accumulated Funds brought forward 67,212.32 98.213.79 SurpluslLos5 for year -15,599.75 31.001.47 Accumu13ted Funds carried forward 51.612.57 67,212.32 Approved by: Name Mrs E Refson Position Headteacher and Trustee Signature Date 2nd May 2025