The Governors present their report and accounts for the year ended 31 August 2024.
The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the accounts and comply with the School's governing document, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and “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 2019).
The main objects of The Compass School (the School) are to acquire, purchase, erect, lease, maintain, manage, develop and carry on in Scotland or elsewhere in the United Kingdom, schools for boys and girls, in particular The Compass School, West Road, Haddington and to promote education generally. The objects of the School are wholly charitable.
The main objectives of the year were to continue to develop the standards and quality of the education which the School provides and to ensure that the School continues to prosper on all fronts, building on previous successes. The School’s Staff and Management Team also produce an annual Standards and Quality Report, resulting from a comprehensive self-evaluation process each year, conducted using Education Scotland’s quality indicators for schools (HGIOS4). This process aims to build upon the School’s strengths and identify areas for improvement and development through an annual School’s Improvement Plan. In addition, each year, the Deputy Headteacher, in conjunction with the teaching staff, produces a Learning and Teaching Development Plan to further promote and develop standards and attainment in education within the School.
The Governors have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator in deciding what activities the School should undertake.
During 2023/24, the School maintained a healthy number of pupils, who ranged in age from 4 to 12 and came from throughout East Lothian and beyond, recording its highest school roll ever, with 152 children in the Summer Term 2024.
The School celebrated the 60th anniversary of its founding in September with a Service of Thanksgiving at Holy Trinity Church, Haddington where it began in 1963. During the session, there were a number of celebratory events to mark this special anniversary: a 60th Anniversary Concert in March at St Mary's Church which brought together current and former pupils for a celebration of music at The Compass; we showcased the children's talents in art and writing in an exhibition in the school hall; and a 60th Anniversary Ball took place at Archerfield in May, attended by parents, staff, Governors and friends of the School, which also raised £14,000 for the School's Financial Assistance provision.
The School fulfilled its charitable purpose – the advancement of education, as follows:
Academically, pupils continued to enjoy the wide ranging and balanced curriculum (with specialist teaching in Music, French, PE, Latin, Judo, Games and Swimming) which enables them to achieve a high level of attainment and sees them welcomed at leading day and boarding schools throughout the country.
In Session 2023/24, all pupils in the final year (Form 8) who applied for places at independent schools with competitive entrance assessments secured their places in secondary school for the following academic session. This maintains the School’s excellent success record in that, since the introduction of Form 8 (Primary Seven) in 2004, almost every child whose parents have sought a place for them at schools with competitive entrance assessments has secured at least one place in independent secondary education. The School also prepares pupils for a move into local authority secondary schools if the parents make this choice for their children.
During the session, the School continued its work in promoting The Rights Of The Child as a UNICEF Rights Respecting School. The Compass School was awarded Gold status following an adjudication visit in May 2022 and has worked to maintain this since then.
Pupils also continued to enjoy opportunities in music, drama, art, sport and outdoor education, with a full programme of residential trips in 2024 to the Scottish Borders, Perthshire, the Cairngorms, York, London and France.
In sport, our children continued to enjoy a wide-ranging sporting curriculum, including PE taught for the first time by a specialist teacher. Fixtures in hockey, rugby, cricket, athletics, cross-country and swimming took place with other schools throughout the academic session, and we also hosted an inter-school swimming gala in the Spring Term 2024.
In music and drama, the School was able to perform a concert with its older classes in Holy Trinity Church in December and followed this, with the annual Carol Service which involves the whole school and which took place at St Mary's Parish Church. In the Summer Term, our annual musical productions took place in the theatre at Loretto School. Forms 1 to 4 performed the very colourful musical 'Nuts', whilst Forms 5 to 8 presented a memorable production of 'Mary Poppins' Jr'. Both productions were greatly enjoyed, with warm support received from the large audiences who attended.
Children also continued to enjoy the opportunity to take tuition on a range of instruments, with over 70% of children from Forms 4 to 8 playing a musical instrument or having voice lessons, over and above what is taught as part of the curriculum. Associated Board Examinations were successfully undertaken by a number of children.
In outdoor education, our Form 7 completed a 12km hill walk in the Pentlands, and Form 8, travelled to the Cairngorms to complete an ascent/descent of a Munro.
To assist working parents, the School provides wrap-around care for all pupils from 7.45am – 6pm: Monday to Friday and this service continues to be very well-subscribed, with an evening meal service from Monday - Thursday enjoying increasingly strong take-up. The School also runs a morning bus service from North Berwick, with ten children and their parents each day benefiting from its use, with a consequent reduction in traffic and parking necessity outside the School.
Staff undertook a number of professional development opportunities provided by a range of external and online training providers such as SCIS and Education Scotland, in advancing their skills, understanding and knowledge as part of the School’s investment in the continuing professional development of its staff.
Public benefit
We are pleased to have been successfully recognised as meeting the Charities Test and providing public benefit, having been reviewed by OSCR in 2013.
The School continues to offer training and placement opportunities for secondary school pupils, trainee teachers, classroom assistants and nursery nurses.
The School has continued to advertise its Bursary/Financially Assisted Places Scheme in advertising features in the local press, on the School website and in information packs sent out to prospective parents.
This year, 17 children (2023: 17 children) were supported by financial assistance, representing just over 11% (2023: 11%) of the total school roll and just under 5% (2023: 4.3%) of gross fee income. Levels of support ranged from 65% to 10% reductions in tuition fees and were based on information provided confidentially by the parents. The School continues to consider applications for financially assisted places and reacts to changing family circumstances. In addition to financially assisted places, the School provided financial assistance for eight children of members of staff and provided a third sibling reduction for 12 further pupils.
The breakdown of financial support was: 0 – 19%: 2 pupils; 20 – 39%: 8 pupils; 40 – 59%: 6 pupils; 60 – 79%: 1 pupil and 80 – 100%: 0 pupils.
As the School has limited on-site sports facilities, extensive use is made of facilities owned by East Lothian Council; this includes weekly use of the local swimming pool, tennis courts, squash courts, rugby playing fields and an all-weather hockey pitch. The School is proud of the contribution this makes to the local economy - in financial terms approximately £35-40K per annum. The Headteacher is a member of the ‘Friends of Neilson Park’ – a board of trustees whose responsibility is to develop this local amenity for the common good of the people of Haddington. The School jointly employs a Rugby Development Officer with Haddington Rugby Club.
The School provides use of its facilities during the Christmas, Easter and Summer holidays to a range of local activity and drama clubs for children from a range of backgrounds.
In addition to the above, in the Spring Term 2024 the School once again organised an inter-school hockey event, to which schools from local authority and independent sector were invited and which involved approximately 70 children. The School also hosted an inter-swimming event, with 64 young swimmers participating. Adverse weather conditions forced the postponement of a further inter-school hockey event which had been organised by the School. These events facilitated wonderful opportunities for playing sport, enjoying competition and the personal development which these provided.
As always, the School undertook a variety of charitable projects at local, national and international level: collecting and delivering harvest produce to the Haddington Day Centre for the elderly; A 'Cake & Candy' Sale raised £404 for the charity, Social Bite, which aims to help those in society who are affected by homelessness. Thanks to the generosity of Compass families, the retiring collection at our Carol Service resulted in £927 being raised, which was split between the aforementioned East Lothian Foodbank (£464) and Our Community Kitchen, Haddington (£464) charities. Children further supported Our Community Kitchen by creating Christmas cards, so that all those attending the Our Community Kitchen Christmas lunch would have a personalised card to open.
In January, as part of DoddieAid, the School community managed to complete 1,337 workout sessions, covering over 6,665 miles; and thanks to our parents, children , staff, families and friends, we raised £2,659 for charity, including Gift Aid.
In the second part of the term, we received a very good collection of unwanted technology and devices which were donated to our Technology Box from The Edinburgh Remakery - a social enterprise which is helping to eradicate digital poverty. They were exceptionally pleased with our generous donations and through these, The Compass School has helped to save over 5,700kg of carbon emissions, which is the equivalent of 695,431 smartphones being fully charged; 95 trees being planted and grown for 10 years; or 14,656 miles being driven by a standard car.
A 'Dress as your Favourite Animal' Day in May raised £865 for the World Wildlife Fund.
In addition, the School, its children, parents and staff were very generous in their support of our 'reverse advent calendar' appeal in December 2023 which saw a sizeable collection of groceries being gathered in support of the East Lothian Foodbank.
We were also able to perform mini-concerts at Florabank Nursing Home, Our Community Kitchen and Haddington Day Centre during the year.
We have also been delighted to have had the opportunity since May 2024 to take part in an inter-generational project with Our Community Kitchen, Haddington, which is part of a national pilot scheme, co-ordinated by Generations Together, and which brings together our children with elderly members of the local community to share time, fun and activities together.
Future plans
The School will continue to advance its work following the publication of the twelfth annual Standards and Quality Report and School Improvement Plan and develop its work within the School's long-term Development Plan. This may include further development of the school building and learning environment.
The School’s educational provision will continue to develop and maintain its high standards through the annual Learning and Teaching Development Plan and through its formalised programme of Quality Assurance.
The School will seek to maintain its Gold status as part of the UN Rights Respecting Schools programme and will be re-adjudicated as part of this in April 2025.
The School will continue to maintain and raise its profile through direct and indirect marketing and through making use of the local press, its website and digital media such as Facebook and Instagram to convey key successes and provide news to interested parties.
The School will continue to develop its ‘before and after-school’ facility to support working parents and their children.
The School will continue to provide a morning bus service from North Berwick using the school minibus to transport 10 children to school each day and will explore ways of extending this service to meet the needs of more children and parents.
The School will seek to maintain the uptake of its current Financially Assisted Places Scheme, for those whose parents may not be able to afford full fees, yet whose children would benefit from an education at The Compass School.
The School will continue to work for the advancement of education and in the development of its links within the local and wider community.
The School’s income from fees and other educational services forms its principal source of funding and amounted to £1,708,947 (2023: £1,578,739). The School roll during the year averaged 151 pupils (2023: 152 pupils). Income from donations and fundraising amounted to £37,897 (2023: £4,119).
School operating costs totalled £1,914,490 (2023: £1,784,978), including bank interest payable of £Nil (2023: £889), depreciation of £62,849 (2023: £58,215) and bad debt provision increase of £Nil (2023: £2,500).
The School’s net surplus was £46,759 (2023: £6,352 deficit). These results are consistent with budgeted figures.
Resources held at 31 August 2024 amounted to £858,199 (2023: £811,441), of which £817,964 (2023: £798,043) were unrestricted. The Governors aim to hold unrestricted reserves covering at least three months' expenditure and therefore consider the School’s financial position to be satisfactory and that it will be able to meet its financial commitments, including loan repayments, during the coming year.
Full details of the financial results are shown in the Statement of Financial Activities.
The School is a company limited by Guarantee and does not have any Share Capital. It was incorporated on 16 July 1992 and is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association.
The Governors seek to have at their disposal a range of experience and skills reflecting the needs of the School amongst its Board members e.g. those with a background in education, law and business.
Consideration is therefore given to the make-up of the existing Board when deciding on the profile of a candidate to fill any vacancy which arises. Once a suitable candidate has been identified, he/she is then approached by the Chairman of the Board of Governors with an invitation to meet with the Board's Selection Committee prior to a formal appointment being made. The Chairman outlines to the invitee the roles and responsibilities of a member of the Board. On acceptance, the new member is issued with the ISC/GBGSA/GBA Guidelines on School Governorship and meets with the Headteacher who briefs him/her on the School’s development – past, present and planned.
All appointments to the Board of Governors are subject to a satisfactory PVG check with Disclosure Scotland. Governors are invited to attend appropriate SCIS training courses throughout the year.
The Governors meet no less than three times per calendar year to review progress and to discuss future strategy. Decisions are made by a majority of Governors present although at all times the Board endeavours to ensure that there is a consensus. The day-to-day running of the School is carried out by the Headteacher.
The Compass School Foundation is a separate charity with independent trustees, and one of its main functions is to aim to support the School financially.
Key management personnel other than the School Governors are the Headteacher, Mr M Becher, the Deputy Headteacher, Mrs F Johnston and the Bursar, Mrs E Macdonald. Remuneration is set annually based on comparable salaries in the private and public sector.
The Governors, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year were:
The Board of Governors comprises the members of the School. Under the Constitution and Articles of Governance the minimum number of Governors is six and the maximum ten, subject to amendment by ordinary resolution. Admission to membership is at the discretion of the Board.
The company is registered with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator under the reference number SC020370. Its company registration number with the Registrar of Companies is SC139349.
Risk management
The Governors actively review the major risks which the School faces on a regular basis and have established policies to mitigate these. Risks are identified, assessed and controls established throughout the year. A formal review of the School’s risk management processes is undertaken on an annual basis.
The key controls used by the School are:
formal agendas for all Board activity;
strategic planning, budgeting and management accounting;
established organisational structure and lines of reporting;
formal written policies;
clear authorisation and approval levels; and
vetting procedures as required by law for the protection of the vulnerable.
Through the risk management processes established for the School, the Governors are satisfied that the major risks identified have been adequately mitigated where necessary. It is recognised that systems can only provide reasonable but not absolute assurance that major risks have been adequately managed.
Statement of Governors' responsibilities
The governors, who are also the directors of The Compass School for the purpose of company law, are responsible for preparing the Governors' Report and the accounts in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Company Law requires the governors to prepare accounts for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the School and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that year.
In preparing these accounts, the governors are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
- state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the accounts; and
- prepare the accounts on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the School will continue in operation.
The governors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the School and enable them to ensure that the accounts comply with the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the School and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
In so far as the governors are aware:
there is no relevant audit information of which the charitable company’s auditor is unaware; and
the governors have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information.
A resolution to re-appoint Saffery LLP, will be submitted to the Annual General Meeting.
The Governors' report was approved by the Board of Governors.
Opinion
We have audited the financial statements of The Compass School for the year ended 31 August 2024 which comprise Statement of Financial Activities, Balance Sheet, Statement of Cash Flows and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards including, Financial Reporting Standard 102, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
In our opinion the financial statements:
Basis for opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the governors' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the governors with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
Other information
The governors are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.
In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.
We have nothing to report in this regard.
Other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of our audit:
the information given in the Governors' Annual Report which includes the Directors' Report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
the Governors' Annual Report which includes the Directors' Report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Governors' Annual Report.
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) require us to report to you if, in our opinion:
the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
certain disclosures of governors' remuneration specified by law are not made; or
we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or
the governors were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies exemption in preparing the Governors' Annual Report and the Strategic Report.
the governors were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies' exemptions in preparing the Governors' report and from the requirement to prepare a strategic report.
As explained more fully in the Governors' Responsibilities Statement set out on page 6, the governors (who are also directors of the charitable company for the purpose of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the governors determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the financial statements, the governors are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the governors either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
We have been appointed as auditors under the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and under the Companies Act 2006 and report in accordance with regulations made under those Acts.
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The specific procedures for this engagement and the extent to which these are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud are detailed below.
Identifying and assessing risks related to irregularities:
We assessed the susceptibility of the charitable company’s financial statements to material misstatement and how fraud might occur, including through discussions with the governors, discussions within our audit team planning meeting, updating our record of internal controls and ensuring these controls operated as intended. We evaluated possible incentives and opportunities for fraudulent manipulation of the financial statements. We identified laws and regulations that are of significance in the context of the charitable company by discussions with trustees and updating our understanding of the sector in which the charitable company operates.
Laws and regulations of direct significance in the context of the charitable company include The Companies Act 2006, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and guidance issued by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator.
Audit response to risks identified:
We considered the extent of compliance with these laws and regulations as part of our audit procedures on the related financial statement items including a review of financial statement disclosures. We reviewed the charitable company’s records of breaches of laws and regulations, minutes of meetings and correspondence with relevant authorities to identify potential material misstatements arising. We discussed the charitable company’s policies and procedures for compliance with laws and regulations with members of management responsible for compliance.
During the planning meeting with the audit team, the engagement partner drew attention to the key areas which might involve non-compliance with laws and regulations or fraud. We enquired of management whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations or knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud. We addressed the risk of fraud through management override of controls by testing the appropriateness of journal entries and identifying any significant transactions that were unusual or outside the normal course of business. We assessed whether judgements made in making accounting estimates gave rise to a possible indication of management bias. At the completion stage of the audit, the engagement partner’s review included ensuring that the team had approached their work with appropriate professional scepticism and thus the capacity to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations and fraud.
There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures described above and the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely we would become aware of it. Also, the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery or intentional misrepresentations, or through collusion.
A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.
Use of our report
This report is made solely to the charitable company's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006, and to the charitable company's governors, as a body, in accordance with Regulation 10 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company's governors and members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the governors, the charitable company and the charitable company's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
Saffery LLP is eligible to act as an auditor in terms of section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006.
Investments
Raising funds
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
The Compass School (the School) is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in Scotland. The registered office is West Road, Haddington, East Lothian, EH41 3RD.
The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the School's Constitution and Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and “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 2019). The School is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the School. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
The imposition of VAT on School fees from January 2025 and the increase in Employer's National Insurance from 13.8% to 15% from April 2025 pose a significant challenge to all private schools. The Governors have given particular consideration to the potential impact of these changes on the School's ability to continue as a going concern.
At the time of approving the financial statements, the governors have a reasonable expectation that the School has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the governors continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the governors in furtherance of their charitable objectives unless the funds have been designated for other purposes.
Designated funds comprise funds which have been set aside at the discretion of the governors for specific purposes. The purpose and use of the designated funds are as follows;
60th Anniversary Fund - for funds raised through 60th Anniversary events.
Vehicle Replacement Fund - funds for future replacement of the School's vehicles.
Restricted funds are subject to specific conditions by donors as to how they may be used. The purposes and uses of the restricted funds are as follows:
Hardship/Activity Fund - to finance outings and other activities for pupils, who might otherwise be unable to take part in these activities.
Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the School has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.
Grants and donations are treated as income and are accounted for when receivable. Capital grants and donations are allocated to Restricted Funds against which the depreciation of the asset concerned is charged. Once the conditions of the restrictions are met, the balance of the fund is transferred to Unrestricted Funds.
Fees received in advance are held on behalf of parents and are only taken to the income and expenditure account when utilised in payment of School Fees.
Other trading activity income includes 60th Anniversary Ball ticket income and sponsorship, which has been recognised on receipt and to the extent the School has provided the goods and services.
Turnover is measured at the fair value of the consideration received or receivable and represents amounts receivable for goods and services provided in the normal course of business and net of discounts.
Expenditure is included in the Statement of Financial Activities on an accruals basis, inclusive of VAT
which cannot be recovered.
Charitable activities include expenditure associated with meeting the School's primary objectives and include both the direct costs and the support costs relating to these activities, including governance costs.
Governance costs are those associated with the constitutional and statutory requirements of the School.
Expenditure which is directly attributable to specific activities has been included in these cost categories. Where costs are attributable to more than one activity, they have been apportioned across the cost categories on a basis consistent with use of these resources.
Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.
Expenditure of less than £1,000 on the replacement or improvement of tangible fixed assets are written off as incurred, except where the item of expenditure can be identified as original capital.
Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:
The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in the statement of financial activities.
At each reporting end date, the School reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss (if any).
Stock is valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value after making allowances for any obsolete or slow moving items.
Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.
The School has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.
Financial instruments are recognised in the School's balance sheet when the School becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.
Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.
Basic financial liabilities, including creditors and bank loans are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.
Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.
Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
Financial liabilities are derecognised when the School’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received.
Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the School is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.
The Scottish Teachers’ Superannuation Scheme is a multi-employer defined benefit scheme which, in common with other Government pension schemes, is unfunded in that there is no earmarked fund of assets underlying the scheme. The School is unable to identify its share of the underlying liabilities of the scheme and therefore accounts for the contributions to the scheme as if it were a defined contribution scheme.
The latest full actuarial valuation of the scheme was carried out as at March 2016 and the employer's contribution rate has been set at 23.0% of pensionable salaries from 1 September 2019. Employees' contributions remain at previous levels of between 7.2% and 11.9% depending on salary.
The pension cost for teaching staff for the year was £165,574 (2023: £147,962) and has been charged to the income and expenditure account. At the 31 August 2024, £Nil employee (2023: £5,082) and £Nil employer (2023: £11,685) contributions were due to be paid to the scheme after the year end.
The pension cost for the year for non-teaching staff was £5,852 (2023: £5,068).
Rental applicable to operating leases where substantially all of the benefits and risks of ownership remain with the lessor are charged to the income and expenditure account as incurred.
In the application of the School’s accounting policies, the governors are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.
Teaching costs
Welfare costs
Premises costs
Other costs
Instructors fees
Books, materials and activity expenses
Outings and club activities
Uniforms
Food and cleaning materials
Insurance
Property expenses
Provision for bad debts
Interest payable
Teaching costs
Welfare costs
Premises costs
Other costs
Instructors fees
Books, materials and activity expenses
Outings and club activities
Uniforms
Food and cleaning materials
Insurance
Property expenses
Provision for bad debts
Interest payable
Other support costs
In support costs, there are no material items or categories of expenditure to disclose.
Governance costs includes payments to the auditors of £9,000 (2023: £8,000) for audit fees.
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
16 employees (2023: 17) contributed to the Scottish Teachers' Superannuation Scheme.
The School Governors give their services voluntarily and receive no remuneration or expenses. They are not included in the numbers above.
The School has charitable status and accordingly no provision is made for taxation in the accounts.
All tangible fixed assets are used in direct furtherance of the School's charitable objectives.
The income funds of the School include restricted funds comprising the following unexpended balances of donations and grants held on trust for specific purposes:
The Hardship/Activity Fund represents sums received to help finance outings and other activities for pupils, who might otherwise be unable to take part in these activities.
A transfer of £1,992 (2023: £4,210) has been made from the Hardship/Activity Fund to General Funds to reflect incurred costs identified as meeting the purpose of the Hardship/Activity Fund.
The income funds of the School include the following designated funds which have been set aside out of unrestricted funds by the governors for specific purposes:
The 60th Anniversary Fund represents funds raised through 60th Anniversary events.
The Vehicle Replacement Fund represents funds for future replacement of the school's vehicles.
A transfer of £1,992 (2023: £4,210) has been made from the Restricted Hardship/Activity Fund to Unrestricted General Funds to reflect incurred costs identified as meeting the purpose of the Hardship/Activity Fund.
Unrestricted Funds
Restricted Funds
Unrestricted Funds
Restricted Funds
At the reporting end date the School had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases, which fall due as follows:
The School benefits from the contribution made by volunteers who give their time and talents willingly. The areas of school life which rely on the contribution of volunteers are many and much of the activity would be unable to continue were it not for the commitment shown.
Key management has been determined to be the Governors and the three members of the senior management team. Governors receive no remuneration or benefits. The total remuneration of the senior management team excluding employer's National Insurance was £179,406 (2023: £170,485).
Transactions with related parties
During the year the School entered into the following transactions with related parties:
Certain Governors' children are pupils attending The Compass School. Fees are paid on normal commercial terms.
The School charged members of the Board of Governors £29,495 (2023: £14,896) in respect of school fees payable for children of the Governors on the school roll. This was after discounts of £2,681 (2023: £7,448) which are available to all parents.
The Government has announced that VAT is to be charged on School Fees from 1 January 2025. This will require VAT to be added at the standard rate of 20% to most class fees and other tuition fees. It is estimated that this will enable the School to recover VAT on expenditure in the region of £40,000 which it has previously not been able to do. The Governors are conscious of the difficulties that the addition of VAT may cause to parents and have therefore taken the decision to reduce fees from 1 January 2025 to mirror the VAT recoverable by the School. Accordingly, the immediate financial effect of the imposition of VAT is not expected to be significant.
It is however likely that the imposition of VAT may cause a reduction in the school roll due to the inability of parents to meet the extra cost. At present the effect of this cannot be accurately estimated but it is an area that the Governors will be closely monitoring.
The School had no material debt during the year.