Great Ballard has enjoyed another successful year of ongoing growth and development made all the more poignant by the convergence of our Centenary Year with the school’s first ever GCSE cohort. We enjoyed centenary celebrations which ranged from 100km walks to art installations and from academic projects to musical compositions and were delighted to welcome back hundreds of our alumni to our tea party in September. As we approached those historic summer exams, we were heartened by the way past and present came together to remind us about everything that makes GB special.
Our first GCSE cohort did themselves proud this summer, all meeting or exceeding expectations and most finishing with tales to tell and stories of growth or rehabilitation to celebrate. 94% achieved Grades 1-9, with 83% achieving grades 4 and above. While the group scores themselves were above the national average, it was the individual progress made that was so heartwarming. In a very short space of time, this year group grew sevenfold without ever losing the sense of what makes GB special. We can feel proud of them in so many ways and their historic contribution to the school will not be quickly forgotten.
The curriculum continues to evolve and we remain excited by the breadth of the offering, its focus on wellbeing (in line with the school’s motto: “conquer yourself, conquer anything”) and the way it prepares students for life beyond school. The Great Ballard Diploma has evolved to include a Microsoft qualification in ICT, cookery and gardening, training in leadership, project qualification, a financial qualification from the London Institute of Banking & Finance and a focus on personal health and regulation as delivered through MAP (Mental Academic Physical). We also teach Learning to Learn which helps us to link Great Outdoors (Our Forest School) with Duke of Edinburgh and it is notable that almost 100% of our senior year groups are signed up for this qualification. An increasing focus on our enterprise challenge has made it a key focus of our school. Senior classes start running their own businesses from Year 7 onwards and they learn practical skills, while earning real world profits across the year. They receive training from volunteer parents in our seven key business skills and also learn to put together CVs and undergo job interviews.
The introduction of GCSE has led to a tightening of academic screws throughout the school. 72% of all students made expected or more than expected progress in English this year with 68% making the same progress in Maths and 76% in Science. 65% of SEN students made expected or better than expected progress in English. We achieved especially excellent results in the UK Maths Challenge. We awarded 30 scholarships to our pupils ranging from 11+ to 15+ with 10 for sport, 7 across academic areas and 7 across the creative arts. There were 4 Brian Jay all round awards and 2 service and leadership scholarships.
We have enjoyed ten residentials, including one to Valencia and the school’s first ski trip for many years. All children have the chance to take part in an end of year residential as part of their GB diplomas. Other educational trips included different places of worship and a tour of Parliament.
Our Performing Arts department has had another busy year with the successful mental-health-based show Brainstorm and some truly wonderful Christmas shows in Pre-Prep. Music has delivered a regular series of concerts – formal and informal – with performances from students across all sections of the school. Performances at the O2 arena, carols round the tree and at our Arundel Christmas service showed ongoing ambition and improvement and results from LAMDA and the Chichester & Worthing festivals were again outstanding. Our sporting fixture list continues to grow and our ability to compete has increased swiftly with our numbers. But the focus on health and sport for all remains ever strong.
Service and Leadership dinners continue to be successful, with speakers from the worlds of sport, business and charity all inspiring our student leaders. House competition continues to thrive, with this year seeing a really successful House Music competition, our biggest ever sports days and the ever-popular end of year House Quiz.
Financial review
Firstly, I would like to thank the charitable trust that continues to assist our growth path and provides funding which supports the school facilities and advances the education of our pupils.
The year ended with total turnover up by £586,553 or 21%, which mainly reflects the continued pupil gains from the addition of our senior school. Overall pupil recruitment and retention across the school remained very strong, with a year-on-year pupil gain of 58 pupils or 35%. On top of major refurbishments during the year we also invested £184,312 capital expenditure in facilities and added computer equipment, which resulted in an operating loss of -£154,344 for the year compared to the previous year’s net loss of £11,662 (in part due to the planned reduction in donation from an educational charity). Cash at the bank increased by £301,728 to £477,620 (due to fees received in advance). The average monthly number of full and part time employees (including directors) rose from 62 to 88 during the year. The school prepares for the possible challenge of our Parents having to face a future imposition of VAT being added to their school fees. We continue to work on a strategic business plan that provides for continued growth whilst maintaining the family ethos and culture of the school which is so important to us.
Future developments
We moved into the top floor of the main building this year providing new classrooms, common rooms and study spaces for our growing senior school. Year 3 took up residence in a new and better suited classroom and new offices and common rooms were provided for staff in Pre-Prep. We are now hoping to be making use of the Stable block as our new Art Studio by September 24, with draft planning permission in place for further extension. Treetops, our Forest School area, grows apace with new buildings, running water with drainage and fencing built with the help of our older students. Similar progress has been seen in the school gardens. Much work has been done to improve our car parking arrangements and driveway.
Governance
The Board of Governance is now made up of my son, Christopher and I and we are supported by 3 other members. The board meet once a month to look at all aspects of school life. We also have an Advisory board who meet once a term and look at the strategic options open to us so that we continue to grow and meet the needs of our pupils and parents.
Our parent body continues to be very supportive. The Friends of Great Ballard’s (FOGB) raise money to buy additional extras for the school and, for this, we are very grateful.
On behalf of the Chairman
We have audited the financial statements of Great Ballard School Limited (the 'company') for the year ended 31 August 2024 which comprise , the balance sheet and notes to the financial statements, including 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).
Basis for opinion
Conclusions relating to going concern
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the directors' 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 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 directors with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
Other information
Opinions on 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 directors' report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
the directors' report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
Our approach was as follows:
We identified areas of laws and regulations that could reasonably be expected to have a material effect on the financial statements from our general commercial and sector experience, and through discussion with the directors and other management (as required by auditing standards), and discussed with the directors and other management the policies and procedures regarding compliance with laws and regulations;
We identified the following areas as those most likely to have such an effect: health and safety; General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR); fraud; bribery and corruption, school inspections, keeping children safe in education (statutory guidance), DBS checks and employment law. Auditing standards limit the required audit procedures to identify non-compliance with these laws and regulations to enquiry of the Directors and other management and inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any. The identified actual or suspected non-compliance was not sufficiently significant to our audit to result in our response being identified as a key audit matter.
We considered the legal and regulatory frameworks directly applicable to the financial statements reporting framework (FRS 102 and the Companies Act 2006) and the relevant tax compliance regulations in the UK;
We considered the nature of the industry, the control environment and business performance, including the key drivers for management’s remuneration;
We communicated identified laws and regulations throughout our team and remained alert to any indications of non-compliance throughout the audit;
We considered the procedures and controls that the company has established to address risks identified, or that otherwise prevent, deter and detect fraud; and how senior management monitors those programmes and controls.
Based on this understanding we designed our audit procedures to identify non-compliance with such laws and regulations. Where the risk was considered to be higher, we performed audit procedures to address each identified fraud risk. These procedures included: testing manual journals; reviewing the financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation; performing analytical procedures; and enquiring of management, and were designed to provide reasonable assurance that the financial statements were free from fraud or error.
Owing to the inherent limitations of an audit, there is an unavoidable risk that we may not have detected some material misstatements in the financial statements, even though we have properly planned and performed our audit in accordance with auditing standards. For example, the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations (irregularities) is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely the inherently limited procedures required by auditing standards would identify it. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation. We are not responsible for preventing non-compliance and cannot be expected to detect non-compliance with all laws and regulations.
A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: https://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 company's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company's 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 company and the company's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
Great Ballard School Limited is a private company limited by shares incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is Eartham House, Eartham, Chichester, West Sussex, PO18 0LR.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the company. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
As set out in the Directors’ Responsibilities Statement on page 6, in preparing these financial statements the directors are required to prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the company will continue in business. The business of the company is that of operating as an independent school and in satisfaction of this responsibility the directors have reviewed in detail the cash flow projections of the school which are updated weekly, and considered the school’s ability to meet its liabilities as they fall due.
Whilst the school has continued to incur operating losses, we have favorable increases in pupil numbers and fee income which is only expected to increase over the next year helped by the additional senior classes. Therefore the directors are confident that the school will now return to an operating surplus. The increase in operating loss this year was due to the planned reduction in donation from an educational charity. This reduction in support indicates progress towards self-sufficiency.
The school has no bank lending facilities in place and operates entirely from its bank current account to meet its commitments as they fall due. Accordingly, the directors consider it appropriate to prepare these financial statements on a going concern basis.
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 credited or charged to profit or loss.
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.
Financial liabilities and equity instruments are classified according to the substance of the contractual arrangements entered into. An equity instrument is any contract that evidences a residual interest in the assets of the company after deducting all of its liabilities.
Basic financial liabilities, including creditors, bank loans and loans from shareholders that are classified as debt, 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 business 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.
Equity instruments issued by the company are recorded at the proceeds received, net of transaction costs. Dividends payable on equity instruments are recognised as liabilities once they are no longer at the discretion of the company.
Changes in the fair value of derivatives that are designated and qualify as fair value hedges are recognised in profit or loss immediately, together with any changes in the fair value of the hedged asset or liability that are attributable to the hedged risk.
Pensions
The company contributes to pension schemes on behalf of its teaching and non-teaching staff. Contributions are charged to the profit and loss account as they become payable. The funds of the schemes are administered by trustees and are separate from the company.
Deferred tax
Deferred tax is recognised in respect of all timing differences that have originated but not reversed at the balance sheet date where transactions or events have occurred at that date that will result in an obligation to pay more, or a right to pay less or to receive more tax.
Deferred tax is measured on an undiscounted basis at the tax rates that are expected to apply in the previous periods in which timing differences reverse, based on tax rates and laws enacted or substantively enacted at the balance sheet date.
A net deferred tax asset is regarded as recoverable and therefore recognised only to the extent that, on the basis of all available evidence, it can be regarded as more likely than not that there will be suitable taxable profits from which the future reversal of the underlying timing differences can be deducted.
If full provision for deferred tax was made in these accounts, there would be an asset at 31 August 2024 of £262,464 (2023: £250,296).
In the application of the company’s accounting policies, the directors 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.
In the opinion of the directors there are no significant judgements or areas of estimation uncertainty.
The average monthly number of persons (including directors) employed by the company during the year was:
At the reporting end date the company had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases, as follows:
The directors have applied the exemption available within FRS 102 Section 1A from disclosing transactions with related parties which have been undertaken under normal market conditions. The directors reviewed the transactions with related parties and have concluded that there are no transactions requiring disclosure.