Revenue account
The School receives income from the DfE via the Local Authority for pupils aged from 11 to 16. The amount is based on the number of pupils and a fixed amount per pupil, but further subject to some minor adjustments to the total.
The School receives funding for students in the Sixth Form based on a different methodology, but again essentially determined on the basis of the number of students in Year 12 and Year 13.
The third stream of Government funding is provided to support particular groups, specifically those who qualify for Pupil Premium or who have additional educational needs. The amount of money from this stream can vary quite significantly from year-to-year depending on the actual cohort of pupils at the School. This money is ring-fenced to be used in support of those pupils and a separate explanation of how that money has been spent is provided each year on the School’s website.
Capital account
Ermysted’s position is complicated slightly by the fact that it is a Voluntary-Aided Foundation School. As a consequence the Governors (the School) are usually required to contribute 10% of the Capital Funding allocated from the School’s revenue budget or from its reserves.
This Voluntary-Aided status has also meant that for many years, such money has been transferred by DfE to the Foundation and drawn down by the School as and when required largely to support maintenance and repairs.
The summary information provided distinguishes between the annual allowance provided for maintenance and repairs and project specific funding awarded for particular projects as a result of bids submitted to the DfE and the Local Authority.
Financial reserves
The School has recovered from a challenging financial position a few years ago which had forecast a cumulative deficit and has accumulated money in its reserves in the last few years through careful control of costs and prudent financial management, for example, reducing the number of FTE Teaching Staff, and renegotiating external contracts.
The Governing Board believes that it is prudent to maintain a level of financial reserves in the order of £300,000 to £400,000 against the need for unforeseen capital expenditure or to contribute towards significant future investment.