FAIRFIELD P N E U SCHOOL BACKWELL LIMITED

Registered charity 310215 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as FAIRFIELD SCHOOL

Fairfield PNEU School is a day, co-educational, independent school offering education for children from 3 to 11+. It provides a broad, liberal education closely informed by the National Curriculum and within a Christian environment which aims to develop to the full the capabilities of each individual child.

Objects

TO ADVANCE EDUCATION BY CARRYING ON IN GREAT BRITAIN A SCHOOL OR SCHOOLS

Area of benefit: NOT DEFINED

The charity’s charitable objects and area of benefit, quoted from its governing document as held on the Charity Commission register.

Causes: Education/training · website · Get email alerts

Latest income

£1.3m

Latest spending

£1.3m

Registered

1964

Accounts read

FY2024

Financial health, per its FY2024 accounts

The accounts state that the school reported a surplus of £68,195 for the year with unrestricted reserves of £1.65m. However, the trustees announced the school's closure at the end of the 2024-25 academic year due to an unsustainable financial forecast driven by declining pupil recruitment and rising costs.

Automated summary of the FY2024 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Highest-paid employee band: more than £60,000 — below the median for charities its size (£70k)

“One employee received emoluments in excess of £60,000 (2023: one).” — page 21

Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Employees paid over £60,000: 1

“One employee received emoluments in excess of £60,000 (2023: one).” — page 21

Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Going concern: material uncertainty disclosed

“As stated in note 1, there are events or conditions that indicate that a material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern.” — page 10

Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Related-party transaction: Three governors (Mr E Falconer, Mr R Hoy and Mr T Morgan) had children educated at the school between 1 September 2023 and 31 August 2024). All governors pay full fees for their children’s education at the school subject to the benefit of any discounts, scholarships and bursaries for which they are eligible and which are potentially available to all parents.

“Three governors (Mr E Falconer, Mr R Hoy and Mr T Morgan) had children educated at the school between 1 September 2023 and 31 August 2024). All governors pay full fees for their children’s education at the school subject to the benefit of any discounts, scholarships and bursaries for which they are eligible and which are potentially available to all parents.” — page 7

Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Corrigan Accountants Limited. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

Going concern: no going-concern doubt (FY2023) → material uncertainty (FY2024).

Comparing this charity’s FY2023 and FY2024 accounts as analysed by this site.

Policies the charity declares

In its annual return the charity told the Commission that it has the policies listed below. This is self-declared: it is not verified by the Commission or by this site, and it is not evidence of how a policy works in practice.

Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
Campaigns and political activity policy and procedures
Complaints handling
Complaints policy and procedures
Conflicting interests
Financial reserves policy and procedures
Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
Internal risk management policy and procedures
Investing charity funds policy and procedures
Investment
Paying staff
Risk management
Safeguarding policy and procedures
Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
Social media policy and procedures
Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
Trustee expenses policy and procedures
Volunteer management

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/08/2024)

Total income

£1.3m

Total spending

£1.3m

Reserves (reported)

£1.7m

Employees

Reported reserves equal ~15.6 months of spending — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (98% of income) — components as reported reconcile to the return’s total income; not from the accounts narrative.

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 0.0% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).

Trustees · trustee networks

Edward Falconer
Melissa Stimson
Philip Morrison
RYAN MICHAEL DAVIES
Rhys Hoy
SARAH BYLES
Timothy Paul Morgan

Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).

Operates in: North Somerset

Income and spending

Financial year end	Income	Spending
31/08/2024	£1.3m	£1.3m
31/08/2023	£1.2m	£1.2m
31/08/2022	£1.1m	£1.0m
31/08/2021	£987k	£927k
31/08/2020	£911k	£990k

Common questions

Is FAIRFIELD P N E U SCHOOL BACKWELL LIMITED financially healthy?

Per its FY2024 accounts: The accounts state that the school reported a surplus of £68,195 for the year with unrestricted reserves of £1.65m. However, the trustees announced the school's closure at the end of the 2024-25 academic year due to an unsustainable financial forecast driven by declining pupil recruitment and rising costs. Its FY2024 accounts were audited by Corrigan Accountants Limited.

What does the highest-paid employee of FAIRFIELD P N E U SCHOOL BACKWELL LIMITED earn?

Per its FY2024 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the more than £60,000 band, and 1 employees earned over £60,000.

Who funds FAIRFIELD P N E U SCHOOL BACKWELL LIMITED?

Funders whose own accounts filings name FAIRFIELD P N E U SCHOOL BACKWELL LIMITED as a grant recipient include HEREFORDSHIRE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION.

Known funders

Grants to this charity found in funders’ own accounts filings.

Funder	Year	Amount	Purpose (as stated by the funder)
HEREFORDSHIRE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION	FY2025	£1k

Funders of similar charities

Funders whose accounts show grants to charities similar to this one (and no recorded grant to this charity) — a starting list for fundraisers.

Funder	Similar charities funded	Amount to them
THE WELLINGTON SCHOOL FOUNDATION	1	£454k
THE COPPING JOYCE FOUNDATION	1	£173k
THE JMCMRJ SORRELL FOUNDATION	1	£25k
THE HENDON FAMILIES SYNAGOGUE LIMITED	1	£16k
THE LESLIE SMITH FOUNDATION	1	£6k
THE W H SMITH GROUP CHARITABLE TRUST	1	£1k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with FAIRLEY HOUSE SCHOOL.

FAIRLEY HOUSE SCHOOL income £8.8m
FAIRFIELD FARM TRUST income £6.2m
FAIRFIELD RESIDENTIAL HOME income £2.8m
SCHOOL HOUSE BRACKNELL CHILDCARE TRUST LTD income £403k
WELLINGTON SCHOOL 1837 income £18.3m
FAIRWAYS PRE-SCHOOL PLAYGROUP income £236k

Side by side with its peers

Charity	Income	Top pay band	Staff >£60k	Reserves vs policy	Fundraising cost	Going concern
FAIRFIELD P N E U SCHOOL BACKWELL LIMITED	£1.3m	more than £60,000	1	unclear	—	material uncertainty
FAIRLEY HOUSE SCHOOL FY2025	£8.8m	£150,001 - £160,000	—	unclear	—	no doubt
FAIRFIELD FARM TRUST FY2025	£6.2m	unclear	4	above	—	no doubt
FAIRFIELD RESIDENTIAL HOME FY2025	£2.8m	more than £60,000	1	unclear	—	no doubt
SCHOOL HOUSE BRACKNELL CHILDCARE TRUST LTD FY2025	£403k	—	0	unclear	—	no doubt
WELLINGTON SCHOOL 1837 FY2025	£18.3m	—	—	below	—	no doubt

Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.