FAQs

At a PFC on 5th March we explored the impact of the tax changes being implemented by the government in 2025, and our strategic response. Below are some FAQs in response to some questions we’ve received:

What are the new taxes and costs that have been introduced by the government?

• From January 2025 independent school fees were liable for 20% VAT. This increased cost of school fees is passed directly to the government. 
• From April 2025 independent schools that are charities are no longer eligible to receive charitable rate relief of 80% on Business Rates.
• From April 2025 Employer National Insurance contributions for all businesses increased from 13.8% to 15.0%, and the threshold at which Employer National Insurance is due is now on salaries over £5,000 - previously the threshold was £9,100.
• From April 2025 the National Living Wage increased by 6.73% which is more than the increase that had been indicated of 3.9%.

What is the financial impact for CFS?

In the first full academic year we have estimated that there will be a shortfall in the region of £150k of additional taxes and costs for the school to accommodate.

How will CFS address the additional costs?

We have identified a number of levers that we can introduce over the next four years that will enable the CFS to continue to be sustainable for the 3rd Generation of the School. These will be introduced by means of a four year strategic plan which we have begun to implement and will be further refined over the coming months.

What are the key aspects of the four year strategic plan?

The plan needs to ensure that CFS remains sustainable, and is in a position to prepare its pupils for the life challenges they will face as adults in the changing landscape of the mid-21st century. 

In the 1st year of the plan: 

• We are restructuring classes in the lower end of the school by combining four year groups into two classes.  Year 1 will be combined with Year 2; Year 3 will be combined with Year 4.  This restructuring will reduce costs as some roles will become redundant. It will also provide a more socially integrated environment for pupils to learn in, while still having class sizes smaller than state maintained schools.  See below for further FAQs about these restructuring plans. 
• We are also introducing seven additional pupil holiday days.  This measure will enable us to achieve at least 30% of the shortfall.  There will be a  two week Autumn half term and a slightly longer summer holiday, which will reduce the staffing costs whilst ensuring there continues to be a focussed delivery of the full curriculum. There may be an additional benefit of allowing some in the community to reduce the cost of family holidays.  See below for further FAQs about the changes to the Academic year and HERE for the new Academic Year dates. 
• We will invest further in applying for grants from trust funds and developing strategic partnerships with some key Christian trust funds and churches. This will allow us to continue to invest in the school without taking budget away from the day to day operational costs. 

In the 2nd year of the plan: 

• We will further develop our Lower School offering to provide an educational nursery for pre-school children supported by local authority funding, which will enable greater cost efficiencies.
• We will further collaborate with other Christian schools, who share our Christ-centred values and approach to curriculum, to grow the delivery effectiveness of certain aspects of the curriculum, reduce staff costs and operational overheads.

In the 3rd year of the plan: We will develop our Christ-centred curriculum to provide new delivery channels incorporating online and remote learning services to support home educators and overseas workers. This will provide additional income built on our existing foundations. We are not planning to replace in-person education with online education, although we expect to continue to take advantage of online learning platforms that can enhance the pupils' in-person learning experience, building on what we already know works well.   

In the 4th year of the plan: We will build partnerships with other like-minded schools to establish a Multi-School group or consortium with a common vision and curriculum but located on different campuses, using a range of digital tools to achieve operational and educational economies of scale.  

When will a detailed strategic four year plan be published?

Our four year strategic plan is a work in progress. The principles are described above and these will be further enhanced at regular intervals. As key aspects of the plan are fully established, there will be interim communications to the CFS community well in advance of changes being implemented.

When will the school fees for the new academic year be announced?

You can view the published school fees for the new academic year HERE. Any existing agreed discounts or bursaries will be confirmed individually. 

Year 1 - Year 4 RESTRUCTURING

Which classes are being combined?

We are combining:   

• Year 1 with Year 2 - the class will be known as ‘Infants’
• Year 3 with Year 4 - the class will be known as ‘Juniors’

Will the combined Year 3 / 4 class be part of Lower or Middle School?

The combined Year 3 / 4 Juniors class will be part of Lower School and will form a bridge between Lower and Middle School.  Pupils will experience increased levels of academic stretch and challenge appropriate for Key Stage 2, along with new privileges and responsibilities to support their personal development.   We are excited about the opportunity to establish a class that feels distinctively different from the younger Lower School classes.  Parents of the new ‘Juniors’ class are invited to a drop-in meeting on Monday, 16th June at 9:10 am, where we will share our plans in more detail and invite your input on how we can work together to develop a strong and positive class culture.  

How will you ensure that the children are taught effectively, given the age and ability span?
Each of these classes will have a class teacher (Juniors) or two co-class teachers (Infants) to provide consistency and stability throughout the week. In each combined class, daily English lessons will be delivered by two separate teachers: one teacher will teach the older cohort and the other teacher will teach the younger cohort.  In each combined class, daily Maths lessons will be taught by the class teacher assisted by an experienced TA. The teacher will follow a mixed age scheme of work, which are frequently used in smaller schools to provide age and ability appropriate Maths teaching.  Other subjects will be taught by the class teacher with other teachers or TAs providing additional support as required.  We are confident that this approach will ensure that all children continue to make good progress. 

Are you confident that more able children will not be held back?

As members of the National Association for More Able children in Education, we remain committed to high expectations and challenge for all. The Lower School curriculum is being carefully reviewed to ensure curriculum objectives are sharply focused to enable each child to achieve their highest academic potential, with adaptations that inspire, challenge and support.  We will be extending the range of strategies and tools we use to provide academic stretch. 

Are you confident that children with SEND are not disadvantaged?

Each combined class will benefit from having two experienced teachers each day to teach English and an experienced teacher plus TA to teach Maths. A similar approach would be adopted for subjects or topics where extra classroom support is required.  We will also be extending the range of strategies and tools we use to provide support for SEND pupils. Targeted interventions and/or classroom support will be delivered by a Lower School teaching assistant, with additional help from voluntary workers. One-to-one learning support assistants will continue to work with high-needs pupils.

How will you ensure that every child is taught curriculum content appropriate to their age and stage of development?  

We have started work on adapting the curriculum to ensure that every child is taught content appropriate to their age and developmental stage. Mr Barnes will be supporting this process throughout the remainder of the Summer term and has kindly agreed to offer ongoing advice during the next academic year as we implement the changes next year. Mr Barnes brings extensive experience of teaching mixed-age classes in primary schools, alongside current, evidence-based expertise.  

Can you give an example of how this would work?

In Maths, we are able to immediately switch to a mixed age curriculum that is used with good effect in many small primary schools.  For English, we will continue to deliver a year-group based curriculum (eg Year 3 children will follow the usual Year 3 curriculum and Year 4 children will follow the usual Year 4 curriculum).  In other subjects, we are developing a two-year cycle curriculum or adapting the older cohort curriculum so that it is relevant and accessible to younger pupils, whilst still providing stretch and challenge for the older pupils.

Who will the new class teachers be?

The new class teachers will be:

• Juniors (Year 3 / Year 4) - Mrs Williams
• Infants (Year 1 / Year 2) - Miss Dowrick and Mrs Redondo Smith

How can parents of Lower School children find out more detail about these changes and ask further questions?

We are arranging two drop-in meetings where the class teachers will provide more insight into how the combined classes will operate. Topics will include class locations, curriculum adjustments, teaching methods, homework, lunch and break arrangements, uniform, and other practical matters.  

• Juniors (Year 3 / Year 4) class meeting will be held on Monday, 16th June at 9.10am
• Infants (Year 1 / Year 2) class meeting will be held on Tuesday, 17th June at 2.15pm.  

We expect each meeting to last about an hour.  If you have specific queries you would like us to address during these meetings, please email them in advance to our Parent Liaison Governor, Beth Coppenhall, brc@cfschool.org.uk  

In addition, we will be holding a formal transition meeting for the parents of children moving into Juniors on 30th June (time to be confirmed).

ACADEMIC YEAR CHANGES
 

How will the number of teaching days next year compare with this year?

This year pupils are in school for 177 days. Next year they will attend for 170 days.  

How will you ensure that pupils cover the curriculum adequately with shorter terms?  

We will employ a range of strategies to maintain curriculum breadth and depth.  These include:

• Revised lesson and break schedules in Lower School to maximise learning while preserving essential playtime
• Greater use of flipped learning, where pupils review foundational material at home to free up class time for teacher-led activities that deepen and extend understanding 
• Timetable adjustments in Upper School to allow more time for Maths and Science
• A curriculum mapping review to remove overlap while retaining opportunities for consolidation through a spiral learning approach, where children revisit key topics at intervals over time, with more depth or complexity each time.   
• Extending the use of the ‘God’s Big Story’ planning template to review schemes of work, identifying essential learning outcomes and linking them meaningfully with activities.  
• Some project work may be set for pupils to work on during INSET days.

Why was the two week half-term break put in the Autumn rather than Summer Term?

While we considered a longer Summer half-term to allow for better weather, we recognised that a two-week break later in the year could negatively impact pupils preparing for external exams. Additionally, Autumn is the longest term, so an extended break offers a better balance of work and rest throughout the academic year. Although it was not possible to meet all preferences, our priority was to design a calendar that best supports pupils’ learning and wellbeing.