general meeting 2014 of the lycée . · pdf filemc coll and mr . sébastien ......

Lycée Condorcet - The International French School of Sydney Établissement homologué par le ministère français de l’Éducation nationale

758 Anzac Parade - Maroubra NSW 2035 – Australia Tel : 9344 8692 – Fax : 9349 2626

AG 19 novembre 2015 / AGM 19 November 2015 1/26

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of members of the Lycee Condorcet

held on Saturday 29th November 2014 at 10 am.

Location: The School hall of the Lycee Condorcet,

758 Anzac Parade, Maroubra

Were present:

Members as per attendance sheet annexed hereto.

Board Members:

Mr. Patrice Ribault (President/Chairperson)

Mr. Luc Marin-Curtoud (Vice-President/ Deputy Chairperson)

Mr. Christopher White (Secretary)

Mr. Rémy Coulouvrat (Treasurer)

Mr. Alan Trestour (Building Committee)

Ms. Mona Karam

Ms. Caroline Vallerie

Mr. Sebastien Vallerie

Ms. Suzanne McArthur

Mr. Frank Puligny

Apologies:

Mr. Pascal Guezello

School Administration:

Mr. Courjault (Principal)

Mr. Jean-Pierre Guguen (Financial and Administrative Manager)

Guests:



AG 19 novembre 2015 / AGM 19 November 2015 Page 12/26

Mr Eric Berti (Consul-General of France)

Mr. John Mac Coll

Ms. Marie-Claire Guilbaud (conseiller consulaire)

Mr. Sebastien Vallerie (conseiller consulaire)

1. Welcome:

The President Mr. Patrice Ribault, introduced himself and welcomed members and guests to the Annual

General Meeting 2014 of the Lycée Condorcet.

A special welcome was extended to the special guests: Mr. Eric Berti, Ms. Marie-Claire Guilbaud, Mr. John

Mc Coll and Mr. Sébastien Vallerie. He also welcomed people from the Trust (Ms. Zita Rohr) and members of

the “Conseil d’établissement”.

2. Quorum:

The President confirmed the presence of a quorum and called the meeting, which has been duly convened,

to order at 10:00 am. More than 30 members were present and/or represented.

3. The Secretary’s address/chair:

Mr Christopher White introduced himself as new board member who will act as the secretary of the

meeting. He gave a short explanation on the conduct and procedures of the Annual General Meeting before

opening the official proceedings of the 2014 AGM.

4. Resolution 1: Modification of Agenda

The Secretary proposed a motion that the agenda be amended because since a sufficient number of

candidates have presented themselves, there is no need for election. He moved that item 3 of the agenda of

the meeting – Start of the ongoing election of the School Board - be deleted and amended by adding item 11

- Acceptance of nominees to the School Board.

The motion was seconded by Mr. Patrice Ribault. No one opposed the motion. The resolution was carried

unanimously.

5. Resolution 2: Adoption of Agenda

The President moved that the rest of the agenda be adopted. The motion was seconded by Ms. Mona

Karam. No one opposed the motion. The resolution was carried unanimously.

“The new agenda of the Annual General Meeting as amended by Resolution 1 is confirmed

and adopted.”

6. Resolution 3: Adoption of Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting




A copy of the minutes of the last Annual General Meeting held on 23rd November 2013 was attached to the

Notice of Annual General Meeting 2014, which was sent to all members on 5th November 2014. The

Secretary invited questions from the floor on the minutes; however, no questions were raised.

The President moved that the minutes of the 2013 Annual General Meeting be adopted. The motion was

seconded by Ms. Luc Marin-Curtoud. No one opposed the motion. The resolution was carried unanimously.

“The Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Lycée Condorcet held on 23rd November 2013 are

confirmed and adopted.”

7. THE PRESIDENT’S REPORT:

The President’s Report was given by Mr. Patrice Ribault.

7.1 Discussions and conclusions:

The President reinstated the mission and the role of the School Board and reminded the assembly that the

board is legally and financially responsible for the school. Monitor compliance/legal obligations

Board directors are volunteers and they cannot be representative of any special interest group or body. As a

director of the School Board, one has to abide by the code of ethics and must sign a non-disclosure

agreement. He took the opportunity to thank past and present members of the Board for their hard work.

Complex environment of the school:

The President explained that the school operates in a complex environment; in the eye of the Australian law,

we are a non-profit organisation and as such, this brings a lot of regulations to follow. On the education part,

we have to follow educational guidelines from France due to the AEFE convention/contract. Good

governance is important for the school; meetings and work sessions are crucial for us to work together.

Enrolment progressions:

After quite a big increase in 2012, student enrolments have been steady for the last three years. In 2014, we

started the year with 730 students.

School funding:

The President explained how the school is funded: relying 75% on school fees (parents’ money), 18% by

Australian government grants and 7% by other means.

AEFE contribution to the school:

The President also explained the contribution of the AEFE to the school. Firstly, it is a quality label that

ensures the quality of education through homologation from France. AEFE homologation is a quality seal for

education; it ensures a quality level for every class and guarantees acceptance of our students in their class

level in the French education system, anywhere in the world or in France.

Secondly, 3 persons from the school management team are sent by the AEFE plus we have, 17 resident

teachers co-funded by school and the AEFE.

Objectives of the School Board:




Building a better school is the main goal we have set for the school. We need to:

Support and encourage educational excellence;

The Principal in his report will talk more about it.

Build a sound financial foundation;

The President reminded the assembly that when he came to the Board, there was a strong need to rebuild the financial security of the school. We were focussing too much on enrolments every year; this was not a comfortable situation. Having rebuilt the financial situation of the school, we now have cash in the bank and the peace of mind to plan ahead for a better school.

Keep school fees increases as low as possible;

It is very important for the community to keep the school affordable for everyone. In 2011-2012, we saw quite a big increase in school fees. We have started the budget progress with the idea of having minimal increase for next year.

Keep investing in assets and plan for the future.

There are a lot of old buildings and the maintenance costs are very high. We need to accommodate for new needs of education. So, the President named a few examples of the investments made:

The new canteen project which was financed completely by the AEFE;

The Science labs which are financed by Australian grants, the school, the AEFE and donations

from the Trust;

An IT plan to be deployed over 3 years (renew computers and new IT facilities)

The President explained that the School Board plans to achieve its goals by:

Increasing the attraction of the “maternelle” (The preschool is the entry point for Australians and we

have worked on selling bilingualism);

Increasing student retention;

Sound and strict budget management; and

Planning and prioritising investments and maintenance plans.

Plans for the future

The President will invite the Building Committee (master plan) and Treasurer (financial aspect) to talk about

the future plans of the School Board. Basically, what has been done is the inventory of the existing (creating

a map of the school and utilities maps). We had a lot of surprises and problems when building the new

gymnasium and the canteen.

2014-2015 is a very challenging year for the school as we have to renew the school’s NSW Board of Studies

Accreditation, otherwise we will lose grants. We also need to renegotiate our AEFE convention.

7.2 Questions from the floor:

Parents’ question (Mr. Nicolas Santini): He questioned the President on the definition of “who can be a

board member” and asked to clarify the meaning of “representative of any special interest”.

Answer (Mr. Patrice Ribault): As a board member, you represent the whole school, be a

representative of all parents. We have a very strict policy of conflict of interest; meaning that if you

have a special interest, you should refrain yourself from participating in the debates and votes.




Remark: A board member added that for example, if you are a builder/own a building company and

the school needs to make constructions, you cannot participate in the votes of choosing the building

company [“if you are going to tender”- added Mr. Christopher White].

Answer continued (Mr. Patrice Ribault): The conflict of interest can be perceived but it can also be

effective.

Parent’s remark (Mr. Nicolas Santini): You are telling me that that person cannot participate in debates

and votes but here [extract from constitution] it says that you cannot even be a member.

Answer (Mr. Patrice Ribault): What I understand is that when you become a board member, you are

representative of the whole school/all parents. Directors cannot be representatives of any specific

group. For example, if your child is in “maternelle”, you cannot only look after the “maternelle” to the

detriment of other parts of the school.

Parents’ question (Mr. Nicolas Santini): On a second part, cannot be “elected members of the school

bodies”. Why?

Answer (Mr. Patrice Ribault): Simply because you don’t vote for the same things. For example, if you

are in “comité d’établissement”, you are voting on educational decisions and on some decisions

presented by the Principal, you have to vote for the finance and vote for the decision at the same

time.

Remark (Mr. Christopher White): It will bring a conflict to the Board already.

Parent remark: So you see a conflict between decisions on financial basis and decisions on

educational basis. I believe it is not a conflict.

Answer continued (Mr. Patrice Ribault): The President added that the definition of conflict is very

strict in Australian law. You cannot be part of both.

Remark (Ms. Zita Rohr): The reason why you cannot be “conseil d’établissement” because you are

lobbying for perhaps, an extra teacher or program and as a member of the board, you are looking at

the financial aspect of the decision. That can be perceived as conflict of interest.

Remark (Mr. Christopher White): We are looking at avoiding that conflict of interest.

Parents’ question/remark (Ms. Zita Rohr): She wanted to make a comment to the Assembly on fee

increases. In 2010-2011, the school had an issue with cost of services paid. It was then decided that a

fee increase was necessary. It was agreed afterwards to keep increases minimal; this brought issues like

low bank reserves. Preschool was not covering costs so fee increase was necessary. It is a politically

difficult decision to take.

Answer (Mr. Patrice Ribault): I totally understand that; it is hard to take those decisions as a parent.

Increasing fees is a very hard decision to take on behalf of the school.

Remark (Ms. Zita Rohr): From time to time, we can understand that a fee increase is necessary. It is a

very subjective area. This should be acknowledged.

Parents’ question (Mr. Alex Perpoil): He asked the President if there was a specific reason for the jump in

students’ numbers witnessed in 2012 (from 618 to 696). Was it due to a new company opening in Sydney

for example?




Answer (Mr. Patrice Ribault): The number of kids coming from companies is going down every year.

Basically, the big jump was in primary school.

Remark (Mr. Alan Trestour): My recall was that the jump can be due to the opening of new class in

“maternelle” in 2012.

Parents’ question (Ms. Lina Souki-Schmidt): Is there any strategies for increasing enrolments/retaining

more students?

Answer (Mr. Patrice Ribault): For the moment, we can add new kids but at one point, we will have to

start thinking new buildings (vision 2020), creating new master plan to get to know our maximum

capacity of students. The school is naturally growing: we have around 46 student enrolments in Petite

Section every year and the “Terminale” is about 26 each year. The retention rate is very important;

keepings kids from “maternelle” to high school is our aim. Ideal size is 4 classes per primary level;

that’s the maximum the school can cope with. Our main strategy is student retention.

Parents’ question (Ms. Lina Souki-Schmidt): Capacity-wise, where are we at the moment?

Answer (Mr. Patrice Ribault): We are close to 80-85% occupation rate but the problem is not in the

classes. The real issue is more outside the classrooms (problems in playgrounds, movement of

students in "maternelle” with older students). The situation is not satisfactory.

Parents’ question (Mr. Nicolas Santini): When we would have reached 100% capacity, are we at risk to

see a big increase in school fees like in 2012 in order to finance the building or is it going to be smooth?

Answer (Mr. Patrice Ribault): We have building reserves for the master plan to come. Planning ahead

is important. We are working on grants from the NSW government (they can finance until 50% of the

project like the science labs). Another solution can be moving up the waiting lists in “maternelle” to

primary classes instead of opening new classes. The actual maximum number of students in the

primary classes is 25 (informal); we do not want to exceed this maximum. Secondary school is

different.

Parents’ question (Mr. Alban Spella-Barberet): Can a teacher’s partner become a board member?

Answer (Mr. Patrice Ribault): In the constitution, it does not say he/she cannot but he fears a conflict

of interest. We never discussed that possibility before.

Remark: Is it like a member of administration cannot become a board member?

Answer (Mr. Patrice Ribault): There is nothing written on that. The constitution makes everyone equal

in being a board member but there could be perceived conflict of interest if you are a teacher’s

partner.

Remark (Mr. Nicolas Santini): It is just like we discussed before; you just do not vote when there is a

conflict of interest and still be a member.

Remarks: A few persons from the assembly replied that you would just never vote in that case.

Answer continued (Mr. Patrice Ribault): The idea of being a board member is being able to

participate to the maximum number of work sessions. We take decisions that involve change in the

school, e.g. opening of new classes, one less teacher per level: this can involve a conflict of interest.

Another problem is access to confidentiality.




7.3 Resolution 4: Approval of President’s Report

The Secretary moved that the President’s Report be adopted. The motion was seconded by Mr. Luc Marin-

Curtoud. No one opposed. The motion was carried unanimously.

“The President’s Report is confirmed and adopted.”

8. THE PRINCIPAL’S REPORT:

The Principal’s Report was given by Mr. Philippe Courjault, Principal of the Lycee Condorcet.


The Principal also talked about the specific environment of the school. He mentioned the growth in the

number of students in the AEFE network especially in Asia-Pacific region and the increase in the demand for

French education in Australia (school in Canberra, projects in Perth, Brisbane and Melbourne).

Important changes to the orientation of the school

There is an important strategic evolution of French schools around the world. The new strategic orientation

plan of the AEFE voted in June.

Our school must meet two registrations/homologations:

Accreditation with the French government (most important); and

Registration with the NSW Board of Studies. The latter is fundamental too: firstly, for financial

reasons (grants) and secondly, for recognition of our education by the Australian authorities,

meaning, we can enrol non-French students.

Enrolments:

Enrolments have not staggered this year. More than 50 new students have been enrolled this year.

Bilingualism at school:

The Principal gave the reasoning behind the choice of the school’s direction towards bilingualism. The

consequences are:

It is an opportunity to review the educational direction/strategic plan of the school ;

The 2013 changes in “maternelle” are very important and have consequences. The bilingualism we want to implement relies heavily on English-French teaching parity in Petite and Moyenne Section. « Le bilinguisme qu’on va développer repose sur la PS et la MS avec enseignement à parité anglais-français. »

It helps to mobilise human skills : « Mobiliser les compétences » ;

Our teachers are French trained and Australian trained; they do not teach in the same manner.

The school recruits teachers that are not only English teachers but we chose to recruit Australian

primary teachers, meaning that they can teach other subjects like maths, history, etc. It is

important that we teach English in the same manner that we teach French. For example: through

maths, geography.

Developing the school from the bottom is an important element in the choice of bilingualism. “On

développe le lycée par le bas.”

Network of the school:




The Principal states that the school has a strong network of contacts of very high quality. Principal reminded

everyone that the school maintains good relations with bodies like the French Embassy, the French

Consulate, FACCI, etc. As such, we are informed of events and special visits (A few examples: French Film

Festival, Nils Ferrand and Lionel Jospin’s visit, etc). The students benefit a lot from this. He also took the

opportunity to thank Mr. McColl for his contributions to the school

Main ambitions of the school:

Secure and promote student’s achievements : « Valoriser le parcours des élèves » ;

Our students perform very well with great results and the school is very modest on those results. We need to communicate, promote and encourage the students more. Our courses are very challenging. An application for a European section at the school is in progress.

Develop the certifications;

Most of us are bilingual but there is no certification to prove it. Hence, we are working with Cambridge University towards a Certificate of Advanced English for “Première” and “Terminale” students; this corresponds more to the European framework.

Develop artistic, cultural and sports activities;

Work on harassment and bullying;

Focus on career advising: « voir les politiques d’orientation »

Information Technology :

The board has made a big investment on the network structure and the technology needs to get into classes. We need to mobilise/reinforce the three following resources in order to lead this project:

The pedagogy: We need to work on programs, our evaluation methods, etc;

Improve communication; and

Human resources: The Principal reminded that we cannot have success without proper

human resources.

Parents will be invited to participate in a survey soon to give their opinion on the project.

Special thanks:

The Principal finished his report by expressing how proud he was to be the principal of the Lycée Condorcet. He thanked all the staff, teaching as well as non-teaching, for their commitment. He showed appreciation towards the students for their smiles that give sense to our actions. Mr Courjault also thanked the parents for their trust and the quality of work that they achieve together. 8.2 Questions from the floor:

Parents’ question (Ms. Katia de Piccoli): She questioned the Principal on the equivalencies of the HSC and

the Baccalaureate. What is being done to equate those qualifications? Families that are here on long

term are concerned about this.

Answer (Mr. Philippe Courjault): There is absolutely no problem for our students to access Australian

universities whatever the diploma they obtain. There are 2 ways to access university throughout the

world: either you have worked very well in “Seconde, Première and Terminale” (you have a quality

application) or by the results that you obtain at the final exams. Depending on the results, you get

ranked and this rank allows students to access universities.




Remark (Ms. Katia de Piccoli): I am not talking about access but more about equation/equivalency. From my understanding, they are not equivalent; there is a problem of recognition. What are we doing to match those levels? Answer continued (Mr. Philippe Courjault): 40% of our students receive an ATAR of 99 or more. I don’t

understand where is the problem? They work hard and that lead them to universities. 55% get

“Mention Très Bien”. The problem is more for 2 types of students: those who are not in the 95% that

get awards. We need to support these fragile students. They are good in English so, if we build up on

items that will bring them more marks. It is more what we are doing for them and not the scale that

is at fault; we need to work on making our students competitive within that scale. We cannot lower

our exigencies by fighting the scale. When we were working on the Advanced English certificate,

some teachers argued that it was harder than the IELTS, so what?

Parents’ question (Mr. Alban Spella-Barberet): Do you see benefit in pedagogical projects and

interactions with the school next door?

Answer (Mr. Philippe Courjault): That is something I didn’t talk about. We are in consultation often; we are working together on the Chess project (mixed teams of both schools competing as one for the chess competition in Sydney). That’s an example of one project we run together.

Parents’ question (Ms. Lina Souki-Schmidt): What is the school’s level compared to other schools? Do we

keep track?

Answer (Mr. Philippe Courjault): The only benchmark we have is the NAPLAN results. NAPLAN does not assess everything plus not every school publishes their results. So we have to be careful what it means. We have financial benchmark done by the AIS but we do not have official educational benchmarks. Remark (Ms. Lina Souki-Schmidt): The cultural approach is different in Australian school. Other schools market themselves very well. So what are the marketing strategies of the school? Answer continued (Mr. Philippe Courjault): The only benchmark which we are sure of is the AEFE classification. We know where we stand in the AEFE network and the Asia-Pacific region. For marketing, I agree with you we do not do enough. It has not been a concern until now as the school is part of history, has reputations. We are aware of the problem.

Parents’ question (Mr. Nicolas Santini): When you talked about renewing our registration with the Board

of Studies, will that trigger grants for the Year 11 and 12? Is it linked completely to what we teach?

Answer (Mr. Philippe Courjault): Yes. Request to include Year 11 and 12 classes in the registration has already been made to the Board of Studies. Until now, we only had registration for kindergarten to Year 10. Provisional registration for “Premiere, Terminale” and IB classes has been obtained this year and in March 2015, the renewal of the registration will be done for kindergarten to year 12. This is very important because it gives us the right to enrol students who are not French.

Parents’ question (Ms. Zita Rohr): She explained that her children have been studying at the school and

are now enrolled in good universities over the world. She asked the Principal whether the IB certificate

was still available.

Answer (Mr. Philippe Courjault): The Principal stressed on the fact that one should not confuse between the IB certificate and the IB Diploma as the certificate is no longer available. The IB certificate is not recognised by the European Language Framework; this is important as it proves the level of English. The IB Diploma is recognised as a proof of level of English. Two years ago,




our students applied to Sydney University with the IB certificate, they were not enrolled. I called there to find out that the certificate was not accepted as per enrolment terms on the university website.

Parent’s question (Ms. Zita Rohr): I am not talking about French students doing the Baccalaureate but

more English students doing the French Bac? What does the school provides for this?

Answer (Mr. Philippe Courjault): The Advanced English certificate from Cambridge University will be used. Remark (Ms. Zita Rohr): She argued that the Advanced English certificate is not appropriate for native English speakers: they get 20/20. Answer continued (Mr. Philippe Courjault): In the French Bac, we can teach English at a C2 level, there is no problem. You can have challenging literature program in the French program. Remark (Ms. Zita Rohr): The issue is more for Australian students who are getting problems for enrolling into Australian universities. Answer (Mr. Philippe Courjault): The Advanced English certificate is recognised by most universities: there is only three exceptions: James Cook University Catholic University (but things are on the way for these two), and New England University. In 2011, things have changed: not only has the IELTS been accepted but also the Advanced English certificate. We are going to be an examination centre for it. From next year onwards, every student in “Première” will sit for the Advanced English certificate. We will meet with parents soon on the matter.

8.3 Resolution 5: Approval of Principal’s Report

The Secretary closed the questions session and moved that the Principal’s Report be adopted. The motion

was seconded by Mr. Patrice Ribault. No one opposed the motion; it was carried unanimously.

“The Principal’s report is confirmed and adopted.”

9. THE BUILDING COMMITTEE’S REPORT:

The Building Committee report was given by Mr. Alan Trestour.


Mr. Alan Trestour introduced himself as new board member and chair of the Building Committee. He

thanked the management team and the Board members for their work and commitment before explaining

the main goal of the Building Committee which is to build a safe and modern infrastructure for the school

before presenting the projects conducted this year by the Building Committee.

Major projects of the committee:

Refurbishing of science labs;

Refurbishing of first floor classrooms; the secondary classrooms were converted in new classes for

the primary. The idea is to reserve this area/building for the preschool.

Extension of new 4 classes for the secondary;

Developing a campus master plan;

The campus Master Plan:

Mr. Trestour stressed on the importance to have a master plan because of the extensive size of the school

site. The school found a number of issues and did not know where the pipe lines, gas lines where they were.




The master plan will help to understand how the site is. An analysis of the site has been done with surveyors

and consultants.

Stages of the Master Plan:

Asset control:

Inventories on the conditions of assets were done in order to achieve a better control of the assets. Proper maintenance plan can thus be devised

Revision of the maintenance budget and asset control;

It is important to maintain our assets. The school comprises of a large site with lots of buildings to

maintain. Long term finance plan for these capital costs is important. Greater control of our assets

achieved through inventories and maintenance plan.

Mapping of in ground and out of ground services;

The above ground services (e.g. electricity) were mapped and a few reports were produced with

surveyors.

Traffic assessment:

Traffic impact is also an important element of the master plan. Parents will soon have to respond to

a survey. Impacts in terms of internal parking and traffic around the school will be assessed.

Consultation with external bodies:

Consultation with the town planners/Randwick Council is also crucial as they may have plans that

can affect us. We need to sit together and discuss our master plan with the authorities.

Costs of the master plan:

We have to see if the master plan is achievable from a cost perspective. We want to grow

sustainably but we do not want to grow the rates of the school. As the President said, school fees

cannot increase as a result of poor planning.

Information sessions:

At the end of February, work sessions with parents and other stakeholders will be organised. We will have the opportunity to put our ideas together and give our opinions on the master plan.

Planning ahead:

We need to see what our capital works program will be for the next 10 - 15 years and plan

sustainably in consequence.

Budget for the Master Plan:

The chairperson of the Building Committee disclosed the budget used to date for the Campus Master Plan:

$80,000: This is a lot of money but we are talking about assets worth between $20 to 30 millions. This

money has been used to conduct services searches, dilapidation reports, building assessments, pay

engineers, traffic planners, consultants and architectural advices and mapping of services.

Other projects:

Last year, Patrice mentioned the new toilet blocks for the primary. The challenge was their position

and we also needed to provide disability access. Unfortunately, we put in a grant application ($1.2 -

1.5 millions for funding the project), the AIS rejected the plan and did not grant the money for the

project. They did not understand and see the school having an immediate and urgent need for the

project.




Consolidation of “maternelle” classes in Block A: There has been a relocation of classes from Block A

to Block E which will result in a complete segregation of students of “maternelle” and secondary.

The zebra crossing application has been approved. Aus grid will be coming soon to finalise that. Mr.

Trestour thanked the parents for their involvement as they have been putting pressure on the

Randwick Council to approve the project.

Traffic surveys and consultations: He mentioned the discrepancies with signage (the P5 to P10

signage like the neighbouring school) and said that discussions with the Council are in progress on

the matter. There are also other initiatives in progress: increasing the number of parking spots,

optimisation of the location of the bus stop resulting into more parking spaces. The traffic

consultants will be giving their report next month.


Parents’ question (Mr. Santini): What happened to the previous 2013 Master Plan? Is it obsolete?

Answer (Mr. Alan Trestour): There has been a bit of confusion: what has been published before was a

draft skeleton of what a master plan can be for the school. It was never a formally endorsed or

completed document that is why it was removed from the website. I invite the President to confirm

that since I was not on the board at that time.

Remark (Mr. Patrice Ribault): The President added that in 2013, we were in the process of choosing a

new architect company, that’s when this plan was done. It was their vision of the school. You need to

continue the life of the school while building on the master plan.

Parents’ question (Mr. Alex Perpoil): Is the school looking into projects like find ecological ways to have

natural light, save electricity, etc?

Answer (Mr. Alan Trestour): We definitely employ consultants that are conversant in eco-friendly building

techniques. It is our concern; we want sustainability in the choice of material we use.

9.3 Resolution 6: Approval of the Building Committee’s Report.

The Secretary closed the questions session and moved that the building Committee’s Report be adopted.

The motion was seconded by Ms. Mona Karam. No one opposed the motion; it was carried unanimously.

“The Building Committee’s report is confirmed and adopted.”

10. THE TREASURER’S REPORT:

The Treasurer’s Report and the financial statements for the year ended 30th June 2013 were presented by

Mr. Rémy Coulouvrat.

A copy of the financial statements for the year ending 30th June 2013 was attached to the Notice of Annual

General Meeting 2014, which was sent to all members on 5th November 2014.


The treasurer summarised the statements of accounts of the Lycée Condorcet. The main points of his report

are:

Revenues remained steady over the year;




We had a small increase of 1%, almost flat. The drivers of this result are firstly, the school fees that have seen a small increase this year. Secondly, we have lower government grants because of our mix of students; we do not receive grants for “maternelle” and the IB, Year 11 and 12. We also got a one-off insurance payback for the floor of the hall (almost $100,000).

Expenses came down by almost $200,000.

This was mainly due to some lower personal and wages costs. The maintenance costs are lower. All that brings our operative result to a flat result for the year.

Cash reserves:

This year, we succeeded in putting aside almost $1 million. Now, our reserves have gone from $ 3 to 4 millions.

There is reasonable ground to believe that the company will be able to pay its debts as and when they

become due and payable;

Indicators show that our school is in a good position compared to other school of similar size. You

have received the accounts with all the detailed figures in the invitation sent by email. We are in a

capacity to repay our current debts and our working capital is increasing.

Profits:

As at date, budget shows a profit of $300, 000.

Income structure of the school:

As mentioned by the President in his report, 75 % of our income sources from school fees, 14 %

from grants (from Commonwealth and NSW government), 5 % from canteen income and the rest

from interests from the bank and other miscellaneous means.

Student’s enrolment: Student numbers are important for us. Enrolments have doubled over 10 years. In June 2014, we

were at 705 students and now at 732. The growth has been more marked in preschool.

Expenses:

The employees’ wages and personal costs are the main expenses of the school (66% of the school’s

revenues). This is much better than other schools which are at around 70% of their revenues. This

also includes the AEFE contributions for the resident teachers and staff.

Key Performance Indicators: The Treasurer presented some KPIs to highlight that our school is in a good position compared to other

schools. This shows how we stand comparing to other schools of similar size and location. He used the 2013

results as indicators.

Working capital:

It describes our capacity to repay our current debts. The working capital has increased. This is simply

due to the increase in the cash reserves this year.

Total debt:

We have clearly improved.

Current income per student:

We are cheaper than other schools while our resources are better. It is good value for money.


Parents’ question (Mr. Nicolas Santini): I don’t understand why we request school fees in advance in the

semester unlike other schools that charge their fees when school starts and not before?




Answer (Mr. Remy Coulouvrat): We ask payment roughly two weeks before school starts; I believe that it

is very fair.

Remark (Ms. Zita Rohr): We changed the system because we had issues before and the school had bad

debts. We had to re-educate the mentality of the school on this respect.

Answer continued (Mr. Remy Coulouvrat): You always have the option of paying monthly with School

Plan. It is your choice, your budget.

Parents’ question (Mr. Nicolas Santini): I don’t understand why pressure is put on parents before school

starts?

Remark (Ms. Zita Rohr): The cash reserves of the school were very low before; the company was having

issues. I would like to thank the board members for lifting the school’s budget.

Answer continued (Mr. Remy Coulouvrat): The school has around 90 persons on its payroll, meaning that

the school has expenses of around $700,000 per month.

Parents’ question (Ms. Lina Souki-Schmidt): Given the number of students is increasing, how does the

school do to cut costs?

Answer (Mr. Remy Coulouvrat): Compared to the other years, this may mean that we have been more efficient.

Parents’ question (Mr. Nicolas Santini): From what I understood we will receive government grants for

the Year 11 and Year 12 in 2016. Does that mean at that point the school fees will drop for these levels?

Answer (Mr. Remy Coulouvrat): That’s a good point. Next year in July, we are considering a drop in

school fees as we will receive grants for these classes. We are now waiting to see the amount of

grants received before deciding how much we can decrease the school fees.

Parents’ question (Mr. Nicolas Santini): What triggered the government grants for Year 11 and Year 12?

Did we do something new?

Answer (Mr. Patrice Ribault): Yes. We asked for registration of year 11 and 12. These two levels were

not registered with the Board of Studies before.

Parents’ question (Mr. Nicolas Santini): Why?

Answer (Mr. Patrice Ribault): Because by law, we were not allowed to do HSC and it was not

compulsory.

10.3 Resolution 7: Approval of the 2013-2014 Financial Accounts.

The secretary asked the floor for further questions. Since there was no further question, he moved to

approve the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 audited financial statements. The motion was seconded by Ms.

Mona Karam. No one opposed or abstained from the motion so, it was carried unanimously.

“The 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 Audited Financial Statements of the Lycee Condorcet are adopted

and confirmed.”

11. THE AUDIT COMMITTEE’S REPORT:




The secretary asked the floor if they had further questions. Since there was no further question, he invited

Ms. Caroline Vallerie as Chair of the Audit Committee to give her report.


Ms. Caroline Vallerie gave a quick update on the Committee and reinstated the main objectives of the

committee which are:

Making a healthy and safe environment to the school:

School must be safe for everyone, students and staff. A Work Health and Safety audit has been conducted in this respect.

Making the school financially sustainable

This means checking if the school is adequately funded. An audit of the school’s financial processes was done by the AIS in January 2014 and the outcome was that the school was well managed; and

Promoting environmental awareness.

We made a sustainability audit to better understand the current situation of the school. Also, it will help us to see where we position ourselves compared to other schools environmentally speaking.

11.2 Resolution 8: Approval of the Audit Committee’s Report.

The secretary asked the floor for further questions. Since there was no further question, he moved to adopt

the Audit Committee Report. The motion was seconded by Mr. Alan Trestour. No one opposed or abstained

from the motion so, it was carried unanimously.

“The Audit Committee Report are adopted and confirmed.”


Parents’ question (Mr. Nicolas Santini): Do we have an advertisement budget?

Answer (Mr. Patrice Ribault): Yes. We did a few actions like increasing the Google ratings by buying names in Google. We also tried advertising in newspapers; it is very expensive and we do not get value for money. We are also working on the new position of the administration towards communication. What we have to understand is that the school had only 300 kids five years ago and the structure has to be changed too.

Parents’ comment/remark (Ms. Katia de Piccoli): My school website rates schools and provides some

space for advertising on their website.

Answer (Mr. Patrice Ribault): It is a government site. It is based on data from the NAPLAN and financial information we send them. We have to keep in mind that the school uses a different school calendar and financial year compared to other schools. Although we do the NAPLAN tests here, we do not prepare our students exclusively for the NAPLAN. It should be said that our students do perform well. Remark (Ms. Lina Souki-Schmidt): Even if you call there, people at the NAPLAN will tell you that it is not important.

12. Special guests’ speeches:

The secretary asked the floor if they had further questions. Since there was no further question, he invited

the following guests to make their speech:

Mr John Mac Coll;




Ms. Marie-Claire Guilbaud; and

Mr. Sébastien Vallerie

13. Resolution 9: Acceptance of nominees to the School Board

Ms. Suzanne McArthur, board member moved that the following list of members be approved as nominees

to the Board:

Mr. Luc Marin-Curtoud;

Mr. Frank Puligny;

Mr. Alan Trestour; and

Mr. Christopher White.

The motion was seconded by Ms. Mona Karam. As no objection was raised, the resolution was carried

unanimously.

“The following nominees to the School Board are confirmed and validated.

- Mr. Luc Marin-Curtoud;

- Mr. Frank Puligny;

- Mr. Alan Trestour; and

- Mr. Christopher White.”

14. Closing:

There being no further matters to discuss, the President thanked the assembly for their presence and

declared the 2014 Annual General Meeting of the Lycee Condorcet adjourned at 12.30pm.

general meeting 2014 of the lycée . · pdf filemc coll and mr . sébastien ......

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