TRULL SAPLINGS PRESCHOOL (REGISTERED CHARITY NO: 1018745) TRUSTEES REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 20 AUGUST 2021
The trustees present their report of the charity for the year ended 20 August 2021.
Address:
The Charity operates from:
Trull Church Community Centre Church Road Trull Taunton TA3 7JZ
Public benefit:
The Trustees confirm that they have complied with section 17(5) of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission.
Structure, governance and management
Trull Saplings Preschool is an unincorporated charitable association and is governed by its constitution dated 5 October 1981 and as amended on 13 October 2011 and 27 June 2018.
All the business of the charity is conducted in accordance with its governing document, along with the rules incorporated within this document.
The Trustees who have held office since the AGM in November 2020 are:
K Morey M J Cahill E McElwaine C Gibbons J Pollard K Gapper J Durnell A Temblett M Bodman A Duncan A Martin C Martin L Powers
The overall management and control of the Preschool rests with the individual members of the Preschool’s management committee who are also the Trustees of the Preschool.
The Board of Trustees must consist of Chairperson, Treasurer and Secretary together with not less than 2 and not more than 9 other elected members, with up to a further 3 co-opted members. Co-opted members can be brought in at any point during the academic year to ensure continuity of governance. Not less than 60'/o of the Trustees shall be Family Members (i.e. individuals who are a parent or guardian of a child attending any group run by the Preschool.
Members of the Preschool can put themselves forward for election to the Committee at the Annual General Meeting. Committee members are elected for a period of one year and must retire at the next
Annual General Meeting but can stand for re-election unless they have already served on the Committee in any capacity for ten consecutive years.
Objectives and activities:
The objective of the Charity is to advance the education of children below compulsory school age by:
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Providing a safe and satisfying group play, in which parents have a right to take part;
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Encouraging other charitable activities through which parents may help the children;
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Furthering the aims of the Pre-school Learning Alliance
The charity aims to provide a safe, secure and stimulating environment, offering a range of fun and educating activities within a happy atmosphere.
Achievements and performance:
During the year the preschool advanced its objectives in the following ways:
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As part of our planned curriculum a wide range of toys and equipment have been available to enable the children to learn through play
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Invested in staff training including provision of a blended paediatric first aid course for 4 staff members.
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We have continued to maintain strong links with Trull Primary school,
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We continue to build upon the hard work that awarded the Pre-School an Ofsted 'Good’ in its last inspection;
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As part of our ongoing to response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the pre-school continued to operate at a reduced capacity throughout the year ending 20 August 2021 in order to protect the wellbeing of our staff and children with a “one setting” rule being in place for the whole year. Whilst stringent cleaning measures remain in place and we continue with other changes to our systems and procedures, the “one setting” rule has been relaxed for the start of the 2021/22 academic year. This will allow the pre-school to operate at more normal levels again and we are excited to have started the year with a record number of students.
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Invested in staff training including provision of a blended paediatric first aid course for 4 staff members.
The Board of Trustees would like to thank all of the staff for their commitment and contribution made throughout this challenging 12 month period and give a special mention to two individuals who left the pre-school this year.
Our Business Manager, Katy Morey, resigned due to focus on increasing demands within her other roles outside of the pre-school. Katy has worked tirelessly in her time with the pre-school and we are all incredibly grateful for her efforts. We are delighted to have found a suitable replacement and welcomed Louise Duffy to the team as our new Business Manager in June.
Karen Walkman also retired after a 20+ year association with the pre-school. Karen is remembered with great fondness by former students, their parents and her colleagues and we wish her a happy and healthy retirement.
Financial review:
The year ending 20 August 2021 was a challenging year for the preschool due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the fact that we continued to operate at a reduced capacity.
This year, funding totalling £54,397 (2020 - £66,109) was received from Somerset County Council in respect of the preschool services provided to the community. Fees from parents, other fundraising activities and a small amount of interest contributed additional income of £16,932 (2018 - £16,974),
which along with COVID-19 grants of £6,072 (2020 - £5,500) brings total income to for the year to £77,401 (2020 - £88,583).
The COVID-19 grants received from Somerset County Council totalling £6,072 relate to the grants given to all Early Years Providers within Somerset.
Our fundraising ability has been restricted for the last two years by the Covid-19 pandemic and inability to hold many of our usual fundraising events but an amount of £701 was raised through activities we could do with the children including sponsored pancakes and easter bonnet sales. We are looking forward to being able to do more fundraising events now that the Covid-19 restrictions have been relaxed.
The largest expense in the year was the wages of the preschool staff, the quality of whom is critical to the realisation of the charity's objectives. The total cost to the charity was £65,749 (2020 - £64,131) which represents over 78% of the charity's total expenditure in the year amounting to £83,698 (2020 - £81,814).
As a result of the above the pre-school has suffered a net deficit of £6,297 (2020 – £6,769 surplus) in the year which has reduced the surplus reserves held by the charity to £26,289 (2020 - £32,586).
Plans for future periods :
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To continue with our fundraising activities when government restrictions allow
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To increase our intake of children
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To continue to work in partnership with the local schools to ease transition for the older children by inviting the reception teachers for visits
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To continue monitoring our budget to ensure that the future of the Preschool is sustainable
M. Cahill Treasurer
INDEPENDENT EXAMINERS REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF TRULL SAPLINGS PRESCHOOL FOR THE YEAR ENDED 20 AUGUST 2021 I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts for Trull Saplings Preschool ("the charity") for the year ended 20 August 2021. Responsibilities and basis of report As the charity's trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ("the 2011 Act"). I report in respect of my examination of the charity's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act. Independent examiner's statement I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the 2011 Act; or 2. the accounts do not comply with these records I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Peter Watkins ACA Blue Penguin 16 Claremont Drive Taunton Somerset TA14JF