AGM Meeting Minutes
Tuesday 7[th] November 2023
Village Hall
Present: , Sharon Hooper, Sarah Williams, Helen Barham, Leanne Laird, Emma Bult, Chloe Worthington, Rachel Stewart, Megan Boxall
Apologies: Natasha Willis, Rebecca Marshall, Verity Rees, Louise Nicholls & Claire Woodland
1 Welcome
Chair welcomes everybody and thanks to everyone for coming.
2 Minutes of the previous meeting
The chair reads and signs them.
3 Pre school Leaders Report
We hit the ground running in September, numbers of children were good for the start of the year and we progressed through the Autumn term. We held a fantastic Xmas fare and the children were able to participate in a Nativity & Xmas Lunch. Unfortunately Chloe moved onto pasture new and Claire stepped very nicely into the apprentice spot. We employed Stacy & Nina and they will continue into next year.
Our stay & Play group on a Wednesday was a bit depleted as the majority decided they wanted to start at preschool, lovely for continuity and settling in but however it left us with a smallish cohort of regulars; and a room full of 2 year olds! After the government announcement regarding funding for 2 year olds, throughout the spring term I seemed to be continually giving out waiting list forms. By February half term we knew we all spaces were allocated until Sept 24.
As the rest of the year went on, we maintained our excellent program of activities, with a trip on the Somersun canal boat and outdoor days at the playing field. We had a lovely day out at Greatwood at the end of the summer term and were joined by many parents. We participated in the Playday at Apex Park, Highbridge topped up our reserves by £600+! The children also completed a sponsored treasure hunt and raised in excess of £400.
During the summer term we held some very successful parent workshops, looking at school readiness and what it actually means for the children with lots of examples of activities to. try at home. The feedback was very positive so we will be looking to put these on again after easter once the school place allocations have been announced. The school leavers had their transition visits, and all settled in well in September and I was immensely proud of them all. We continued to rebuild our good links with the school and the new head teacher who seems to have Early Years very much at the heart of the lower school and keen to share resources with lots of joint ventures planned. This can only be a good thing in my view and I will continue to foster this relationship as much as I possibly can. By working closely we are able
Registered Charity No. 1021256
to develop a strong partnership which pays dividends not only during the year but when it comes to the transition for the children starting full time education, in the same way Stay & play has helped with the transition into preschool. The year rounded of very nicely with the dreaded phone call on the last Monday of the summer term saying we would be inspected by Ofsted on the Tuesday, thank goodness she didnt pick Thursday our last day, but it would have been interesting to see how Krazy Kev measured up!!
After a stressful, panicky half an hour, pre settled down and came to the conclusion, with a few minor tweaks, we were actually ready and all knew our stuff. On the day, I was very pleased of the team performance and everybody played their part. More importantly the children were amazing, not phased at all by our important visitor, and were confident, chatty and showed Little Steps off to its best advantage. I was so proud of everyone that day and all our hard work showed through in the final report. The inspectors feedback
was "consistently good in all areas", I couldn't ask for more.
4 Treasurers Report
Looking back on our last financial year – the pre-school is booming. Our income jumped from £70,000 in the 2021-2022 year to over £106,000 in the 2022-2023. An increase of over 50% in one year. There are several factors in this. We had a nice rise to the grant funding, we put our fees up, more children through the door, good fundraising, some spare money came through the government left from the covid pot. We are also in receipt of SEN funding.
Our outgoings for the year also increased with wages increasing to over £86,000 an increase from the previous years £54,000. This is to be expected as we have 7 members of staff now, all working more hours that previously and their hourly rate increased during the year.
Fundraising for the year brought in £3800 with the hundred club again being a huge success along with the apex and the Christmas extravaganza so well done to all involved.
Rent increased along with the cost of electricity and other household goods so we have seen our rent and utilities payment increase to just under £5637 in comparison to £5000 last year so not too bad.
Food has increased from just over £1000 in the previous year to £1735 this year mostly down to higher prices during the cost of living crisis.
We made the decision not to transfer into our savings during this year (aside from the quick lend in the middle of the year that was repaid due to my mess up with the grant funding) because we wanted to use that money to pay for increasing our staffing to help now it is so busy and also we want to use that money to help support the staff who are working with our SEN children by allowing them to become almost one to one.
The books for this past financial year are now ready to go into the auditor but the figures at the moment show us turning a profit of £3861 which is great. So long as we can cover our costs and continue to staff well and to carry on providing an excellent learning environment and continue to invest in new items and training for staff that is all that we want.
We opened September 2022 with a bank balance of £5173.59 and we closed August 2023 with a balance of £9034.71.
5 Chairs Report
Registered Charity No. 1021256
6 Election of New Committee
| Position | Nominee | Proposed by | Second by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chair | Sharon Hooper | Helen Barham | Emma Bult |
| Treasurer | Leanne Laird | Sharon Hooper | Emma Bult |
| Committee Members | |||
| Sharon Hooper | Helen Barham | Chloe Worthington | Rebecca Marshall |
| Leanne Laird | Rachel Stewart | Megan Boxall | Chrissie Toft |
Sarah Williams – Bookkeeper/Accounts administrator/Secretary
7 AOB
Verbal warning with Nina regarding absences – Sharon has spoken. Helen and Sharon are going to the Nursery World Show next February 2024.
Next meeting Tuesday 5[th] December @ 7pm at Village Hall
Registered Charity No. 1021256
Little Steps Pre-school Annual Accounts
OPENING BALANCE £5173.59
Income Sept 2022 - Aug 2023
| Month | Grants | Fees | B Club | FR | Misc | Total | Lloyds Current Acc Opening Balance £5,173.59 Plus Income (Sept - Aug) £106,283.51 Plus Transfers from Current Account £7,500.00 Less Transfers to Current Accounts £7,500.00 Minus Expenditure £102,422.39 Closing balance 31.08.2023 £9,034.71 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sept | £14,226.89 | £5,356.77 | £72.00 | £20.00 | £0.00 | £19,675.66 | |
| Oct | £52.01 | £2,312.49 | £875.00 | £145.00 | £500.00 | £3,884.50 | |
| Nov | £0.00 | £2,343.41 | £210.00 | £60.00 | £1,500.00 | £4,113.41 | |
| Dec | £498.11 | £2,652.58 | £585.00 | £722.88 | £0.00 | £4,458.57 | |
| Jan | £417.70 | £2,943.21 | £210.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £3,570.91 | |
| Feb | £238.14 | £1,128.96 | £777.50 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £2,144.60 | |
| Mar | £21,786.47 | £2,103.91 | £185.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £24,075.38 | |
| Apr | £25,009.22 | £3,079.24 | £490.00 | £1,420.00 | £0.00 | £29,998.46 | |
| May | £590.94 | £2,995.00 | £110.00 | £542.50 | £0.00 | £4,238.44 | |
| Jun | £1,078.00 | £1,891.25 | £575.00 | £20.00 | £34.50 | £3,598.75 | |
| Jul | £3,086.20 | £1,200.63 | £620.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £4,906.83 | £3,861.12 Profit / Loss |
| Aug | £0.00 | £285.00 | £440.00 | £893.00 | £0.00 | £1,618.00 | |
| TOTALS | £66,983.68 | £28,292.45 | £5,149.50 | £3,823.38 | £2,034.50 | **£106,283.51 ** |
Little Steps Pre-school Expenditure Sept 22 - Aug 2023
| Month | Wages | Admin | Consum | Equip | PC | **Rent /Utilities ** | Train/Proff | FR | Other | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sept | £5,834.22 | £134.04 | £262.44 | £388.65 | £0.00 | £434.18 | £50.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £7,103.53 |
| Oct | £5,902.80 | £184.00 | £21.75 | £62.68 | £0.00 | £443.64 | £292.69 | £0.00 | £262.45 | £7,170.01 |
| Nov | £7,750.12 | £247.25 | £289.73 | £425.45 | £0.00 | £443.64 | £267.32 | £0.00 | £106.78 | £9,530.29 |
| Dec | £6,859.96 | £269.94 | £77.08 | £706.97 | £0.00 | £447.29 | £0.00 | £80.00 | £500.00 | £8,941.24 |
| Jan | £7,483.17 | £97.75 | £112.38 | £227.88 | £0.00 | £499.79 | £210.00 | £0.00 | -£10.34 | £8,620.63 |
| Feb | £5,865.18 | £281.75 | £155.55 | £314.15 | £0.00 | £457.79 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £18.36 | £7,092.78 |
| Mar | £8,955.38 | £120.75 | £104.68 | £228.32 | £0.00 | £454.14 | £87.67 | £22.30 | £793.95 | £10,767.19 |
| Apr | £6,570.44 | £224.25 | £153.15 | £121.02 | £0.00 | £448.35 | £60.00 | £0.00 | £216.00 | £7,793.21 |
| May | £8,335.32 | £129.50 | £152.62 | £36.49 | £0.00 | £546.50 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £87.67 | £9,288.10 |
| Jun | £7,725.95 | £133.00 | £94.84 | £490.85 | £0.00 | £537.33 | £479.00 | £0.00 | £14.95 | £9,475.92 |
| Jul | £6,880.94 | £252.00 | £245.71 | £375.94 | £0.00 | £461.99 | £35.00 | £0.00 | £278.50 | £8,530.08 |
| Aug | £6,846.39 | £147.00 | £65.60 | £389.98 | £0.00 | £462.64 | £0.00 | £197.80 | £0.00 | £8,109.41 |
| TOTALS | £85,009.87 | £2,221.23 | £1,735.53 | £3,768.38 | £0.00 | £5,637.28 | £1,481.68 | £300.10 | £2,268.32 | £102,422.39 |
Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Se¢tion A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the tnMt• mombern of Little Steps Prtrsthool On accounts for th• year •ndod 2023 Charlty no lrfany) 1021256 Sgt out on page• I report to th8 trustees on my examinat of the accounts of the abov• charrty llhe Trusf) for the year 8fKled Responsibilities and basis of roport As the charitys tnjstees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in acCdanCe wilh ts requirements of the Charitbes Act 2011 rthe A<Y). I report in re8Fd of my examination of the TNsf8 accourrts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 A(a and in carrying out my examination, I have follthved all the appllcable Directions given by the Charty Commls8lon under section 145(S){b) of the Act. Indepandant fThe chanty's gross income eX(ded £250.000 l am qualified to examinerf• statsment undertake the examination by being a qualified member of linsert name of appticable listed trt)dy]]. Delete I l rf not applicable. I have comwed my examIrtIOn. I confirni that no material matt8ryJ hav8 come to my attention in )nnectIon with the examination (other than that disclosed bel.) which gives me cause to believe that in, any material r08pect.' the aCc(n.j records we not kept in accordan with section 130 of the Charities Ad: or the accounts did not accord wlth the accountlng record8. or the accourts dKI not wnply with the applicable requirements conMIng the form and content of accounts set out in the Chariti9S (Accounts and Reports} Regulations 21X)8 other than any requirement that the accounts gtve a and fairf view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no Conm$ and have come across no <)ther matters In connectlon Imth the examination to whith attention shoukl drawn in this report in order to enab58 a Fop8r understanding of the accounts to b8 reached. Signad: Name: Relevant professional qualifiGation(s) or body IER Oct 2018
(Ir any): Address: Section B Disclosure Only complete rf the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concem (see CC32. IrKlependent examination of dlanty accounts.. directions and guidance for examiners). Glva horn brf•f d•taM• of any ftoms that tho examiner wlshes to dl¥cloM. IER Oct 2018