**Annual Report 2022/2023** From the Management Committee
Together we care, play, learn, grow, succeed.
## **Attenborough Church Pre-School Report by the Management Committee – 26[th] June 2023**
## **For the period April 2022 to March 2023**
## **INTRODUCTION**
The following report will be presented to parents/carers at the Pre-School’s Annual General Meeting held on the 26[th] June 2023 in the Douglas Taylor Room, at 8 p.m. All parents/carers have been invited to attend the meeting.
This report provides parents/carers with:
- an overview of the Pre-School and Committee’s activities during the year,
- a summary of changes to staffing and routines, and
- an opportunity to make recommendations for 2023/2024.
Any comments or suggestions arising from the report can be made directly to Sarah England-Amoo, Chairperson, by email to chair@attenboroughchurchpreschool.com or to Debby Stevens, Pre-School Manager during session times.
2
## **ABOUT US**
## **A charity and a childcare provider**
Attenborough Church Pre-School is a registered charity and as such we must abide by the Charity Commission’s rules and requirements. Our constitution determines what our aims are, how we are run, and outlines the rules we must follow. This is a requirement of the Charity Commission. We have chosen to adopt the Early Years Alliance (EYA/PSLA) model constitution and we do this annually at each AGM.
Our aims are known as our ‘charity objects’. These are set out in our constitution and are “To enhance the development and education of children primarily under statutory school age by offering appropriate play, education and care facilities, family learning and extended hours groups, together with the right of parents to take responsibility for and to become involved in the activities of such groups ensuring that such groups offer opportunities for all children whatever their race, culture, religion, means or ability”.
We are managed by a voluntary management committee. The Committee Members are the trustees of the charity and have responsibility for ensuring that the setting is run in accordance with our constitution, all relevant legislation, guidance and best practice. In 2022-23 the parent-led voluntary committee has also continued to welcome its two staff members whose contribution is extremely helpful.
As a Pre-School we must follow the rules set by the government in the **E** arly **Y** ears **F** oundation **S** tage (EYFS) statutory framework and ensure that our charity objects are in line with this framework. The EYFS prescribes the welfare and development requirements of children from birth to 5 in the care of childcare providers. Ofsted measures us against the EYFS statutory framework to determine how well we are meeting its requirements. We were visited by Ofsted in February 2023 for a routine inspection, where we were graded as ‘good’ in all areas.
To help us to ensure that our provision is the best it can be, and to ensure that we follow bestpractice, we are members of the Early Years Alliance. During the academic year, we have continued to be supported by an Early Years Support Teacher from the Nottinghamshire Early Years team.
## **Our Vision**
Our intent is captured in our Vision Statement and Curriculum Offer, which was developed through collective input from the Management Committee and all of the Staff Team. Our Vision states that
“our aim is to nurture kind, happy, healthy, imaginative, reflective individuals with high self-esteem and a love of learning who are ready to make a positive contribution, form good relationships, make healthy choices and continue to flourish so that they may enjoy a well-balanced and successful future life as they fulfil their dreams”.
We have distilled our vision into a motto that features prominently within our day-to-day practice and encapsulates all that we do:
“Together we care, play, learn, grow, succeed.”
We work in partnership with parents, carers and the wider community, understanding that working together achieves more for our children.
3
## **How we are typically run on a day-to-day basis**
We provide an enjoyable Pre-School education for 2-4 year olds and a Parent and Toddler Group for 0-5 year olds. We run 10 x 3 hour sessions per week in Attenborough Village Hall, from 9:15am to 3:15pm Monday to Friday, during term-time. We also offer extended hours with a daily Breakfast Club from 8:00am to 9:15am, and an After-School Club which runs Monday to Thursday from 3:15pm to 4:30pm. Another session we provide is a Lunch Club which runs from 12:15 to 1:00pm, popular with our younger children who may not yet be ready for a full 6-hour day. We use the Douglas Taylor Room and the Main Hall for large and small group work, and spend lots of time in our large garden. We are registered to have up to 50 children in session when using the two rooms, or up to 26 children in the Douglas Taylor room. We are registered for Full Day Care.
Children start Pre-School from as early as 2 years 3 months or in the term after they turn 2 if they are eligible for 2-year funding. They may also start at the beginning of any half term after this age. The families that we serve are predominantly Attenborough, Chilwell, Toton and Long Eaton based, although we also serve families from slightly further afield. Our children are the centre of our organisation and we continuously strive to meet their needs and serve their interests so that they may learn and develop and make excellent progress. We are an inclusive setting that welcomes all children and aims to provide learning experiences that are entirely free up to 15 or 30 hours per week depending on the family’s funding entitlement. We allow funding to be used in all sessions that we offer. We also accept ad-hoc bookings if we have space on the day. Our parents value the flexibility that our breakfast club, after pre-school club and ad-hoc sessions allow them.
## **Operational Plan**
We have an Operational Plan designed to meet Ofsted inspection criteria and to ensure that our day-to-day provision of education and care is consistently excellent. Our policies are informed by the requirements of the EYFS and are developed in conjunction with the Early Years Alliance. We update or introduce our policies throughout the year as necessary, and all new policies and changes are formally adopted at the AGM. It is from these policies that our practices and routines are developed, all of which are designed to provide the best possible experience that we can for our children.
## **Improvement Plan**
The Pre-School Improvement Plan is a working document that includes contributions from the Committee and the Staff Team, as well as recommendations from Ofsted and feedback from parents. The Improvement Plan is reviewed regularly and ensures we continue to strive to be excellent and innovative in all that we do. We want to be outstanding for our children and we are committed to continuous improvement following thorough self-evaluation.
## **Keeping up-to-date**
We stay up-to-date with current developments and issues in the early years sector through our membership of the Early Years Alliance and regular attendance at a range of local network meetings, mostly run by Nottinghamshire County Council Early Years Team. All staff attend regular training courses to ensure we are meeting all welfare requirements of the EYFS. We also encourage staff and committee members to undertake relevant online modular courses. Where one member of staff has attended an external course or network briefing, we cascade that training to the rest of the Staff Team at our regular Staff Training Meetings.
## **Staffing**
4
We have been fortunate to have a very strong, highly qualified and dedicated Staff Team of 13 throughout 2022-23:
## **April 2022-March 2023 Staffing:**
|**NAME:**|**POSITION:**|**QUALIFICATION:**|
|---|---|---|
|DebbyStevens|Pre-School Manager|NVQLevel 3 In Childcare|
|Joan Kolomyjec|Pre-School Administration Manager
(retired October 2022)|NVQ Level 3 In Childcare|
|Amanda Scard|DeputyPre-School Manager|NVQLevel 3 In Childcare|
|Claire Vardy|DeputyPre-School Manager|NVQLevel 3 In Childcare|
|Laura Dunn|EarlyYears Teacher/Admin Assistant|EarlyYears Teacher Level 6|
|Louise Day|EarlyYears Teacher/Admin Assistant|EarlyYears Teacher Level 6|
|Julie Streets|Pre-School Practitioner (Language Lead)
(retired March 2023)|NVQ Level 3 In Childcare|
|Toshimi Sato|Pre-School Practitioner|NVQLevel 3 In Childcare|
|MollyJoynes|Pre-School Practitioner|NVQLevel 3 in Childcare|
|Stephanie Kerry|Pre-School Practitioner (maternity leave
April 2022 – April 2023)|NVQ Level 3 in Childcare|
|Joelle Bartram|Pre-School Practitioner|NVQLevel 3 in Childcare|
|Jeanette Beadling|Pre-School Practitioner (Started in April
2022)|NVQ Level 3 in Childcare|
|Sophie Poole|Apprentice Pre-School Practitioner|Trainee Level 3 in Childcare
(successfully completed NVQ Level
2 in Childcare)|
Our Pre-School Manager, Debby Stevens, continues to provide excellent leadership for the in-session team of staff, with support during this year from our highly experienced Administration Manager, Joan Kolomyjec and other members of the staff management team. We value a team approach to shaping and improving our provision, made possible through regular Staff Team meetings and Inset Day training. Each member of staff is supported and guided by the Pre-School Manager to develop their knowledge, focus on reflective practice and they are updated on any relevant changes. We use the Early Years Teacher Standards in our Appraisal and Supervision processes.
Debby started a National Professional Qualification in Early Years Leadership in October 2022, which should be completed by July 2024. This is a government funded course that will give Debby a Level 6 qualification in Early Years and enhance her leadership skills and sector knowledge, and we are really proud of Debby for taking on this additional challenge.
We sadly said goodbye to two staff members who retired this year. Our Administration Manager, Joan Kolomyjec, retired in October 2022. Joan had worked at Attenborough Church Pre-School for over 30 years, and has made a huge contribution to Pre-School during this time. Joan worked with several staff members to handover her roles and responsibilities before she retired, as her role has not been replaced by one person but apportioned across several existing staff members. Joan continues to be involved with Pre-School as she has now joined the Management Committee as a trustee, so we’ll continue to benefit from all of her years of experience and wealth of knowledge. Thank you Joan for all that you have done for Pre-School as an employee and continue to do as a volunteer trustee.
Julie Streets also retired at the end of March 2023. Julie has worked at Pre-School for 8 years and spent many years before this working in the early years sector as both a voluntary committee member
5
at another pre-school and as a qualified practitioner. Julie Streets was our Language Lead during the year and provided valuable one-to-one and small group work to progress our children’s communication and language skills, and their personal, social and emotional skills. Julie was also a staff member of the management committee, and has stepped down from the committee at the same time as retiring. Thank you Julie for all of your dedication to Pre-School over the last 8 years, and for passing over your Language Lead knowledge to Joelle Bartram.
We miss you both and wish you both all the best for the future.
Laura Dunn, Early Years Teacher, has taken over the financial administration duties as she has a background working in finance prior to re-training as an Early Years Teacher. Amanda Scard has taken on the responsibility of updating our website and Facebook page, and liaising with the committee regarding marketing initiatives. Claire Vardy, Deputy Pre-School Manager, has responsibility for mentoring apprentices and supporting the wider Staff Team in Health and Safety, and for purchase ordering. Louise Day and Laura Dunn, our Early Years Teachers, are responsible for curriculum planning and assessment. Louise has also taken on several administrative roles such as updating our policies and procedures and preparing the newsletter. Molly Joynes also assists Debby with various administrative tasks as the need arises.
Amanda Scard, Deputy Pre-School Manager, took a lead in liaising with local schools to provide as smooth a transition to school as possible for all of our leavers in Summer 2022.
Stephanie Kerry began her maternity leave in April 2022. Stephanie is taking a short Career Break during 2023 - We wish her all the best with her growing family.
We welcomed Jeanette Beadling to our team in April 2022 to cover Stephanie’s maternity leave. Jeanette is an experienced Level 3 practitioner and a valuable addition to the Staff Team. She has been offered a permanent contract to stay at Pre-School after her temporary maternity cover contract expired.
Joelle Bartram has taken on the role of Language Lead following Julie’s retirement and has begun her training in this role.
We have an excellent Staff Team and the whole team works _extremely_ hard to do the best for our children, by caring for them, offering them opportunities for play, learning and wonder, teaching them, and preparing them for school. The staff team have again demonstrated great flexibility and commitment to preschool by taking on additional responsibilities this year, as well as changing their working hours as necessary. All staff are active contributors to our Staff Team Meetings.
**Pre-School Management Committee**
6
## **2022/23 Main Officers:**
## **Committee Members:**
Nicola Bethel – Chairperson (stepped down Joanne Brooks – Fundraising Officer (stepped from committee in June 2022) down Oct 2022)
Sarah-England Amoo – Chairperson from June 2022 ( Vice Chair April-May 2022)
Kate Ball – Treasurer
Laura Pounder – Fundraising Officer from June 2022
Gill Moore - Trustee member from August 2021
Kirsty Rigby – Secretary (stepped down from Joan Kolomyjec – Trustee member from Feb committee in May 2023) 2023
Catherine Shepherd – Secretary from May Julie Streets - Staff Trustee, stepped down 2023 (committee trustee from Nov 2022) March 2023
Toshimi Sato – Staff Trustee
We have been extremely fortunate to have had a strong Committee in 2022-23 who bring a variety of invaluable strengths to the team.
Nicola Bethel stood down from the committee in June 2022 as her youngest child moved up to school. Nicola had been on the committee for several years, as Vice Chair and then as Chairperson for two years. A big thank you to Nicola for all of her support and commitment to Pre-School over her years of involvement, it is greatly appreciated by all of the staff team.
We also said goodbye to Kirsty Rigby and Joanne Brooks as their families all moved up to school. We would like to thank them for all of their time and commitment to their committee roles.
Sarah England-Amoo took on the role of Chairperson following Nicola’s resignation, and she has continued to be a strong support to the staff team and to Pre-School.
We are pleased to welcome Laura Pounder to the management committee team. She brings with her a wealth of childcare experience, and has also taken on the role of Fundraising Officer.
Catherine Shepherd re-joined the management committee in November 2022 and took on the Secretary role in May 2023.
This year has seen the full return of our Pre-School fundraising events and shows, following on from the Covid-19 restrictions, and it has been wonderful to welcome families back into Pre-School again. Thank you to Laura Pounder and all of the committee for helping to organise these events, they have been very successful.
We are also very grateful to Joan Kolomyjec who has joined the management committee following her retirement in October 2022. Joan’s knowledge and experience is invaluable.
**SAFEGUARDING - Maintaining a culture of vigilance and a climate of support**
7
As you will know, safeguarding our children is our number one priority at Pre-School. Nothing is more important to us than this. Safeguarding is all about keeping our community safe, free from harm or potential harm and ensuring our children are able to healthily grow and develop in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care.
A commitment to safeguarding is everywhere within our setting and each member of our Pre-School community has a role to play in keeping each other safe, be they a Committee member, a member of Staff, a parent, a carer or one of our children. It is important that we use our voices to share any safeguarding concerns that we may have, however big or small. If there is something that is niggling, that you are worried about or something you are not sure about, please pass it on to Debby, PreSchool named Safeguarding Lead. Please see our website for further details.
## **Our curriculum – The Early Years Foundation Stage**
We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework and adopted the revised EYFS framework from September 2021. The revised framework requires practitioners to have a strong knowledge of child development, to know their children well through quality interactions with them, and to use their judgement in assessing a child’s progress rather than relying on a restrictive list of developmental statements as per the previous Development Matters document. As a Staff Team, we welcome the revisions to the EYFS as our observations of children are more holistic and broad than the previous developmental statements.
We encourage all children to be curious and explore, through both child-led and adult-led play activities. We seek to develop a child’s self-esteem, independence and self-regulation skills through sensitive interactions, encouragement, role-modelling and promoting the importance of being kind to each other, and being heard. All areas of the curriculum are covered every day through our continuous provision and the daily structured activities that we provide. This encompasses Personal, Social and Emotional Skills, Communication and Language Skills, Physical Development, Literacy, Maths, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design.
Our planning process ensures that short-term, medium-term and long-term planning begins with a review of our children’s next steps and interests, and activities are planned for each curriculum area specifically around these factors. We plan small group work to target specific areas of need, such as listening and attention, speech, understanding and expressing emotions etc. We have a broad theme for the half-term which allows more scope for exploring a topic through a variety of playful and creative interactions and enables us to be more flexible and follow the children’s interests. We provide a safe, secure and stimulating indoor and outdoor learning environment with a wide range of resources to inspire our children’s curiosity and support them to make outstanding progress. Our practitioners are highly skilled, role model our values, provide excellent care and education, and collectively strive for continuous improvement.
## **Rising 4’s**
Our Rising 4’s cohort includes all children who are in their last full academic school year in PreSchool. We plan to progress our Rising 4’s children with educationally fun activities and additional resources that spark curiosity and wonder and a love of learning. We support our children to be confident, independent, resilient and prepared for their next step of education by the end of their Summer Term.
Rising 4’s build up their listening and attention skills by sitting on the mat for short periods of wholegroup time such as register time, a short topic discussion, show and tell, listening to a story and singing time. In free play and in adult-led activities we include resources that are specifically aimed at our older children to improve fine and gross motor skills, problem-solving skills, turn-taking,
8
literacy and numeracy skills. The Rising 4’s also take part in weekly PE sessions, which are not only fun and help develop physical skills, but also encourage children to follow instructions and provide lots of opportunities to practise dressing and undressing. We plan phonics activities that focus on listening and attention skills following regular consultation with local feeder schools who agree that this provides a strong foundation for future phonic learning in formal education. We introduce a topic playfully throughout the week and reinforce it in a structured small group activity. We have continued to follow Phase One of the Letters and Sounds Programme this year.
## **Outdoor learning**
Our fantastic garden area is a huge asset to our Pre-School. This year we received a grant from Veolia which was used to purchase a new rainbow picnic bench for the garden. We ensure that this invaluable learning environment is used by each child, every day, whatever the weather. Our planning, use of resources and our practitioner input ensures that we maximise the learning potential of our outdoor space.
## **Language Lead**
Julie Streets was our Language Lead during the year, championing the importance of Communication and Language skills in our setting, including training and guiding other staff; every practitioner has a role to play in developing language skills and these skills are a key part of every child’s development. The Language Lead role is being taken on by Joelle Bartram, who attended her first training session in February 2023. The Language Lead helps to develop new resources and strategies to support all of our children. The Language Lead plans and delivers small group or one-to-one sessions to support language acquisition, as well as supporting children with their confidence in talking to others. We use signs throughout the session, i.e. at snack time and singing, and incorporate signing into our fundraising shows. Early intervention with speech and language delays is necessary to provide a child with the best possible outcomes for their communication skills. The Language Lead continues to liaise with outside agencies to ensure we are offering the right targeted support to individual children, where relevant.
## **Key-Person**
All children have a Key-Person who works with their family and keeps electronic development records and a Learning Journey for each child. Whatever the age of the child when they start and however long they might be with us, our aim is to quickly settle the child into the routine of the session. The Pre-School Manager oversees all staff in their Key-Person duties. Although each child’s Key-Person is the main point of contact at Pre-School for the child and their family, every member of the Staff Team is involved in helping every child to learn, develop and be cared for.
## **Admissions and leavers**
We admit new starters throughout the year at the beginning of each half-term, but our school leavers all leave together at the end of the Summer Term. Therefore the number of children on register fluctuates throughout the year and we inevitably experience a drop in numbers each year between the Summer and Autumn Terms. At the end of March 2022 we had a total of 49 children attending Pre-School. Over the year, a total of 35 children were admitted, 32 children moved on to school or nursery in July 2022 and a further 7 children left at other times during the financial year, due to house moves and changes of circumstances. At the end of March 2023, we had 45 children on our register.
9
When the children’s Pre-School time has come to an end, they move on to several local schools, with the majority going to The Lanes Primary School, Chetwynd Spencer Primary Academy and Banks Road Infant School. We have been involved with all schools along with the Reception Coordinators in order to provide a smooth transition for our children. In Summer 2022, we had 31 children leaving to go to 6 different schools. We liaised with the schools, welcomed several reception teachers into our setting to visit the children and sent staff members along with our children for their transition visits to both The Lanes Primary School and Chetwynd Spencer Academy. In Summer 2023, we will have 20 children going to 7 different schools/home schooling and 1 child is moving onto a school nursery place.
## **Funded places**
Government Early Years Funding (‘Free Entitlement’) enables children to have up to 15 hours free provision from the term after they are three years old. We are also eligible to receive two-year-old funding for those families that meet certain criteria, providing 15 hours funding per week from the term after the child is two years old. 30 hours funding is also available for families who meet the criteria.
During this financial year we had the following number of children on funding:
## **30 hours provision**
Our weekly opening hours are above 30 hours per week, meaning we can provide 30 hours of free childcare for all those who are eligible. In April 2022 we were open to children for 36.25 hours each week offering 7.25 hours per day from 8:00am to 3:15pm. We trialled an After-School Club from June 2022 for 4 days a week, from Mondays to Thursdays, which took our opening hours to 41.25 hours per week. This was a successful trial, so we have continued to offer the After-School Club on Mondays to Thursdays from 3:15pm to 4:30pm. We don’t operate an After-School Club on Fridays as we haven’t had sufficient demand. During the year, the uptake of 30 hours for children who are either fully funded or funded and fee paying, is high and continues to be very successful for us. However, in this financial year less than a third of children who are eligible for 30 hours funding are accessing all of their entitlement. Parents can register for 30 hours funding if they are eligible; parents need to be earning the equivalent of 16 hours at NMW or more to qualify and in a 2-parent household, both must be earning. We typically have 15-20 parents registered who will take a range of funded sessions up to 30 hours, this includes an option to share the 30 hours funding with one other setting.
Ad-hoc sessions have continued to be a useful way of allowing children to trial sessions before booking them on a more permanent basis. We continue to be committed to offering 30 hours funding provision which allows children to access it with no hidden or additional charges.
## **Breakfast Club**
We opened Breakfast Club in September 2020 to extend session availability from 8.00am, with the club running from 8.00am - 9.15am. Children arrive between 8.00am and 8.15am, have a period of quiet play followed by breakfast of cereal, toast and a drink at 8.30am. From 9.00am, the children move into the routine for the usual morning or full day sessions. 8 children have accessed this session on a regular basis during the year and regular ad-hoc sessions are taken and if numbers allow.
10
## **Lunch Club**
Lunch club takes place from 12.15pm – 1.00pm and is open to any of our children. All children who attend an afternoon session automatically attend Lunch Club, whilst those attending a morning session can choose to stay until 1:00pm. Children bring their own packed lunch and eat at tables together, supported by preschool practitioners as needed. It is a sociable time where children chat with each other and staff whilst eating their lunch.
## **After Pre-School Club**
We opened our After Pre-School Club provision from June 2022, running from 3:15pm to 4:30pm from Mondays through to Thursdays. There is currently no After Pre-School Club on Fridays, due to a lack of sufficient demand. Whilst the After Pre-School Club is usually low in attendance, many parents book ad-hoc sessions for their children as needed and value the flexibility this offers.
## **Accommodation and Premises**
We pay rent to the Attenborough Village Hall Management Committee for the use of the premises for 10 sessions per week plus Breakfast Club and After Pre-School Club. We use both the Douglas Taylor Room and the Main Hall for the majority of sessions, and the Eric Mason Room for Breakfast Club. Joan Kolomyjec is now the Chairperson of the Village Hall Committee, and we have frequent dialogue regarding possible improvements to the premises that are beneficial to Preschool as well as other user groups. There was no rent increase during this Financial Year and no planned increase known as yet. Planning permission was granted for the canopy project, but is on hold currently due to the uncertain times presented by the Cost of Living Crisis - however, iit is still on the Village Hall agenda.
## **Health and Safety**
In addition to this, portable appliance checks are undertaken. Staff have attended or updated first aid and food hygiene training during the year. The Village Hall is responsible for annual fire checks but we have our own procedures and regular building evacuation drills are held at varying times in the week throughout the year. We undertake regular risk assessments, carry out health and safety checks on a daily basis and continually monitor our provision.
## **Website and Facebook**
We use our website and Facebook page to communicate our vision and our curriculum offer and as a means for prospective parents to learn more about us. As well as keeping our parents, carers and wider community updated on some of the activities that are happening at Pre-School - our Facebook page has also been useful for advertising purposes. Please feel free to share the fantastic things that we do with your friends on Facebook (without including photographs of the children).
## **Famly Nursery Management Software**
We use Famly as a nursery management tool and the primary means of communication between parents and staff. We introduced Famly in February 2022. We use Famly to keep registration records of our children, learning and development observations and assessments, registers and attendance, invoicing purposes, and to share messages and photos with our families.
11
## **Xero Accounting Software**
After a successful trial with Xero, the accounting software went live in March 2022 and is continuing to prove a useful addition to the administration of Pre-School finances.
## **Fundraising and Social Occasions**
Fundraising is very important for Pre-School as inevitably our costs continue to rise during the year. We also value our fundraising events as opportunities to bring our community together, to showcase a little of what we do and to celebrate our wonderful children. We were thrilled to be able to invite families back into Pre-School for performances and events, following two years of restrictions caused by the Covid pandemic.
We held a Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Garden Party in May and invited families to join us in Preschool. The children made crowns and helped decorate a throne, and everyone enjoyed some party food and drinks.
In the summer, the children put on a performance of Aliens Love Underpants, with a summer fayre afterwards. It was well supported by parents/carers and extended families. The committee and staff organised a raffle and games, tombola, bouncy castle, face painting, cake sale and other refreshments.
During the School Summer Holidays, the committee organised some ‘Stay and Play’ sessions for families to get together over the holidays.
At Christmas, we staged a Nativity performance in front of families, with a Christmas fayre afterwards. This was also a fantastic event, greatly enjoyed by all and thanks to the fundraising efforts of the committee and staff. It also raised some much needed funds for Pre-School.
The committee organised a children’s disco in March, with musical entertainment and face painting provided free of charge by the Daly family. It was a fun social event, which also raised funds for PreSchool through ticket sales, refreshment sales, lucky dip stand and face painting. Thank you to all of the committee and the Daly family who helped make this event such a success.
At the end of the Spring Term, we welcomed families into Pre-School to celebrate the children for our Easter Bonnet Parade. The committee also organised a coffee morning and cake sale social event before the show, which was very well attended, and a raffle. It was wonderful to see so many of our families enjoying the parade and the children’s performance of Easter songs.
We also raised money through commission from a variety of sources: Jane Stapleton photography, Easyfundraising, Amazon Smile, My Nametags and All My Own Work (Christmas cards). In addition, we had a small autumn fundraiser where children fill a bag with autumnal nature items and bring them in to Pre-School to show everyone what they have found.
Monies raised through fundraising activities have traditionally been used to purchase new play equipment and resources. However, given the difficult financial climate we have been navigating this year, we had had to use some of the fundraising monies to support our operating costs.
The Treasurer report will provide more detail on all of the fundraising activities undertaken this year.
**Veolia Grant**
12
We were successful in our application to the Veolia community grant scheme and were delighted to purchase a second rainbow picnic table for our garden.
## **Financial Statement**
The Pre-School accounts will be independently examined..
## **Reserves Policy**
We have a policy to hold enough funds in reserve in the event that we have to close, to cover the statutory redundancy payments of all qualifying staff and 3 months running costs including staff notice pay. Our reserves are higher than is necessary, but that has allowed us to keep operating this year despite making a loss of £10,578. We have had to draw funds out of the reserves in order to pay all of our financial responsibilities this year. We believe this is a temporary situation and aim to break even next year or to make a gain, so that we do not continue to draw on the reserves. The high retention of staff means that the amount we need to hold in reserves increases year on year as staff increase their length of service and wage rates also increase.
## **Aims for the Future**
This financial year has seen increasing financial pressures on early years providers, as well as on local families and the wider community. We sustained a considerable loss this year as we endeavoured to maintain our highly qualified and dedicated Staff Team despite the lower number of children in sessions and a rising cost base. We are aware that many settings struggle to attract and retain high quality practitioners, whereas we have a strong staff team with very low staff turnover. Recruiting staff and training them is in itself a costly business. The current staff team all showed flexibility in agreeing to reduce their hours in order to reduce the wages cost to Pre-School. We have seen that some families are postponing the start date of their child until they are eligible for funding, which has resulted in fewer two year olds joining Pre-School. Some families are also taking fewer sessions than previous families. This is likely to be due to the Cost of Living of Crisis and more flexible working arrangements for parents, with some parents fitting in childcare at home around their work commitments. There was also a dip in the birth-rate caused by parents postponing when to start a family, due to the Covid pandemic.
We aim to significantly improve the financial situation for next year, by keeping a very close eye on the finances each term. We aim to ensure our future sustainability, in order to continue to provide an outstanding Pre-School for our children in a safe, secure and engaging surrounding which adheres to the government guidance and our own risk assessments.
We aim to maintain our excellent Staff Team through providing strong support, training and a great place to work. We hope that this will help us to retain the talent that we have within our organisation and demonstrate to the Staff Team how greatly valued they are.
We will continue to offer Pre-School sessions for 41.25 hours per week for all children running Mondays to Thursdays from 8:00am to 4:30pm, and Friday 8:00am to 3:15pm.
All of our endeavours will have maintaining or improving the quality of our provision at their heart so that our children are best able to learn and develop. We will continue to make decisions that take into account our long-term sustainability as well as any short-term needs.
13
## **Formal Thank Yous**
## **Children**
We would like to thank our children for being the most important part of our Pre-School and for being such a delight. The ways in which you learn are captivating; we are privileged to observe you learn, grow and succeed.
## **Parents**
We would like to thank our parents, firstly for choosing us and entrusting your precious children to our care, and secondly for supporting all of our events this year. We value our parent partnerships and we thank you for your part in this.
## **Reflection from the Pre-School Manager, Debby Stevens**
I’d like to officially thank all of the committee members, staff, parents and children for a wonderful year at Pre-School and we look forward to future learning opportunities.
## **Staff Team**
The Committee would like to formally thank the Staff Team for their continued professionalism, enthusiasm and dedication to Pre-School. It has been another challenging year for you, as well as the rest of the wider community, with the Cost of Living Crisis coming on the back of the years of Covidrelated restrictions. During this difficult time you have continued to work extremely well together to support each other and our children.
You all continue to prioritise the children above all else and we greatly value how happy our PreSchool children are in your care, as well as how fantastically well they learn and develop. You have helped all of the children enjoy their time at Pre-School whilst they start their formal educational journey. You are always welcome to new ideas, growth and improvement, starting up the AfterSchool Club this year to extend our provision. Debby has also started a National Professional Qualification in Early Years Leadership.
We appreciate all that you do and are very pleased that your work has been recognised by the Ofsted Inspector. Well done to Debby and the team for achieving a Good grade in all areas at the recent Ofsted Inspection in February 2023. It was wonderful to hear the round of applause from the parents when this was announced at the end of the Easter Bonnet Parade.
Thank you to Laura for preparing this report.
## **The Village Hall Committee**
We would like to thank the Village Hall Committee for continuing to let their premises to us, and for allowing some flexibility with our bookings.
## **Pre-School Management Committee**
As Pre-School Chairperson, on behalf of myself and the Staff Team I would like to thank each Committee Member and their families for your support and commitment over the last year. You have each voluntarily given up your time in order to maintain the successful running of Pre-School.
14
Pre-School needs to have a Management Committee in order to operate and we thank you for being the people who have stepped up to be the accountable Trustees of our charity.
Thank you to the Committee Members who will be re-standing for 2022-23 and we look forward to welcoming new members to the Management Committee so that together the team can continue to support the Pre-School in the coming year and beyond.
Sarah England-Amoo on behalf of the Management Committee Pre-School Chairperson 2022-23 June 2023
15
## **Income and Expenditure Account For the year ended 31 March 2023**
## Attenborough Church Pre-School
Registered Charity No. 1024159
|**Account**
**Receipts**
Bank interest received
Blue Bag
Donations
Fee income
Funding income
Grant income apprentice
Toddler Group
Voluntary snack payment
**Other Receipts**
Commission All MyOwn Work|**31-Mar-23**
**31-Mar-22**
365
11
5
41
91
202
27,164
32,050
99,261
110,034
500
5,000
816
489
785
539|
|---|---|
||128,986
148,365
116
139
64
68
63
88
0
45
58
256
86
58
484
0
347
521
909
718
1,169
1,493
846
697
178
0|
|Commission Amazon Smile||
|Commission EasyFundraising||
|Commission MyNametags||
|Commission Photographs||
|FundraisingAutumn Event||
|FundraisingDisco||
|FundraisingEaster Event||
|FundraisingNativity||
|FundraisingSummer Event||
|Grant Income Veolia||
|Stay and Play
**Total Other Receipts**
**Total Receipts**
**Payments**
Audit and Accountancy Fees
Bank Fees
Blue Bag Cost
Cleaning
Consumables
Depreciation Expense
Equipment
Grant Spend Veolia
Insurance
Ofsted Registration
Other Expenses
Payroll
Printing & Photocopying||
||4,318
4,082|
||133,305
152,447|
||0
180
86
27
450
0
100
176
1,155
1,489
197
148
267
807
846
684
966
947
50
50
414
921
861
861
358
468|
|Refreshments
Rent
Repairs & Maintenance
Staff salaries
Staff training
Subscriptions & Software
Telephone & Internet
Uniform
Website
**Total Payments**
**Net Receipts/Losses**
Funds last year b/f
Funds this year c/f|824
766
17,832
20,272
100
0
116,945
119,986
884
300
886
1,690
220
357
135
0
307
287|
|---|---|
||143,883
150,415|
|||
||-10,578
2,031|
||79,665
77,634
69,087
79,665|
## **Statement of Assets and Liabilities**
## **as at 31 March 2023**
## Attenborough Church Pre-School
Registered Charity No. 1024159
|**Account**
**Fixed Assets**
**Tangible Assets**
Office Equipment
Less Accumulated Depreciation on Office Equipment
**Total Fixed Assets**
**Current Assets**
**Cash at bank and in hand**
Deposit Bank Account
Current Bank Account/Cash
**Total Cash at bank and in hand**
Accounts Receivable
Accrued Income
Inventory
**Total Current Assets**
**Current Liabilities**
Accruals
**Total Creditors: amounts falling due within one year**
**Net Current Assets (Liabilities)**
**Total Assets less Current Liabilities**
**Net Assets**
**Capital and Reserves**
Current Year Earnings
Retained Earnings
**Total Capital and Reserves**|**31-Mar-23**
**31-Mar-22**
3,950
3,950
-3,572
-3,375|
|---|---|
||**378**
**575**|
||71,755
79,890
14,176
20,014|
||**85,932**
**99,904**|
||0
-652
0
2,550
131
131|
||**86,062**
**101,933**|
||17,358
22,843|
||**17,358**
**22,843**|
||**68,704**
**79,090**
**69,082**
**79,665**|
||**69,082**
**79,665**|
||-10,578
2,031
79,665
77,634|
||69,087
**79,665**|
##