Barkham Preschool Chair’s Report 2021
I would like to start by saying what another amazing year Barkham Preschool has had. Once again despite the challenges the pandemic has presented us with we have still thrived as a preschool through the hard work from our dedicated staff, loyal committee and of course our wonderful happy children and their families.
Committee
I would like to give a special thanks to all our Committee members for their continuous hard work and dedication.
Charlotte our vice Chair
Amy our devoted Treasurer Ianthe our safeguarding officer Sarah our secretary
They have all been amazingly helpful over the last few years and made my roll as chair an enjoyable and rewarding experience.
Sadly, with the majority of the committees children have moved on to primary school or pastures new Amy, Charlotte and Ianthe would all like to step down from the committee. Thank you so much to all three of you for your hard work and dedication.
It is also with a heavy heart that I will also be stepping down as chair of the committee. Having been a ‘barkham mum’ for 5 years it’s no surprise that preschool will always have a special place in my heart. Having watched both my daughters grow and thrive day after day here has bought us so much happiness as family and we will be forever grateful.
With this in mind, I would like to propose the new committee members. Sarah Sowerby to step down as secretary and to become Chair of the committee. Kristen Berensden-Morgan to become secretary. Georgina Wood to become Treasurer
Sara Douglas and Eleanor Torkington to become general committee members.
Fundraising
For the second year running we have had covid to contend with when it comes to fundraising. This year we were unable to our annual Christmas fair, nativity play, coffee mornings or cake sales. However, we would never admit defeat and promptly thought of covid safe fundraising ideas.
Each family has kindly taken part in one or more fundraisers. We set up a barkham buy and sell second hand goods group, did an easter treasure trail, lucky squares prize game, Sarah and the team photographed and framed the pictures and our annual sponsored toddle to mention but a few.
I feel our biggest success this year was the gofundme page set up to raise money for the children’s outdoor play area. This was hugely successful and everyone was so generous. I would also like to add a special thank you to Sarah Horsgood and her family who spent their easter holidays building and securing the outdoor play area. This has been such an amazing addition to preschool and I hope many more children get to enjoy it in years to come as much as our children have.
Staff
It goes without saying that the wonderful staff at pre-school is one of the reasons Barkham stands out as an amazing place for our children to learn and flourish.
This year we were lucky enough to gain Helen as our new deputy. Helen has been a great addition to the team and the children adore her.
Sadly we lost our previous Supervisor Vicki, as she made the decision to move to Cornwall with her family. Vicki was a much loved supervisor by all the parents and when we were advertising for her job role many parents kept saying to me ‘it’s big shoes to fill.’ Well luckily Sarah H applied for the role and got the job. Well in my eyes, not only has Sarah filled those big shoes, she has run a marathon in them and won a gold medal.
When Sarah started her role as Supervisor the country was plunged into our third lockdown. While the rest of the country shut down, including schools, the early years remained open. Sarah, brand new to her role led our preschool through these tough times and kept everyone safe, happy and healthy. Sarah, Helen, Louise, Hannah and Nicole thank you so much for all your hard work. This year you all really did go beyond the call of duty and I’m sure I can speak for all of the parents when I say how grateful we are.
Thank you everyone for taking the time to attend todays AGM. We really do appreciate it. Thank you
Katy Dornan September 2021
Barkham Preschool Supervisor’s Report 2021
Thank you to all of you for coming today, and for the continued support you have shown us in the last year. For me, the support of our committee and families has been invaluable. Taking over as supervisor whilst still mid global pandemic hasn’t been without it’s challenges, however I think it is safe to say that we are all doing our best and the children are a reflection of how far we have come together in the last year. Thank you for all of your hard work and fundraising efforts in what has been a very tricky time for fundraising. Despite the ever changing restrictions you have all been on hand to think of new, exciting and Covid-19 safe ways of fundraising – which have all been very successful and we are very grateful for.
We have continued our child led curriculum this year, allowing the children to follow their interests. This helps them to engage more so with their learning and helps their inquisitive nature. We have used the children’s interests to plan adult led group times as well as child led play throughout the session.
In April this year we managed to secure our own pre-school garden! Myself and my husband, along with the help of our children came to pre-school for the Easter weekend and put up the fencing. Having this space has meant the children have been able to explore the outside and also extend their learning into a natural environment whilst keeping them all safe. Not only the children, but the staff team too have benefited immensely from having our own garden, being a pack away pre-school can be difficult at times and having our own outside space has boosted staff morale as well as helped them to develop the children’s learning in an outside, safe environment.
This year we welcomed Helen, my deputy and also Nicole. Both Helen and Nicole are fully qualified teachers and their breadth of knowledge and experience is so valuable to our
wonderful staff team.
Sadly, due to Covid-19 we have been unable to have visitors into pre-school this year and we were unable to hold any events or trips. One big part of our calendar that we missed was our Nativity. We did however put together some videos and photos which were shared with parents on Tapestry – the children and staff enjoyed making these although nothing beats seeing proud parents sitting and watching as the children preform in person. Hopefully this will be something we can do again this year!
We did manage one outside visit in July, from Louis the road safety ranger. The children really enjoyed him coming in and all listened so well to his stories. All the children showed a great knowledge of road safety and how they would implement the safety rangers roadside rules.
We introduced Tapestry Tuesdays this year which for us in setting have been fantastic. They have given us an insight into what the children have been doing at home. They have allowed the children to talk about home life and gain confidence in speak in front of others. All of the children enjoyed listening to others and also talking about their own adventures, from making cakes to going to the park, winter puddle jumping walks to springtime garden vegetable picking. The children all showed such a sense of pride and growing confidence which was wonderful to see.
Sadly Covid-19 restrictions did not ease enough to allow us to have the leavers party we had hoped we would be able to have. However, the party we did have was thoroughly enjoyed by all the children who attended, and the staff have a fantastic time too. The children were all impeccably behaved and listened to each instruction they were given. Our persistence with teaching turn taking was put to the test with the bouncy castle and the children made us proud. I think the highlight for everyone was Peppa Pig! The children absolutely loved meeting her and the staff were grateful that one of them didn’t have to wear the costume on the hottest day of the year! Local companies donated to make our day memorable, from cakes and balloons to a sponsor paying for our bouncy castle hire – we were very grateful of their generosity. It certainly made for a great end of term party!
Thank you to my staff team, who without them we wouldn’t have the wonderful pre-school that we have. They all work so hard without ever moaning and always with a smile on their face. This last year has been tough with so much uncertainty and each and every day they have come to pre-school with a smile, full of energy and raring to make our pre-school the best it can be.
Thank you to all our families, your wonderful children make our work so enjoyable – every day is different and we always have such a great time.
We all look forward to this year being a little more ‘normal’ and being able to finally celebrate Barkham pre-school turning 50!
Barkham Preschool Treasurer’s Report 2021
Income for the year was £90k, outgoings were £72k, creating an upside of £19k overall. It has been an incredibly successful financial year, thanks to the fundraising efforts of Katy and the committee, and an efficient child to staff ratio, as well as being at full capacity.
On this basis, as well as the preschool now being fully subscribed from April 2022, and with only 9 leavers expected at the end of the school year, this puts us in a very strong financial position for the foreseeable future (for both this school year and the next).
I would therefore recommend another financial health-check similar to the one we conducted earlier this year, and a pay review for staff.
). To bo Scume Year F.Md 5tatemL'lIt of Accounts Jun¢ 2(120 to May 2021 B•rkham Pr95chool IR8glst•r•d Chtrty No: 10260281 Annual R0tUFn In¢om• and ExyndI• A¢¢ounts Forth• Yur Efth 3151 May 2021 IncLynw 201 2011 &078 71.869 8.981 6.5 34.326 y¢heY& 723 Re8isWarioD 275 20 440 tDtsresi Sub Total A15 & InNeSf01tsOS Total RKelpts .D17 6B2 B.736 43.4P7 48.730 43h97A2 EXPendre 119 2018 64.938 59,366 36J79 29.442 75 J,683 705 CoDJum Equipment 55 2240 278 Music L¢ssw 245 695 1281 Matkeung 310 2W 120 Events PctyCz5h 2W 214 SubTotal A88efs & I[Nesten1 Purr¢s(l0DI Paymgnts 7?,119 60.7fj0 4fj,212 32,895.75 72,189 fj6,760 46.212 32,09&75 £37lO.¢I £17.827 36 £$7.537.37 &21087 11.499.l4 9.7lOOI £35.687.15 523.72 210.81 £25.08548 ILQ.601.67 Btd*llcrCF Sn¥•0f2trlll1•A ¢xL b•h•Wof411tsusi#•s . JLtr(Lh •ayJ 2813121 -F . kn-,Eoieds£n U" c>0 eG(g,,IcA ljocd zq/3/iL
Independent examiner's report on the accounts
Section A Independent Examiner’s Report
Report to the trustees/ members of
Barkham Pre-school
On accounts for the year ended
31[st] May 2021
Charity 1026028 no (if any)
Set out on pages
(remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets)
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31/05/2021.
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 Act”).
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’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 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 which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
-
the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or
-
the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or
-
the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair’ view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.
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.
Signed: LjStokes
Date: 27/03/2022
Name: Lynda J Stokes MAAT
Relevant Member of the Association of Accounting Technicians
1
Oct 2018
IER
professional qualification(s) or body (if any):
Address: 15 Woodside Close, Finchampstead, Wokingham, RG40 4EY
Section B Disclosure
Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).
Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .
2
Oct 2018
IER