2023-08-31-accounts - Lindale Pre-School Playgroup

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Annual General Meeting

Tuesday 6[th] February 2024

6.30pm

Lindale Muddy Boots Nursery

Agenda

Present

Ian George (Chair), Kim Law, Sarah Coutts, Jeana Sweeney, Tess Williamson, Lucy Warren, Amy Douglas, Claire Dawson

Apologies

Lydia Kirkwood (Treasurer), Karen Austin-Walsh (Secretary)

Leaders Report

We started off in September 2022 with good numbers which built up over the year.

Staff – Lucy and Claire plus Amy and Lydia as students, Amy worked Monday, Wednesday and Friday, attending college on a Tuesday. At the end of September Lydia decide it wasn’t the right time for her to study so left college and nursery.

Over the year Amy completed her Level 3 Diploma in Children’s Learning and Development.

Through communication with parents, either chatting at the gate, getting them to fill in their child’s ‘All About Me’ section on Tapestry we planned and set up activities which catered for their interest and different ages. As weather warriors, we have carried on using the outside and going on Woodland walk, going to the park and walking around the village which seems to be our unique selling point as we are getting lots of positive feed-back from parents old and new.

At Christmas time we decorated our tree outside (several times), and made lots of Christmas crafts, and as always letting the children be creative.

We also have a lady from the village (Terri) come in once every half term to play her guitar for us to sing along to.

We would like to say a big thank you to J L Tree Care, who very kindly donated a lot of wood chippings for the front garden at the beginning of December.

March 2023, Amy coordinated an online raffle which raised over £400.

At the end of March, we had a very successful trip to Greenland’s Farm and most of the parents came along with us.

We ended our nursery year with a great trip on the Gondola, Coniston.

Maintenance

PAT testing was done in July 2023
The bathroom flat roof was repaired in August 2023 at a cost of £3,000 (church money was used to fund this).
We have had the front gate rehung and repaired. (No invoice as of yet)

The kitchen door was repainted in August 2023.

All points raised at last AGM have been completed.

Chairs Report

Aims

The aim of preschool remains the same: to provide a secure setting where our local children can flourish, enjoy their introduction to learning and build a foundation of success upon which their future school life can be built. In the current environment of ongoing austerity and a deeply personal cost of living crisis for many, staff have demonstrated an ongoing vigilance, looking for the early signs of problems with the children and their families. This has resulted in supportive action and remains a cornerstone of our approach.

Strategy

Whilst our priority remains the children in our care, we have had to take an increasingly resilient approach to the viability of the setting. Funding continues to fall behind costs and there are no signals this will change for the foreseeable future. This means we need to challenge the value of every decision we make and hold those external organisations accountable for the impact they have on us, whether intentional or otherwise.

As chair, I hold staff in equal measure when it comes to my priorities. As such, the approach to remuneration remains one of paying a fair wage within the constraints of revenue. This means living wage is our benchmark, rather than minimum wage, and zero hours contracts do not form an acceptable part of our staffing strategy.

Where we have exceptional needs, we will support these as much as possible, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to fully deliver statemented requirements when the funding that should support them falls far short of the actual cost. It is my intention to challenge these settlements in the future so that we do not follow many charities that rely on local government support into a state of financial collapse.

Staff Wellbeing

Staff morale seems to have been high throughout the year with the team working well together and splitting responsibilities around days on duty.

Claire continues to do a sterling job of managing situations in her usual calm and supportive way, which is much appreciated and relied upon by staff, parents and children alike.

Both Lucy and Amy form an important part of the children’s time in the setting and often take the lead on activities with Claire playing a supporting role. This positions the setting well for the future as absences can be accommodated with little impact on the smooth running of the preschool day.

Leadership

Claire remains integral to the operational management of preschool and communication between Chair and Manger have continued to go well. Trust is strong and both rely on the other for support in delivering the aims of the setting and dealing with specific or unexpected issues.

Outlook

The outlook for preschool is good with the primary care points being a focus on financial viability and the ongoing attraction of children to Lindale as their first-choice nursery.

Treasurer Report

See attached Income and Expenditure Summary

Current balance as at 6[th] February 2024 = £17482.13

Election of Committee

Ian to stay on as Chair

Lydia to stay on as Treasurer – Lydia did ask if we could start looking for a new treasurer, she will stay on until everything is sorted. Karen to stay on as Secretary

Jeana to join the committee – needs to complete EY2 and DBS Sarah to stay on the committee.

Any Other Business

Fundraising to develop nursery.

We would like to have a lean to on the back of nursery to enable us to carry on being an outside nursery, we are waiting for quotes, this will be a major fundraiser.

Also, Claire has completed her woodwork course and would like to purchase a woodwork bench and tools, approximately £600

To follow the curiosity approach, we would like to purchase some more resources –

Busy Board

https://amzn.eu/d/cbJXbVU – example, we would want this on a bigger scale.

we would also like to purchase combi locks so the children have to remember the combination to unlock some, padlocks and keys to strengthen fine motor muscles. I would also like to visit Ragtag Art where we can purchase lots of loose parts play resources, approximately £500.

Thank you so much everyone for coming along, we will have another meeting in the summer term.

Date of next AGM

February 2025

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