## Annual General Meeting 

Lindale Muddy Boots Nursery Wednesday 25[th] February 2026 

## **Welcome and apologies for absence Attendance** 

Ian George (Chair), Kim Law, Helen Entwisle (Treasurer), Caroline Wood, Lucy Warren (Deputy Manager), Amy Douglas (Nursery Assistant), Claire Dawson (Nursery Manger) Sara McClure (Chair, School Governor). 

## **Apologies** 

None 

## **Managers’ Report** 

September 2024 – August 2025 

September 2024 started off with an OFSTED inspection on Monday 30[th] September. Overall effectiveness Good The quality of education - GOOD Behaviour and at udes -  GOOD Personal development -  GOOD Leadership and management - GOOD Previous Inspection – GOOD 

Inspector Susie Millward Sampson 

The inspection went well, Susie enjoyed all the activities, Lucy and Amy did amazing. Safeguarding 

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. There is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first. 

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should:  teach children about the healthy use of screens and online safety to help prepare them for life in the modern world. 50260509 

## Maintenance 

Main maintenance was the boiler - £93.34 for a service and then £324.54 for a new circuit board. 

Numbers were great over the year with an average of 10 children a day. 

We had four trips out with the children – Fell Foot, Grange Prom, Dentist and Flether’s fruit and veg, Sizergh Castle trail.  Each week we did our woodland walk and we also have walks around the village and trips to the park. 

## Tapestry 

We are still using Tapestry for registers, observations and communication with parents, most parents seem to be using it now. 

## Breakfast Club 

Breakfast Club has been moved over to school as a government initiative, children coming into school from 8.15am get it free, club starts at 7.45am – Lucy, Amy and Claire are running breakfast 



club, one member of staff stays for the hour, the other member 30 minutes to give us time to make sure everything is set up for nursery starting at 8.45am.  School pays 1.5 hours wages per day. 

## Nursery session 

Session are run with the focus of learning through play, we follow the children’s interests which works well and keeps the children motivated and excited to learn. 

## **Report from Sara (Chair School Governor)** 

Sara came along to clarify who pays what for maintenance. 

The building is owned by Carlisle diocese, in 2008 a lease agreement was drawn up between governors and school, the lease expires in 2029, school pay a peppercorn rent to the diocese on the proviso that the building is looked after, the building is rented to nursery, it is a commercial rent at £16 per day, this does cover the utility bills, fire regs, legionella testing etc, bar £81.75 per year. School wants to keep the rent as low as possible, not going into full commercial rent, hence nursery needs to find the money for the boiler (£2,300).  Taylor Newton Hibbert have agreed to pay the full £2,300 to have the boiler replaced. 

## Chair’s Report Lindale Muddy Boots Nursery 

Dr Ian George 24 Feb 2026 

## **Operations** 

Overall, Preschool is in a good place. Period. 

Maintenance and repair responsibilities. These sit with the landlord. Bit tricky for us: 

- We rent School House 

- The revenue goes to Primary School 

- Primary School manage the relationship with Preschool 

- School House is owned by The Diocese 

We need to look at the rental agreement together and work out who does what so that we can have more productive conversations. 

## **Finances** 

Last year slight drop in reserves, but we’re OK. 

We need to watch the pennies, but we’re in a reasonably good place – balance as at 25[th] February 2026 was £16,059.39. 

Numbers, as always are a key concern. Although we have a steady flow, the ‘natural’ volume of kids coming through year on year can cause challenges in making the numbers balance. I want us to be in a position where we are thinking about what’s best for the kids, rather than what can we cut to protect the future. 



## **Outlook** 

Income needs to start rising in a more realistic way over the next few years, but the long-term view is unclear. 


## **SEND changes** 

The cost of the current SEND system has increased sharply 

Overall spending on SEND has risen by two-thirds in the past decade 

In 2024 the National Audit Office described the system as "broken", warning it was "financially unsustainable" for councils and saying that although costs were rising it was still not delivering better outcomes for children. 

Just over 1.7 million (about one in five) pupils in England's schools receive support for special educational needs. 

As of January last year, 639,000 young people up to the age of 25 had education, health and care plans (EHCPs) in England - the number has more than doubled in a decade. 

## **The Change Plan** 

- By 2035, EHCPs will be reserved for only the most complex special educational needs 

- Children who currently have an EHCP will keep them until they reach the next stage of their education – _Do we need to think how we help the transition?_ 

- Children will be reassessed for EHCPs as they move up to their next stage from 2029 

- Under the changes, the government projects that the proportion of children with SEND on the current highest level of support in school will start falling each year from the end of the decade. _This could mean its going to get harder, or it could mean the challenges are going to be recognised and accommodated more in mainstream._ 

- 



## **Election of Committee Members** 

Ian George – Chair Helen Entwisle – Treasurer Caroline Wood – Secretary 

Any other business? 

- We would like to take the children out more, from September 2025 this has been a struggle as a lot of parents work and we need parents to help with transport, car insurance needs to have business cover on if they take any nursery children, it also needs and MOT. 

It was suggested that we did some fund raising or ask Taylor Newton Hibbert if they would give money towards hiring a minibus, Claire is willing to drive, she would like to have a driving assessment first. 

- We also need a contingency plan for when staff are ill or on training. 

- Lisa Wise had approached Claire asking about training up to become a nursery practitioner, Claire suggested that she contacted Kendal College to see what was currently available, and said that Lisa could do her placement with us. 

- Helen Entwisle also said she was looking into childcare and would be happy to help out 2 days a week.  Claire needs to have a meeting with Lisa and Helen to discuss these possibilities. 

- The accountant’s bill is now running at £978 per annum, Helen suggested we look into trying to reduce this and suggest Free Agent, Helen uses these herself and will look to see if Barclays have anything similar, Claire will phone the accounts. 

Date of next meeting Wednesday 24[th] February 2027 



|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Month||Sep-24|Oct-24|Nov-24|Dec-24|Jan-25|Feb-25|Mar-25|Apr-25|May-25|Jun-25|Jul-25|Aug-25||
|Income|||||||||||||||
|Fees||319.20|710.60|1,082.20|674.10|582.95||492.90|977.75|218.40|871.75|1,094.00|||
|Free|Entitlement|10,195.84||5,734.43||7,218.93|4,612.55|230.88|9,327.61||3,541.66|261.14|||
|Fund|Raising|||447.83|||41.22||500.00|27.22|10.00|216.60|38.50||
|Insur|ance REFUN|D|934.95||||||||||||
|Hadw|ins||||359.88||||||||||
|Amaz|on|||||16.49|||12.79||||||
||||||||||||||||
||||||||||||||||
||||||||||||||||
|Total Re|ceipts|£  10,515.04|£  1,645.55|£  7,264.46|£  1,033.98|£  7,818.37|£  4,653.77|£     723.78|£  10,818.15|£     245.62|£  4,423.41|£  1,571.74|£       38.50|£  50,680.27|
|Expendit|ure||||||||||||||
|Salar|ies and wag|3,178.58|3,139.78|2982.07|2,981.87|2,981.87|3,131.83|2,982.87|3,237.93|3,241.21|3,250.53|3,232.77|3,160.41|£  37,501.72|
|HMR|C|552.18|262.10||321.24|212.56|||327.60|||463.28||£    2,138.96|
|Rent|||1,179.00|||1,032.50|34.68||||699.57|||£    2,945.75|
|Nest||175.22|37.40|125.06|110.51|110.51|110.51|125.00|110.51|132.55|132.74|135.70|131.81|£    1,437.52|
|Insur|ance/Ofsted|934.94||||50.00|||||||433.52|£    1,418.46|
|Reso|urces|107.24|505.38|47.42|397.32|188.06|101.75|180.73|125.86||135.27|£       36.97|179.23|2,005.23|
|Equip|ment||||||279.99|39.98|3.98|||38.00||£       361.95|
|Hot d|inners||53.13|156.86|17.71|86.02||159.39|18.06|86.50|108.36|113.52||£       799.55|
|snac|ks/breakfas|t83.63|48.97|30.17|53.91|65.49|33.65|54.87|42.39||50.81|7.75|47.09|£       518.73|
||||||||||||||||
|Phon|e|47.94|47.94|47.94|47.94|47.94|47.94|47.94|51.55|51.55|51.55|51.55|51.55|£       593.33|
|Clark|e Jeferies||108.00||108.00|216.00|||330.00|||216.00||£       978.00|
|Plum|bing/heatin|g|||93.34||324.54|||||||£       417.88|
|ICO|||||35.00|||||||||£         35.00|
|Tape|stry Learnin|g Journal|||||||||||||
|Maint|enance|60.00|||||100.87|||||||£       160.87|
|MPLC|Licence/lic|ence||||||137.09||||||£       137.09|
|Train|ing||||||||||||||
|DBS|||||16.00|||||||||£         16.00|
|reim|bursement||30.00||||||5.98|10.00|25.04|||£         71.02|
||||||||||||||||
||||||||||||||||
||||||||||||||||
||||||||||||||||
||||||||||||||||
||||||||||||||||
||||||||||||||||
||||||||||||||||
|||£    5,139.73|£  5,411.70|£  3,389.52|£  4,182.84|£  4,990.95|£  4,165.76|£  3,727.87|£    4,253.86|£  3,521.81|£  4,453.87|£  4,295.54|£  4,003.61|£  51,537.06|
|||£14,467.12|||||||||||||
|OpeningB|||||||||||||||
|ClosingBal||£19,842.43|£16,076.28|£19,951.22|£16,802.36|£19,629.78|£20,117.79|£17,113.70|£23,677.99|£20,401.80|£20,371.34|£17,647.54|£13,682.43||
|Closing Bal|||£16,076.28|£19,951.22|£16,802.36|£19,629.78|£20,117.79|£17,113.70|£23,677.99|£20,401.80|£20,371.34|£17,647.54|£13,682.43||



|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|Lindale MuddyBoots Accounts Sept 2024- August 2025|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Month||Sep-24|Oct-24|Nov-24|Dec-24|Jan-25|Feb-25|Mar-25|Apr-25|May-25|Jun-25|Jul-25|Aug-25||
|Income|||||||||||||||
|Fees||319.20|710.60|1,082.20|674.10|582.95||492.90|977.75|218.40|871.75|1,094.00|||
|Free|Entitlement|10,195.84||5,734.43||7,218.93|4,612.55|230.88|9,327.61||3,541.66|261.14|||
|Fund|Raising|||447.83|||41.22||500.00|27.22|10.00|216.60|38.50||
|Insur|ance REFUN|D|934.95||||||||||||
|Hadw|ins||||359.88||||||||||
|Amaz|on|||||16.49|||12.79||||||
||||||||||||||||
||||||||||||||||
||||||||||||||||
|Total Re|ceipts|£  10,515.04|£  1,645.55|£  7,264.46|£  1,033.98|£  7,818.37|£  4,653.77|£     723.78|£  10,818.15|£     245.62|£  4,423.41|£  1,571.74|£       38.50|£  50,680.27|
|Expendit|ure||||||||||||||
|Salar|ies and wag|3,178.58|3,139.78|2982.07|2,981.87|2,981.87|3,131.83|2,982.87|3,237.93|3,241.21|3,250.53|3,232.77|3,160.41|£  37,501.72|
|HMR|C|552.18|262.10||321.24|212.56|||327.60|||463.28||£    2,138.96|
|Rent|||1,179.00|||1,032.50|34.68||||699.57|||£    2,945.75|
|Nest||175.22|37.40|125.06|110.51|110.51|110.51|125.00|110.51|132.55|132.74|135.70|131.81|£    1,437.52|
|Insur|ance/Ofsted|934.94||||50.00|||||||433.52|£    1,418.46|
|Reso|urces|107.24|505.38|47.42|397.32|188.06|101.75|180.73|125.86||135.27|£       36.97|179.23|2,005.23|
|Equip|ment||||||279.99|39.98|3.98|||38.00||£       361.95|
|Hot d|inners||53.13|156.86|17.71|86.02||159.39|18.06|86.50|108.36|113.52||£       799.55|
|snac|ks/breakfas|t83.63|48.97|30.17|53.91|65.49|33.65|54.87|42.39||50.81|7.75|47.09|£       518.73|
||||||||||||||||
|Phon|e|47.94|47.94|47.94|47.94|47.94|47.94|47.94|51.55|51.55|51.55|51.55|51.55|£       593.33|
|Clark|e Jeferies||108.00||108.00|216.00|||330.00|||216.00||£       978.00|
|Plum|bing/heatin|g|||93.34||324.54|||||||£       417.88|
|ICO|||||35.00|||||||||£         35.00|
|Tape|stry Learnin|g Journal|||||||||||||
|Maint|enance|60.00|||||100.87|||||||£       160.87|
|MPLC|Licence/lic|ence||||||137.09||||||£       137.09|
|Train|ing||||||||||||||
|DBS|||||16.00|||||||||£         16.00|
|reim|bursement||30.00||||||5.98|10.00|25.04|||£         71.02|
||||||||||||||||
||||||||||||||||
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||||||||||||||||
||||||||||||||||
||||||||||||||||
||||||||||||||||
|||£    5,139.73|£  5,411.70|£  3,389.52|£  4,182.84|£  4,990.95|£  4,165.76|£  3,727.87|£    4,253.86|£  3,521.81|£  4,453.87|£  4,295.54|£  4,003.61|£  51,537.06|
|||£14,467.12|||||||||||||
|OpeningB|||||||||||||||
|ClosingBal||£19,842.43|£16,076.28|£19,951.22|£16,802.36|£19,629.78|£20,117.79|£17,113.70|£23,677.99|£20,401.80|£20,371.34|£17,647.54|£13,682.43||
|Closing Bal|||£16,076.28|£19,951.22|£16,802.36|£19,629.78|£20,117.79|£17,113.70|£23,677.99|£20,401.80|£20,371.34|£17,647.54|£13,682.43||