AGM 23 February 2024
Sarah Wells
Chair’s Report
Hello, I’m Sarah and I have been Chair of the Preschool Committee for just over a year now. I have officially been a member of the Committee since 2021 when my daughter was attending Preschool. She’s now in Year 2 at school and my son is in his final year of Preschool before starting school in September. I will be stepping down as Chair after this AGM and handing over to our Secretary, Claire Lister, whose youngest daughter is also in her final year at Preschool. Thank you very much Claire for stepping up.
Our last AGM was in March 2023 and since then we’ve had a pretty eventful year. Tina retired as manager after nearly 30 years of dedicated service in July and Angela also retired after many years working at Preschool. Both were dearly loved and are very much missed but we hope they are enjoying their retirements. In September we were very excited to welcome Leanne as our new manager and we are very pleased with how she’s settled in and how smooth the transition has been. We look forward to working with you for many years to come, Leanne.
We would like to thank Trudi who diligently manages Preschool’s finances. Predicting what the budget will look like at the start of the year and the numbers of staff we may need for sessions is always a challenge, as numbers of children change and children go from being fee paying to having funded hours.
It has always been important to Preschool’s ethos that fees are as low as possible for our fee-paying children so we can provide affordable yet high quality childcare. However, a small fee increase is going to be necessary after Easter to help us to cover rising costs and pay staff in line with the living wage. This increase is closely aligned with government funding and fees at other local preschools and we are hopeful that it will help Preschool run to budget next year.
Since the last AGM we have held two successful fundraisers: opportunities not only to raise funds but also to get our Preschool community together. Sponsorship from our summer obstacle course raised £144 and the children
had a fantastic time completing the course, some of them multiple times! In December we held our second carols by candlelight Christmas event, which raised £81.35. The children did a lovely performance followed by festive snacks and a good sing song. The funds from these events go towards equipment and resources for the children. Last year’s fundraisers also helped us to raise enough money to start constructing a new sand pit and complete a garden project, works for which finally began last week during half term and should be finished next week. Everyone at Preschool is very excited to have this new and improved garden space and we hope it will be enjoyed by many children for many years to come.
As I’m sure many of you are aware, we urgently need more people to join us on the committee. As Preschool 345 is a charity, we are legally required to have a committee in order to operate. We currently have five members - myself, Hannah, Helen, Claire and Rosanna - and we ideally need six. However, Hannah will be stepping down at Easter as her youngest child left preschool a year and a half ago and Helen’s youngest started school in September so is also looking to move on, so we need new parents to keep joining us. We are very friendly and no experience is necessary. Although we are currently an all female committee, dads have been part of the committee in the past, so dads please have a think too about whether you could join us. Grandparents with connections to Preschool would also be most welcome. We will be holding another information session for anyone who is interested soon and you’re always welcome to message Leanne or grab one of us when you drop off or pick up your child.
Finally, as a committee, we are so thankful for the care and dedication each and every one of the staff put into looking after the children who attend Preschool 345. Each child is known and understood by the staff so that they can flourish individually.
Thank you very much everyone for joining us this evening and being a part of the Preschool 345 community.
PRESCHOOL 345 ANNUAL ACCOUNTS FOR YEAR END 30[th] AUGUST 2023
| CAF Current | Account | CAF Gold | Saving Account | Cambridge and | County Bank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BALANCE | 39383.68 | 1368.03 | 80381.24 | |||
| Income | ||||||
| Fees | 28706.28 | |||||
| Funding | 75540.23 | |||||
| Donations | 550.00 | |||||
| Gift Aid | ||||||
| Christmas Fair | 142.79 | |||||
| Summer Fair | ||||||
| Sports Day | 144.00 | |||||
| Donation | 250.00 | |||||
| Payment refund | 57.50 | |||||
| Childcare grant | 1958.11 | |||||
| Interest | 67.30 | 18.19 | 1743.55 | |||
| Transfers | 380.00 | 10000.00 |
106709.42 1104.98 11743.55
Total Income
| CAF Current Account |
CAF Gold Saving Accou |
Cambridge an County Bank |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Expenditure | |||
| Premises | 15108.72 | ||
| Wages | 87479.46 | ||
| Equipment | 1456.80 | ||
| Administration | 599.91 | ||
| Consumables | 2435.27 | ||
| Communications | 83.99 | ||
| eyLog | 910.80 | ||
| Membership fees | 255.00 | ||
| Rockabillies | 1337.50 | ||
| Hygiene services | 389.33 | ||
| Insurance | 1023.80 | ||
| ZooLab | 286.80 | ||
| BeatFeet | 150.00 | ||
| Leavers party | 135 | ||
| Training | 270.00 | ||
| Team building | 220.00 | ||
| Childcare grant refund | 1958.11 | ||
| fee refund | 30.00 | ||
| Other | 25.00 | ||
| Transfers | 10000.00 | 380.00 | |
| Total Expenditure | 124155.49 | 380.00 | 0.00 |
| BALANCE | 21937.61 | 2093.01 | 92124.79 |
Independent Examiner's Report to the trustees of Pre-school 345, Beeston, Nottinghamshire. I report on thc accounts for ihe )'ear ended 31° August 2023 m.hich are sel out on the balan¢e sheet. Resp¢ctiTr'e responsibilities o(trustees #nd eiaminer Th¢ Pre-S¢hool 345 s irustees are responsible for Ihe preparation of the accounts. The Pre-SchLx)1345's Irusiees consider thai an audit is not requir¢d for this '¢ar under seciion 144(?) of the CharitlC5 Act 2011 (the ?0 I l Acr) and that an independeni e.xamination is needed. It Is mi. responsibilit). to: • e.xamine ihe accounts underFction 145 of the 2011 Act • to follow. th¢ pr£edureS lai4 down in the genernl Direciions given bv the commission under sectton 14i{511bl ofihe ?011 Aci to state ivhether particular matters have Come to m), attention Basis of illdependent examiner'i IEPOrt My. examination was caled oui in a¢cordanc¢ with the general Directions given by the Charity Comii)ission. An examination includ¢s a reN'iew of the a¢¢ounting records kepi by the charity and a comparison of th¢ accounis presenied ii'ith Ihose records. It also includes ¢onsideraiion of an! unusual items or disclosures in ihe accoun15. and seeking explanations frotn you as trustees concerning an), such matters. The procedures undcrtaken do not proi ide all the evidence that would be ffquired iti audit and consequentl). no opinion is given as io .he1her the a¢counts present a "Irue and fair view, and the rewrt is liinited io (hose matters set out in Ihe nexi Stsiemenl. Independent examÉner's statement In connection with my examinaiion. no mauer has come to m), attentÈon- ( l ) which gives me reasonabl¢ cadse io belieN'e that in anv material respeci the r¢quiretllents'. •io keep accounting records i accordance with seciion 130 of the ?01 l Act and •to prepare accounts which accord with the accoutkting records and comply with the ac¢ounting requirements of the 2011 Act have not been met or (-) to which. in m). opinion, allentyon should be drdWD in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounis 10 be rea¢hed. Katriona MacArrhur- Brown ACMA, CGMA 80 Wollaton Vale. Nottingham, NG8 2PB ?8 November 2023