**St Tudy Pre-school Trustees Report for August 2021 - July 2022**
## **Chairperson / Manager report Emma Sleeman**
Good evening and welcome to you all to our Open Evening and AGM. It is wonderful to see our parents in the setting, this is something we do miss being in the hall, but try to offer opportunities for parents to meet our staff, meet other parents where possible at end of term parties etc.
As you will all know – Hayley was manager last year, but as she is no longer at the preschool, my report will also include a summary on behalf of the manager. As we finish my 5[th] and last year as chairman of the preschool, we are pleased to report yet another busy, successful year. We have had lots happening, as always but the staff have worked hard, the committee have been a huge support as always and ensured continued smooth running of the preschool.
Our financial year we will be reporting on tonight is August 2021 – July 2022
We started the year in August 2021 offering summer club for our families. Having being shut for some of the year before due to covid- it was a priority to offer childcare, as some children had only returned in the last few weeks of July, we wanted to give them a sense of normality and consistency having returned to preschool after lockdown. They were very successful, we offered 2 days a week throughout the holidays, and had around 25 children attending across the 2 days each week.
We employed Rachael Smith in August 2021, who started with us in the holidays for some sessions then started officially in September. We started September with 34 children which was a great start to the term.
In October Half term – Clint Marshall and his team, came into the preschool and laid our new flooring throughout the preschool, which as I’m sure you ‘ll agree has transformed the building. It's certainly made life much easier for the team – let’s be honest – no one likes scrubbing playdough, and hoovering food out of a carpet!
Throughout the year the team have undertaken various training courses – updating mandatory safeguarding, first aid and now the training directory is offering a wide selection of training online which gives the team a great opportunity for self-development. We took the opportunity to offer Carla an apprenticeship and started this in December 2021. Once finished she will be Level 3 qualified. We wish you luck with your continued studies.
We were very lucky this year to have Jo volunteer for us in the setting, we saw huge potential in Jo and asked if she would be interested in undertaking an apprenticeship while working at the preschool, she was delighted to be given the opportunity and has started her apprenticeship.
In December we held the AGM, we welcomed Jen Kempthorne, Vicky Pengelly, Amanda Polkinghorne, Tanya Smith and Elsie Preddy to the committee, they joined myself, Dan, Rachel, Ewelina, Suzanne and Hayley. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for all they have done this year – attending some committee calls can be time consuming, although we keep them to once a month, there was an ongoing joke of will Emma wrap this up by 10 o’clock tonight!! I have got much better, and although some meetings were lengthy, we held some good discussions about the preschool and made some positive decisions about the preschool which is what the committee is all about. We have also managed to hold a couple face-to-face meetings, which has been really nice too.
The children entered the Village Carnival this year and entered as a walking float of “Our planet”. It was great to see such support from families and a huge Thank you must go to Ewelina for hours of hard work preparing parts for the float to make it a huge success. We were delighted to hold a leavers graduation party this year at the hall. The children sang some songs, received some gifts, played some games and did some dancing with their friends before saying goodbye for the summer holidays. The sun was shining, we had party food outside on picnic blankets, it was the perfect way to end the school term. Rachael Smith handed in her notice in July and Hayley handed in hers at the end of the term, which did mean a very busy summer interviewing for their positions. After conducting interviews, we were delighted that Rachael Tootle would step up from deputy manager to Manager. Rachael and I conducted interviews to fill the other vacancies and went onto employee Vicky Pengelly as Deputy manager, and Vicki Jennings who both started in September. Vicky has previously worked as deputy at another setting, Vicki also came from another setting, and they have both settled in well to the setting. I would like to say a huge well done to Rachael who has taken on a lot since her promotion, despite a lot of challenges Rach takes things in her stride and gets things done. The committee saw management potential in Rach when she started her apprenticeship some years ago, and I cannot praise her enough for her attitude to work and her dedication to the preschool. She is an asset to the preschool, and I know she will do everything possible to see the preschool continue to grow…...and any hurdles that get in her way…you will hear from time to time ….” It is what it is….” And she will find the best way to deal with these.
As we enter into a new year, Myself, Dan and Rachael are resigning from the committee after 4 years on the committee. I think I speak on behalf of them when I say it's been a rewarding journey which has been full of challenges – covid probably being our biggest yet, but we have gone from strength to strength, starting out at the hall, to now being in our own building with numbers increasing year on year. We all feel we’re leaving the preschool in a very strong position. We started on the committee when our own children were at the preschool at the hall, they are now in Year 2 and 3 at school so feel it's time to handover to parents with children here to continue to drive the preschool forward. It’s been a blast and I truly have enjoyed it and feel privileged to have been a part of it. I’ve made some great friends during my time here and will miss popping into the preschool and having a warm welcome of little hellos and good morning, Emma as I walk in from the children in the setting.
As we all know – the committee is an integral part of the preschool and without a committee it cannot remain open, so I ask just one thing as parents to support the committee where possible to secure the future of the preschool for many years to come.
## **Treasurer Report Rachel Buchanan**
This has been my fourth year as treasurer and I am pleased to report that again we have successfully ended the financial year in a good position to take the pre-school forward for another year. Although our surplus has reduced by 48% YOY to £4,607.07, it is still a considerably stronger position than we have been in previous years.
## **Income**
With more children on the roll than last year, our income for 2021/20 was up considerably on the previous year, a YOY increase of 25%, which marks a cautious upwards trend during the years that I have been acting as treasurer. This is an improvement of 2.5% over the 22.5% YOY increase for 20/21.
The growth is largely down to the work of the manager and staff, with the support of the committee, in making the most of our own space and increasing attendance particularly at the younger end of the age-range.
This year we took almost £93,000 in total income, including fees paid by parents (up 27.6%), funding from Cornwall Council (up 57.2%), fund-raising (up 41.88%) and donations (down 98.87%).
As a small charity pre-school, we continue to rely on our fundraising efforts and grants and donations. Our fundraising remained steady this year, with raffles and Amazon Smile offering a modest £1,484.85. Sadly, our donations this year were greatly reduced and we were not successful in any grant applications. The return of in-person events should give the committee a new opportunity for fundraising in the coming financial year which will boost the surplus.
## **Expenditure**
Our expenditure rose as predicted in 2021/22 with almost everything generally costing more, and with more children on roll, our baseline need for resources and equipment has also increased.
The greatest increase was to our wage bill which went up by 34.4% when compared to 20/21, which was itself an 8% increase on 19/20. This is in part due to the new minimum wage and subsequent staff pay rises and therefore HMRC / pension payment contribution increases, but also simply that we required more staff hours and therefore more staff on the payroll to meet ratios.
Other increases were also within our predictions from the last financial report for 20/21. This included rent (back up to our usual full-time opening payments), training (including covering apprenticeships), wages, and administrative/office costs. Spending the funding ring-fenced from the previous year’s income also occurred during this financial year and we also moved £2000 back into our savings account. This is reflected in the income portion of the spreadsheet and is ring-fenced for spending in 2022/23.
## _Unpaid bills_
There is one ongoing unpaid bill this year where a payment plan has been agreed.
## _Notes for 2022/23_
Looking forward to 2022/23, minimum wage once again is likely to rise in April 2023 although we have no information as to how much. This may mean further staff pay rises are required. We agreed as a committee to re-assess fees charged and an increase will need to happen from the start of 2023 to once again bring hourly charges in line with those received from the government for our funded places. As usual, a further review will take place at the end of the financial year.
We noted last year that the digital registration and invoicing was working well. We should note that for 22/23 we have moved to a different system which we hope will continue to improve the process for everyone including parents.
The movement to milk being organised by an outside body, and the pre-school to remain largely cash-less has been a great improvement and we continue to make good steps towards streamlining all payment processes.
We should expect the training bill to continue to rise in 22/23 as there is an increased number of staff to cover essentials such as food hygiene, safeguarding, and we also continue to work with staff who are apprentices.
We should also expect general costs to continue to rise, and it should also be flagged that we may well have to make an increased payment for rent due to rises in energy prices.
There is room for further improvements to be made as to the process for making payments for lower priced items needed for the day-to-day running of the pre-school, including resources and equipment. It is still needlessly time consuming for the treasurer to be reconciling and chasing individual receipts to reimburse staff or for items to be bought using multiple accounts by various committee members and the manager.
We have made steps to address this including by taking out a pre-school Amazon Prime account to allow for quick purchasing from a central account and I would recommend that we ensure the manager and treasurer both have access to a shared google drive or similar for invoices to be saved electronically. This will help from both a time and environmental point of view.
## **Final comments**
The efforts of implementing the new building and increased numbers on roll should continue to help us maintain our financial position. For the fourth year running we are in a good position to continue for the next financial year. Thank you to the manager and to the chair as well as the wider committee for their ongoing support.
As indicated at the last AGM, this must be my final year as treasurer. My children have long left the pre-school and while I have enjoyed my time on the committee and acting as treasurer, it is now time for me to hand over to a new volunteer to help steer the pre-school through its next chapter.
||**Annual**|**Annual**|**Annual**|**Accounts for AGM 2022**|**Accounts for AGM 2022**|**Accounts for AGM 2022**|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||||||
|||**Financial Report**|||||||
|||
**St Tudy Pre-school**|||||||
|||~~**1st August 2020**~~
~~**2021**~~|~~**to 31st July**~~|||~~**1st August 2021**~~
~~**2022**~~|~~**to 31st July**~~||
||||||||||
|||**INCOME**||||**INCOME**|||
||||||||||
|||FEES|£ 27,889.12|||FEES|£ 35,592.75||
|||FUNDING|£ 34,006.78|||FUNDING|£ 53,462.20||
|||FUNDRAISING|£ 1,046.57|||FUNDRAISING|£ 1,484.85||
|||STAY AND PLAY|-|||STAY AND PLAY|-||
|||DONATIONS|£ 7,510.93|||DONATIONS|£ 85.00||
|||other|£ 42.80|||other|£ 2,000.00||
|||furlough|£ 2,959.18|||furlough|£ 77.08||
|||refunds|£ 360.30|||refunds|£ 64.24||
|||TOTAL|£ 73,815.68|||TOTAL|£ 92,766.12||
||||||||||
|||**EXPENDITURE**||||**EXPENDITURE**|||
||||||||||
|||WAGES|£ 46,924.00|||WAGES|£ 63,068.96||
|||RENT|£ 6,640.00|||RENT|£ 7,200.00||
|||TRAINING|£ 516.00|||TRAINING|£ 748.00||
|||CONSUMABLES|£ 1,038.33|||CONSUMABLES|£ 582.54||
|||INSURANCES|£ 643.56|||INSURANCES|£ 647.76||
|||ADMIN / OFFICE|£ 1,548.09|||ADMIN / OFFICE|£ 3,924.40||
|||TELEPHONE|£ 391.20|||TELEPHONE|£ 589.83||
|||MISC|£ 5,075.49|||MISC|£ 4,793.32||
|||HMRC|£ 1,217.76|||HMRC|£ 4,371.16||
|||FUNDRAISING
COSTS
|£ 97.76|||FUNDRAISING
COSTS
|£ 282.58||
|||~~NEST-~~
~~PENSIONS~~|£ 858.71|||~~NEST-~~
~~PENSIONS~~|£ 1,950.50||
||||||||||
|||**TOTAL**|**£ 64,950.90**|||**TOTAL**|**£ 88,159.05**||
||||||||||
||||||||||
|||**BALANCE SHEET**||||**BALANCE SHEET**|||
||||||||||
|||INCOME|£ 73,814.68|||INCOME|£ 92,766.12||
|||EXPENDITURE|**£ 64,950.90**|||EXPENDITURE|**£ 88,159.05**||
|||SURPLUS|£ 8,863.78|||SURPLUS|£ 4,607.07||
||||||||||
|||**OPENING**
**BALANCE**||**£ 16,778.78**||**OPENING**
**BALANCE**|**£ 25,647.86**||
|||**surplus**||**£ 8,863.78**||**surplus**|**£ 4,607.07**||
|||**Add interest**
**from savings**
**and redundancy**
~~**accounts**~~||**£ 5.30**||**Add interest**
**from savings**
**and redundancy**
~~**accounts**~~|
**£ 1.90**||
|||**CLOSING**
**BALANCE**||**£ 25,647.86**||**CLOSING**
**BALANCE**|**£ 30,256.83**|**£ 30,256.83**|
||||||||||
|||**BANK ACCOUNT**||||**BANK ACCOUNT**|||
||||||||||
|||~~**CO OP**~~
~~**65402999**~~|**£ 21,178.58**|||~~**CO OP**~~
~~**65402999**~~|**£ 23,785.65**||
|||**redundancy**
**account**
|**£ 3,519.62**|||**redundancy**
**account**
|**£ 3,520.77**||
|||~~**savings**~~
~~**account**~~|**£ 949.66**|||~~**savings**~~
~~**account**~~|**£ 2,950.41**||
|||||DIFF||||DIFF|
||||**£ 25,647.86**|£ -|||**£ 30,256.83**|£ -|
1
## **Independent examiner's report on the accounts**
**Section A Independent Examiner’s Report**
> **Report to the trustees/** St Tudy Pre-school **members of On accounts for the year** 31[st] July 2022 **Charity no** 1029100 **ended (if any) Set out on pages** 2 2 (remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets)
**Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner**
The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Charities Act”) and that an independent examination is needed. [The charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000 and I am qualified to undertake the examination by being a qualified member of [named body]]. _Delete_ [ ] _if not applicable._
It is my responsibility to:
- examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act,
- to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act, and
- to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
- **Basis of independent** My examination was carried out in accordance with general Directions given by **examiner’s statement** the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair’ view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.
**Independent** In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention (other **examiner's statement** than that disclosed below *)
1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any material respect, the requirements:
- to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; and
- to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act
- have not been met; or
2. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
- _Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply._
## **Signed:** Nicola Hooper
**Date:** 5[th] October 2022
**Name:** NICOLA HOOPER
**IER**
1
**Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any):**
MAAT
**Address:** 21 CHERRY TREE CLOSE EXETER DEVON EX4 5AT
## **Section B Disclosure**
Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material problems.(E.g. accounting records have not been kept in accordance with s132 of the Charities’ Act 2011 and those accounts do not comply with the requirements of the 2008 Regulations setting out the form and content of charity accounts; any material expenditure or action which appears not to be in accordance with the trusts of the charity; any failure to be provided with information and explanations by any past or present trustee, officer or employee; and any material consistency between the accounts and the trustees’ annual report.)
**IER**
2
**Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose** .
**IER**
3