Ry oy BN 4 w (SC A" 3 Earleybir Foundation Partnership MINUTES OF THE 2020 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGd Pre-
School Tuesday 24[th] November 2020 Virtual via Microsoft Teams
1. Welcome and Apologies
The Annual General Meeting commenced virtually via Zoom at 8pm. The meeting was chaired by Clare Costello (co-Chair)
Attendees:
Clare Costello, Sarah Lowery, Steph Hanson, Shelley Thorpe, Ruth West, Aileen Leahy, Jade Whatley, Jen O'Brien, Karen Peters, Rebeca Lovato, Max Pilcher, Justin Pilcher, Mustajaab Dar, Noor Afshan Yousaf, Dua Hussain, Sarah Player, Sandra Warwick, Sara Hydari, Caroline Riches, Gavin Sayce, Sara Jackson, Greg Jackson
Apologies:
Julie Loosely, Shellie Litchfield, Maggie McDonald, Louise Lunn, Dani Warwick, Chris South, Caroline Milhench, Chrissy Van der Merwe, Rehana Maqsood
Clare started the meeting by welcoming everyone and thanking them for logging on to this years AGM having to be held via Zoom.
2. Accepting of Minutes from last AGM and matters arising
Copies of the previous AGM minutes and agenda had been emailed to all parents and staff before the meeting. The minutes were accepted as a true and accurate record of last year’s AGM held on 11[th] November 2019.
Proposed: Steph Hanson Seconded: Ruth West
Matters arising: There were no matters arising from the previous meeting.
3. Manager’s Report - presented by Shelley Thorpe
(Manager 2019-)
Thank you all for logging in to our AGM.
I would like to start by thanking the committee for all their hard work in supporting the pre-school. Without a volunteer committee the pre-school would be unable stay open so they really is an important part of Earleybird Pre-school. Many thanks to Clare, Sarah, Steph, Aileen, Rebeca and Rehana who are
Ofsted URN: 148652 Registered Charity No: 1029326
stepping down from the committee at this AGM. I look forward to working with the new committee members who will be elected at this AGM.
I would also like to give a big thank you to the pre-school team who are here every day working with your children, or behind the scenes to make sure the pre-school runs smoothly. Thank you all.
Obviously the big thing this year has been COVID and the impact that this has had on pre-school life. I don’t want to dwell on this for too long as we all know the effects this has had and the “new normal” that it has created. Suffice to say, it has been a bumpy road at times but we have managed to stay open throughout – and I would like to say a massive thank you to the staff who were working in pre-school through the uncertainty of that initial lockdown period.
Looking forward to the rest of this year, we hope once COVID cases have stabilised we will be able to once again open the gates between Robin Room and Starling Room so that the children can free flow between the two rooms. On the 4[th] March we will celebrate World Book Day and on the 9[th] March we will have duckling eggs arriving that will hatch during the two weeks that they are with us. This is always a highlight of the year for children and staff alike. We will also organise for the owls from Feathers and Fur to visit and a visit from the animals of Millar’s Ark. We will also organise small groups to visit the shops and hopefully we will be able to organise a trip to the library for the summer term.
Lastly I’d like to thank the parents for their support during this term and thank you to those who have logged in tonight to support the pre-school.
4. Chairs’ Report - presented by Clare Costello (co-Chair 2017-2020)
Well, what a funny year we have had! One that no one could have predicted, and no one has wanted. However, we are still here!
With so many challenges we faced with the Covid-19 pandemic, we are so proud that we managed to continue to support our Key workers and vulnerable children by staying open during lockdown. Shelley and the team have worked so hard to implement all the necessary procedures to ensure they are keeping the preschool Covid Safe.
It’s not just about hand gel and washing hands. They’ve had to rearrange the room, make changes to their working days, clean the toys- the tasks are endless. And they’ve done this with little disruption to the children’s experience at Earleybird.
Very well done and thanks to all the staff, and thank you too to all the parents that have worked with us during these changes. It has taken some adjusting, but everyone has worked so hard to make it work. Your support has been so appreciated.
This year we have had to say goodbye to a much valued member of our team, Karen Harper. Karen was such a key member of the team and its thanks to her that we had such successful fundraising events, in particular the Easter Fayres. Thanks to Covid, we were unable to hold the Easter Fayre this year, which was our biggest fundraiser for the preschool. We have still managed to do a few
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smaller fundraisers, and we are hoping everything will be back to normal for Easter Fayre 2021 to go ahead.
We also welcomed Rebeca to the team, she has bags of energy and is absolutely fantastic with the children. She has fit in perfectly with the team.
The committee will have some changes this year, both myself and Sarah have made the decision to come off the committee. Our youngest children have started F2 this year, and I’m now pregnant with my third baby due at Easter. So for me, I’ve had to give myself some time to prepare for the new arrival and adjust to a new family life.
Steph, our treasurer has also decided to come off the committee to allow her to focus on furthering her learning and building her career in a new field. Aileen, our secretary is also coming of the committee as her youngest has also left preschool.
I’d like to thank everyone on the committee for the support shown to both myself and Sarah, and to the preschool over the last 3 years. I have really enjoyed my time on the committee, and I’m really excited by the look of the new team based on the nominations we’ve received.
As always, thank you for your endless support. Earleybird staff.... I’ll see you again in a few years!
5. Treasurer’s Report – Steph Hanson (Treasurer 2017-2020) (see Appendix 1 & 2: Accounts Summary)
Thank you for logging on to support our pre-school this evening.
I’m Steph, the Treasurer for the Pre-School. I have been Treasurer for the past 3 years and have 3 sons who have all attended Earleybird and now are at Hawkedon. The Treasurer role is a voluntary role and requires me to pay bills, organise floats for fundraising events, bank money raised, check the payroll run by Ruth, agree with the Executive Committee how money should be spent, reconcile the monthly bank statements, prepare the end of year accounts and arrange for them to be examined before submitting them to the Charity Commission.
Following last year’s AGM, Rehan Kamal, a contact of Sarah Lowery, examined our accounts for the year ending 31st August 2019. I can confirm that Rehan was happy with the accounts. They were submitted to the Charity Commission, along with his report and our Annual Return, within the required timescales. I would like to thank Rehan for his help with this.
Moving on to the 2019/20 academic year, you have been emailed a copy of the latest accounts (Appendix 2). I will also share these on my screen for you to view now (assuming the technology co-operates!). These accounts have not yet been examined, and we are looking for a volunteer to carry out the independent examination. If you would be interested in helping in this noncommittee role and have some financial or accounting experience please speak to me at the end of the AGM, or email the pre-school for further details.
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Our main source of income shown in the accounts is the Early Years Entitlement Funding received from Wokingham Borough Council (£163,600), and also private fees (£4400). Although our figure for this year is lower, as we were not able invoice any private fees for the summer term, as Covid-19 restrictions meant we were unable to offer as many sessions to our families. These funds are used to cover our staff, rent and running costs. I was very pleased to be in the position to still receive funding and not have to consider furlough for our staff.
Staff wages are our largest expenditure (£138,000), but I am sure you will agree their wages are well earned as they do a fantastic job, and make preschool a fun, caring and happy environment for our children.
Rent is also a large expense and the rental figure shown for the year is £8,000. Our actual rent is £12,000 per annum, however Hawkedon were late to invoice for the Summer term, so this invoice has been paid out in the 2020/21 financial year. As part of our rental package we also pay an additional amount of £1400.00 per annum, which enables us to purchase materials through Hawkedon’s suppliers at a reduced rate. This cost is recorded under materials – again we have only paid two thirds of this in the 2019/20 financial year.
Our other source of income is fundraising, and this is key to making positive improvements to the pre-school.
The overall total raised from fundraising activities and events (minus expenditure) this year was just shy of £1500.
Our fundraising has been impacted heavily by coronavirus, as we were unable to run our main fundraiser of the year, the Easter Fayre. Karen and the team put a huge amount effort into preparing for the fayre, only to have to cancel it last minute as we went into national lockdown. We refunded our stallholders and advertisers, but still managed to sell a few of the Easter eggs to staff and committee members, their family and friends. The remainder of the eggs donated and purchased by the preschool were distributed to the preschool children and also donated to NHS staff. We are incredibly grateful for all the donations received, and all non-perishable items will be used for future fundraisers.
During this year we received a £500 payment via matched funding from Boots. Many people do not realise these schemes exist, so please do check with your employers as they may well be able to match funds we raise (usually capped at a certain amount). Your employer receives a tax relief against the charitable donation, and the preschool benefits from the extra funds – it’s a win-win situation! And don’t forget to use Easyfundraising when you shop online.
We also held a bingo night in November, which raised just over £350.00.
The Christmas Panto ticket scheme is still popular, and raised a further £335.00. Money raised from this event is used specifically to pay for both the Earleybird and F2 Christmas party entertainers and a present for each child. We are unfortunately not running this for 2020 as the Hexagon has understandably cancelled the pantomime this year, but our ticket allocation and deposit paid are rolled over to the 2021 pantomime.
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Money was also raised through commission from online shopping, photos, Christmas creations and the Christmas hamper raffle.
Thank you to all the parents for your donations and also to our committee members, staff and helpers who work really hard to ensure our events are a success. We hope to be able to run a few more next year!
The fundraising money enables us to purchase new toys and essential supplies for both rooms as needed, and we were able to cover the cost of the visit from the owls from Feathers and Fur Falconry. We also purchased the duckling hatching kit for the fourth year running, which again was a great hit with everybody, and has already been booked again for 2021. The 2020 leavers were given a rainbow leavers bag with their names on paid for out of fundraising money, as we were unable to run our usual scheme where the leavers draw their own self portrait and we raise commission on bags sold. We have also used funds to purchase new laptops for Shelley and Chris, and also new air conditioning units for the Starling room and the pod, which the staff and children will feel the benefit of in the summer months.
In Summary, as you can see from the accounts, the Pre School has a healthy cash position and we will continue to invest in new facilities, activities and materials.
I am standing down as Treasurer this year, as my youngest is now in year 1, and I am focusing on my bookkeeping qualifications and ultimately building a new business in bookkeeping. Therefore, it is time for me to move on. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time on the committee – thank you to the committee and staff for their support, and to Ruth and Shelley putting up with all my chasing for receipts and paperwork!!! And not to mention their input to ensure the smooth running of the preschool. I will miss you all – and wish the new committee all the best for another successful year.
6. Vote on Policy Document
The pre-school Policy Document has been fully reviewed since last year. The whole of the revised Policy Document was circulated via email to all parents & staff for them to review, and raise any comments or objection before the vote this evening. No objections or comments were received before the meeting, and those attending this AGM agreed to a vote for the whole document. Policy Document is available to download from Hawkedon School’s website; or upon request be contacting our Administrator.
Proposed: Jen O’Brien Seconded: Sara Jackson
7. Resignation of Committee and Election of New Committee
Clare thanked all current committee members for their support this year, in particular due to Covid-19 lockdown cancelling all planned committee fundraising events. She thanked all the committee members stepping down this year. Committee members stepping down are, Clare Costello (co-Chair), Sarah Lower (co-Chair), Aileen Leahy (Secretary), Stephanie Hanson (Treasurer), Rehana Rehman (Fundraiser) & Rebeca Lovato (Fundraiser)
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New committee members shown below were voted in with 16 counts:-
Committee Name Proposed by Seconded by Position Chair Jennifer O’Brien Secretary Maxine Pilcher Treasurer Claire Walden Fundraiser Chrissy Van der Receipts and payments acco CC 16a Merwe | _ Section Fundraiser A Receipts and payments Sarah Player Gemma Wells Tracey Player Unrestricted Restricted Endowment funds funds funds Total funds Last year Shelley Thorpe continues as a co-opted to the committee. to the £nearest to the nearest£ to the nearest£ to the nearest£ to the nearest£ |A1 Receipts Fees from Wokingham borough council nen [anno 163,638 FundraisingOther 8. AOB No other business was raised. Interest earned on bank accountsSub 140]6942 | P=;Jeee= EeeP=||= |[||[6,942][87] 140 |J| |[223] 13,861 | The first committee meeting for the new committed was arranged for 1 total (Gross income for AR) Ld Tseaninne =[st] December at 8pm virtually via Zoom or Microsoft Teams. A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). Clare closed the meeting at 8.36pm. Teal reese) Tare |A3 Payments EEE eee PAVE 2,726 | |Ls P| [| 12,726 | |[9,954] | Expenses sd A614 Appendix 1: R&P Accounts 2019-2020 Food 2 88 | [| [| FundraisingShop peeeeaiial| EE [2.949| expenditure |__ 5,473 | | EEE Ld | [605] SEGarden 87 | feneen|einai 1)| iia)PTaesfata ea 2) |[336] | Ld ed eT [| es Lidl [1.422 Sub P= P= | aay total Bama Be 169,679 |A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) [edSubtotal[ |ee - Totalpayments eer) TER AS Net of receipts/(payments) aes LT P2151) |______—0,065) AG Transfers between funds | | | Tire | Cash funds last year end Le Pd 146,470 |[136,405)] Cash funds this year end | SaaS RSG EES | 135,319) Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Unrestricted Restricted Endowment funds funds funds to nearest £ to nearest £ to nearest £ B1 Cash funds LloydsLloyds bank current account | Pobank bus instant access savings LT P| Total Le 3 | Le - eee cash funds | 135,319 | Een oats (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) OK OK OK Unrestricted Restricted Endowment Details to nearestfunds £ to nearestfunds £ to nearestfunds £ Details Fundasset to belongs which Cost (optional)‘i Current(optional) value Fund to which ‘ Current value Details asset belongs Cost (optional) (optional) B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use [= P= School furniture | Pd | | Digital Camera Eee P| LY LTFund to which Amount due When due B5 Liabilities DetailsAugust PAYE Unrestrictedliability relates (optional) Page (optional) 6 of 08/09/20) 7
Appendix 2: Bank Accounts Summary 2019-2020
| Lloyds Current Account |
Lloyds Business Instant Access Account |
Petty Cash |
|
| Opening balance 1.9.2019 | 72,584.92 | 73,884.75 | 0.00 |
| Ext. receipts | 175,097.55 | 0 | 0 |
| Ext. payments | -186,268.18 | 0 | -16.70 |
| Interest earned | 0.00 | 36.51 | |
| Net transfers b/w Earleybirds' bank accounts |
-30.00 | 0.00 | 30.00 |
| Calculated closing balance 31.08.2020 | 61,384.29 | 73,921.26 | 13.30 |
| Closing balance on bank statement 31.08.2020 |
61,384.29 | 73,921.26 | 13.30 |
| Check | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
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Appendix 2
| J | Earleybird Pre-School 1029326 CC16a Receipts and payments accounts For the period from 01.09.19 To 31.08.20 SES |
Earleybird Pre-School 1029326 CC16a Receipts and payments accounts For the period from 01.09.19 To 31.08.20 SES |
Earleybird Pre-School 1029326 CC16a Receipts and payments accounts For the period from 01.09.19 To 31.08.20 SES |
Earleybird Pre-School 1029326 CC16a Receipts and payments accounts For the period from 01.09.19 To 31.08.20 SES |
Earleybird Pre-School 1029326 CC16a Receipts and payments accounts For the period from 01.09.19 To 31.08.20 SES |
Earleybird Pre-School 1029326 CC16a Receipts and payments accounts For the period from 01.09.19 To 31.08.20 SES |
Earleybird Pre-School 1029326 CC16a Receipts and payments accounts For the period from 01.09.19 To 31.08.20 SES |
Earleybird Pre-School 1029326 CC16a Receipts and payments accounts For the period from 01.09.19 To 31.08.20 SES |
Earleybird Pre-School 1029326 CC16a Receipts and payments accounts For the period from 01.09.19 To 31.08.20 SES |
Earleybird Pre-School 1029326 CC16a Receipts and payments accounts For the period from 01.09.19 To 31.08.20 SES |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Section A Receipts and payments | ||||||||||
| Unrestricted funds |
Restricted funds | Endowment funds | Total funds | Last year | ||||||
| to the nearest £ |
to the nearest | to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | ||
| A1 Receipts Fees from Wokingham borough council 163,638 - - 163,638 154,809 Private fees 4,379 - - 4,379 13,861 Fundraising 6,942 - - 6,942 10,814 Interest earned on bank accounts 37 - - 37 37 Other 140 - - 140 223 175,134 - - 175,134 179,743 A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). Total receipts 175,134 - - 175,134 179,743 Sub total(Gross income for AR) = ~~SS SS Be =~~ —~~—————~~ |
||||||||||
| A3 Payments Wages |
138,009 | - | - | - | - | 138,009 | 138,009 | 122,035 | ||
| PAYE | 12,726 | - | - | - | - | 12,726 | 12,726 | 9,954 | ||
| Pensions | 4,614 | 4,614 | 4,614 | 2,486 | ||||||
| Expenses | 11,543 | - | - | - | - | 11,543 | 11,543 | 3,765 | ||
| Food Shop | 1,277 | - | - | - | - | 1,277 | 1,277 | 1,949 | ||
| Fundraising expenditure | 5,473 | - | - | - | - | 5,473 | 5,473 | 7,353 | ||
| Training | 1,264 | - | - | - | - | 1,264 | 1,264 | 605 | ||
| Rent | 8,000 | - | - | - | - | 8,000 | 8,000 | 12,000 | ||
| Phone Garden Materials Misc |
260 576 1,403 1,141 |
- - - - |
- - - - |
- - - - |
- - - - |
260 576 1,403 1,141 |
260 576 1,403 1,141 |
336 5,048 2,726 1,422 |
||
| - Sub total 186,285 |
- - |
- - |
- - |
- - |
- 186,285 |
- 186,285 |
169,679 | |||
| A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) Sub total - |
- | - | - | - | - - |
- - |
- | |||
| A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period |
Total payments 186,285 - - 186,285 169,679 Net of receipts/(payments) (11,151) - - (11,151) 10,065 - - 146,470 - - 146,470 136,405 Cash funds this year end 135,319 - - 135,319 146,470 Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period ~~=~~ ~~5 B =~~ |
|||||||||
| Unrestricted | Restricted funds | Endowment funds | ||||||||
| Categories | Details | funds | ||||||||
| to nearest £ | to nearest £ | to nearest £ | ||||||||
| B1 Cash funds | Lloyds bank current account 61,384 - - Lloyds bank bus instant access savings account 73,921 - - Petty Cash 13 - - 135,319 - - Total cash funds —_~~————~~ ~~i~~ |
|||||||||
| (agree balances with receipts and payments | (agree balances with receipts and payments | |||||||||
| account(s)) | OK | OK | OK | |||||||
| Unrestricted | Restricted funds | Endowment funds | ||||||||
| funds | ||||||||||
| B2 Other monetary assets | Details | to nearest £ | - | to nearest £ - |
to nearest £ - |
|||||
| - | - | - | - | |||||||
| Details | Fund to which asset belongs |
Cost (optional) | Current value (optional) |
|||||||
| B3 Investment assets | - | - | - | |||||||
| - | - | - | ||||||||
| Details | Fund to which asset belongs |
Cost (optional) | Current value (optional) |
|||||||
| B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use | Laptops Unrestricted - - School furniture Unrestricted - - Toys Unrestricted - - Digital Camera Unrestricted - - Ipads Unrestricted - - SS |
|||||||||
| Fund to which | Amount due | When due | ||||||||
| Details | liability relates | (optional) | (optional) | |||||||
| B5 Liabilities | August PAYE Unrestricted 1,359.25 08/09/20 Summer Term Rent / GLS to Hawkedon Unrestricted 4,466.67 Paid 04/11/20 - Hawkedon late to invoice ——— |
|||||||||
| Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees | Signature | Print Name | Date of approval | |||||||
| Notes: | ||||||||||
| Accounts have been prepared using the Payments and Receipts method. | Accounts have been prepared using the Payments and Receipts method. |
R&P Accounts 2019-2020
Appendix 2 Cont'd
| Lloyds Current Account |
Lloyds Business Instant Access Account |
Petty Cash |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opening balance 1.9.2019 Ext. receipts |
72,584.92 175,097.55 |
73,884.75 0 |
0.00 0 |
||
| Ext. payments | -186,268.18 | 0 | -16.70 | ||
| Interest earned | 0.00 | 36.51 | |||
| Net transfers b/w Earleybirds' bank accounts Calculated closing balance 31.08.2020 Closing balance on bank statement 31.08.2020 Check |
-30.00 61,384.29 61,384.29 0.00 |
0.00 73,921.26 73,921.26 0.00 |
30.00 13.30 13.30 0.00 |
||
Bank Accounts Summary 2019-2020
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ELAND AND WALES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Scction A Indepcndcnt Examiner s Repor1 R•port to the trustsesl m•mbers of Earfeybyd Pr&scM)I On accounts for th• yoar ended 31.08.2020 Charity no (if any) 1029328 Set oth on wges lo the trustees on my enInatIOn ofthe aC0nIS of the above charity Ilhe Trust") for the year ended 31118 12020. R•8pon8lbilitlM and basis of roport AS the trustees, you are TeswnsiL for the preparatn of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('the Ad'>. I report in resped of my examinath)n of the Trusvs accounts carTied out undef seclion 145 of the 2011 Act arrfl in carrying out my examination, I have follNed all the appluble OKtiOnS grven by the Charity Commission urwJeT seckn 145(5)(bl of the Ad. Indepgndenl oxamlnorfs stat•rn•nt I have compkted my e%Inaln. I confimi that no malerlal matters have come lo my attentp)n in nnliOn with the examination (othw ihanthat whth me Cause to believe that in, any mal&rlal resFeCt: tho accountry réts)rd8 ncrt kep in accorda8 wrfth Sectlon 130 of the Charrties Act., or the ac£ounts dKI not acct)fd with the ac4>)unting record8,' OT the untS dxl not compty wth the applicable requirements cc¥enIng the foryn and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Re[rts) RegulatKms 2008 other t any requirement that the accounts gNe a 'lrue aThJ fairf view which is ml a matter consKJered as part of an independenl examinalKffl. I h8ve no concems and have come across no olher matters in connection Ith the examinath)n lo whith attentlon Should be drawn in this ieport in order to enable a proper urKlerstsndlng of the ac£ounts to be reached. &gned: Date: 28.07.2021 Hollie Culham Relevant profo3sional qualification(s) or Ixxiy FCCA {08263SO} IER Oct 2018
{Ir any): Addrtss: Palthxk Wthy. GiF6y Lane. Lower Ey, RG6 3HG Sectioii B Disclos ure Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examinat of charty aceA)Unts: diraw)ns and guidance for examinefsl. Give hor• brief detsils of any It•ms that the •xaminer wishes to dl•clo•fj. Nothing lo nole IER Oct 2018