Findon Village Preschool AGM Minutes
Date: January 24[th] 2023
Attendees
Committee : Jen Taylor (JT) Yvonne Wilson (YW) Steve Smith (SS) Yvette Pow (YW) Staff : Kayleigh Higson (KH) Denise Lambourne (DM) Parents : Sian Northmore Mr & Mrs Horgan Mr & Mrs Bristow
Apologies: Andy Stowell (AS) Neil Williamson (NW)
Agenda
Election of Committee Members
-
YW was re-elected as Chairperson.
-
SS was re-elected as Treasurer
-
JT was re-elected as Secretary.
It was decided the constitution will change from 1 year to 3 years for reelection of Trustees.
Chairperson Report
YW delivered her report and approved by attendees (see attached).
Managers Report
KH delivered her report and approved by attendees (see attached).
Treasurer Report
SS delivered his report and approved by attendees (see attached).
AOB
JT – expressed her desire to step down from the committee as soon as a suitable replacement can be found owing to a need to spend more time with her family.
NW – Informed the committee he was standing down from the committee as he was concerned a conflict of interest may occur between his professional role and his role at the pre-school. He was thanked for all his support up until this point in time.
AS – Andy had tendered his resignation owing to pressure of work but would support the committee as a member until such time as replacements could be found.
John Wilson, a Findon Parish Councillor and someone engaged with preschool activities in the buildings and grounds maintenance was proposed as a Trustee and approved by the committee subject to the usual DBS and Ofsted checks.
Kayleigh Higson, the Deputy Manager was appointed as the interim Preschool manager at the beginning of January 2023 after the previous manager, Vanessa Peek, unexpectantly resigned at the end of the Autumn term to work as a Teaching Assistant and the village primary school owing to a change in circumstances at home.
Charlotte Heath was appointed interim Deputy Manager back filling the vacancy created when Kayliegh moved up to interim manager.
Both positions are 3 months in duration and both will be invited to apply for these positions permanently within a recruitment process to find the best candidate for the job.
The committee welcomed the opportunity to work with the preschool staff to deliver the very best services to children in their care and for their parents.
Meeting closed – date to TBC for next meeting.
Chair of Trustees Annual Report
24th Jan 2023
We are Findon Village Preschool and our main purpose and vision has been to provide early years childcare and education and support for children and families in our local community. Over the past year we have provided a service delivering early years experiences for the 34 children we currently have on role, 5 days a week from a dedicated building in the heart if Findon Village . Our work has allowed local families the benefit of accessing their children's Early Years Funding Entitlements on their doorstep giving them the best start in life.
Our aims and objectives as described in our constitution and which we have been committed to delivering this year are as follows:
Findon Village preschool has been committed to offering support and high-quality care and education for all our children regardless of race, religion, culture, gender, or ability.
We have endeavoured to work with parents and carers to help nurture their child to reach their full potential by offering a safe and caring environment where learning and play can come together.
We have supported all children to become independent learners by actively encouraging children to think for themselves and develop confidence and self- esteem and to become happy and active members of our community.
We continue to welcome parents and carers into our setting in different ways over the past few years due to COVID -19 restrictions, encouraging them to take an active part in all aspects of our provision, providing links for home learning activities and opportunities to explore becoming members of the Committee. Their thoughts and opinions matter and have been taken on board and have been valuable to reflective practice in our setting. We are currently in communications with our Local Authority actively exploring more positive ways to ensure the sustainability and continuity of the preschool going forward into the future.
We, with the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum (Sept 2021) and our Local Children's Safeguarding Partnership, ensure our standards for safeguarding children are robust and consistently met. In addition to this we have worked in collaboration with other agencies such WSCC Early Years Childcare and Support and other local charities within our community which offer a range of support networks for our families.
Staff and trustees have worked in partnership and networked with the local community and beyond to access various and numerous virtual and face to face training courses to better equip ourselves in supporting our families to receive the best possible support for their
children and themselves. We have used local businesses / organisations to offer enhanced learning experiences for the children such WSCC Book Bus, SeCamb, Sussex Police and more recently Spectrum Balance Health Play.
Our Governance and Structure
Findon Village Preschool registered with Ofsted in 20th August 1992. 'The register of Charities' had been approved with the Charity number 1029483.
We currently have 6 trustees listed with Yvonne Wilson as Chairperson for our organisation. A current goal is to seek new interest and support for our trustees to strengthen the structure and to ensure its sustainability.
We have raised funds to provide resources and organised fund-raising events for Children in Need, Comic Relief etc and received support from another local charity through providing some much-needed resources.
As we are currently supporting the transition of new children and families into our setting, our mission going forward beyond recent covid restrictions is to re-establish and build on parent partnerships through our open-door policy, open sessions and other ideas to welcome and engage families into our preschool community and become strong influences in their children's learning and development. We have recently adopted the 'Famly' online journal as a new methodology of assessment and communication which is giving parents real time observations and updates of their children's progress with their learning and development.
We moved forward quickly with renovation plans during 2021/ 2022 as a matter of urgency in gathering consent from the Parish Council and quotes to progress with building/ plans to update our environment. This has meant we have now been able to complete the first phase of our plans and renovated the inside of the preschool including refurbishments of the settings children and staff toilets as well as creating access paths through the woodland space, which the children are gaining the full experience of outdoor play continuously throughout all seasons and has become of great value to the children's health and wellbeing.
In 2022 we devised and implemented a successful marketing plan to increase children numbers, this included launching a new website, the creation of flyers, banners and the initiation of a Google advertising campaign. We will continue to build on this in 2023.
In summary
Findon Village Preschool continues to be a popular choice of Early Years Provision for our immediate community and beyond. We have had a challenging year in respect of our new cohort, which was our lockdown children who have had limited social interactions for long periods of time and our aim is to strengthen their skills and promote their future learning effectively.
Overall our achievements have been to continue to support and meet the needs of families through new ways of communicating to engage all families ie. Virtually, face to face, email, letter etc. growing the number of children on roll by 50%.
Our plan for Improvement going forward is to work collaboratively with parents as we implement the revised EYFS reforms and Statutory Framework and improve outcomes for all our children as well as continuing the professional development of staff.
Yvonne Wilson Chair of Trustees Findon Village Woodland Preschool
Managers’ report to the AGM
January 24[th] 2023
Introduction:
Good evening, I hope you are all well and would like to thank you for joining us tonight for the AGM. I believe I have met all parents/ carers now, but one key question I am asked often is my background. I have spent most of my time in education, completing a Level 3 in childcare & education, BA Honors in Education and then a PGCE in Primary education, alongside other courses such as a level 2 in understanding autism.
I began the managerial role officially at the start of the term but spent the Christmas holidays in preschool moving and changing learning areas. All staff in the preschool remain the same, Charlotte, Denise, Ellie, Mel and Kate. We have a member of bank staff Jodie who you may have seen in recent weeks and a new member of staff who is starting with us next week.
Day to day life in preschool:
The day to day life in preschool remains similar to before Christmas. Children come in and begin the day with circle time. During circle time, the children are beginning to find and recognise their names and self register and discuss the weather and begin to learn the days of the week. Every Friday, this is followed by a discussion surrounding bobby bear. Bobby bear is new and was introduced a few weeks ago. Children will all be given the opportunity to take bobby bear home/ on an adventure with them over the weekend. We then encourage you as parents/carers and the children to write a brief description of the activities you completed with bobby bear and to include any pictures you have taken. I introduced bobby bear as it is essential that we build upon and extend children’s previous knowledge and understanding. We all discuss bobby bears adventures and share experiences, this then informs our setting planning to ensure learning and development is taking place.
We then encourage the children to take part in a physical activity such as dance or mindfulness. I have introduced ‘jump start Johnny’ with the children and they seem to particularly enjoy this.
Following physical activity, children are encouraged to free-flow play between the two rooms indoors and outside. We encourage the children to go outside in all weathers and therefore,
please can you ensure your child has suitable changes of clothing in their bags, which are weather appropriate. We have ordered wetsuits for children in preschool who may have forgotten them.
Set activities are out in our learning areas in the morning when the children arrive: creative area, math’s, literacy, home corner and role play, construction and outside. These activities are based around our curriculum, with the current theme for the term being ‘transport’. This was chosen based upon children’s current interest. Children free flow between activities and are encouraged to take part in as many as possible. Following this, in the afternoon we extend our activities based on the children’s interest and ideas and then set up activities to extend upon this.
We complete a rolling snack around 10am, where children are encouraged to eat something healthy. I am aware that due to the cost of living this may be expensive and therefore have written to local business and companies to ask for donations of healthy foods. I have been bringing in different fruits to children to try each week and this seems very successful. I am keen to ensure that this continues each week.
At lunch time we encourage all children to begin lunch with their savory item, this can be a sandwich, sausage rolls etc. Children sit at tables in the main room to eat lunch and a member of staff is sat at each table to support them during this time. We have begun taking the children outside after lunch to follow with school routine of lunch and break. The children have taken well to this and again it seems successful.
Communication:
Since starting in January I have worked hard with the staff to ensure that communication with parents and carers is successful. I have introduced purple home school books and each child should now be having weekly updates on famy regarding their progress and development.
We have been working hard to complete children’s 2 year progress checks and are continuing to book these in.
Next topic:
After half term under the topic of transport we will be looking at people who help us. If you work in a role such as: police, NHS, education etc. and are willing to come in and talk to the children, please let me know so we can get this arranged.
School leavers:
After half term will be continuing to progress children’s learning and development and ensure that the transition to school is successful, by introducing learning packs. This will be a focused adult led activity which all children, including non-school leavers can join. They aim to support
children in recognizing numbers and letters, including how to spell and write their names in preparation for school.
Uniform:
If you would like to order uniform, please let me know and I can provide you with an order form sheet to complete. You may have noticed that we have increased our messy/ sensory play activities with paints, shaving foam, baking activities etc. and have been asked recently for uniform to ensure children’s clothes are not being ruined.
Updated information forms:
At the beginning of the term contacted all parents/ carers to complete an updated medical form sheet for their child children. If you have not already done so, please return these as soon as possible.
Session changes/ adhoc days:
Please inform me at the earliest opportunity if you which to change sessions or require adhoc sessions so that I can adhere to ofsted regulations regarding ratios.
Meetings:
If any parents/carers would like to meet with me then please let me know and we can get this booked in.
Findon Village Woodland Preschool Treasurers Report
Summary
The September 2021 to August 2022 preschool year was one where the Trustees decided that significant change was going to be required to attract and retain staff and children after years of underinvestment.
In the 5 previous years, one was £10.5K in profit, the other 4 made a losses totalling £19.5K discounting a grant of £16.5K for a replacement building fund that skewed the P&L artificially for one year. The Covid-19 impact reduced both income and costs proportionally in one particular year.
It was clear that the preschool would not be financially viable without addressing the issues impacting uptake by parents placing their children on our setting.
Several improvement projects were commissioned to address the need to provide greater appeal to prospective parents and staff.
-
1) Develop the woodland area adjacent to the preschool for access by children and provide woodland learning experiences. This was achieved at minimal cost by the support of many volunteers including all of the Trustees.
-
2) Ceiling replacement – this was needed as there was significant historical water damage and covering peeling off in many places and lighting was poor. A suspended ceiling with inset LED lighting was commissioned and installed. The entire cost was covered by Findon Parish Council, Circa £6,500
-
3) Floor replacement to the main room. The existing floor was a mix of vinyl and old and worn and not fit for purpose. The old flooring was removed and replaced with Vinyl tiles at a total cost of £6,500. A donation of £5,000 from Findon Village Store was gratefully received to support this project.
-
4) Toilet Block Replacement – The existing toilets dating back many years were not fit for purpose and were replaced with a new facility of 3 child size toilet cubicles, one adult. Two child height sinks and wall and anti slip floor covering. The total cost was circa £8,500.
-
5) Replacement Intruder Alarm System – Circa £850
-
6) Replacement Fire Alarm – Part of Ceiling costs
-
7) Redundant electrical systems decommissioning £530
-
8) Removal of redundant heater £220
-
9) Painting and general maintenance – Circa £200 (materials only)
The total investment made in the preschool building during the year was £23,330 of which £11,800 came from preschool funds.
We made an operating loss of £23,935 of which £12,125 reflects the gap between child funding and the expense of running the preschool day to day.
The financial breakdown for the year was :
Income and Expenditure
| WSSC Funding | £35,919.11 | All age 2, 3 and 4 free place funding | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parent Funding | £12,857.85 | Includes £306 + £52 in Natwest ACC 30/8/22 | ||
| Donations | £43.30 | Monies given | ||
| Fund Raising | £1,421.07 | Events, Raffles, Cash Collections | ||
| Bank Interest | £14.57 | From Santander and NatWest Deposit Accounts | ||
| Net Total Income | £50,255.90 | |||
| Expenses | £3,735.99 | Marketing, Decorating & Sundries | ||
| Utiities | £2,803.47 | Electricity, Telecoms and Water | ||
| Services | £11,386.18 | Building Maintenance | ||
| Rent | £840.44 | Mini Storage Container | ||
| Arun DC | ||||
| Council Tax | £120.00 | Tax | ||
| Salary, Employer NI, Employer Pension | ||||
| Salaries | £53,401.42 | Contributions | ||
| Fees | £233.00 | Subscriptions, Ofsted & professional fees | ||
| Insurance | £391.56 | Contents Insurance | ||
| WSSC Funds Out | £1,278.72 | Transfer out of WSCC funding to other settings | ||
| Total Expense | £74,190.78 | |||
| P&L | -£23,934.88 | |||
| Bank Balances | ||||
| Opening Balances | ||||
| Current Accounts | £32,448.93 | |||
| Deposit Accounts | £39,882.86 | |||
| Cash | £97.53 | |||
| Total | £72,331.79 | |||
| Closing Balances | ||||
| Current Accounts | £15,954.74 | |||
| Deposit Accounts | £32,510.78 | |||
| Cash | £28.92 | |||
| Total | £48,465.52 |
| Change | |
|---|---|
| Current Accounts | (£16,494.19) |
| Deposit Accounts | (£7,372.08) |
| Cash | (£68.61) |
| Total | (£23,934.88) |
Operational costs were closely examined and it was decided we did not require a book keeper and made the role redundant as financial controls and recording were performed by the Treasurer. There was a redundancy cost in the financial year but future years savings would be economically beneficial. We examined our services contracts and found savings on telecoms and insurance.
We created new employment contracts for existing staff and moved them to 12 monthly equal base pay payments plus any overtime worked that month to provide continuity of income across the year.
We conducted a pay review and ensured all staff we paid about living wage rates and reflecting the levels of responsibility.
Within our expenses were over £1,000 of marketing and advertising. This figure covers the production of materials such as flyers and local advertising. The development of the new website was undertaken by the Chair saving several thousands of pounds and has generated significant interest in the preschool.
Fund raising was pushed a much a possible with events, raffles and the Village House having a change collection jar.
Operating overheads were reduced by the Trustee contribution to the operational (business plan, investment strategy) and financial management (Invoicing, payments, payroll, expense management, financial recording and forecasting, establishing and managing bank accounts and signatories), marketing and promotions, staff recruitment, HR services (employment contracts, redundancy, probation management), creation and maintenance of all required policies and procedures, qualified first aid training, painting and decorating, procurement and collection of supplies, grant applications, establishing and maintaining key stakeholder relationships(e.g. Parish Council) and providing support to all staff members on a regular basis.
Financial outlook for school year 2022-2023
The significant investment main in 2021-2023 increased numbers of children from a low start of year below 10 Full Time Equivalates (FTE’s) to 13.2 FTE’s by year end. To break even would have required 13.2 FTE’s all year.
We currently have 30 children attending with an FTE of 13.5 with numbers increasing in spring and summer terms to take us to a projected level of 15 FTE’s by year end. We are close to full capacity for some sessions during the week and may need to introduce waiting lists if demand for any session exceeds 26 children.
Our current outlook for the full year for income, including generous donations we have received to date is over £82,000, over £30,000 more than 2021-2022.
We are running extended days with 8:30 starts and late finishes up to 16:30 and running Holiday Clubs in all the school holidays to support working families more effectively with a view to these adding to profitable income as the year progresses.
However; we have increases in costs for much of our operation with staff costs in excess of £80,000 and other overheads over £8,000 with inflation running at over 10%.
We are applying for grants, additional funding from WSCC for children requiring additional needs and will run fund raising events to bridge the gap as much as possible throughout the remainder of this school year.
Year on year losses are not sustainable and we hope to eliminate or at the very least minimise any loss in this financial year with a view to creating an operating profit we can use for reinvesting in the preschool facilities, equipment and staff.
Fund raising efforts will have all proceeds deposited in our savings account and used to invest in facilities and equipment for the children attending preschool.
| CHARITYCOMMISSION FORENGLANDANDWALES |
CHARITYCOMMISSION FORENGLANDANDWALES |
CHARITYCOMMISSION FORENGLANDANDWALES |
CharityName Flndon VIiiage Preschool |
CharityName Flndon VIiiage Preschool |
No(ifany) 1029483 |
No(ifany) 1029483 |
B | B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| r-::-Fo-r-:-th;-e-p-~....,rie,...oc-:-d_eTiP'-::-!: -ll-O~.,..~...,.,la-~;-d;;_~,-1~""yTm_e_n_t_s_a_c_c--,-o_u-=p~- ,t,... io~-,--cn....,d....,d--,-a 1,-e--,, |
CC16a | ||||||||
| from | 01/09/2021 | To | 31/08/2022 | ||||||
| Section A Receipts and | payments | ||||||||
| Unrestricted funds |
Restrictedfunds | Endowment funds |
Total | funds | Lastyear | ||||
| A1R .t eceIp· s |
tothenearest £ |
tothenearest£ | tothenearest£ | to the nearest£ | to thenearest£ | ||||
| WSCCChildFunding ParentChildFundina |
35,919 12,858 |
35,91! 12,858 |
42,457 10,021 |
||||||
| Donations FundRaising |
44 1,421 |
44 1,421 |
100 163 |
||||||
| Bank Interest Grants OtherRecelots |
15 | 15 | 5 1,000 150 |
||||||
| , • | |||||||||
| Subtotal(Gross income for AR) | 50,256 | 50,256 | 53,896 | ||||||
| A2Assetandinvestmentsales, | |||||||||
| !seetablel. | |||||||||
| Sub total | |||||||||
| _Total receipts_f | 50•2551..t__ -1..1___..... -1 |
I |
50,2561.,1____ 53_,e_s_s_.l |
||||||
| A3 Pavments | |||||||||
| Salaries Renl/CoucilTax |
53401 960 |
53,401 960 |
50,389 825 |
||||||
| OtherPremises Costs | 2,803 | 2,803 | 1 665 | ||||||
| Funding TransfersOut cateringCosts |
1,279 | 1,279 | 513 | ||||||
| Consumables | 3 736 | 3,736 | 1,328 | ||||||
| Equipment | 498 | ||||||||
| OfficeCosts | 1,982 | ||||||||
| OtherPayments | 1,192 | ||||||||
| Fees and Subscriptions | 233 | 233 | |||||||
| Building Manlntenance | 11386 | 11 386 | |||||||
| Insurance | 392 | 392 | |||||||
| Subtotal | 74,191 | 74,191 | 58,392 | ||||||
| A4AssetandInvestment | |||||||||
| purchases,(seetable) | |||||||||
| - I | |||||||||
| -1 | |||||||||
| Subtotal | -I | ||||||||
| Total payments | I | 74,191I |
..1______ -11 |
-1 I | 14,191I | 1..____ 5_s..,,3_9_2,.I |
|||
| Netofrecelpts/(payments) | 23,935 1----------1 |
. | 4,496 |
||||||
| ASTransfersbetweenfunds | ·_~ - | ~2 3,935 |
|||||||
| A6 Cashfundslast yearend | 72,401 | 72,401 | 63,691 | ||||||
| Cash funds thisyearend | 48,466 ------- |
48,466 | 59,195 |
| Unrestricted | Restrictedfunds | Endowment | Endowment | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Categories | Details | funds | funds | ||
| tonearest£ | tonearest£ | ||||
| B 1 Cashfunds | Current Accounts | ||||
| 15,955 | |||||
| Depost Accounts | 32,511 | ||||
| - 11 | |||||
| Totalcashfunds | 48,466I I | ||||
| (ag-eeba;n:eswithrecei~andpaymert<sacccuit(s)) | 0¥ | OJ< | OK | ||
| Unrestricted | Restrictedfunds | Endowment | |||
| funds | funds | ||||
| Details | tonearest£ | tonearest£ | tonearest£ | ||
| B2 Othermonetaryassets | |||||
| B3Investmentassets | f-D-e-ta-il-s-------------l | §I~,-,.: | '~~••:I | ||
| 11 | |||||
| B4Assetsretainedforthe | Details | Fundtowhichasset belongs |
Cost(optlooal) | Current value (optional) |
|
| charity'sownuse | |||||
| Fundtowhich | Amountdue | When due | |||
| B5Liabilities | |||||
| t--Detall-s | |||||
| Signedbyoneortwotrusteeson | |||||
| behalfofallthetrustees | Dateofapproval |