## Saxon Pre-school ## Earls Barton Report for the year ended 31 August 2021 Contents 1. Minutes of AGM Page 2 2. Treasurers Report Page 2 3. Financial Summary Page 7 4. Independent Examiner’s Report Page 8 1 ## Saxon Pre-School ## AGM - Minutes **DATE OF** 13[th] December 2021 (using Microsoft Teams due to Covid 19 concerns) **MEETING** Ellie Hawker **CHAIR** Tanya Chapman **MINUTE TAKER** Angela Standcumbe, Ruth Hewitt, Ellie Hawker, Katherine Clark, Tanya Chapman, Becca Weller, Sarah Harvey **ATTENDEES** STAFF: Lisa A, Lisa G, Michelle Amy Murphy **APOLOGIES** **PREVIOUS MINUTES OF AGM** Minutes from last meeting – all agreed. **TREASURERS REPORT** RH shared the financial summary with the committee. It was explained to the committee that once again it had been an unsettled year, and considering the finances were OK, but it would be difficult to predict next year. See appendix 1 for full summary of the financials **CHAIRS REPORT** EH thanked everybody for their continued hard work and support throughout another unusual year with the pandemic. EH explained how Covid 19 had had an impact any real fundraising for the preschool but hoped that this might be more possible moving forward. A special thanks to the managers for all their hard work and ensuring the children had a safe, enjoyable and educational time 2 at Saxon regardless. The chair also thanked the committee members with a special thanks to Ruth (Treasurer) for going above and beyond on a number of occasions – which was echoed by the rest of the committee. ## **MANAGERS REPORT** We were thrilled to be able to return to a more normal working environment towards the end of the academic year as certain Covid restrictions were lifted. This allowed us to hold our graduation ceremony in July at Saxon for our school leavers, which was well received by parents. We have not yet been able to hold a face to face parents evening, although we are hoping to do so early 2022. In most cases we have continued to collect children from the main gate as social distancing in our small hallway is not possible. This is working well and we still always find time to liaise with parents. Sadly, Tracey Chettleburg left in February, to take up a full time position in a secondary school, reducing staff numbers to 7. Tracey’s hours were then distributed between Lorrainne Smart and Faye Harris. Lisa Godwin took over Tracey’s role as Senco and has proactively completed several on line courses to help fulfil her new role. In November we accepted a student on placement from Tresham college for 3 days a week and we are also very fortunate to have a work experience student every Monday morning. We all completed our Level 3 pediatric first aid training in May and updated our Children’s Safeguarding in October/November. We have also completed our food hygiene elearning. Managers have undertaken Developing a Curriculum and an In The Moment Planning course. The revised EYFS came in to play in September 2021, which came with several changes, ultimately meaning there should be less paper assessments and paperwork and more time spent teaching the children and identifying any gaps in their learning and development and how to fulfil these and move them forward. We are still working on a new website for Saxon. It has been over a year since our site was removed. However, we continue to receive enquiries about places at Saxon, which are generally from recommendations by previous or current parents. At the end of July 2021, we had 42 Children on role, with 20 leaving to go to school and 10 new starters in September. After January we will have 38 children on role and after Easter we will have approximately 39 children with 21 going to school, 18 staying at Saxon and 8 children on the waiting list. Funding and invoiced payments for September had increased compared to the same time last year. September’s payment was £4,185.05 compared to £3,254.75 last year. Our invoice payments for September was £1,465 compared to £785.75 last year. Currently we have 22 funded children, 2 of which are 2 year funded. Session fees remain unchanged again for at least 4 years now. These stand at £12.75 per session and lunch clubs at £3 for an hour and £2 for half an hour. 3 We have been very lucky to receive coop funding money over previous years which has allowed us to purchase many resources for the children, unfortunately we were not successful this round. As a result of this the coop have very kindly offered us up to £10 per week to purchase snack for the children. We will reapply for the funding next year and will hopefully be successful. This will mean that between staff and committee we will need to increase the amount of fund raising over the coming year. We already have a Christmas raffle underway, which has been organised by The Old Swan, which is looking very promising. In October we were invited to look at the provisional drawings for the renovations for the church hall. It is very much still in the early stages but if successful will be a great and very exciting opportunity for the pre school. We will be able to have more use of the hall and potentially increase the hours we offer per week from 21 to 30, which will enable those entitled to the extended funding to take all hours at Saxon. There will be a larger outdoor area for us and more storage space. We applied for a grant last month from the Parish Council by way of a contribution from Saxon to help cover some of the costs of the planning. Should the works go ahead we would potentially need to find temporary premises for between 6 and 12 months. Finally, we always like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped on the pre-school committee this and previous years. Without your hard work and time given we would not be able to operate. We really do appreciate everything you have done for us and for Saxon. **NOMINATION OF NEW COMMITTEE** 4 Thanks went to the current committee for their involvement and work this year. The following decided to step down; - Angela Standcumbe – The committee and managers all thanked Angela for all her hard work and dedication. Angela had been on the committee for over eight years. The system of nomination was explained to those present and that we must have 2 officers present at every meeting and at least 60% have to be present and agree decisions. Due to the meeting being online, nominations were voted by using the ‘raise hands’ option on Teams. Following nominations, the new committee was formed as follows; ## **PARENTS** Ellie Hawker - Chair Ruth Hewitt – Treasurer Katherine Clark Becca Weller Sarah Harvey Amy Murphy – not able to attend ## **NON PARENTS** Tanya Chapman – Secretary Any other business: ||The committee have previously discussed the possibility of a fee|| |---|---|---| ||increase as this has not been done in over four years. This would|| |Increase in fees|be in line with other local childcare providers and would enable the|| ||setting to help cover the costs of a staff including a staffing|| ||reshuffle.|| ||ACTION: Committee to research costs of childcare in local areas|| |Fundraising events|The committee discussed future fundraising events including –|| ||sponsored bounce; bottle raffle; events linked to parents’ evening;|| 5 amazon smile. RH has work based charity match so it’s well worth looking at further fundraising opportunities. The Old Swan (Village pub) has a raffle going with proceeds going to Saxon and this was looking like a successful event. ACTION: Lisa A to look into Amazon Smile set up/ details 6 ## **Appendix 1** |**Income from fundraising year ended 31 August 2021**|**Income from fundraising year ended 31 August 2021**| |---|---| ||| |**Total**|**3,898.49**
**£**| |Co-OpGrant|2,731.91
£| |Swan raffle|856.00
£| |Scott Bader Donation|200.00
£| |Photographs|55.03
£| |Sponsored Bounce|30.00
£| |Ink cartridge recycling|25.55
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Independent examiner's report on the
accounts
Section A Independent Examiner’s Report
Report to the trustees/ Charity Name
members of
Saxon Preschool
On accounts for the year 31 August 2021 Charity no 1030373
ended (if any)
Set out on pages 1 - 7
(remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets)
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_Section A Independent Examiner’s Report_ I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31 / 08 / 2021. ## **Responsibilities and basis of report** As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. **INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S STATEMENT** I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination (other than that disclosed below *) which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: - the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or - the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or - the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair’ view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. 8 I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report 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: Date:** 22/06/2022 **Name:** David Rose **Relevant professional** Chartered Accountant **qualification(s) or body (if any): Address:** 23 Oak Way, Hackleton Northampton NN7 2EP ## _Section B Disclosure_ Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners). 9 **Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose** . 10