## **Annual General Meeting (AGM) Minutes Tuesday 7[th ] November 2023** 1 **9** .00pm at St James Church Little Paxton ## **1 Attendees** |**Attendance**|| |---|---| |Graeme Anness
Ch**a**
ir/SafeguardingChampion(Trustee)|| |Duncan Chappell
Tre**a**
surer(Trustee)|| |Bev Elliott
Pra
ctitioner & SafeguardingSupport(Member)|| |Katherine Bagot
Sec
retary /FundraisingChampion(Trustee)|| |Áine Pozo
Bu**s**
iness Manager(Member)|| |James Shiner
Me
mber|| |Sam Irvine
Me
mber|| |Anne Grove
Sta**f**
f Member|| |Claire Cook
Sta**f**
f Member|| |Sandra Hart
Sta**f**
f Member|| |Katie Delgado
Sta**f**
f Member|| |Kim Limbu
Att**e**
ndee(New Treasurer)|| |Beth Astell
Att**e**
ndee|| |Sailas Verengi
Att**e**
ndee|| |**Apologies**|| |Hannah Smith
Att**e**
ndee|| |Catherine Marklove
Att**e**
ndee (New Member)|| |**Minutes taken by**: Katherine Bagot|| ## **2 Introduction** (Katherine) - Katherine welcomed every **o** ne to the meeting and read out a brief openi **n** g statement (Detailed at the end of the minutes) - We had 3 parents attend **t** he meeting. Two more couldn’t attend but o **n** e wished to join (Catherine Marklove) and another par **e** nt offered to be a friend of the committee (Han **n** ah Smith). - No new safeguarding issues needed to be raised. - No concerns were raised fr **o** m last year’s AGM. - To comply with good practi **c** e an AGM is held each year to look back on the last year and look forward to the next year in the life of the preschool. At this meeting the committee steps down and then members are elected for the next years’ committee. To function the committee must have a Chair, a Treasurer and a Secretary. Page 1 ## **3 Chairs Annual Report (Graeme)** This report was read out during the AGM by Graeme. There were no amendments. Report attached. - Graeme thanked the committee and staff for their continued hard work. ## **4 Pre-school Managers’ Report** (Bev) This report was read out during the AGM by Graeme. Please see below additions. Report attached. - Only 15 sessions free, preschool currently very busy. Bev mentioned another preschool may be closing, so we may fill these spaces quickly. James questioned whether attendance was linked to the space available at preschool. Moving to obtain a larger space and also whether the side room could be utilized, was explored recently amongst the committee and at present wasn’t viable. With current capacity and finances monitored, the preschool turns over a small profit. ## **5 Treasurer’s Report** (Duncan) This report was sent prior to the meeting. Please see below additions. Report attached. - If we continue to maximize on attendance and be prudent throughout the next year, we can hope to have a profitable year. We need to carefully manage the financial challenges we are due to face over the next 12 months. ## **6 Election of the Committee** Catherine Marklove who was unable to attend the meeting in person had provided prior written consent that she wished to join the committee for the following year. **----- Start of picture text -----**
Name Role Proposed by Seconded by
Graeme Anness Chair Katherine Duncan
Kim Limbu Treasurer Duncan Graeme
No nominations Secretary
James Shiner Committee Member
Sam Irvine Committee Member
Catherine Marklove Committee Member
Beth Astell Committee Member
**----- End of picture text -----**
New committee members will be required to fill out necessary paperwork (including DBS and confidentiality forms) prior to the first committee meeting. A follow up meeting should be held within 3 weeks’ time. It was agreed that the next meeting would be on Tuesday 28[th] November at 19.00pm at St James Church. The following members have stepped down from the Committee, thanks goes to all for their service: Katherine Bagot (Secretary) Duncan Chappell (Treasurer) Lizzie Whitehead (Member) Page 2 ## **7 Actions from this meeting –** **Katherine** will contact volunteers **w** ith the necessary paperwork and will ensure that all volunteers requiring Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks have the instructions on how to comple **t** e this process. **Graeme** will contact the Charity C **o** mmission to amend member details when de **t** ails from volunteers become available. We will also need to inf **o** rm that we have not found a replacement f **o** r the secretary role. We will continue to advertise for the role in the meantime. **Duncan** will upload the financial r **e** port to the Charity Commission website. On **c** e Kim’s DBS has completed, Duncan has agreed to support with **a** handover. ## **8 AOB** - All current DBS checks are up to date. ## **9 Forthcoming Meetings** - Tuesday 28th Novembe **r** , 19.00pm at St James Church We will continue to meet approxim **a** tely every 6 weeks throughout the following ye **a** r. ## **These minutes are accepted as an accurate representation of the meeting** **----- Start of picture text -----**
Signed (Chair) Graeme Anness
**----- End of picture text -----**
Page 3 ## **Welcome & Opening Statement** Hello and welcome. Thank you for taking the time to join us at our AGM this evening. I’m Katherine, current committee secretary. I wanted to take a few minutes to explain to anyone new that has joined us this evening, what the committee is and its purpose. The preschool is a registered charity and is required to run alongside and be governed by a committee of volunteers, the majority being parents or people affiliated with the preschool. Joining the committee is a great avenue for a parent, grandparent or carer to become involved in their child’s education and learning, whilst also helping to improve their environment and expand on the opportunities available to them whilst at preschool. There are 3 key roles within the committee that must be filled in order for it to function: - The Chair – who essentially leads the committee, this is Graeme. Graeme will also meet frequently with Bev to discuss any issues or offer support and will provide the committee with any updates. - The Secretary, myself, I manage all the admin and correspondence on behalf of the committee. Tasks are often simple and ad-hoc but still a necessary role. - The Treasurer – who oversees all financial aspects of the preschool. Credit goes to Duncan who has had this position for almost 6 years now. Duncan will work alongside the preschool Business Administrator to ensure finances are tracked and the preschool is profitable. Alongside the 3 main roles, the committee is made up of members, who help to provide new ideas, skills and implement the objectives of the committee. Please welcome Sam and James, who are our current members. The committee meets every 6/8 weeks (approx. 6 times a year) and is attended also by a representative from the preschool staff. At every meeting, a report is issued by the chair, preschool manager and treasurer. This allows for the committee to oversee the progress of the preschool and determine where the committee can support. Its main purpose from these meetings is to ensure the continued success of the day-to-day management of the preschool, consult on any issues and provide outcomes and ensure the preschool remains profitable and accessible for all. Currently we are working closely with Bev to help integrate the preschool further within the community, crafting key relationships with local organisations and allowing for more opportunities for the children to see what the village can provide. At the present time, we are running at the minimum required number of volunteers and this makes the job of the committee harder to achieve and puts more workload on our current members. This is why it is critical that we try to enrol more members. Covid had a massive impact on the preschools ability to run effectively (although Bev and her team did a fantastic job navigating through lockdown and to ensure the preschool remained open where possible) and in turn affected its profitability, which we are just only now starting to recover from. It also hindered our efforts to maintain and grow a successful committee. Without a committee, we run the risk of the closure of the preschool. This is also why fundraising is a big part of the committee’s purpose, as it allows for more resources for the preschool, helps to provide financial stability and is actually a really fun part of being on the committee. With more members, we can achieve more and continue our fundraising efforts. Fundraising is also a crucial requirement of being a registered charity. Page 4 Listed a few of the fundraising events/ tasks completed by the committee in the last couple of years; Big Christmas Raffle Village Easter Egg Hunts Paxfest School Lottery - at its peak was generating over £1000 annually for the preschool Valentine biscuit making kits Church Christmas Fete Colouring Competitions / Easter egg decorating Lastly, the committee wouldn’t be able to work effectively without the continued support and great management and work ethic that all the staff adopt. On behalf of the committee, we would like to express our thanks to Bev and all of her team, who I’m sure you know work extremely hard and who the children are besotted with. Thank you! We would be really grateful if any of you here today feel that you have the time to support the committee and wish to volunteer. You can do so by nominating yourself during the election of the committee shortly. Also, if anyone is interested, we will be looking for a replacement secretary during the election. This is the formal part of the meeting where we will reflect on the previous year and look forward to the next year in the life of the preschool. The committee will then all step down from their current roles and then members are elected to create the next years committee. Hand over to Graeme for this part. Thank you all! ## **AGM Chairperson Report 2023** Firstly, a big thank you from the Trustees and the committee to Bev and all the staff at our pre-school, they continue as always to do a fantastic job. We have lost a number of committee members this year due to other commitments and our thanks go to them for their support. Both Katherine and Duncan have decided to step down from their roles so we need to find replacement a replacement Secretary and Treasurer. Katherine has already advertised these important rolls. Both have done a fantastic job and again their support is greatly appreciated. Staffing wise Bev and I (Bev really) have successfully recruited a number of staff including a one to one for a SEN little person and all as I understand is going well. Bev is anticipating an Ofsted inspection at some point, which we have discussed and I am confident that we are as prepared for this as we can be and do not anticipate ant issues. Well done Bev. Recruiting new committee members is a problem and this will need to be explored in the coming year, fund raising is also an issue but many thanks to James for his assistance and fresh ideas. Page 5 ## **AGM Manager’s Report 2023** We have again had a very busy year within the Preschool. Staff -we have had a few staff changes over the past few months. Louise went on maternity leave at the end of the summer and Sandra has resumed full time hours to cover these sessions. We currently have a staff member on long term sick leave, hopefully she will be back in the spring. We received funding to provide 1:1 support for a child that attends setting and Melissa joined us to take on this role. Over the summer term we agreed to host 3 students from Longsands Academy for their work experience. Over the past year staff have attended training mandatory for their roles with Preschool, examples of this are Safeguarding and Child Protection, SEN, all staff have refreshed their training in PREVENT and FGM. We had some bespoke training around supporting children with Autism. Anne has taken over the role of Equalities Co-ordinator, a role that needed to be filled following Heather’s departure. She completed the full training in the spring term this year. I have asked all staff to complete 3 additional courses that are not mandatory but will support their development, and benefit the whole of Preschool. During the summer term I liaised again with the Foundation team from the Primary school and we arranged some transition visits for the children moving up. These again proved to useful and positive for all. A staff member went into the classroom with a small group of children for an afternoon. As a setting we have continued to support our SEN children, we have successfully secured funding to enable children with needs to transition into school with funding in place or near completion. We started up our parent rota again. We had a few parents come in and spend time within the setting and it gave them the opportunity to see the sorts of things that their child likes to do and an insight into how the sessions work. At a recent committee meeting we discussed where we would like Preschool to be moving forward. It was agreed that it would be lovely to have more interactions within the community of the village. With this in mind I made contact with Paxton Hall, staff took a group of children and spent some time with the residents, this was enjoyed by all. Graeme made contact with Rev Reed and towards the end of last term we took a small group of children to the church and had our own mini Harvest festival. We also held our annual educational visit to Paxton Pits. An opening statement was also drawn up and put on our website. We started back in September and spent the first half term settling in our new children. I’m pleased to say that generally they have settled. We now have limited sessions available with many now close to full. ## Moving Forward 1. Continue to develop the relationships we are building within the community 2. Re-introduce face to face meetings with parents/carers 3. Parental involvement within the setting e.g. Parent helper rota, volunteers for events 4. Prepare for Ofsted – develop technology resources for the children to explore. 5. Cover for staff absence due to sickness I would like to thank all of the committee for their support and hard work, it is so appreciated and our Preschool wouldn’t be the as strong as it is without this. Finally, thanks to all of our lovely staff for your dedication and continued support over the past year. Page 6 ## **AGM Treasurer Report 2023** The Preschool showed a surplus this ye **a** r, which I felt was a favourable outcome in view of the current economic climate and salaries rising faster than C **o** unty Council payments again this year. The team have been very prudent with **t** heir spending and very importantly minimising **o** vertime. The Preschool is almost full this autumn term this year, and it looks like we will be full b **y** the start of next term which means we are maximising income. Looking forward the next year is going t **o** be financially challenging but fortunately the P **r** eschool has reserves which means things are not desperate, but we still need to be careful. The Financial statements for 2022-23 fo **l** low. Page 7 LifrLE PAKTON PRESCHOOL RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS YEAR END 31IW2023 2023 2072 R•c•lpts Fèes from par&nts F¢Jndiny 18.118 103,374 20.078 97.524 121,492 117,￿2 Fund Ral￿ThJ Other Income Donation$ Net Bank Int•reJt 871 1.127 1,215 1.743 42 141 4,696 Paym￿18 Consurnables St4ff CostB Trai￿n9 ceiw881 4.115 98,412 312 10.756 384 330 2.101 97,435 742 11.028 727 311 Rates perty KtsintenarKe Donat￿￿5 CÈaniTrJ & Protecti￿ Ckilwng Tdepho 324 110 538 125 Insurarte Sub¥cripb"on8 Prtnting PoBlag8 & Statkn•ry Fundralsknj &JTrJrkns Ac*xtntar debt$ Legal fees Bank fee$ Trips Outsry F¢¥>J & Rdroshmants 679 633 585 820 1,153 162 176 354 230 124 144 524 151 85 119.469 118.353 Surplu• For Th• Pgrlod 3.962 Page 8 LIME PAXTON PRESCHOOL BALANCE SHEEf AS AT 31ST AUGUST 2023 FIX￿ A•8¢ts is the polw of the pfvschoc4 trj e off ￿[￿tal expenilbture of wrchase. 2023 2022 Cu￿•nI D•blor8 C35h at B*)k 119.175 104,386 119,175 104.368 Cuffeni Li•bllltl•• Crgdrf( Acthjals Pfjn8p)n Retypts in adv¥r￿• 3.629 876 378 24.341 1,274 876 15,719 29,224 18.377 Not Curr•nt A*• 89.951 89,951 85.989 R•pr•sgnt8d By: A(turnulated SwpbJJ B*nce at 1st Swern￿ 2022 Surtyu5 ILY tha Yaar 80.045 B*nce at 31st ALWt 2023 89.951 85.889 Treasur Cholwlc Dat& Page 9 Ind•p•nd•rf Ex*nln•eB r•port lo Ih•Trust••• of th• Llttl• Paxton Pr••chool We hyve exwnined acoyjnts of the LitN• Presetr#)d for tl* wiryj *ndBd 31sl hJJgusl 2023 Durtrg tho c(Xff8e of t￿4 8x8mkn8tbn r*) matter has to ow att¢nlion thlch would ￿¥* us reasonat4e ¢ause to bdieve thal In any - a¢￿untIng records have Tr)t twn kept kn ¥¢fAdance wlth 41 cl tho 1993 CharlU•B Ad . th• a￿)unty do rK>t occfjrd v+7th rttN¢$". or . the slatornenl ofaccounts r￿t com￿y￿1th tho 1993 Ch8rrtBs Ad No fvrther rnattws c(The to v•hKh Sho￿￿ be hBknJèd to •n8tlg a proFer urthTslandw ol th¢ ac£ounts to b8 rtgcw. 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