Parkside Pre-School
82 Peel Close London E4 6XQ Registered charity number: 1031235
Annual Report 1 August 2022 - 31 July 2023
The Pre-School’s aims and activities :
-
Parkside Pre-School is based at Parkside Primary School, in purposebuilt self-contained rooms. It has access to an outdoor play area which enables the children to have free flow play throughout the year. We are also close to a park which is ideal for short visits.
-
The Pre-School is open every weekday morning from 9.00am to 12.00pm during term times. It is also open for up to 4 afternoons a week until 3.30pm, depending on demand for places. A lunch club is available. It is registered to take up to thirty-five children per session between the ages of two and four, with most children moving on to nursery in the September after their third birthday. It operates a waiting list system with children being admitted according to their date of birth.
-
Parkside Pre-School provides a safe, secure, yet stimulating environment, free from prejudice or discrimination in which all children can discover and explore the world around them and learn from these experiences. At the Pre-School children learn to share and co-operate with other children and adults; work with materials and equipment which may differ from what is available at home. They benefit from the experience of a planned curriculum directed towards the early learning goals.
-
Activities are planned to meet each child’s individual needs. A settling meeting is held shortly after children start followed by a developmental meeting. Observations on children’s progress are made on a regular basis to monitor what is required for each child. We use the Tapestry e-learning journal to record these observations and to help parents/carers keep closely involved.
-
The Pre-School operates a key person system where the children are divided into groups named after animals and allocated a member of staff as their key person.
-
The Pre-school offers 15-hours of funded childcare for all children aged three and over, it is also able to offer funded places to two-year-olds who fulfil the criteria relating to income and additional needs, and 30hours for eligible three-year-olds. We work closely with the Nursery at Parkside Primary School in providing 30-hour places for children entitled to this funding. We also have fee paying children.
1
-
Overall management of the Pre-school is the responsibility of the trustees, who are elected and co-opted in accordance with the terms of the constitution, which was last revised on 27 June 2012, from amongst parents/carers of children at the setting.
-
Day to day activity is carried out by paid staff and volunteers. We have eleven qualified part-time staff as well as other volunteers and students gaining work experience. A rota ensures there are at least five or six fully qualified (minimum of level 3) childcare workers each session to care for the children in accordance with the appropriate ratios. Two other staff are administrators and there is also a Lunch Club Assistant.
Costs:
- In the financial year to 31 July 2023 our total expenditure was £175,642. Of this £149,895 went on wages, £15,000 on renting the rooms and the rest on play equipment, training, stationery, insurance, internet/phones, groceries, and membership costs etc.
Income:
- The Pre-school’s income in 2022/23 was £181,757 with £14,860 raised through fees, £109,986 from FEEE (for 3 and 4-year-olds) and £36,716 from two-year-old funding, the remainder coming from Early Years Pupil Premium, SEND funding and fundraising such as raffles, photo sales, a sponsored bounce and selling handprints.
Reserves:
- It is the policy of the pre-school to maintain a reserve account containing six month’s running expenses which is reviewed annually; it holds approximately £118,000 at present. The money held in the account is to ensure continuity of the Pre-school in times of financial difficulty and enables the management committee to meet its financial obligations in relation to staff salaries/redundancy payments, rent and any other debts.
Benefits:
- For most children who come to our Pre-school this is their first time away from their parents/carers. By the time they leave to move on to nursery the evidence is clear – from the children’s behaviour, from written reports that are provided for each child and from the feedback provided by parents and their new settings – that the children have benefited from their time at the Pre-school and can take the next step with confidence.
2
- In planning the Pre-school’s management and activities each year the trustees keep in mind the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit.
Achievements:
-
In our most recent OFSTED inspection (February 2020) our rating was ‘good’.
-
We have been able to continue to provide additional support to children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and have also been mindful of the impact that the lockdown may have had on young children and put measures in place to remedy this. Staff have continued SEND training and our SENDCo has completed the Level 3 Award for Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators in Early Years Settings.
-
We have been concentrating on mental health and wellbeing both of staff and the children and their families. Our Pre-school Manager has been on training and set up a staff wellbeing box.
-
We have continued to employ Casual Pool staff to give us better cover, providing one-to-one support for children with additional needs, more flexibility, and to allow permanent staff non-contact time to progress other duties.
-
We continued to celebrate special days such as Chinese New Year, St Patrick’s Day, Diwali, Valentine’s Day, Shrove Tuesday, Mother’s Day and become involved in World Book Day, Christmas Jumper Day, Beep Beep Day, and Comic Relief. We also hold end of term parties each term.
-
Our Lunch Club continues to be extremely successful. We run it as a social occasion, where we develop the children’s independence and healthy eating. We also have yoga sessions and encourage an interest in recycling.
-
The children have enjoyed visits to the Pre-school from Groundswell Arts, as we have participated in their Sing our Story programme, and animals from Zoolab. We have also hatched duck eggs and watched butterflies develop.
-
Following the Early Years PDP Building on Success training completed by many of our staff we are continuing to concentrate on Maths within the setting and have purchased new resources. Our manager has started training to become a Maths Champion.
3
Future plans:
-
We are committed to maintaining the high standards shown in our OFSTED inspection and are working towards achieving this again when next inspected.
-
Staff are committed to training to refresh and develop their skills. Courses have been identified for next year which include Safeguarding, Safer Recruitment, First Aid, Special Educational Needs, Autism, Violence Against Women and Children, Healthy Eating and Mealtimes.
-
The Pre-School continues to keep up with new developments in childcare through its membership of the Early Years Alliance. We liaise with the Nursery and the Primary School, where we are based, to strengthen links, and attend regular meetings with other local Preschools and the Local Authority.
-
We will continue to review the operation of the Pre-school including timetable, room layout, staff training to best suit the needs of our children and maintain the safety of our children and staff.
-
Plans are in place for a refurbishment of our rooms, which will provide an opportunity to re-think our layout and storage, as well as brightening up the environment.
-
We intend to extend our provision of funded places to two-year-old children, from working families, from April 2024 and are following advice provided by the Government and Local Authority to make any changes and keep parents informed.
-
We are creating the following new staff roles: Maths Champion, Physical Activity and Nutrition Co-ordinator, and First Aid Lead.
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above. Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:
Amanda Hooker Trustee of Parkside Pre-School
Date: 16 April 2024
4
Parkside Pre School R9gist(*red Chaniy number 1031235 Accounts to 31st July 2023 2023 2022 Incom• 14,Beo 36.716 109.986 7.132 S1,417 U2.323 135 19.826 1.692 1.203 267 2.Q08 1531 2 ye8rdd funtling 3 and 4 year funding Gr8nl Specid Needs Fundin9 EYPP 14,850 1,214 2,182 300 1,731 1621 Inlerest Other Fund Rql8ing In811 Uniform sales In&ll LBWF Tr8lning Total Inc 181,757 170,298 Exp•ndnur• Building Work Wages, Ers'$ Nl and pensth cMtrfbullon5 Siaff Irainino Payrai c0818 aThJ th•cks R&nl Insurance Play Equipment EYPP Office aqulpThnl 8nd 8tglonory Telephone 8nd inlemet Covld relalod ¢l&anlng and PPE Grocer$ Miscollarrfous In$il$ Total Exp8ndltur8 408 149,895 678 4Y 15,LX)O 37 131,804 599 15,0 1.378 239 1.053 582 170 271 47 1Q3 2,796 1,358 175,642 156.015 (DeficlIsurp1u8 for Y1 8,11S 14.283 Surplus brouuhl forward 2S7.2$5 242.972 Surplus camed forwgf 263.370 R•pMB•nt•d by Bank C&sh 262.758 40 262,798 255,873 2,403 258.276 742 1.036 17991 DtOrs18¢CrU8d Stk ofunrf(xmi at c1 Crediltrr8 Hdk18yp8y du• 19321 £2e3,370 £257.255 Approv8 and 51gned by Ch Tr8asur8r Print nam8 08te Print na Date Jf 28 Icz (zo21
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiners Report Report to the trusteesl members of On accounts for the year ended Charity no (rf any) )LY 2023 1031235 Set out on pages I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charty (tthe TnAst") for the year ended ResponsibilitÉes and basis of report As the charitys trustees. you are respor6ible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the rquirements of the Charities Act 2011 Acn. I report in respect of my examination of the Trusys accounts carried out under secbon 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrytng out my exarnination. I have followed all the applicable Directtons given by the Charity Commission under seL#ion 145(5){b) of the A Independent fft chatys gross income exceeded £250.CI)O and l am qualified to examinerfs statsment undertake the examinatton by tEing a qualified member of [Sert name of appIlb[e listed body]]. Delete [ l rfnot applicable. I have completed my examination. I confimi that no material m*ters have come to my attention in connection wrth the examination (other than that disclosed below ") which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respe the accounting records were rt kept in accordan wtth sectron 130 of the Charities Act" or the accounts did not accord viith the accounting records" or the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements conceming the fomi and content of 2ccounts set out in the Charities (Accourrts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ttnje and fairf wew which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no COnmS d haye come across no other matters in connection wrth the examin n to which attention sh¢wld be drawn in this report in order to ena proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. e bketS rfthey not apply. . Please del Slgned: Date: Name: Relevant professional qualification{s) or body Actg (E-, IER Oct 2018
(if any): Address: Section B Disclosure Only complete rf the examiner needs to highlight matertal matters of conrn (see CC32. Independent exaTnination of chattty accounts" directions and guidan for examiners). Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to dlsclose. IER Oct 2018