St Michaels Preschool AGM 2026 – Minutes Wednesday 21[st] January 2026
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Welcome greeting to the room, fire evacuation noted.
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Purpose: The purpose of the AGM is to review the past year for the Preschool, discuss future plans, and elect new committee members. We moved the AGM from October 2025 to now as we weren’t open when the AGM was originally due to be held.
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Apologies : N/A
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Attendance record attached at the end. Please can I ask you to sign the register if you haven't already. (pass it around)
Manager’s Report
Last year was challenging and I am very grateful to the committee, Courtney, Jo, Cat and Debbie, for their time and effort, without which we would not be here now.
September started well, we had 16 returning children and another 9 started, bringing on roll to 25 Children. We were in St Michael’s Church Hall for our first year, having moved back from St Andrew’s during the summer, there was some adjusting to do, but the team felt positive and were enjoying the new space. I wish to thank the team, as we had had a couple of very stressful years and they continued to show up and work, making the best of each change that was thrown at us. We also welcomed Hannah to the team, and she fit in well and was a welcome addition to the St Michael’s family.
The parochial council for St Mary’s parish requested a financial audit from us and promised to be working with us to ensure the future of the preschool. We submitted the projections for the coming years and our previous two years audits, which were accepted as viable. All of this was also happening with a new committee, that had taken over at the October AGM, Aaron and Steve had stayed on the committee to support but both wanted to step away after two years of service.
In October I was invited to join a county project on supporting children in Early years settings with sensory, emotional and behavioural needs. This was a year long project that involved schools and early years settings from across the Test Valley area. We were able to share ideas, network with professionals such as Occupational Therapists, Speech and Language therapists and Early Years Lead Practitioners. This was a very welcomed invitation as we had a third of our Cohort on our SEND register.
We said goodbye to Michele in the November. It was a hard decision for her to leave the preschool, and we knew we would miss her and the wealth of knowledge and compassion
she brought to the role of Key person. We started the recruitment process to replace her for the Spring term.
Our nativity performance was held in the church at the beginning of December and as the new committee members first fundraiser it was successful. Debbie and Cat, long-standing committee members were there to support with the organisation, and it was lovely to have parents back on the committee again, working together to keep your preschool running.
Two weeks before the end of the Christmas term we received a letter from the parochial council giving us notice on the building for the end of August 2025. This came as a shock, as we had been led to believe that we would have a year to operate from the
church hall and that the situation would be reviewed at the end of the academic year. The committee made the decision not to tell parents or staff before the Christmas break, so that all could enjoy their holidays, but we all started the process of finding a new home.
We saw the year out with our Christmas party and welcomed the amazing Major magic back in to do a show for the children, along with a visit from Santa (thank you to Ann-Marie and her Husband Steve for this connection to the Big Man).
2025 started with the committee holding an emergency meeting for parents to explain the situation of our eviction. Cllr Iris Anderson and Cllr Phil North were also at the meeting. Services for Young Children were also involved, trying to support us to find a new home. We came away with lots of ideas and knowing that the parents were in support of our move and wanted us to stay open.
Our spring term was still filled with uncertainty about where St Michael’s would be running from. We were also struggling to recruit a replacement for Michele, as the future of the preschool was uncertain. The decision was made at the end of January that Amina, one of our fantastic volunteers would be offered the position of General Assistant, taking on the responsibility of snack, covering staff lunches and being that extra pair of eyes and ears in the playroom. This freed the key staff up to work with the children more directly and with the high number of SEND children, Helen was in high demand for interventions, form filling and paperwork completion.
During the spring term Cllr North had put the preschool in touch with Kevin Hodder from Aster, working on the Enham Trust site. There were lots of meetings and considerations. Mostly the distance that a move to Enham would be, though only an 8-minute drive from St Michael’s Church, it was not our catchment area. It meant leaving a lot of our families, many who still popped in years after their children left, to say “Hi”. In the end the decision was easy, Enham Trust were offering us a new home, they were offering us to become part of a community and as a charity themselves, they were concerned about the families we serve, the community we support and continuing these services, rather than profit or monetary gains.
So, we ran our last Teddy bears Picnic at the end of the spring term, it was a sweet but sad event, knowing we were fundraising for a move and starting to do our ‘lasts’ at St Michael’s Church.
The summer term is always an emotional time; we were busy preparing transitions and supporting 20 children and families with their move to school. We were also saying goodbye to our home over 40 years. In June we announced to the wider community that we would be moving to Enham and used our Summer Family fun day, as an opportunity to say goodbye to St Michael’s Church. We invited old employees, committee members and families to send in memories and join us on the day to celebrate all that had been achieved in the past 40 years. It was lovely to see so many people turn up on the day and share their memories, some from 20 years past. It was heart warming to know we are so loved as a setting.
I also completed the County project at the end of June. It was a valuable experience, that brought much support to the children in our care, taught some new skills and reassured us that our practice with children with SEND was not only good but outstanding. That what we do on a day-to-day basis to support the children and families, not only benefits those with SEND but all the children in our care and that my staff are amazing at their jobs. I am proud of every one of them.
We took 16 children to St Harold Hillier’s Gardens, near Romsey, for our leaver’s trip at the end of the summer term. We had a fantastic day pond dipping, picnicking, playing in the park and exploring the different plants and flowers. The children were amazing, and the weather was very kind, it was a lovely end to the year and saying goodbye to the families was, as always, hard, but it also fills us with such pride, to see the children go of, so much more resilient, independent and ready for the world.
We said Good-bye to Jo, who had decided that the move to Enham was not for her, but are grateful that she has decided to stay on as Bank staff. We also said Good-bye to Amina, wishing her all the luck in her carer in Early years, and hope that the start we were able to give her will put her in good stead for the future. There was also a very sad Good-bye to Danielle, who had been volunteering at St Michael’s for 16 years. It was an emotional farewell on her last Tuesday.
Helen has settled well into the role of SENCo and flourished. I feel that our children are in safe hands and know that I have never had such a caring and diligent SENCo before. I also want to thank Helen for her support as my deputy. Nagging me, reminding me and always being an ear to listen when things get to much.
Ann-Marie as our longest standing staff member was shocked to realise she is also now (if only by a few years) our oldest staff member. Saying Goodbye to St Michael’s was probably the most difficult for you, but your dedication to the preschool has always been evident and your commitment to the children and making sure you know the most recent practise, the best skills for a particular child’s needs or just a way to comfort an individual are a credit to you and make you an invaluable team member.
Abi has continued to grow in her practise and her confidence. I am proud to have seen you develop into a fully fledge Practitioner, with skills that just a year ago you thought were beyond you. You took a challenging cohort of key children and not only built strong bonds with them and their families, but prepared them for transition to school, giving them skills to regulate and advocate for themselves.
Hannah’s first year in Early Years was eventful and probably could be described as a baptism of fire. Not only did you survive, but you excelled. You are now 6 months into your Level 3 course, and we know that you are learning everyday and putting into
practise the skills you are developing. You also bring a natural caring side to the position. We also want to thank you for your connections and organising skills, as the Christmas party and fundraiser was all yours and was an amazing success!
And with the end of the 2024-25 academic year, so came the end of our time at St Michael’s Church. We were looking forward to the move, if not the moving and were hopeful that the changes would be amazing and bring a new lease of life to our little setting. Courtney had started the process with OFSTED, we were on the way to signing contracts with Aster and the move date was all booked in. We knew our 12 children we were taking to Enham with us would be a small start and that the finances would be tight, but we had planned and put backups in place. And we decided not to recruit immediately as numbers would be low initially, as we established ourselves in Enham. What we did not consider was OFSTEDs inability to process paperwork, keep track of a settings account or even communicate in a succinct and efficient way.
We officially opened on October 20th, 2025, after Rt Hr Kit Malthouse got involved in our situation and made OFSTED pull their finger out. But we had lost a third of our children, reducing us to 5 children, and 4 new starters.
So once again we have found ourselves in a position where staff have had to reduce hours and consequentially take a reduction in wages. They have done this graciously, concerned for the preschool and the children and families we serve. We all want St Michael’s to succeed and be here, in Enham, in 40 years’ time. We want you to bring your grandchildren to us and we want our ethos and care to be the starting point for a glorious future, though we know this is not as easy as we had hoped and will need to be fought for. We are willing to do it and just need the continued support of you the families, through promoting us, supporting our events and standing up tonight and joining the committee.
Treasurer’s Report
I have taken over Treasurer this year, after Steve left the role earlier this year due to us not being able to fill his position. I have tried to do my best with no experience. I would like to extend my thanks to the current committee members for their help and support with this.
Report
We have had to dip into the ISA to cover staff wages and the Aster deposit which means it now stands at £6,364.29 to date. And £2,944.97
Funded hours are still our main source of income, and we need to recruit more children. Naomi has done a great job at getting our current children to massively increase their hours.
At the moment, we are currently surviving from month to month. Our funded government hours are not currently covering our staffs reduced monthly salaries, so it is crucial that numbers continue to rise as quickly as possible as every month we are going into deficit.
Total gross income
April 2024-March 2025 - £126,333. (down 1.7% from last year)
Payments going out
April 2024-March 2025 – £104,886 (down 19.35% from last year)
Overall surplus for financial year was £21,446
Chair’s report
Thankyou’s
Firstly, I would like to start by saying a huge thank you to all the staff who are at the heart of St Michaels Preschool. Who have stood by the pre-school with a lot having occurred over the past year and a bit alone. All thank you to the committee who have helped me throughout this time.
The past 12 months for me has been a BIG learning curve for me. Going from not having even been on a committee before to becoming Chair in the space of attending my first AGM meeting. Naomi and both the current and previous committee members have been a great help with assisting along the way, so again, a huge thank you to you all.
Thank you to everyone who helped with our move. Whether you helped, locate a new premises through contacting or passing on information, packing, unpacking, cleaning, or helped with the move. We appreciate your time and efforts to help the pre-school. I would also like to say thank you to the parents and children who had to deal with the new location, it’s not always easy to adapt to such a big change let alone the wait for us to re-open this year due to Ofsted’s delays. Thank you for standing by the pre-school.
Fundraising
We are a Charity run preschool, meaning we are a non-profit organisation. We rely on the government funding to cover general costs of the preschool with any fundraising and donations being used for improvements to the setting. This year, we will be continuing to fundraise and seek for donations. The more fundraising we achieve the more we can buy new resources and training for the preschool children and staff.
Upcoming year
Kevin at Aster has played a HUGE part in helping to get Aster to allow us to relocate to this wonderful building. We are very grateful to him. Kevin has big plans for the pre-school. Our agreement with Aster means that they are undertaking due diligence with us over the first 2 years of us being in Carpenters Cottage to help us remain viable. We are currently on a 2-year period under license to occupy. After this time there will be a lease option, if we haven’t come into the Enham group before this. We will be exploring opening for breakfast club and offering after school wrap around care, if this is something that current parents are interested in. It would be a pay only option and not covered with funded options.
Final thoughts
As we conclude our AGM, I want to reflect on the journey we've shared as a preschool community. We've undoubtedly continued in the last year facing our fair share of challenges, but our dedication and resilience have seen us through.
I've had the privilege of being part of this preschool for the previous year and a half, whilst my son attended during his first year and for the last year as chair. It's been rewarding to contribute to the pre-school. While the role of chairperson has presented its own unique set of hurdles, learning the ropes and navigating the complexities of preschool operations has been a valuable experience.
I'm confident that with the continued support of our amazing staff, parents, and committee members, the staff at Aster that the pre-school will continue to provide a nurturing and enriching environment for our children. Thank you.
• Standing down of committee
Courtney Shubrook is not looking to stand again as a committee member again. We therefore have several positions to be filled. The most important being chair, as without a chair the pre-school cannot operate.
- Election of chair
seconded by
• Election of Treasurer
seconded by
- Election of Secretary
seconded by
- Volunteering of other committee members
Cara Lewis (Aster Project Co-ordinator) Would attend meeting both in person and virtually as lives outside of area but works in Andover.
Julie (Aster Well-being Services) Would attend meetings virtually as she lives out of area.
TBC - Lindsey (Aster Director of HR) is Andover based.
Questions and Answers AOB
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Closing Remarks
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Thank you for attending.
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Next Meeting Announced: Wednesday 4[th] February @ 7:50pm, St Michaels Preschool
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AGM dismissed.
Attendance Record (upload to document cover middle coloum with black box)
| ST Michaels Preschool No (if any) CC16a Receipts andpayments accounts 4/1/2024 To 3/31/2025 For the period from ~~eee~~ |
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| Section A Receipts and payments |
| Total funds Last year Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Endowment funds |
| to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ |
| A1 Receipts |
| Session Fees 123,076 - - 123,076 125,221 Fundraising 895 - - 895 2,890 SundryIncome 762 - - 762 176 Milk Claim 131 - - 131 - Bank Interest 194 - - 194 224 Donations 1,275 1,275 PettyCash - - - - - - - - - - - 126,333 - - 126,333 128,511 Sub total(Gross income for AR) ~~eeaasse~~ |
| - - - - - - - - - Sub total - - - - - Total receipts 126,333 - - 126,333 128,511 A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). ~~——_————~~ |
| A3 Payments Salaries and Wages 89,681 - - 89,681 110,466 Rent and Premises Costs 7,699 - - 7,699 12,516 Fundraising 46 - - 46 523 Food,Drink and Consumables 1,183 - - 1,183 1,753 Insurance and Registraion Fees 122 - - 122 784 Equipment 850 - - 850 28 Administration 2,097 - - 2,097 1,256 Other Costs 3,209 - - 3,209 2,725 - - - - - Sub total 104,886 - - 104,886 130,049 - - - - - - - - Sub total - - - - - Total payments 104,886 - - 104,886 130,049 A4 Asset and investment purchases,(see table) ~~==~~ ~~= ===~~ ~~—————~~ |
| Net of receipts/(payments) 21,446 - - 21,446 - 1,538 |
| A5 Transfers between funds - - - - - |
| A6 Cash funds last year end - - - 49,849 |
| Cash funds this year end 21,446 - - 21,446 48,311 |
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| Categories B1 Cash funds B2 Other monetary assets B3 Investment assets B5 Liabilities B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees |
Details Cash Main Bank Account Deposit Account Details Details Details Details Signature Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) |
to nearest £ to nearest £ 160 - 33,704 - 13,270 - 47,134 - Agreement Error OK to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Print Name Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) |
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Independent examiner's report on the accounts
Section A Independent Examiner’s Report ~~ee~~ Report to the trustees/ members of Charity Name St Michael’s Preschool On accounts for the year ended 31/03/2025
On accounts for the year ended Charity no (if any)
1032123
Set out on pages
(remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets)
Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner
The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year (under section 43(2) of the Charities Act 1993 (the Act),as amended by s.28 of the Charities Act 2006) and that an independent examination is needed.
It is my responsibility to:
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examine the accounts (under section 43 of the Act, as amended),
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to follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 43(7)(b) of the Act, as amended), and
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to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of independent examiner’s statement
My examination was carried out in accordance with General Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the accounts.
Independent examiner's statement
In the course of my examination, no matter has come to my attention ( ~~other than that disclosed below *)~~
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which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any material respect, the trustees have not met the requirements to ensure that:
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proper accounting records are kept (in accordance with section 41 of the Act); and
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accounts are prepared which agree with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Act; or
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to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
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Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply.
Signed:
Gemma Coombes
Date:
28/10/2025
Name:
Gemma Coombes IER
1
April 2007
Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any):
Member of the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers MICB
Address:
18 Wolversdene Clost
Andover
Hampshire SP10 2AZ
Section B Disclosure
Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material problems.
Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .
The Petty cash has no transactions on it, speaking to the Manager the old Chair has paperwork but wasn’t aware how to post these, this will make less than a £100 difference to costs.
A better year overall with having an overall profit to end the year.
The Rent was low for the year as their landlord gave them notice on the premises.
I have deducted the very overdue invoices from fees, with the change of the preschool location parents pulled out.
2
April 2007
IER