2023-08-31-accounts

Annual return for the year from September 1st 2022 to August 31st 2023

Aims and area of operation:

The aim of the Preschool is to provide a safe, stimulating environment for the care and education of children from the ages of two to five. We operate from rented premises in the Wollaton area of Nottingham and welcome children from Wollaton and the surrounding areas.

Sessions run every weekday during Nottingham City term time from 9.00 – 12.00 and 12.00 – 15.00 each day; with the option of a breakfast club from 8.15 until 9.00 and a lunch club from 12.00 until 13.00 for those attending the morning session. Children can stay all day from 8.15 or 9.00 until 15.00 if they choose.

There were 60 children on roll at the end of this year and we are registered to accommodate up to 35 in any one session. We have two rooms in operation, ‘Acorns’ for two year olds and ‘Oaks’ for three to five year olds.

Registration Details:

Charity Number: 1033374.

Registered Office: Kingswood Methodist Church, Lambourne Drive, Wollaton, Nottingham NG8 1GR.

We are also registered with the Early Years Alliance and OFSTED.

For details of our OFSTED reports, please use the unique reference number 254678. Our last rating by Ofsted was in April 2018, and we were rated ‘good.

We also operate under the close supervision and with the support of the Nottingham City Council Early Years Team, who facilitate funding for a proportion of our children (generally around 65% of the total in attendance). Parents and carers can also pay fees on a private basis if their children are not yet eligible for this funding.

Management of the Preschool

The Preschool is managed by a voluntary management committee, primarily made up of parents and carers of children attending the Preschool, along with staff representation.

Our Committee members during the academic year were:

Chair:	Christopher Cheeseman
Treasurer:	Wayne Glover
Secretary:	Usman Basharat
Committee	members: Heather Hutchison

Preschool Manager & Committee member: Gemma Beck

We operate under the standard constitution of the Early Years Alliance, with committee members elected annually through a system of proposals and seconding at the Annual General Meeting by our members. Each family at preschool is regarded as a member and are invited o attend the meeting and / or cast a vote.

Achievements during the year

It is fair to say that we were pleased to be able to keep afloat this year, at a time of increasing costs, low funding rates and difficulties with retaining and recruiting suitable qualified and experienced staff in the early years as a whole. The Committee were extremely proud of the small staff team whose dedication towards the children and their vital roles in their learning and development meant a happy and well rounded cohort made their way to school in the summer of 2023, with many other children staying with us for another year. We are one of the last remaining independent and charitable preschools in this area and hope that the recent expansion of early years education by the Government will mean many more years of success for us.

We continue to invest in our staff team through training and personal development opportunities with courses ranging from developing outdoor learning to supporting children with additional needs. Two staff members also started apprenticeship schemes to undertake the Early Years Educator and Practitioner qualifications in September 2022 and hope to complete these early in 2024.

As always, we have enjoyed events and activities with our families throughout the year, from informal coffee mornings to a summer leaver’s party and disco with a beach theme. We would like to thank the support of the parents and carers in assisting with and attending our events, and for so generously supporting us throughout the year.

Accounts for the year from September 1st 2022 to August 31st 2023

Please see these attached as a separate document. These have been independently examined by the Preschool Accountant, HJ Burton Accountants Ltd, and approved at the Annual General Meeting held on June 26[th] 2024.

The majority of our income comes from funding from the local authority for 2, 3 and 4 year olds; and private fees for children who are not eligible for funding or choosing to attend additional hours. This year we also introduced a small fee of 25p per session for snack and milk to help with increasing costs; and in the final term of the year a charge of 25p for consumables each session, as a contribution towards items such as wipes, arts and crafts materials and items used in sensory play. Our deficit of £3,137 was primarily caused by having low attendance in September and October of 2022. Happily, matters improved and we were able to retain our full staffing team rather than having to make redundancies, albeit with carrying the loss for the year. At a time when recruitment has proved very difficult in early years we felt it vital to hold onto experienced and trained staff at this stage rather than losing them and having to replace them later in the year.

It should be noted that the deficit of £9,500 the year before was caused by spend of savings on the outdoor project to replace safety surfacing and enhance our outdoor provision, and we retain a respectable amount in savings which has been build up over many years. Of the £61,959 in our savings account we hold an amount of £54,000 as a designated reserve in case of the preschool closing, this represents three months of running costs and statutory redundancy payments which would be required for the staff team. The remainder we retain at present to allow for any shortfalls in running costs in future years or to give us leeway to develop new projects.

Thank you for reading this report and your interest in our preschool. If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact us via email at [e-mail] or telephone [phone] during Nottingham City term times.

	2023		2022
	E		f
INCOME
NcCFunding	702,715		734,742
Privatefees includingTax FreeChildcare	47,709		28,564
snackfees	7,724
Fund Raising	694		418
Fund Raising-Other	0		764
OtherDonations	100		100
sEND/DAF	10,846		4,31,5
FeesConsumables	s85
Banklnterest	328		10
		164,100		161,'173
EXPENDITURE
WagesandNationallnsurance	134,07s		726,932
EmployersPensionContributions	2,961		3,183
Rent	16,150		t6,206
lnsurance	968		940
Telephone andlnternet	70t		589
RepairsandMaintenance	115		12
officerefit	310		1,132
Accountancy and Professionalfees	1,193		L,L76
Recruitment fees	660
Milk andSnacks	1,560		1,089
Fixtures andFittinBs	152		1,674
lTEquipment and Software	341		285
outdoor/Play area	0		9,s94
Consumables	3,591		6,273
Marketingand Publicity TrainingCourses DBSChecks	365 7,223 729		666 L,O23 392
Donationfromfundraising-Other	0		164
MembershipFees EducationalResources Famly	373 938 7,426		3'10 3,553 7,426
		767234		t77,277
Surplus/{Deficitltor the vear		-3,737		-9,s04

1.Consumables and Officestationerv
Consumables Settjngs		\324.46
Consumables Settin8sCleaninBPPE	Cleanlng and hygiene includingPPEcosts	1095.5
Consumables Arts andc€fts	Everyday items used bythe €hildrene.g. Paint andpaper	613.73
Consumables Omce		555.36
Subscriptions and Publications		0
		359135
2. Fixtures andFittinss	Largeritems not directlyusedasplayequipmente.g.tables and chairs.
3.Membershipfees
	Ofsted registration	220
	ELAMembership	118
	lnformationCommissioners Office
		371

Bank Balan￿$ 01 Septemtw 2tr22 AJd Surplus of Payments ¢w Receipts 6SOL -3137 61959 Bank Balan￿$ 31 Augus12023 Bank CurTent Accounl Bank Deposit Account 2158 59801 61959 ACCOUNTANTS CERTIFICATE l ttave wepared the Receipts and Payfftents ac£ount overteaf for the year ended 31 AUgL￿ 2023 from the books 8rxl vouchers oflhe Wtsllalon Park PrfrSL*o￿ Playgtoup and from information and eWan8tths $Ltpplied to me by the T￿asUrer. H J Burton Accountants Ltd 105- 107 Green Lane Ockbrook Derbyshire DE72 3SE 10 June 2024