dy of the Wy
Pre-school ',
Member of the Pre-school Learning Alliance
Annual Report and Financial Statements
2023 - 2024
Registered Charity Number: 1033527

Our Lady of the Wayside Pre-school
Annual Report and Financial Statements
202312024
Trust particulars
Trustee's Annual Report
(including Financial Review & Review of Major Risks)
Statement of Financial Activities
Bank Reconciliation
Balance Sheet
Independent Examiner's Report
Registered Charity No.. 1033527

Our Lady of the Wayside Pre-school
Year ended 31 August 2024
Trustees and Officers
Laura Doyle
Laura Doyle
Chairperson l Trustee
Treasurerrrrustee
(overseeing the work of the Finance
Officer)
Vice-chairpersonrrrustee
Secretaryrrrustee
Stuart Kirk
Katie Carton
Committee Members:
Kerry Casey, Kirsty Mott, Olivia O'Halloran.
Independent Examiner
Kevin Perfect
Bank
HSBC PIC
275 Stratford Road
Shirley, Solihull
B90 3AP
Headquarters
Our Lady of the Wayside Parish Hall
566 Stratford Road
Shirley, Solihull
B90 4AY
Telephone Number:
Email Address.
Website..
Twitter
Facebook
07474 743744
ourladyofthewaysidepreschool@gmail.com
OLOWPreschool.com
#OLOWPre
OLOWPreschool
Ofsted Registration Number:
250105
Member of the Early Years Alliance
(previously known as the Pre-school Learning Allian￿)
Employers, Liability Insurers:
Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance plc
Page I
Re.qi stered Charity No.. 103 J 527

Our Lady of the Wayside Pre-school
Trustee's Annual Report
Year End 31° August 2024
Structure. Governance & Management
th
Pre-school Leaming Alliance Constitution adopted 24 June 1993 and amended
1Th July 2011.
Constituted by a committee of at least 6 officers.
All committee members are elected during the Annual General Meeting by parents
and guardians of children attending the Pre-school. (Last AGM Thursday 16
th
November 2023 7.00pm in person).
An enhanced DBS check (formally knovm as CRB) is undertaken for all new
trustees, officers, staff, students and volunteers. Staff now register for the update
seNice, when their DBS is due for renewal and it is our Pre-school Managerfs
responsibility to check that they are up to date and in order.
In addition to this all Committee members must register for the update service and
complete an EY2 online with Ofsted.
In line with Ofsted policies and procedures our elected Pre-school Manager, Ann
Marie Brady is now the Nominated Person for our setting and this is registered
with Ofsted. They are notified of any changes in arcumstances immediately.
Objectives and Activities of our Group (Public Benefit):
Our objective is to enhance the development and education of children under
statutory school age by encouraging parentslcarers to understand and provide for the
needs of their children through community groups.
Our aim is to provide a happy environment in which the children feel safe and secure.
Children should be able to learn, discover and experiment through play and
structured leaming. At all times the children will be encouraged to develop their skills
to their full potential in all areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum
(including changes which came into force from 1st September 2021 and 41h
September 2023).
All families are welcomed and respected ft)r their ethnicity, culture or religion, home
language, family background, special educational needs. disability, gender or ability.
Achievements and Performance:
We are experiencing reduced admission numbers and a reduction in the
number of sessions each children attended each week, in part due to cost of
living rises but also due to our opening hours, with many parents seeking
settings with longer opening hours. This had a negative impact upon our
income. We are unable to increase our opening hours due to the use of the
Parish Hall by other hals users.
P￿e2
Reqistered Charity No.. 1033527

sl
Funding for funded 3 and 4 year olds decreased from 1 April 2024 by 3.3 % ,
25p per hour whilst funding for 2 year olds increased by 5.6 % , 28p per hour.
This was not in line with the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) which rose by 2.9¥0
in the 12 months up to July 2024 or Minimum Wage increases which stood at
9.79 1 for workers age 23 and over, affecting all of our Pre-school workforce.
Our team have continued to complete online training packages via Educare to
keep their knowledge current. This training has included Safeguarding,
Prevent Duty, Getting to Grips with EYFS, Infection Protection & Control and
First to name a few.
Our latest Ofsted inspection was on 18th April 2023 and we were all very
pleased with our Good rating.
The full report can be read..
htt s./lf iles.ofsted.
ov.uklv1 Ifile150219282
We did not receive any donationslgrants during 2023124 but will continue to
apply for external funding to buy new equipment and resources to engage our
Pre-school children, encouraging them to leam through play. We did raise
£622 through a school raffle and sale of photographs.
Our occupancy rate for 2023124 averaged 71.3 % , which was in line with the
occupancy in 2022123. This is in line with other similar settings as published
by the Early Years Alliance.
We have a blend of Nursery age and Pre-school age children. During
2023124 15 % of our children were of Nursery age.
We continue to work closely with the local Family Information Service to
support families who meet the government's criteria for 2 year old funding.
We also continue to support families who are not eligible for SMBC funding,
but are experiencing financial difficulties, which would mean without our
support their children would be unable to attend our Pre-school.
Our electronic journals which were launched in January 2019, have proved
successful and promote our partnership with parents, who have immediate
access to their child's learning. In addition they are able to contribute, by
leaving comments and also upload their own observations from home. New
features and functionality are added to increase interaction each year. This
enables us to engage in conversations with chIld￿n about their lives outside
of Pre-school., particularly beneficial to encourage communication skills.
From 30th June 2020 and during lockdown our new website was launched.
During 2023124 our website received 1,077 visitors. Our Facebook pages
allow us to promote our services to our local communities, parents and
carers. We have 221 friends on Facebook. We aim to post at least twice a
week. Last year we launched our Instagram pages to allow us to promote
Pre-school to a wider audience.
In April 2016 we offered our staff the opportunity to join our new workplace
pension scheme which is operated through NEST (National Employment
Savings Trust). The scheme is open to all staff at any time and currently 2
staff members have joined.
Page 3
Re.gistered Charity No.. 1033527

Financial Review (including reserves policy):
At the end of each financial year, annual accounts are prodU￿d in the fomi of
receipts and payments, including a statement of assets and liabilities.
Projections for the coming year are based upon the previous accounts which provide
the basis for the annual budget, which is reviewed and updated regulady throughout
the year.
A separate reserve account is maintained for contingency purposes, to cover
unforeseen events andlor fluctuations in income & expenditure. Following bank
interest being applied totalling £244.08 during the year, these reserves currently
stand at £12,720.68. It is our intention to work towards gradually increasing these
reserves further during the coming years to ensure that our group continues and has
financial stability.
Our aim remains to increase our reserves to £17,500, which equates to
approximately 3 month's running costs/expenses. This will ensure that there is
always sufficient working capital for the efficient running of our setting. Our reserves
policy will ensure the group's continued financial viability., covering periods when the
setting's income may drop below average for example. due to a late grant, temporary
drop in child numbers, temporary dosure due to a pandemic or cover unexpected
expenditure.
We will continue to submit applications to Charitable TrustslFoundations to support
the purchase of new resources and equipment. There are several schemes
available, and the group will continue to maximise our efforts to apply for funding.
Our applications for fvnding will be centred around introducing our Pre-school
children to the joys of growing their own fruit, vegetables and flowers.
All our fees have been reviewed and increased due to cost-of-living increases.
We have filled 57¥0 of our sessions for 2024125 and the filling of our vacancies
continues to be our priority as VE need increased numbers to cover our costs.
Page 4
Registered Charity No. 1033527

Review of Ma'or Risks
A significant risk to our charity is, and will continue to be, the rates of funding offered
by the govemment. Currently we receive £5.02 per hour per 314 year old child, which
does not cover our outgoings and only increased from £4.74 in Spring 2024. We will
continue to review our fee policy and strive to attract greater numbers to enhan￿ our
income.
The current cost of living crisis poses a significant risk to the group, with a further rise
for the national minimum wage to £12.21, a rise of 6.7 % been announced by the
government. An increase to employers Nl costs is estimated to cost the preschool an
additional 4.5k per annum from 2025126.
Our current projected losses are a threat to short-term financial security and coupled
with inflationary pressures cannot be sustained in the medium to long term and must
be addressed.
Page 5
Re%istered Charity No: 1033527

Our Lady of the Wayside Pre-school
Statement of Financial Activities
Year ended 31 August 2024
COME
2023124
2022123
2021122
Pre-school Fees
SMBC Funding
Deposits
Admin & Registration Fees
Donations & Fund Raising
Baiik Interest Received
Pre-school Annual Trip
Uniform Sales
Miscellaneous
£24,490.23
£47,216.16
£0.00
£440.00
£622.95
£244.08
£0.00
£428.50
£5.00
£22,962.34
£45,062.44
£0.00
£750.00
£4,454.10
£128.72
£308.00
£718.44
£91.50
£28,881.00
£26,245.02
£0.00
£870.00
£3,924.43
£6.36
£278.£0
£697.25
£0.00
TOTAL INCOME
£73,446.92
£74,47S.54
£60,902.56
EXPENDITURE
Wages TotAI
Traiiiing
Rent
Resources & Equipment
Insiirance, Membership¥
DBS & Phones
Catering & Cleaning
Fundraisiiig Costs
Day Trip
Staff & Childrens Uniform
Garden Refurbishment
£65,050.21
£0.00
£3,fj10.00
£1,129.77
£1,628.79
£64,124.83
£406.45
£2,530.00
£2,987.89
£1,934.61
£57.658.52
£584.06
£2,530.00
£4,838.70
£1,761.34
£792.75
£64.69
£600.00
£517.72
£44.77
£833.24
£0.00
£285.60
£567.32
£385.42
£918.10
£25.00
£154.55
£323.30
£97.43
Miscellxneous
£206.37
£574.01
£600.94
TOTAL EXPENDITURE
£73,545.07
£74,629.37
£69,491.94
Surplusl(Deficit)
-£98.15
-£153.83
-£8,589.38
Page 6
Re4iStered Charity No". 103J527

Our Lady of the Wayside Pre-school
Bank Reconciliation
Year Ended 31 August 2024
Busines5 Money Manager Account:
Opening Balance 01109123
£12,476.60
Interest Received
Funds Transfers In
Funds Transfers Out
£244.08
£0.00
£0.00
Closing Balance 31108124
£12,720.68
Treasurer Account:
Opening Balance 01109123
£9,322.16
Add Re￿IPtS
Less Payments
£73,202.84
£73,545.07
Cheques Written but not presented
Cheques 2022123 prO￿SSed 2023124
£0.00
£0.00
Funds Transfers In
Funds Transfers Out
£0.00
£0.00
Closing Balance 31108124
£8,979.93
Summary:
Business Money Manager Account
£12,720.68
Treasurer Account
£8,979.93
Bank Total
£21,700.61
Page 7
Registered Charity No. 1033527

Our Lady of the Wayside Pre-school
Balance Sheet
Year Ended 31 August 2024
2023124
Current Assets:
Cash at Bank & In Hand
Debtors
£21,700.61
£21,700.61
Current Liabilities
Creditors
£0.00
£0.00
Net Assets
Represented by:
General Funds
£8,979.93
Restricted Funds
£12,720.68
£21700.61
Approved on behalf of the Trustees:
Paul Williams (Finan￿ Offi￿r)
Date
24.iJ.aZF
Laura Doyle (Chairperson)
Date
Page 8
Re4istered Charity No.. IOJ3527

Our Lady of the Wayside Pre-school
Independent Examinerfs Report
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Our Lady of the
Wayside Pre-school (the Trust) for the year ended 31st August 2024.
Respective responsibilities of trustees & examiner
As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of
the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 .
('the
Act,)
Independent examinerfs statement
In the course of my examination, I confirm that no material matters have come
to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe
that in any material respect..
1. Accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by
section 130 of the Act., or
2. The accounts do not accord with those records.
I have no COn￿rnS 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.
Signed..
Name.. Kevin Perfect ACMA
Relevant Professional Qualification..
Chartered Institute of Management
Accountants
Address. 65 Featherstone Cres￿nt, Shirley, Solihull B90 3RJ
Page 9
Reqistered Charity No". 1033527