Annual AGM Chairs Report 22nd June 2023
What a year it has been for preschool and here we are at the AGM where we get to celebrate all of the successes over the last year. Preschool has continued to offer an amazing service for our families and children which has been testament to the hard work, dedication and commitment of the staff and committee members. This has been a positive year and for the first time in a long time preschool found itself full at the start of 2023, which normally does not occur until towards the end of the academic year.
There have been lots of successful fundraising events over the last year.
In July, the Welldressing was back after its hiatus due to covid. It was great to be back and we had a bumper fundraising weekend over two days. We are hopeful to repeat this success on the Saturday of Welldressing this year. Our next event was the ever-popular and now yearly tradition of the pumpkin trail around the village. Vanessa’s hand drawn maps deserve a special mention! We offered crafts inside this year which was another great addition to the event. In November we took part in the Chrismaston event and raised money with a popular bottle and teddy tombola. December was a busy month for fundraising. We sold out tickets for around 150 people to attend the Christmas disco with a special visit from Father Christmas. Alex painstakingly wrapping all the gifts, Laura communicating with the special guest and Sarah and my face in sheer shock when the fire alarm started going off. Big thanks to Steve and Team at the village shop for selling us the refreshments at cost price, allowing all proceeds to go directly to preschool. Also huge thanks to Dave For offering his disco services. This was a great fundraising event and lots of good fun, especially the moment of panic on all of our faces when the fire alarms started going off thanks to an overzealous smoke alarm. Que a mad panic to find a key to turn off the alarm – with Debbie away we found a friend in the village to save the day. I think we can all agree it was a huge success with great feedback from parents, carers and the children.
The Christmas raffle was another big success and a huge thank you to all those who donated prizes, thank you to Christine and other committee members for emailing lots of businesses to receive prizes. I think we can all agree that the nativity was a great success, and it was with immense pride that I watched my son, and all his friends sit on the stage and deliver a fantastic performance. A huge thank you to the staff for this event which I am sure had its challenges of coordination of lots of 2 – 4 year olds!
The easter bonnet parade was another success with incredible designs by the children, who all love getting involved and showing their designs to their friends and their parents.
This year the committee has introduced parent social evenings once a month, many thank yous to the committee for this idea and I think we can all agree it has been a great success, a wonderful way for parents to come together to hear about preschool committee and for general chat with others in the village and surrounding areas. I am so pleased to see some of the social night regulars here at the AGM.
The funds raised during the last year have been used to purchase much needed resources and to give the children fantastic experiences. These have included visitors coming to preschool, opportunities to visit local amenities and new toys and games for indoors and outdoors. It has also been used to fund an upcoming day trip to Twycross Zoo, which I am sure the children will thoroughly enjoy.
Currently the staff are involved in a very special fundraiser where they will be walking 2 million steps over June finishing with a whole preschool walk around the park on 30[th] June for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity which holds a special place in our hearts. Well done to everyone involved.
At the end of last year, the committee made the big decision to start an afterschool club at preschool on a Tuesday and Wednesday. It was something the committee was passionate about, but it was not without its risks. Jane and Vanessa staffed this and thanks to its great success, a decision was made to expand the provision to include a Thursday from the January term. This was a big step for preschool, and we are so pleased that it has been so well received by the preschool and school community, meaning that preschool now offer considerable wrap around childcare for the village. We have been able to successfully recruit Claire and Bethany to the afterschool club Playworker role, who has been a great addition to the provision. A huge thank you to Jane and Vanessa for their commitment to ensuring this was able to be continued throughout the year and to build on the offer to increase the number of days. A big thank you also to all of the staff for receiving afterschool club so well. It is for the next committee to consider how the provision continues to grow. Breakfast club is incredibly busy and afterschool club continues to see its numbers increase, it is a pleasure to be able to report on how well our wraparound provision is serving the local community.
Preschool will see a big change in staffing this year, as it is with great sadness to say that preschool has accepted three resignations this year. Bev, Emma and Michelle are leaving preschool for a variety of reasons, Bev is retiring after over 20 years with preschool and we wish her all the best in her retirement and thank her for her amazing contributions to preschool. Emma and Michelle are moving on to pastures new, Emma after 6 years, she will be really missed at preschool and we thank her and wish her all the best for the future. Michelle is leaving after 8 years with us, her guidance and support as Business Manager has been invaluable, her knowledge of preschool is vast, and we thank Michelle for all of her
hard work. We are so pleased that Debbie has agreed to take on the full Business Manager job share and the hours in this role has increased to reflect the absorption of some of the tasks usually undertaken by the Treasurer who sits on the committee. This recognises Debbie’s skills and abilities in this regard, whilst simultaneously allowing the role and responsibilities to be lesser for the committee Treasurer. This also reflects the large increase in children we have had in preschool and sits well with the over-all Business Manager role. We wish Debbie all the best in her role and know she will continue to offer preschool invaluable knowledge and support. A special mention to Jane who manages preschool with gusto, enthusiasm and a clear love for all the children. Also to Vanessa for all her hard work and dedication to the children. We have welcomed new staff in the past year, Becky, Lois, Natalie at the start of the year who have all settled in so well and are a valued part of the preschool team. Most recently Claire and Bethany have joined the team and I know they will have been welcomed and hope they enjoy their time working in our wonderful preschool. Kym and all the staff contributing to the Facebook page has really helped parental engagement with preschool via social media and its lovely to see what our children are doing on a day to day basis, alongside all of the wonderful content staff input onto tapestry. A big thank you to all of the staff who make preschool so special. I would like to say a huge thank you to all of the staff at preschool for the dedication, care and enthusiasm you show in your role looking after our children.
I would also like to say a massive thank you to the committee who have shown such commitment over the past 12 months, and some for more than that having been on the committee for some time. Lydia, our treasurer, has shown amazing commitment to preschool through all of the hard work she has put into this role and she has always been only a phone call away for any advice, support and guidance I have needed. Lydia is stepping down this year and I would like to say a special thank you to her for undertaking the Treasurer role. Sarah, our secretary, remains on the committee and has been a great help in the role through the past year, I know she will guide the in-coming committee well. A big thank you to Vanessa for creating posters and posting all of the Parent Hub content on behalf of the committee. Lydia, Sarah, Vanessa, Alex, Christine, Jess, Laura & Rebecca, thank you for all of your continued support and help you have offered to preschool throughout your time on the committee, I am so grateful for all of your help and advice.
For me personally, this year has been a learning curve and I am grateful to the committee and staff for their patience with me whilst I learnt and for all of their guidance. I am so pleased to have been able to oversee the after school club coming to fruition after many discussions of this over the years. I have been part of the preschool committee now for 3 years and chair for the last one. I have enjoyed the experience thoroughly and can
honestly say I have made friends for life. My son is leaving preschool this year for school, and now is the right time for me to step down from the committee, to allow a new team to take over. Preschool holds an incredibly special place in my heart and as a parent I will never, ever forget the support that has been offered to our family by everyone at preschool, particularly during our challenging times following my son’s birth. Preschool offered my daughter a place of familiarity and normality whilst I was away looking after him in hospital. Our preschool offers its families a place where our children are loved and cared for as if they are one big family. Thank you, and I wish Aston on Trent Preschool, and all involved, all the very best for the future.
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