2025-07-31-accounts

Trustees Annual Report 1 Aug 2024-31 Jul 2025

Reference and administraton details

Name of Charity Heckington Preschool Registration number 1035549 Address Heckington Preschool, Howell Road, Heckington, Sleaford NG34 9RX

Names and roles of Trustees who manage the charity

Kim McMillan Chair Steven Green Treasurer Andrew Howgate Secretary Susan Green Setting Manager Cheryl Sear Committee member Sarah Drayton Committee member

Structure, Governance and Management

Type of governing document: Constitution, adopted 13[th] September 2019 How the charity is constituted:

Unincorporated association

Trustee selection methods:

Trustees are appointed or reappointed annually at the Annual General Meeting, up to three further members can be co-opted throughout the year as required. The Committee shall be made up of a minimum number of 4 and maximum number of 12 members.

Additional governance information:

Membership of the management committee is open to those who are over 16 years of age and are qualified according to the Charities Acts. The trustees are responsible for the overall management of the preschool and are also charity trustees of the preschool. There is a child protection policy in place, all trustees must undergo a DBS check and complete an EY2 form prior to commencement of Trusteeship. All trustees give their time voluntarily and received no remuneration or other benefits.

Objectves and Actvites

Heckington Preschool is an Ofsted rated ‘Good’ setting with a catchment area extending beyond the local villages towards the towns of Sleaford and Boston. We are a ‘High-Scope’ setting where active learning and independence are promoted.

Our aim is to ensure all our children can thrive during and after the transition to school, being resilient, confident and independent individuals.

The following objectives all contribute to achieving this aim.

• Providing a sustainable and natural environment for learning and care.

• Developing at udes and behaviours that encourage children to become ‘active learners’ who can plan and carry out activities.

• Providing opportunities for children to decide what they want to do, allowing them to think through actions and as the child matures turn this into a plan with a defined sequence of steps.

• Encourage the personal, social and emotional development of the individual.

• Support communication and language development, providing additional one to one support or small group interventions for those with additional speech and language requirements.

• Ensuring all children understand the world, and the basics of literacy and mathematics.

• Providing education and signposting to parents to help them to continue to support their child’s development away from the setting.

• To provide all children with the opportunity to express themselves through a variety of art forms.

• Ensuring that all children have equal opportunity to thrive by supporting vulnerable families, particularly those in receipt of the pupil premium and two-year-old funding.

• Maintain and nurture relationships with our feeder primary schools.

• In planning our activities for the year, we kept in mind the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit at our Trustee meetings. These activities benefit the children their self-confidence, social skills preparing them for school.

Achievements and Performance

The volunteer committee has continued with its work to modernise and ensure that the preschool has sound foundations moving forward in what are difficult operating conditions. The Chair has been supporting and mentored the Committee, the management team and staff to ensure modern administrative practices and changing Government guidelines have been adhered to. The Committee has prioritised the refurbishment and upgrading of the outside play area and to the strengthening of the school’s contingency fund.

We must make our annual mention with the difficulty in recruiting committee members and are actively trying to recruit further Trustees.

Autumn

Over the August break the Committee and parent helper relocated the school’s storage shed and recycled it into a large “Cosey Cabin” for the children to use in their outside play. This has proven to be an invaluable resource as it allows outside play in inclement and very sunny weather for staff and children alike.

The term concluded with our now annual Christmas singing, crafting event and raffle, with mince pies, refreshments and fun and was fantastically supported by parents/carers raising much needed funds.

Spring

Following on with our theme of the play area refurbishment we were kindly presented with a pallet built outdoor mud kitchen by an enterprising ex parent that is truly fantastic and has proven a real hit with the children.

The children planted tomatoes and flowers in our new wooden planters.

The Committee recycled our old outdoor kitchen and turned it into the talking bench, where the children can sit and talk to each other.

Summer

The Summer term continued and consolidated the work we had done throughout the year. The focus is very much on preparing the older children for starting school in September. This transition time is a collaborative approach where we host reception teachers for visits. The feedback from them has been very positive.

The Preschool wheel out library continues to be a great success promoting family reading time.

The staff continued to take the children out into the community with visits to the park, examining the wildlife, vising the local café, exploring the local shops.

The children often prepare or bake their own food such as healthy pizza or bread.

The term concluded with the departure of one of our longest serving staff members and the arrival of a new member of the team.

We finished the school year with our summer event with crafting, stories and singing with our own resident bard.

The start of the summer break saw the Committee repair the soft playground floor edging to ensure safe play for the future.

Fundraising

We have continued with our two main events per year, based around the children presenting to their family along with family crafting and fun. We usually associate this with homemade crafting kits parents can purchase along with a raffle, though the emphasis is always on fun and interaction.

Financial review

Our main income stream is from Early Years Entitlement Funding; we also benefit from additional Pupil Premium and Inclusion Funding for specific individuals. Our main financial outgoings are staff wages, utilities and maintenance costs. Our biggest risks are our reserve fund levels, though with prudent financial management coupled with the use of Sage financial software they have shown signs of recovering. The living wage increases and changes to National Insurance have been tough, especially as funding has not kept pace. Staff retention is a constant worry, with wages in the sector are very poor for the work a modern preschool does within the essential Early Years sector.

This year has been another year of tight cost control and promoting the Preschool to increase child numbers with the aim to stabilise our financial reserves. We are aware of future changes to funding,

and we are putting the Preschool in the best possible shape to meet the future demands and ensure the children have the best possible experience.

Signed on behalf of the Charity’s Trustees;

Signature Steven Green (Electronic Signature)

Full Name Steven Green Position Treasurer Date 07/09/2025

Heckington Preschool

Balance Sheet as at 31 July 2025

Current Assets Current Account Deposit Account Petty Cash Debtors Represented by Unrestricted fund	2025 2024 £ £ 10919 6789 20434 2868 252 95 223 -
	31828 9752
	31828 9752

1

Heckington Preschool

Statement of Financial Activities for the Year Ended 31 Jul 2025

Incoming Resources Donations Additional Voluntary Income Activities for Generating Funds Income from Parents Fees Income from Local Authority Fundraising Income Other Income Investement Income Bank Interest Resources Expended Preschool Running Costs Defcit/Surplus for Year Unrestricted Fund Balance Total Unrestricted Funds	2025 2024 £ £ 0 55 880 622
	880 677 9415 4367 72009 48593 597 439
	82021 53399
	66 51
	82967 54127 60891 56881 22076 -2754 Aug-24 9752 Aug-23 12506
	31828 9752

2

Heckington Preschool

Resources Expended to 31 Jul 2025

Employee Wages and Salaries PAYE to HMRC Employer Pension Water Charges Electricity Charges Waste Collection Gas & Oil Charges Teaching Resources Entertainment Printing Ofce Stationery Ofce Equipment and IT Telephone Internet Charges Computer & Software Accountancy Fees Consultancy & Professional Fees Business Insurance Repairs & Maintenance Rent Cleaning & Hygiene Subscriptions Refreshments Childrens Snack Support Grant Vouchers Training General Expenses Travel Expenses	2025 £ 48989 1802 1362 132 1878 101 0 272 87 23 64 7 748 290 579 468 163 703 1039 2 369 198 2 132 1130 239 50 64 60891	2024 £ 47028 2046 1637 21 998 0 1 79 0 69 0 0 581 270 501 444 105 836 782 2 252 66 1 20 1035 90 10 7
		56881

3

CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Raportto thg trusteegl membors of ELkw4￿Y￿￿OF On a¢counts for the year ended Zo25 Charity no lif any) Set out on pages 310£ I report to the trustoas on my examinatiofi of the accounts of the above charity l.the Trust.) for the year ended Responsibllltles and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsiblo for the preparation basi$ of report of the accounts in a¢cord8nc8 with the requirements of the charit￿ Act 2011 1.the Aet'i. I report in respect of my examination of the Trust'5 accourts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying c>ut my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under 8edion 14515llbl of the Act. I have completed my examination. I ￿nfi￿ Ihal no material matter8 have come lo my attention lotherthan that disclosed below'} in connection wfÉh the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect.. accounting records wor• not kopt in a¢cord8n¢e with $9¢lion 130 of the Act or the accounts do not accord with the accounting records Independent examinerfs statement I have no concems and have com& 8(xos$ no other matteTS in connection with the èxarninatitsn to which attention should be dr3wn in order lo enable a proper un nding of the accounts lo be reached. Plg&se the words in the brackets if they do not apply. Signed: Date.. N#m•: Relevant prof¢$$ional qualificationlsl or body {If any}: Address: IER October 2018

Section B Disclosure Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concem (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts.. directions and 9uidance for examiners). Give here brief details of any items that the èxamlnar WIS￿5 to di$clos¢. IER O¢tober 2018

Heckington Preschool Balance Sheet as at 31 July S125 2ff24 Current Assets rrentAccount ILB DepositAccount Pettycash Debtors 31828 9752 Represented by Unrestricted fund 31828 9752

Hecknngion Preschool Stement of FinancialActivities forthe Year Ended 31 lul X125 2025 2￿24 Incomlng Resources Donations Additsonal Voluntsry Income 622 677 Activities for Generating Funds Incomefrom Parents Fe Incomefrom Local Authority Fundraising I ncome Other Incorne 9415 72(N)9 48593 597 82021 Investement Income Bank Interesi 51 7 54127 Resources Expended Preschool Running Q)sis s￿81 DeficiU&Jrplus for Year 22076 .2754 Unrestricied Fund Balance Aug-24 9752 Aug-23 125( Total Unrestrlcted Funds 31828 9752

Heckington Preschool Resources Expended to 31Jul 2￿25 2025 24 Employee Wages and Salaries PAYEto HMRC Employer Pension Water Charges Electricity (harges Waste Collection I￿2 1&37 132 1878 ioi Gas&OilCharges Teaching Resources Enterta inment Printing OflicÈ Stationery otlice Equipment and IT Telephone Intunet tharges Q)mputer & &)ftware Accountancy Fees Consults ncy & Professional Fees Business Insurance Repa irs & Ma intenance Rent aeaning & F￿giene Subscriptions Refreshments ildrens &)ack 272 23 2KI 579 163 i( 132 Support Grantvouchers Training General Expenses Travel Expenses 1130 50