Minutes of Crowle Preschool Management Committee AGM
- Thursday 29[th] September 2022 7.30pm
Present
Kate Wilkins, Caroline Dunne, Sally Silk, Victoria Cooper, Nikki Deutsch, Rebekah Lewis, Nicole Grey, Katie Miller-Symmonds and Louise Marsh
Apologies
Nicola Wilkes
Minutes of previous AGM
The minutes of the last AGM held on Wednesday 29[th] September 2021 were reviewed and approved as a true and accurate record by the PSMC. No amendments were made.
Minutes Proposed by: Kate Wilkins Minutes Seconded by: Sally Silk
Chairpersons Annual Report – Kate Wilkins
Welcome to our annual AGM for 2021-2022. Thank you all for attending and supporting our Preschool.
This year has been challenging for everyone here, but exceptional teamwork behind the scenes has led to a continued and improving education for the children in our care.
The legacy of Covid has played a large role in the challenges but thankfully we hope that we are past the worst of the disruption although we cannot be absolutely certain of this heading into another winter.
There have been other bumps along the road but there is a real sense of a new start and positivity looking to the year ahead.
We were pleased to see the new hall has been completed this year (bringing its own challenges to the management team). The new hall has already allowed us to extend our opening hours to 5 full days and we hope (in time) may allow us to increase our numbers on a Wednesday.
The new curiosity approach implemented this year has been a big success and now with allotment adventures and the reintroduction of multi sports, we hope the children are being fulfilled and living their best life here at Preschool. I am sure we will hear more on this in the Managers report.
Stay and Play has been reinstated also this year for Pre preschool ages and this has been a variable success. The numbers have been variable on a weekly basis but has fulfilled the hope that this would feed more children into our preschool. We have also benefitted from local childcare providers no longer functioning and have an influx of children this September.
Staff Changes
This year we said goodbye to Cathy Palmer after 16 years of employment and Becky Greenhill our deputy manager who decided not to return after maternity leave. We wish them well in their further endeavors.
We welcomed Katherine to her new role of Supervisor and Sam accepted the role of deputy manager in a permanent capacity. They have both been making the most of their new job roles and making them their own.
We welcome our new members all of whom are very new to Crowle Preschool. Imogen Farr who has joined our childcare team permanently, Allison Lloyd who is gaining some experience with us on a volunteer basis and Maggie Williams who has been helping out in between her studies. We
would like to thank Maggie for her continued support of Preschool and for her infectious enthusiasm.
The management team includes Tor, Sam and Louise, all of whom have done an exceptional job this year. We would like to thank the entire staff for stepping up and going above and beyond covering shifts and being bodies on site when Covid was still causing havoc and beyond.
Finances
Thank you to Sally for running the finances and explaining the situation so explicitly - more to follow. Needless to say, the current situation is poor however with fundraising, increased numbers of children and a grant from Wychavon council things maybe improving. Fundraising this year has included Sue’s recipe book, sponsored read and Crowle 10K tombola and bouncy castle.
Finally thank you to the people on the current committee for their time and effort this year without whom Preschool could not run. A special thank you to Nikki Deutsch our HR guru who is resigning tonight after ___ years. An extra thank you for your help and guidance through these tricky times and for your continued support with our HR queries.
We look forward to welcoming to our new members Nicki, Becky and Michelle.
Treasurer’s Annual Report – Sally Silk
Introduction
This academic year has been challenging financially. Predominantly due to very low intake numbers and the end of the CJRS/Furlough scheme. However, we have remained positive and worked together to promote and regrow the preschool following the pandemic.
Accounts for Financial Year to 6 April 2022
Thank you to Kate Hall for preparing this year’s accounts; they are in their final draft state before being independently examined. The accounts are done on a receipts and payments basis, meaning that income and costs are shown when received and paid, not necessarily in the period in which they were incurred.
This year’s results show an overall deficit of £24,500. A variance on last year’s surplus of £13,000 of -£37,000. We lost the CJRS/Furlough income to the tune of £19,000 compared to last year. As mentioned, there was a low intake of children during this year and so funded hours income dropped by around £19,000 also. We had a double ‘hit’ of insurance, £3,000 paid in 2022 and nil in 2021 (due to the timing of the payment), offset by £5,000 less wages payments this year following the closure of BASC last year.
Income
Fees income was £27,848 which is slightly higher than last year (£25,956) but still significantly lower than pre-pandemic (£71,538). Our nursery grant income received was £42,383 significantly lower than last year (£62,862). Fundraising activity began again this year and produced £330 income to invest in new equipment for the children but is still significantly lower than pre-pandemic figures (£1800).
Expenditure
Expenditure for the year has remained almost the same as last year, £97,772 2022 and £96,164 2021.
Staff costs are, as expected, the largest single cost at £76,569. We still have an ambition to be a Living wage Foundation employer but recognise that until we make a profit for a few years in succession, we will be unable to achieve this aim.
We benefited last year from support from the Parish Hall Trust and our rent payments being lower than normal at £7,032. This year our rent reverted to normal £10,624, increasing our costs by £3,000.
Staff training costs are slightly higher than last year (£760) at £1,198 due to all staff completing their 3 yearly mandatory first aid training.
Reserves
As stated in previous years statements, we must retain reserves to cover redundancy provision as this risk is not covered by our insurance, the figure needed for this is £10,500. However, we also need to have reserves of no less than 2 terms costs to cover periods of reduced income or any loss of funding (£65,000). Taking into account the £10,500 needed for redundancy provision we have “free” reserves of £29,676 therefore have a long way to go to re-build reserves.
Looking forward
Annual budget setting is now the norm within the setting as is using fundraising for more significant one-off costs. This allows us greater control and visibility by all the management team of our finances.
We introduced our Stay and Play sessions last year which have proved successful and aided in boosting intake numbers, as well as providing a friendly and welcoming space for families and young children in the village. Thank you to Tor, Sue and all of the staff for facilitating these sessions.
2022/2023 is looking overall far more positive. Whilst we still face financial challenges and have a long way to go to rebuild reserves, we have already welcomed many more children into the setting and started the 22/23 academic year with intake numbers of almost prepandemic levels.
Thank you
And finally thank you to all of our staff, parents and my fellow committee members for your continued support.
Sally Silk
– Managers Annual Report Victoria Cooper
2021/2022 proved yet another challenging year for preschool. COVID 19 was still rumbling around in the background and most staff were affected by this at some point during the year. At times, the team were pushed to their very limits, however, we saw most members going above and beyond by cancelling plans last minute and taking on extra hours. We have however, welcomed Imogen to the team and have gained Allison as a willing volunteer.
Allotment Adventure
Over the summer a local gardener visited the site and spent an afternoon clearing it ready to be used by the children on their return from the holidays. The first group visited this week and a great time was had by all. We are hopefully going to continue the visits every Monday until half term. We have had a couple of parents who have commented on that their child is missing out on the opportunity to visit due to the day it falls on. We are therefore hopefully going to adjust the day to a Thursday for the second part of the Autumn term. Another review will be carried out in preparation for the Spring term 2023.
Uniforms
Quote has been received and shared with the PSMT. These can be ordered as soon as the go ahead is given. With the adult uniform now sorted, ID Sports will begin working on a quote for the children’s uniform. This is likely to include a polo shirt, sweatshirt and drawstring bag.
I have also asked for a quote for adult and children logoed high-vis jackets to be worn on outings.
Hot Weather
In true Preschool fashion, the end of the Academic year was also eventful with the temperature soaring to almost 40 degrees and a closure for Preschool required. Whilst we understood the challenges that our closure would cause, conditions within the hall were unbearable and both the children and staff were finding the conditions overwhelming. Through risk assessments and observations concluded that for the safety and well being of all, temporary closure of the setting was needed.
New Children
We have been amazed at the number of enquiries that we have been receiving for Preschool places. We have started this academic year with far more children on role than we have done previously and the enquiries are continuing. Last week we showed around two potential new families, one of which has already come back and booked a space for January 2023. We have a family visiting soon who are looking for a places for September 2023. When booking in the new children we are mindful of staffing and currently only offering sessions that will ‘fill the gaps’.
Wednesdays
We currently have 5 children on the waiting list for a Wednesday. We are continuing to liaise with the Parish Hall Trust regarding this matter. They have approached the current main hall users, Bowls, who are yet to decide whether they would be willing to adjust their booking to enable us to utilise the space. They have assured us that they are doling all they can to support us with this matter and will continue to negotiate with the Bowls group.
New Equipment
We have recently been advised that the Platinum Hall has taken delivery of some fantastic new PE resources. The resources were purchased as part of the gran to build the new hall and are therefore available for ‘community use. As a part of the community, we can utilise the equipment. We are currently looking at the possibility of a weekly visit to the Platinum Hall as an enhancement to the physical development opportunities provided to the children. We obviously need to consider whether we are able to staff these sessions and there will obviously be the additional hall hire to factor in.
Parental Involvement
Parental Involvement featured in many of the questionnaires that were returned to us at the end of the Summer term. This is something that we have been incredibly conscious of for some time but limited staffing has hindered the opportunities for parents/carers to be more involved. However, next week we will be trialling our first ever ‘Coffee and Chat’ drop in session for the parents/carers of our current school leavers. On 11[th] October, we are inviting parents our parents to join us for our Harvest Celebration. We will obviously be hosting our annual Christmas performance in December. Next year we are looking to invite the Mum’s in for a Mothers Day Celebration and will also look to plan an event for Fathers Day. We are liaising with Revd. David Morris regarding an Easter celebration for 2023 which will also incorporate an Easter Bonnet Parade.
Children’s Learning
We are planning to host Parent Consultation meetings either in person or over the phone week commencing 28[th] November 2022. There will be further consultations taking place the week commencing 20[th] March 2023 with parents then receiving a written yearly overview in July 2023 before we break for the summer.
We would also like to host a Curriculum’ event for parents. It would be great if we could invite them in when the hall is set up as it would be for the children so that we can talk them through the environment and explain a little more about the learning opportunities that are created for and experienced by their children. This is obviously rather tricky though as the main hall is booked every evening by existing groups/users, so we just need to stop and think about the logistics.
Tapestry
Tapestry continues to prove a challenge in several ways. Staff finding an appropriate time to upload photos and observations being one of them. However, the main issue is parents/carers logging on and using the system. We have been monitoring access to the system and some parents/carers have never viewed their child’s profile and some of these children have been with us for some time. How can we encourage parents/carers to be more active and involved on Tapestry?
What are we working towards?
This academic year we are working towards: Enhancing Parental involvement and Partnership Enhancing our areas of provision both indoors and outdoors Supporting the team to respond in the moment to children’s needs and interests Being more active on Facebook
Enhancing our ‘external’ provisions – for example, emergency services visits, a visit to the local shop, visits to the Church, the possibility of a trip further afield!
The Resignation of the current Committee Members
All members of the current PSMC officially resigned from the committee.
Nikki Deutsch is retiring from the committee and will not be standing for re-election.
The Election of New Committee Members
Crowle Preschool are eligible to elect up to 12 committee members and a further 3 co-opted members if required. The new committee members for 2020/2021 are listed below, further roles will be voted at the next PSMC meeting following the AGM, according to our constitution.
| Position | Name | Proposed | Seconded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chairperson | Kate Wilkins | Caroline Dunne | Sally Silk |
| Vice Chairperson | Caroline Dunne | Kate Wilkins | Sally Silk |
| Treasurer | Sally Silk | Caroline Dunne | Kate Wilkins |
| Secretary | |||
| General Member | Rebekah Lewis | Sally Silk | Kate Wilkins |
| General Member | Katie Miller-Symmonds | Caroline Dunne | Sally Silk |
| General Member | Nicole Grey | Caroline Dunne | Kate Wilkins |
AOB
No other business to report.
The next meeting of the PSMT will be held on Thursday 20[th] October at 7.30pm.
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