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Annual
Report
2023
## **Contents**
|Welcome to the GEP Annual Report|page 3|
|---|---|
|Supervisor’s Report 2022-23|page 4|
|Trustee’s Report 2022-23|page 6|
|Treasurer’s Report 2022-23|page 10|
|Thank you|page 13|
2 Grindleford and Eyam Playgroup is registered with Ofsted (URN206778), is a registered charity in England and Wales (1036608) and a member of the Early Years Alliance (33927).
Welcome to Grindleford and Eyam Playgroup’s 2023 Annual Report
About our Annual Report
2022-23 has been another exciting year for us and we look forward to sharing this with you. Our Annual Report provides you with information about GEP’s activities for the 2022-23 academic year through the Supervisor’s, Trustee’s and Treasurer’s reports including our financial statements.
Thanks for reading, thanks for being part of
Grindleford and Eyam Playgroup
Grindleford and Eyam Playgroup is registered with Ofsted (URN206778), is a registered charity in England and Wales (1036608) and a member of the Early Years Alliance (33927).
3
September saw a staggered start with our new recruits joining us over the first few weeks to allow everyone time to settle. We were also joined by the first of two Ukrainian families to attend this year which was a real privilege, we learnt a lot about their language and culture and it was such a joy to have them join our team.
The end of the Autumn term saw the start of a recruitment process, always a fun time! We had a number of candidates visit and interview and in January we were joined by Paula G who started working Tuesday and Wednesdays. She bought a wealth of experience, warmth and general loveliness with her.
The build up to Christmas is one of my personal favourite times of the year, we go big! We absolutely make the most of it from baking mince pies and gingerbread to including carols and classics in our song time. Christmas crafts and festive jumpers top off a really special end to the year.
This year we got involved in a local initiative led by Toll Bar Chip Shop, they put out a call for artists and we answered! The children got busy decorating chip boxes which were returned and built into an alternate Christmas tree in Stoney Middleton Church.
Of course we also held our Woodland Nativities which is always a highlight. Parents join us and are always shocked at the walk up to the site, realising just what the children manage every week! Pauline’s laid back take on the Nativity engages everyone and marshmallow toasting tops off a lovely morning.
We put together and sold our second Recipe Book to raise money and share our baking recipes with the world. Families supported it really well and we raised £120 We owe a massive thank you to Great Hucklow Primary School and Sophie Bell for their help and printing.
We began the new year full of joy and optimism, only to receive the dreaded call… Ofsted!! Our inspection took place on a Wednesday with our inspector visiting both forest school and woodland adventure before spending the afternoon with us at base. She provided lots of positive feedback on the things she had seen and some pointers to work on. We were awarded an overall ‘Good’ outcome which we were more than happy with.
The Spring term then flies really quickly for me personally as I was absent for the rest of it through an operation and recovery. We were incredibly lucky that Julia agreed to come back and volunteer to help cover my absence, and we haven’t let her go since! Liz also agreed to cover hours and we were helped massively by parents taking over the running of mud kitchen. Thank you everyone!
We held our now annual Cream Tea fundraiser in April; scones, tea and tombola. What’s not to like!? Unfortunately, attendance was slightly down on the previous year due to a date clash but it was well worth doing, bringing in £338. We owe a big thank you to Co-op Baslow for their generosity and Village Green Eyam for their delicious scone donation.
Cont./
Grindleford and Eyam Playgroup is registered with Ofsted (URN206778), is a registered charity in England and Wales (1036608) and a member of the Early Years Alliance (33927).
4
As the summer term started we had some visitors come to stay in the shape of caterpillars! We loved checking in on them every day and watching their journey through cocoon and chrysalis before we let beautiful butterflies free.
The nation was gifted as extra bank holiday in the summer to celebrate the King’s Coronation, we followed instruction and celebrated appropriately. A very exciting time.
Unfortunately, on our return we were greeted with the unpleasant surprise of vandalism at our forest school site. Visitors had popped in and caused damage to our structures, left litter and general chaos. Luckily, we have an amazing group of family and friends who gave up their time one weekend to refresh and repair. The children were surprised the following week to arrive to new dens and fire circle and have been busy enjoying it ever since.
As the year started racing towards a close we still had a lot to fit in. School transitions began with children leaving for visits at their new schools. We held two knighting ceremonies in the woods to send them off in style. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t allow a sports day but we managed to arrange a leavers ceremony inside to say good luck to those leaving and wish everyone a lovely summer.
The fun doesn’t stop there! We may have broken up for the holidays but we kept busy with holiday clubs and open mornings. Holiday clubs in the forest, complete with berry bashing, treasure hunts and clay models. Open mornings for our September starters to meet us and become familiar with the room. Both were really well supported and hopefully helpful to our new families.
Another busy year! As I’m sure you can tell, GEP is a huge team effort. We are so lucky to have so many incredible people in our community who give their time, skills and love to us. We simply couldn’t carry on without it. Thank you, thank you.
Sophie and Pauline x
Grindleford and Eyam Playgroup is registered with Ofsted (URN206778), is a registered charity in England and Wales (1036608) and a member of the Early Years Alliance (33927).
5
## **Chair’s report**
Grindleford and Eyam Playgroup (GEP) is a registered charity, No. 1036608. Our trustees for the year were:
Helen Wakerley Chair Elizabeth Tiplady Treasurer Clare Harley Ruth Nuttall Laura Darwin
The role of Secretary was shared during the year.
## **Structure, governance, and management**
The pre-school operates under the Pre-school Learning Alliance Model Constitution 2011 which was approved by the Charity Commission on 29[th] October 2014.
Membership of the Pre-school is divided into two kinds:
(a) Family Membership - Parents or guardians of all children who attend the group.
(b) Affiliate Membership - Affiliate Membership is open to those individuals, organisations or other bodies interested in supporting the aims of the Pre-school.
The overall management and control of the Pre-school rests with the Pre-school’s management committee (“the committee”). As well as being responsible for the management of the Pre-school the Committee members are also the charity trustees of the Preschool. Committee member are elected for one year at the Annual General Meeting.
The Committee consists of:
A Chair, a Treasurer, and a Secretary (“the Officers”); and
Not less than 2 nor more than 9 other elected Members; and
If the Committee decides it can co-opt up to 3 further Members onto the Committee at any time after the AGM.
Together, the committee are the ‘registered person’ with Ofsted and have overall responsibility for ensuring the childcare provision meets the terms of Ofsted registration and the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage framework. To comply with safeguarding requirements all new Committee members are required to complete a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check online before they can be added to an Ofsted registration. We have a trustee induction programme and support new committee members during this process.
One trustee who regularly volunteered during the year received a contribution towards petrol expenses. The additional member of staff enabled us to maintain our child numbers while supporting a child with SEN.
Cont./
Grindleford and Eyam Playgroup is registered with Ofsted (URN206778), is a registered charity in England and Wales (1036608) and a member of the Early Years Alliance (33927).
6
The day-to-day running of the pre-school is delegated to our Supervisors and the team:
|Sophie Grant|Supervisor (Monday/Tuesday), Deputy Supervisor (Wednesday/Friday)|
|---|---|
|Pauline Bowman|Supervisor (Wednesday/Friday), Deputy Supervisor (Monday/Tuesday)|
|Donna Booth|SENCO|
|Rachel Wright|Forest school leader (Wednesday)|
|Kirsty Fish|Assistant|
|Paula Greenhalgh|Assistant|
|Libby Eaton|FS assistant|
|Julia Pritchard|FS assistant (Supply cover)|
|Paula Pawson|FS assistant (Supply cover)|
The high number of staff reflects our commitment to offering outdoor opportunities such as forest school and woodland adventure. We meet or exceed the ratio and qualification requirements as set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework.
## **Our aims**
The aims of the pre-school are to enhance the development and education of children primarily under statutory school age by offering appropriate play, education, and care.
We provide an environment where each child can develop and fulfil their potential; build their self-confidence and gain the skills and experience they need to make the most of their early years in school.
## **Our ethos**
GEP is a rural Peak District pre-school which provides a forward thinking, unhurried and playful approach to early learning. We have eight core principles that we apply every day:
We believe that children learn best through play
We prepare children for school, but we don’t mimic school
We promote child-led play as an essential part of children’s learning
We balance free play with focussed, adult led group learning
We believe that children should be engaged, not occupied, at pre-school
We provide experiences which are meaningful to our children
We manage behaviour positively
We value outdoor play as a valuable childhood experience
“Play is essential for children’s development, building their confidence as they learn to explore, relate to others, set their own goals and solve problems. Children learn by leading their own play, and by taking part in play which is guided by adults.”
Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage
Cont./
Grindleford and Eyam Playgroup is registered with Ofsted (URN206778), is a registered charity in England and Wales (1036608) and a member of the Early Years Alliance (33927).
7
## **Pupil numbers and fees**
In 2021-22 we had 33 children from 33 families accessing our pre-school.
A recent survey of families who left at the end of this year has brought in some wonderful feedback about the setting and the staff:
_“It is an excellent play group and we were sad to leave! Both children thrived there and grew in confidence. They were known as individuals and well cared for. The outdoors ethos is brilliant for children and enabled them to explore and love family walks too.”_
_“Playgroup is a wonderful place to be. My daughter was so happy there. The staff were the best ever and cared so much about the children and their learning.”_
_“They have been amazing, my son was always excited to be going, he loved all the staff there and always ran off happy and ready to get stuck in.”_
_“Going out in all weathers. Forest school. Simple routines, rituals, calmness. Singing. Long serving staff.”_
Our fees for children aged two to three years (up to the term of their 3[rd] birthday) were set at £5.00 per hour. In May 2022, the Committee agreed to increase the rate to £5.50 per hour with effect from September 2022.
Fees for children in receipt of the Early Years Free Entitlement are determined by Derbyshire County Council. The year started with a rate of £4.16 per hour which increased to £4.30 per hour with effect from the Summer term. The rate for funded two-year olds increased to £5.57 in April 2022. The rate charged for hours taken in addition to the 15-hour free entitlement was set at £5.00 per hour, the Committee agreed to increase this figure to £6.00 per hour with effect from September 2022.
## **Staffing**
We invested in staff training courses throughout the year demonstrating our commitment to meeting our statutory requirements and supporting our staff’s professional development. Subjects covered included Safeguarding, 1[st] aid, SENCO training, Exploring & developing each child’s cultural capital, Behaviour – strategies that work, Child Development, Supporting Children with SEN and Assessment.
At the end of the year we said goodbye to Karen, we wish her well in her new role training the early years practitioners of the future.
## **Volunteers**
We had three volunteers during the year who helped to run our mud kitchen toddler group. This popular dropin session is a good fundraiser and also enables parents and children to visit the setting which helps with settling in the future. We would like to thank the parents who shared the task throughout the year.
Cont./
Grindleford and Eyam Playgroup is registered with Ofsted (URN206778), is a registered charity in England and Wales (1036608) and a member of the Early Years Alliance (33927).
8
## **Planning for the future**
A child’s early years are the foundation for his or her future development, providing a strong base for lifelong learning and learning abilities, including cognitive and social development. Well-established research continues to emphasize the importance of early childhood education as an essential building block of a child’s future success. So, it is imperative we safeguard the future of our group as we believe that what we offer is special and worth protecting.
We are committed to continue to offer these wonderful opportunities, but we recognize they come at a cost with the high staff levels required to create the caring environment that makes the group so special. The trustees will continue to support the group and find ways to supplement our income.
Next year we need to look at how we can maintain our support through grant applications and our own fundraising efforts.
I would like to thank our local community for their ongoing support; including the GPFA, Eyam Half Marathon committee and the Queen Anne Inn.
Finally, I would like to thank our trustees and staff team for their continued hard work and dedication – your enthusiasm for providing high quality early years education remains our greatest strength.
Grindleford and Eyam Playgroup is registered with Ofsted (URN206778), is a registered charity in England and Wales (1036608) and a member of the Early Years Alliance (33927).
9
## **Our finances**
This was a better year as income matched expenditure, with the total changing little from last year. We continue to rely on fundraising and donations to cover our outgoings.
Our fee income for the year was £57,634, an increase from last year of 7.5%. 60% of our fee income comes from the Early Year’s Free Entitlement, a total of £35,009. Our fees from self-funded children totalled £22,625.
Our fundraising was very successful thanks to the support of our local community and families. The events relied on their generosity and willingness to help run events.
£536 was raised by our Autumn term raffle. Our thanks to local businesses and parents for donating prizes. £338 was raised by a cream tea held in Eyam. This event was made possible by the donation of jam and cream from The Cream Tea Society. We would also like to thank everyone who donated prizes for the tombola stall and everyone who helped on the day.
£374 was raised by our quiz night and raffle. Many thanks to everyone who supported the event.
£426 was raised by our regular mud kitchen group, our thanks to the team of volunteers who kept it running throughout the year.
£100 was raised by the clothes collection scheme, many thanks to everyone who has contributed.
£94 was raised by our water or wine stall at the Grindleford Show. Our thanks to everyone who donated wine for the stall.
£26 was raised by our game at Eyam Carnival.
£145 was raised by our collection tins. This year our tins have been placed in the Miners Arms, Eyam Post Office, Stoney Middleton Chip Shop and Grindleford Community shop.
£41 was raised through Amazon Smile before the scheme closed. Easyfundraising raised £17.
£20 was raised through football card games.
£120 was raised by selling recipe books. A further £24 from selling donated goods.
Our fundraising total for the year was £2,261 (£2,134 net of expenses) a wonderful achievement for the group.
Once again, we ran a holiday club in the Summer break which raised £904 (£197 net of wages and sundry expenses) compared with £740 (£290 net of wages and sundry expenses). While the holiday club was popular we were not full on all sessions which explains the reduced profit.
Donations and grants received during the year totalled £4,143; a further grant of £2,000 for use in 2022-23 was received in 21-22.
We received the following donations and grants this year: £1,500 was received from the Pigeon Club/Queen Anne Pub
£500 was received from Eyam Half Marathon
£500 was received from Eyam & District Darts League
£1,073 in snack donations – a very generous contribution which covered our snack and hygiene costs; thank you so much to our parents for embracing this voluntary donation.
£60 via Benevity, a scheme which enables employees to support charities through their employer. In addition, we received £275 Gift Aid on donations made during 2021-22.
Cont./
10 Grindleford and Eyam Playgroup is registered with Ofsted (URN206778), is a registered charity in England and Wales (1036608) and a member of the Early Years Alliance (33927).
The following grants were restricted to a specific purpose.
We received £500 from the Eyam Half Marathon to purchase play equipment. This has been used to purchase new soft bodied dolls £86; stepping stones for patio play £54; small world figures including sets representing differing abilities and cultures £232; boats for water play £36; tactile ball set £35 and a set of wooden triangles £20. The remaining £37 has been carried forward to next year.
We were fortunate enough to have been selected as a Co-op charity again in 2022-23 with funds raised supporting our aim of helping the children learn how to grow their own produce and to prepare, cook and provide a healthy diet. This money has been paid into our 23-24 accounting period.
A grant of £2,000 to cover the cost of employing a forest school assistant during 2022-23 was received from the Growing Golden Opportunity Award. This grant has been spent in full.
An update on restricted grants received in previous years.
Funds received from Kinder Kids preschool to enhance the playgroup has been used this year to purchase replacement tables £341; a gazebo for summer events £170; a new outdoor cloakroom £85 and a step ladder for the store room £48. The remaining £181 was carried forward to 2023-24 and used to purchase a new laptop. Funds received from Eyam Half marathon received in 21-22 to purchase play equipment has been used in full. A new unit for storing play activities £115 and a basket for the story corner £19 was purchased.
A huge debt of gratitude is owed to everyone who contributes by donating or volunteering; our pre-school is very special, and we thank everyone who helps to protect it’s future.
Our costs this year were £69,852.
Our combined staff and forest school leader costs of £57,216 account for 82% of our total costs.
Our rental costs of £6,573 accounts for 9% of our cost. Our hourly rate increased from £8.50 to £10.00 per hours an increase of 18%; rising costs will result in regular rent increases.
We spent £1,540 on equipment during the year. Items purchased with grants amounted to £1,241 details above. Other purchases included £52 for wooden shape activity; £36 for animal jigsaw set; £31 for a new rug; £16 for a paper making frame; £32 improving home corner; £29 improving the book corner; £16 replacing cups; £13 for dance ribbons; £10 for new items to include in sensory bottles and £8 for new dustpan and brush.
Our training costs for the year were £229. Our focus was statutory training with staff attending 1[st] aid, safeguarding and Health and safety courses.
Fundraising costs have increased slightly from £93 to £116. We paid £40 to rent the room used for the cream tea; renewed our lottery license for £20; spent £33 on printing raffle tickets and £22 was spent producing the recipe books.
All expenditure on fundraising has seen a good return on the expenditure with events raising much needed funds.
Cont./
11 Grindleford and Eyam Playgroup is registered with Ofsted (URN206778), is a registered charity in England and Wales (1036608) and a member of the Early Years Alliance (33927).
Our sundry costs are £2,673; a small increase on last year’s expenditure. Our largest outgoings are snacks (£649); hygiene products (£344); volunteer petrol expense (£480) and baking (£154). Other costs included our payroll package (£175); membership of the Early Years Alliance (£118); Ofsted registration (£50); website (£72) and mobile phone top-ups (£30). Two card payments totalling £10 made in error have been refunded.
The volunteer petrol expenses were paid to a regular volunteer who formed part of the staff team allowing the group to admit additional children which increased our fee income. The volunteer also covered staff absences which helped reduce staffing costs.
Our costs on materials have decreased to £316. Printer ink is a major part of this at £106.
We end the year with a closing cash balance of £34,658, an increase of £318 of which £218 are restricted funds.
Analysis of the figures shows that without the income brought in by donations and fundraising our closing balance would have shown a deficit of £5,470. This deficit has been offset by the following funds Growing Golden donation (£2,000), Kinder Kids donation (£644), Eyam Half Marathon donation 21-22 (£134), DCC discretionary grant (£410), Snack donation (£1,073) and Fundraising (£1,209).
The remaining income from fundraising and donations will be added to our reserve. We monitor the level of our reserve to ensure we keep sufficient funds to cover costs such as redundancy and final salary payments and top up as necessary. A portion of our reserves is allocated to cover any budget shortfall during the year.
## **Planning for the future**
We are cautiously optimistic following the recent government promise that funding rates will match rising costs.
We welcome the introduction of funded childcare for two year olds which offers support to working families. We will monitor how these changes impact the group. The current hourly rate providing hope that our finances may take an upturn.
The trustees will continue to search out opportunities to support the group and to bring in grants. We also hope that fundraising continues to provide further opportunities to increase our income.
It is important we continue these efforts to maintain our reserve fund and protect the playgroup’s future.
12 Grindleford and Eyam Playgroup is registered with Ofsted (URN206778), is a registered charity in England and Wales (1036608) and a member of the Early Years Alliance (33927).
13 Grindleford and Eyam Playgroup is registered with Ofsted (URN206778), is a registered charity in England and Wales (1036608) and a member of the Early Years Alliance (33927).
##
##
|Analysisofreceiptsand payme|ntsforthe year en|ding3tAugust|2023|
|---|---|---|---|
||Notes|2023|2022|
|Receipts||||
|Fees||57,634|53,604|
|Fundraising||2,26t|2,929|
|Milk Grant||274|236|
|Grants/Donations-Restricted||500|2,986|
|Grants/Donations-Unrestricted||3,643|3,494|
|Holidayclub||904|800|
|Sundries|A|4,818|8,253|
|BankInterest||136|6|
|TotalReceipts||70 L7t|72 308|
|Payments||||
|Wages||55,931|57,058|
|ForestSchoolLeaders||1,285|1,520|
|Rent||6,573|6,239|
|Milk||278|236|
|Equipment||1,540|2,629|
|Materials||316|381|
|Fundraising||116|93|
|Training||229|685|
|Sundries||2,673|2,266|
|Insurance||741|7L9|
|Holiday club|c|L72|113|
|TotalPayments||69.852|7L 938|
|fncrease incash||318|371|
|Cashbalance||||
|Openingcash balance||34,340|33,97O|
|Closingcashbalance||34,658|34,34O|
|Increase incash||318|37A|
##
##
##
|Statement ofassets andliabilitiesasat31Aug|ust2023||
|---|---|---|
|Notes|2023|2022|
|Assets|||
|Cash|||
|Pettycash|461|451|
|Reserveaccount|26,000|24,0O4|
|Current account|8,L97|9,885|
|Totalcash|34,658|34,340|
|Notes|||
|Receivables|||
|Weare also duethe followingreceipts/incurredexpenses:|||
|HMRC-GiftAid (estimated)|100|270|
|Totalreceivables|100|27A|
|Wealso hold assets inthe form ofplay equipmentthatis insured|for f10,000.||
##
|Liabilities|||
|---|---|---|
|Trainingcosts||0|
|Payables|||
|Thefollowingpayments are outstanding:|||
|Sundry creditors|407|3L7|
|Totalpayables|407|3L7|
|Notes|||
##
##
|Additionalanalysisforthe|year ending31|August 2023||
|---|---|---|---|
||Notes|2023|2022|
|Receipts-Fundraislng||||
|EasyFundraisinglAmazon Smile||58|27|
|Carnival Stall/GrindlefordShow||120|221|
|MudKitchen||426|353|
|Saleofgoodsinccookbooks||L44|107|
|Collectiontins||145|183|
|Clothescollection||100|34L|
|Raffles/quiz nights||910|1,184|
|Creamtea||338|473|
|Footballcards||20|4A|
|Total||2,26L|2,929|
|Payments-Sundries||||
|Snacks||649|545|
|Gifts|A|230|L70|
|Hygiene||344|286|
|Baking||154|L7L|
|DBS||0|0|
|Payroll||175|L73|
|Fire||69|61|
|Annual ofstedfee||50|50|
|Pre-schoollearning alliance membership||118|115|
|Recruitment||0|0|
|Other sundries|B|776|567|
|Staffuniforms||108|L29|
|Total||2,673|2,266|
##
##
##
##
||Notes|2023|2022|
|---|---|---|---|
|Grants/Donations-Restricted||||
|Localprojects fund||0|0|
|CommunityLeadership Scheme||0|0|
|Foundation Derbyshire||0|0|
|Co-opCommunityFund||0|485|
|KinderKids|A|0|0|
|EyamHalfMarathon|B|500|500|
|GrowingGoldenOpportunity|c|0|2000|
|TotalRestricted Grants/Donations||500|2,986|
|Grants/Donations-Unrestricted||||
|QueenAnne/Pigeon club||1500|1,000|
|Grindleford SchoolPTA||0|500|
|DonationstoGEP||70|s03|
|SnackDonations||LO73|992|
|Parish council||o|500|
|Eyam half marathon||500||
|Eyam&district dartleague||500||
|TotalUnrestrictedGrants/Donations||3,643|3.495|
##
##
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