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2024-03-31-accounts

Ascott Pre-School AGM & Committee Meeting Minutes

Monday 7 October 2024, 7.30pm

Welcome: Miriam Owens (MO), Pauline Plant (PP), Sally Elderfield (SE), Jane McCarthy (JM), Rachel Chapel (RC), René Bloomfield (RB), Alicia Barrington-Cramp (ABC), Emilia BartoliEdwards (EBE)

Apologies: Sharon Light (SL)

AGM

Chair’s report (MO)

It has been a great pleasure to chair Ascott pre-school for the last five years. The pre-school gave my boys – one of whom is now at secondary school – such a fantastic start, not only in preparation for school, but in the friendships that they formed there and which continue today. It is great to see it continuing to flourish as one of the mainstays of our local community; children in the Wychwoods and beyond are very lucky to have benefitted from such a dedicated staff and brilliant setting.

The staff truly are the mainstay of the pre-school, each one showing such commitment to the setting and their key children, ably supported by Sally Elderfield. It was brilliant to see this recognized in last year’s Ofsted outstanding rating – although we all knew it was outstanding without the Inspector needing to confirm it! Preschool does more than simply look after children; it invests in each one of them individually, instilling valuable messages about good habits such as healthy eating, while preparing them for school with activities such as early phonics. I have never known pre-school to stand still – there is always something new planned and lots of ideas bubbling under the surface, although the tried and tested Ascott way of doing things remains constant.

Over the last five years we have certainly faced our share of challenges, from COVID closures and disruptions, to rising costs in running the setting. While other pre-schools have folded, Ascott has continued to be as strong as ever, adapting to its circumstances and finding solutions. I have no doubt it will continue to flourish and leave a cherished legacy for all who are lucky enough to have attended, and I wish you all the best in the years ahead.

Pre-school update (PP)

We have had another successful year with steady numbers of children through the year. We had a small year group who left in the summer all to Wychwood except 2, one to Leafield and one to Kingham. This term we have had a very big intake and have a few more starting over the next few months. We now have a waiting list and won’t have any more space to offer until September 2025.

Sally Pitcher has been working for us on Forest School days and continues to cover staff absences and training where needed.

Caroline Newbury joined us in September last year to support 3 children 3 mornings a week. This worked very well and Caroline soon became a valuable member of our team. Later in the year we were able to offer Caroline more hours and she is now with us every day except Friday. Caroline has just started to take on the role of Wellcomm co-ordinator. Wellcomm is a system used to assess and provide all children with support in speech, language and communication. This system was rolled out to all settings 2 years ago and is used in schools as well. Final assessments in June were passed on to the schools children moved on to.

Aleesha has run Forest school for the last year and has had many new ideas for the Forst School site. Other staff take it in turns to support her along with Sally Pitcher. The Villager minibus volunteers have once again been very helpful and always arrive promptly and offer help. We encourage the children to greet them and thank them when they are getting on and off the bus. We really appreciate this excellent service. We have had to cancel a few Forest School sessions due to weather conditions and have already had to cancel one this term. Safety is always a priority for the children, staff and the drivers.

There are increasing numbers of children who need additional support and the applications for EHCP’s are now having to be completed by the SENCO (Pauline). This is a lengthy process but very important for the children and families involved, particularly when they are moving on to School. Staff and families have all been supportive in gathering the evidence needed for a successful application. Other children have additional support given by staff but do not necessarily need an EHCP.

We had our usual events of a craft morning run by staff, Christmas concert, summer Sports Day and train trip to Moreton in Marsh.

Marianne from the library continued her visits throughout the year and we always enjoy her stories, singing and craft activities.

We have been doing regular yoga sessions in the afternoons using children’s yoga books for ideas and also Cosmic yoga using the laptop. The children always enjoy these sessions and it has helped them with listening skills, learning to be still and independence with their shoes and socks.

Sally Elderfield continues to run Little Dancers and this has now changed from a Friday to a Wednesday afternoon.

We have had walks in and around the village and continue to feel part of the local community. We recently collected food for the Life Larder.

The patio at Tiddy Hall has finally had work done for all the drainage and flooding problems we have endured. Now there is no flooding when we have heavy rain. We are currently managing without heating but hope that will soon be resolved.

Finally the staff very much appreciate the help of all parents and carers as well as the hard working committee. Preschool would not be able to run without this level of support.

Treasurer’s report for the financial year 2023 - 2024 (supplied and reported by SE)

The accounts have been examined by an independent accountant who has confirmed that the statement of accounts is a fair summary of the year ending 31[st] March 2024. The Net profit for the year ending 31[st] March 2024 is £3,609

Bank Account Details @ 31[st] March 24 :

Current account: £16,349.73 Savings account: £51,878.41

Income

The overall gross income for the year 2023/24 has decreased by just under £6,000 from 2022/23 represented by a decrease in fundraising/donations and grant income. Fee income remains comparable year on year

Fundraising Profit summary:

Total Profit £2,970: Easyfundraising/Amazon Smile £194 Craft fair May 23- £251 Sports day parent sponsorship- £500 Sports Day- £1,325 Various-second hand bags, parent donations, coronation bags, toys sales £217 Christmas Concert 2023 £151 Craft fair March 24 - £332

Expenditure

Our overall expenditure for 2023/4 was approx. £6,000 more than the previous financial year.

This is mainly due to an increase in rent and equipment. Our hourly rental rate increased from £5.70 per hour to £7.50 per hour from April 2023 with a further increase to £8 per hour from April 2024. It should be noted that the hourly rental rate prior to these increases had not been reviewed since before April 2016.

We improved the outdoor surface area of Tiddy Hall which cost a total of £12,800. 50% of this cost was allocated under “Equipment” in the financial year 2023/2024 and the remaining 50% in the year 2024/25

The sundry section of the accounts relates to costs for insurance cover, household support vouchers, admin, DBS checks, Forest School transport, telephone , Little Dancers, magazine subscription, data protection licence, PAT testing, meeting room hire, train trip costs, Tapestry Subscription, Ofsted licence, Motion picture licence, staff gifts. Moving forward this section will be split across different headings to make the accounts more transparent

Pre S¢ til# 2023- 31,120 W4w•rAI p•Mkn 5.B41 9,141 11,EaB Futhl 47b 11572 PAYT 11.7e•i 13301 etyumibl••4nd¥f￿1oMry P11) (54) 11,7801 7611 (181) TJI T￿nIng 711 417 1,911 23 47 113JW t ii•.$25 Zle D•pxttJe $1fv20 sim 11$.WO 11J.TT7 ¢urw•rfA¢¢OUTht lity￿•h 1¢.380 471 4,092 1,•lJ 049 Prnyld h•ll r•rt Pr•yld Incom• wpportv 3,359 Cr•diior p•n•hTh Cr•dllor PAYE Crqdttor m1n11￿1￿• 4,076 Issii {1.7M) 103,7 IYB.1M £ 114794 15.027 KJ ribi iW2D24

Cashflow

Our bank accounts look healthy and we have been able to maintain reserves to cover at least 5 months running costs.

General Previous Years Profit/Loss 2020/21 (3,383) 2021/22 £4559 2022/23 £15,527

Attendees on roll over recent years:

No. of children on roll as @ Term 1 of Sept 2020 was 25 rising to 32 by Term 6 No. of children on roll as @ Term 1 of Sept 2021 was 26 rising to 38 by Term 6 No. of children on roll as @ Term 1 of Sept 2022 was 29 rising to 36 by Term 6 No. of children on roll as @ Term 1 of Sept 2023 was 22 rising to 32 by Term 6

As @ Sept 24 we had 32 children on roll: 8 children with 30 hour funding 9 children with universal funding (including 1 with pupil premium funding) 2 children with 2 year old funding 9 children with 2 year old working parent funding 4 children non funded

Summary

With increased attendance from September 2024, I am confident that we will be able to continue to provide a financially secure and thriving environment for our staff and preschoolers moving forward.

Sally Elderfield 7/10/24 Treasurer/Administrator

Election

MO is stepping down as chair. RC was elected as the new chair. (MO proposed, ABC seconded)

RB to stay as Secretary (PP proposed, JM seconded)

SE to remain as Treasurer (ABC proposed, RC seconded)

Constitution: Signed

Committee Meeting

Minutes from last meeting & matters arising

Fundraising updates:

AOB

Next committee meeting:

11 November 2024 (7:30pm at 26 Sinnels Field, OX7 6EJ)