Supervisors Report – 2[nd] December 2020
ATTENDANCE:
Children on roll – we currently have 20 children attending, 1 child starting in Spring term and 4 in summer term = 25 children
Current Academic Year – Current numbers are in the table below. We are currently keeping a smaller group size of 16 but we have a few children who want additional sessions if we decide to return to a group size of 20. We are registered to take 24 children a session.
| Autumn 20 | Spring21 | Summer 21 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | 14 am 12pm | 14 am 13 am | 17 am(poss’ 19)17 am |
| Wednesday | 14 am 9pm | 16 am 10 am | 17 am(poss’ 20)13 am |
| Thursday | 14 am 9(lunch) | 13 am 7(lunch) | 16 am 7(lunch) |
| Friday | 13 am | 14 am | 15 am |
School starters September 2021 – 14 children will be moving onto school
21-22 Academic year – currently this predicts 11 children remaining plus 1 on waiting list
STAFFING
Myself, Nikki and Laura H remain our core early years team this year. Laura N sadly left us over the summer and as numbers of children were low we did not need to replace her. Georgia is also part of our team who has volunteered with us on a Tuesday for 4 years and has been doing some paid work this year to cover when needed, such as lunch breaks on a Tuesday, extra weekly cleaning and occasional training. Having Georgia work these small amounts of cover is also keeping our staffing bubble small.
Training has been limited this year due to the pandemic, however we are still able to access Norfolk County Council’s termly briefings via zoom. I have managed to update my First Aid training and Georgia completed Child Protection training.
If we decide to increase our group size in the spring we will require another member of staff temporarily for the summer term
COVID-19
National Lockdown : This has been a challenging year with many changes. We closed the preschool at the beginning of the first national Lockdown on 23[rd] March. After completing a thorough risk assessment, Me and Nikki reopened on 15[th] June for a reduced number of sessions until the summer holidays. We had a small group of 7 children of key workers and children who were moving onto reception in the September. This 6 weeks was a valuable learning curve in fine tuning our procedures to minimise the risk of transmission of the virus within preschool.
Home Learning : During this time while children were at home the preschool tried to remain in contact with all families to support them in entertaining their children and encouraging play & learning. We did this through a dedicated closed facebook group where staff and parents posted ideas and photos. Staff also recorded story time videos and we tried to hold some group circle time zoom meetings with the children which was a bit mad!! The committee also won funding for us to provide craft packs for some children, including those who had seen the arrival of a new sibling either just before or during Lockdown.
School Transitions : We had 11 children move onto reception this September. We continued to support parents and children in this process even during these challenging times. I contacted all 5 receiving schools to invite reception teachers to arrange telephone meetings to discuss the children’s needs, character and stage of development. These meetings where backed up by sending them transition reports that were completed by the child’s key person. We also emailed useful tips and information to parents to help them prepare their children for school and the children all received the book ‘Silly Billy’ that focused on ‘worries and feelings’ along with a set of worry dolls.
September Reopening : Settling in returning children and our new children was done in a slow and controlled way so that we could support them emotionally. We had to adapt our usual methods as we were unable to have parents in the preschool. We held an open morning for these children with time slots so they could spend a little time with their key person and re-familiarise themselves with the surroundings which seemed to work well. We also recorded video messages from the staff to rebuild that connection and welcome the children back.
Ellingham Preschool Closure : a couple of weeks into the new term, our nearest local preschool closed and we were inundated with enquiries from concerned parents requiring preschool education for their children. We therefore repeated the successful open morning for these parents so they could visit our preschool while following government guidelines. We were able to offer the vast majority the sessions they requested and began settling these children in sensitively too.
Continuing to Minimise Risk : We accept there is no such thing as social distancing with under 5’s so we focus on other methods to minimise the risk of transmitting covid-19 while at preschool. We took what we learned from our initial opening in June and feel we have implemented new procedures that help to minimise any risk while also keeping the children’s emotional well being central, for example:
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Daily cleaning of equipment and furniture
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Increased attention on teaching personal hygiene
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Rotating and quarantining equipment/soft furnishings/books which are not easily disinfected
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We use malleable resources that are only used once, such as, water, shaving foam etc
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Only children and staff allowed into preschool.
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Keeping our daily group size to 16 (to be reviewed in the spring)
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Well ventilated hall at all times
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Lots of outdoor play & learning is encouraged in all weather
CURRICULUM
We continue to offer a well planned stimulating learning environment indoors and out that covers all areas of the early years curriculum. We utilise our large outdoor space and beautiful natural surroundings to learn outdoors as much as possible which means children and staff our outdoors in the fresh air a lot. Along with following the children’s interests we also use nature based themes as starting points for learning, subjects such as stars, trees, hedgehogs, leaves, spiders and owls. We support this learning with weekly trips to Broome Heath.
Now that all the children have settled in to preschool we have also incorporated speech and language groupwork to support those children who need a little extra support. Activities are planned and carried out daily either in small groups (2-4) or in larger groups at circle time and so all children benefit from this, not just those they are aimed at.
TAPESTRY
We are very pleased to have the children’s play and learning documented online through Tapestry from this term. This is going well so far and we are learning how to use it effectively. We hope you like this way of recording your child’s progress and that you feel much better informed on what they are doing in preschool. It is a new venture for us so any feedback would be gratefully received.
COMMUNICATION
We have had to use technology far more this year to ensure good communication with parents/carers and we hope we have succeeded. We appreciate that it can be difficult at arrival and collection time to speak to staff but please feel free to arrange a convenient time to have a phone call if you need to speak in length with your child’s key person. Emails are read daily so you will get a response within 24 hours. Notices and updates are posted on our facebook page, in Tapestry memos and via email regularly so please ensure you look at these.
Acknowledgements: Thank you to all the committee for all there support this year with some difficult decisions. A big thank you to Laura H, Laura N and Georgia for their hard work and dedication and especially to Nikki for reopening preschool with me on June 15[th] in what was a very anxious time.
Report written by : Julie Nelson-Allen Date : 02/12/20
ABACUS The Willows, Ipswich Road lJ)ng Stratton, NR15 2TG Tel. 07851 600355 accountbcabacus.co.uk www.abcabacus.co.uk Accountants Book-Keep•rs Consultants Independent examiner's report to tbe trnstee8 of the 14Broom¢ & Ditehingham Playgroup" I report on the accounts of the above charity number 1037364 for the 16 rnonths ended 31 July 2020 Respeetive responsibilities of trustees and examiner Th¢ charity's InS are reswnsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the Cl)arities Act 2011 (the Act). The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Act 1993 and that an independent ex8rniDthon is needed. It is my responsibility to: examine the accounts under section 145 of the Act. to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the ACL. and to state whether particular matters have come to my attentio Basis of iDd¢pendeDI eumlD¢r'8 report My examination was carried out in accordance with the 8¢neral Directions given by the Chlty Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes considerntion of any unusual items or disclosures in the accoun1& and seekin8 explanations from you as trustees oncerning any such matters. The ptocedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the aoUnts present a 'true and fair view, and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below. Independent examiner's sttement In connection with my examinatio no matter corn¢ to my attention Nvl)ich gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect: the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Art. or the accounts did not accord with the accounting records" or th¢ accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the fomi and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirernent that the accounts give a 'ttve and fair. view which is not a matter co81dered part of an independent examiOn. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this reFM)rt in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Peter Bussey FFA 4th November 2020