CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent ExamineVs Report Roport to tho trusteesl members of Stepping Stones Pr&School On accounts for the year ended 3110812020 Charity no (if any} 1037668 Set out on pages 1-2 of Receipts and Payments Accounts 2019-20 I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charty (Xhe Trust.) for the year ended 3110812019. Responsibilities and As the charity tnjstees of the Trust. you are responsible for Ihe preparation basis of report of the accounts in accordance with, the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (°the Acf). I report in respert of my examination of the Trust's accounts carTied out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charrty Commission under sedion 145(5){b) of the Act. I have Complet￿ my examination. I confimi that no material matters have come to my attention (other than that disclosed below ') in connection with the examination which gNes me cause to believe that in, any material Independent examinerfs statement accounting records were not kept in accordan￿ with section 130 of the Act or the accounts do not accord wtth the accounting records I have no concerns and have come a￿osS no other matters in connection wtth the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Pleas elete the words in the brackets rf they do not apply. Signed: Date: 1810212021 Name: Stephen Lazell Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any): ACCA Membership Number- 0991436 Address: 2 Juniper Close Canterbury Kent, CT13LL Section B Disclosure Only complete rf the examiner needs to highlight matters of concem (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners). IER October 2018 Give here brief detsils of any itsms that tho examinerwishas to disclosè. None. IER October 2018 ||**Stepping Stones Pre-School Canterbury**|**Stepping Stones Pre-School Canterbury**|**Stepping Stones Pre-School Canterbury**|**Stepping Stones Pre-School Canterbury**|**Stepping Stones Pre-School Canterbury**|**1037688**|**1037688**||**CC16a**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||||||| ||**Receipts andpayments accounts**||||||||| ||**For the period**
**from**||1 September 2019||**To**||31 August 2020||| ||||||||||| ||||||||||| |**Section A Receipts and payments**|||||||||| ||**Unrestricted**
**funds**||**Restricted funds**||**Endowment**
**funds**||**Total funds**||**Last year**| ||**to the nearest £**||**to the nearest £**||**to the nearest £**||**to the nearest £**||**to the nearest £**| |**A1 Receipts**|||||||||| |Tuition Fees|**5,633**||**-**||**-**||**5,633**||**8,116**| |Kent CountyCouncil Funding|**42,506**||**-**||**-**||**42,506**||**50,812**| |Fundraising|**4,350**||**-**||**-**||**4,350**||**2,473**| |Grants|**11,966**||||**-**||**11,966**||**6,180**| |Bank Interest|**133**||**-**||**-**||**133**||**209**| |**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for_
_AR)_|
**64,588**||**-**||**-**||**64,588**||**67,790**| ||||||||||| |**A2 Asset and investment**
**sales, (see table).**|||||||||| |Matured Bond|**- 0**||**12,000**||**- 0**||**12,000**||| ||**- 0**||**- 0**||**- 0**||**-**||**- 0**| |**_Sub total _**|
**- 0**||**12,000**||**- 0**||**12,000**||**- 0**| ||||||||||| |**_Total receipts_ **|
**64,588**||**12,000**||**- 0**||**76,588**||**67,790**| ||||||||||| |**A3 Payments**|||||||||| |Staff Wages|**41,998**||**-**||**-**||**41,998**||**42,820**| |Hall rent|**4,934**||**-**||**-**||**4,934**||**6,601**| |Consumables|**499**||**-**||**-**||**499**||**1,418**| |Casual Staff|**1,376**||**-**||**-**||**1,376**||**3,322**| |Equipment|**2,714**||**-**||**-**||**2,714**||**1,651**| |Trips/Events|**390**||**-**||**-**||**390**||**246**| |Other|**1,043**||**-**||**-**||**1,043**||**968**| |Phone|**250**||**-**||**-**||**250**||**-**| |Insurance|**1,026**||**-**||**-**||**1,026**||**808**| |Training|**1,187**||||||**1,187**||**1,013**| |Membership Subscriptions|**487**||||||**487**||**446**| |Administration|**829**||||||**829**||**1,045**| |Gifts|**21**||||||**21**||**118**| |**_Sub total_ **|
**56,754**||**-**||**-**||**56,754**||**60,456**| ||||||||||| |**A4 Asset and investment**
**purchases,(see table)**|||||||||| ||**- 0**||**- 0**||**- 0**||**-**||| ||**- 0**||**- 0**||**- 0**||**-**||| |**_Sub total_ **|
**-0**||**-0**||**-0**||**-**||**- 0**| ||||||||||| |**_Totalpayments_ **|
**56,754**||**- 0**||**- 0**||**56,754**||**60,456**| ||||||||||| |**_Net of receipts/(payments)_ **|
**7,834**||**12,000**||**-**||**19,834**||**7,334**| |**A5 Transfers between funds**|**-**
**23,000**||**23,000**||**-**||**-**||**-**| |**A6 Cash funds lastyear end**|**20,552**||**-**||**-**||**20,552**||**-**| |**_Cash funds thisyear end_ **|
**5,386**||**35,000**||**-**||**40,386**||**7,334**| ||||||||||| ||||||||||| |**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|||||||||| |**Categories**|**Details**||||**Unrestricted**
**funds**||**Restricted funds**||**Endowment**
**funds**| ||||||**to nearest £**||**to nearest £**||**to nearest £**| |**B1 Cash funds**|Cash in hand||||**745**||**-**||**-**| CCXX R1 accounts (SS) 09/11/2020 1 ||Cash at bank (current account)|Cash at bank (current account)|Cash at bank (current account)||**4,525**||**13,000**||**-**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||Cash at Bank (deposit accounts)||||**116**||**22,000**||**-**| ||**_Total cash funds_**||||**5,386**||**35,000**||**-**| ||(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))||||OK||OK||OK| ||||||**Unrestricted**
**funds**||**Restricted funds**||**Endowment**
**funds**| ||**Details**||||**to nearest £**||**to nearest £**||**to nearest £**| |**B2 Other monetary assets**|||||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||||||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||||||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||||||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||||||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||||||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||||||||||| ||**Details**||||**Fund to which asset**
**belongs**||**Cost (optional)**||**Current value**
**(optional)**| |**B3 Investment assets**|||||||**-**||**-**| ||||||||**-**||**-**| ||||||||**-**||**-**| ||||||||**-**||**-**| ||||||||**-**||**-**| ||||||||||| ||**Details**||||**Fund to which asset**
**belongs**||**Cost (optional)**||**Current value**
**(optional)**| |**B4 Assets retained for the**
**charity’s own use**|Toys and Equipment (estimated value)||||||**-**||**9,771**| ||||||||**-**||**-**| ||||||||**-**||**-**| ||||||||**-**||**-**| ||||||||**-**||**-**| ||||||||**-**||**-**| ||||||||**-**||**-**| ||||||||**-**||**-**| ||||||||**-**||**-**| ||||||||||| ||**Details**||||**Fund to which**
**liability relates**||**Amount due**
**(optional)**||**When due**
**(optional)**| |**B5 Liabilities**|||||||**-**||| ||||||||**-**||| ||||||||**-**||| ||||||||**-**||| ||||||||**-**||| ||||||||||| |Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees|Signature||||Print Name||||Date of approval| ||Kathryn Rogers||||Kathryn Rogers||||18/2/21| ||Anna Campion||||Anna Campion||||18/2/21| CCXX R2 accounts (SS) 09/11/2020 2 ## **Trustees’ Annual Report 2019/ 20** ## **From 1 September 2019 to 31 August 2020** ## **Charity name: Stepping Stones Pre-School Canterbury** ## **Charity registraCon number: 1037668** ## **ObjecCves and AcCviCes** ||SORP reference|| |---|---|---| |Summary of the purposes of
the charity as set out in its
governing document|Para 1.17|The aims of the Pre-School are to enhance the
development and educa>on of children
primarily under statutory school age by
encouraging parents to understand and provide
for the needs of their children through
community groups and by:
(a) ofering appropriate play, educa>on and
care facili>es, family learning and extended
hours groups, together with the right of
parents to take responsibility for and to
become involved in the ac>vi>es of such
groups, ensuring that such groups ofer
opportuni>es for all children whatever their
race, culture, religion, means or ability
(b) encouraging the study of the needs of such
children and their families and promo>ng
public interest in and recogni>on of such
needs in the local areas
(c) ins>ga>ng and adhering to and furthering
the aims and objects of the Pre-School
Learning Alliance| ||Summary of the main ac>vi>es
in rela>on to those purposes
for the public beneft, in
par>cular, the ac>vi>es,
projects or services iden>fed
in the accounts.
Para 1.17 and 1.19
We provided a charity pre-school, totally
focussed on our children, families and
community, where children built on their
learning through crea>ve play. Our skilled and
experienced staf nurtured every child's
individual interests and partnered with families
in their child's learning, giving children the
freedom to develop at their own pace.
From September to March we ran pre-school
sessions for 2-5 year olds every week day during
term >me. We provided a high quality learning
environment for children to enjoy their early
years and to become independent learners who
are willing to take risks and to challenge
themselves as they learn through play. Our
children's wellbeing was high and we supported
them to build resilience and independence so
that they are well prepared for their transi>on
to primary school. The charity created a
welcoming and inclusive space for children and
families and embedded excellence and best
prac>ce in its work.
We welcomed children from a wide range of
backgrounds, including those living in areas of
depriva>on, children with English as an
addi>onal language, those with special
educa>onal and health needs and families
working with Children's Services. Each child’s
highly qualifed key person worked with families
so that children could develop and reach their
full poten>al within the Early Years Founda>on
Stage.
Children enjoyed Christmas events and ou>ngs
around the local community, including to: the
UNESCO World Heritage Site of Canterbury
Cathedral and St Augus>ne’s Abbey, Canterbury
Library and Museum and local green spaces.
From March to the end of the year, the pre-
school se[ng was closed due to COVID-19
restric>ons. During this >me, the charity
delivered support to children and families in a
range of ways, including: providing daily ideas
for pre-school ac>vi>es at home, through email
and social media; weekly phone calls to
families; delivery of resources to children’s
homes; a virtual sports day; and transi>on
packs for children leaving us to start school in
September. The charity received funding from
Tesco to support this work and our prepara>ons
for a COVID-secure reopening of the se[ng in
September 2020.| |---|---| |Statement confrming whether
the trustees have had regard to
the guidance issued by the
Charity Commission on public
beneft|Para 1.18|Trustees have considered the Charity
Commission’s guidance on public beneft when
planning the charity’s ac>vi>es| |---|---|---| |Contribu>on made by
volunteers|Para 1.38|The charity is governed by a volunteer Board of
Trustees, with a wide range of skills and
experience across charity, business, educa>on
and family support. All trustees either currently
have children at the pre-school, or previously
had children with us and they have a real
commitment to the charity and the wellbeing
and learning of the children in our care. Our
cons>tu>on involves all parents and carers as
family members of the charity and they take on
ac>ve roles as volunteers within the se[ng and
~~at community events.~~| ## **Achievements and Performance** SORP reference ||Summary of the main
achievements of the charity,
iden>fying the diference the
charity’s work has made to the
circumstances of its
benefciaries and any wider
benefts to society as a whole.
Para 1.20
The charity supported 34 children to develop
within the Early Years Founda>on Stage during
the year: 16 aged 4, 10 aged 3 and 8 aged 2 by
the end of the summer term. Of these: 5
children received Free for Two funding for all or
part of the year; 2 children received SENIF
funding for addi>onal needs; 3 children
received support from the Specialist Teaching
Service; 2 children had Child in Need plans in
place; and 7 children had English as an
addi>onal language.
We supported families to access support from
partner agencies, including Home Start, Health
Visi>ng and Speech and Language Therapy.
At the end of the year, 17 children lef the pre-
school to start school in 7 diferent primary
schools across Canterbury and surrounding
areas. The charity received posi>ve feedback
from the schools on the learning and
development of the children.
The charity received very posi>ve feedback
from the parents and carers of children that lef
the pre-school at the end of the year, including
the following comments:
•
_“Thank you for all your support over these_
_last two years. Stepping Stones is a real_
_gem”_
•
_“_[My son]_felt secure at the se;ng and_
_staf met his needs for reassurance when_
_in in the morning and engaged with his_
_favourite ac>vi>es like reading books. He_
_was encouraged to stretch himself when_
_pedalling on the trike or making friends”_
•
_“We were impressed with the number of_
_trips and he really enjoyed them. Staf_
_were engaging_[with]_the children,_
_cha;ng as they walked and fnding lots of_
_things of interest. It was a great chance to_
_make memories and encourage_
_independence. It was lovely to join in with_
_the St Augus>ne’s Abbey trip”_
•
_“I think you have walked the extra mile_
_with it_[during COVID-19 lockdown]_,_
_always keeping in touch via emails, phone_
_calls, videoconferences, even surprise visits_
_and giI packs. The ideas and videos on_
_email and Facebook were…a great_
_resource for us. We cannot thank you_
_enough for all your support”_
•
_“Absolutely wonderful support during_
_lockdown with weekly phone calls, toys_
_and resources dropped of for children, the_
_amazing homemade worry monster_
_puppet and book and fabulous daily_
_ac>vi>es”_| |---|---| ## **AddiConal informaCon (opConal)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: |Achievements against
objec>ves set|Para 1.41|Across the year, the trustees implemented an
annual plan with ac>ons in fve key priority
areas: Children and Families; Staf and
Volunteers; Fundraising; Communica>ons; and
Governance. Trustees regularly monitored
progress against the plan and ensured that
objec>ves were met. In addi>on to this, the
trustees agreed their response to the COVID-19
pandemic and implemented and regularly
monitored a plan to keep children, staf and
volunteers safe and to safeguard the charity.| |---|---|---| |Performance of fundraising
ac>vi>es against objec>ves set|Para 1.41|The trustees appointed a fundraising group
which implemented and monitored the charity’s
Fundraising Plan. From September to March the
charity performed well against its objec>ves for
individual giving, grants, statutory funding and
community events. The COVID-19 pandemic
afected the fundraising income in all areas and
the trustees have agreed plans to address this in
the coming year.| ## **Financial Review** |Review of the charity’s fnancial
posi>on at the end of the
period|Para 1.21|Despite a difcult year the charity has ended
the period with £5,386 to carry forward. This
includes a £5000 grant from the Martello Fund
which will be used to fund the charity’s running
costs during the con>nuing COVID-19
restric>on while our usual income is expected
to be reduced.| |---|---|---| |Statement explaining the policy
for holding reserves sta>ng why
they are held|Para 1.22|During this period we held reserves of £12,000
in a fxed bond to cover the costs of charity
wind up and dissolu>on. The bond matured
during the period and it was iden>fed that this
amount did not cover our dissolu>on costs. The
Trustees therefore decided to restrict a total of
£35,000 to cover 3 months running costs and all
staf redundancies.| |Amount of reserves held|Para 1.22|£35,000| |Reasons for holding zero
reserves|Para 1.22|n/a| |Details of fund materially in
defcit|Para 1.24|n/a| |---|---|---| |Explana>on of any
uncertain>es about the charity
con>nuing as a going concern|Para 1.23|| ## **AddiConal informaCon (opConal)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: |The charity’s principal sources
of funds (including any
fundraising)|Para 1.47|The charity’s main source of income con>nues
to be government funding for childcare
provision, through Kent County Council.
Secondary to this is the income from fees for
children who are not in receipt of government-
funded childcare.
As in previous years, the income from these
sources does not cover the charity’s costs and
this year the charity has con>nued to focus on
developing other sources of income, including:
charitable grants, statutory grants, voluntary
contribu>ons from parents and carers and
community fundraising.| |---|---|---| |Investment performance
against objec>ves|Para 1.41|| |Investment policy and
objec>ves including any social
investment policy adopted|Para 1.46|| |A descrip>on of the principal
risks facing the charity|Para 1.46|The main risk facing the charity this year and
going to the next is the efect of the COVID-19
pandemic. We have sufered a substan>al loss
of income due to a period of closure followed
by reduced numbers of children in the se[ng
due to social distancing measures and fewer
children taking up their places. This has been
overcome by the receipt of grants and
increased government funding but con>nues to
be a concern going forwards.| |Other||| ## **Structure, Governance and Management** |Descrip>on of charity’s trusts:||| |---|---|---| |Type of governing document
(trust deed, royal charter)|Para 1.25|Cons>tu>on| |How is the charity cons>tuted?
(e.g unincorporated
associa>on, CIO)|Para 1.25|Unincorporated associa>on| |Trustee selec>on methods
including details of any
cons>tu>onal provisions e.g.
elec>on to post or name of any
person or body en>tled to
appoint one or more trustees|Para 1.25|Elected by members or co-opted by trustees| |---|---|---| ## **AddiConal informaCon (opConal)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: |Policies and procedures
adopted for the induc>on and
training of trustees|Para 1.51|The Chair of Trustees oversees the recruitment
and induc>on of trustees to the charity.
Trustees complete training and reading in
governance and safeguarding and in areas
relevant to their specifc roles.| |---|---|---| |The charity’s organisa>onal
structure and any wider
network with which the charity
works|Para 1.51|The charity is governed by a Board of Trustees,
with a wide range of skills and experience
across charity, business, educa>on and family
support. All trustees either currently have
children at the pre-school, or previously had
children with us and they have a real
commitment to the charity and the wellbeing
and learning of the children in our care.
The pre-school is run day-to-day by a small staf
team. All staf are highly qualifed and are led by
a Manager with an MA in Early Childhood
Educa>on (with Dis>nc>on). Staf performance
is monitored through a supervision and
appraisal system. The Manager and the Chair of
Trustees work together well and fortnightly staf
mee>ngs, which the Chair of Trustees apends
on a termly basis, ensure good communica>on
across the charity.
The pre-school is regulated by Ofsted and the
charity is a member of the Early Years Alliance,
the Na>onal Council for Voluntary Organisa>ons
and a collabora>on of local pre-schools.| |Rela>onship with any related
par>es|Para 1.51|n/a| ## **Reference and AdministraCve details** |Charity name|Stepping Stones Pre-School Canterbury| |---|---| |Other name the charity uses|n/a| |Registered charity number|1037668| |Charity’s principal address|Kendall Hall, Nunnery Fields, Canterbury, Kent, CT1 3JN| **Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity** ||**Trustee name**|**Ofce (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for**
**whole year**|**Name of person (or body)**
**enCtled to appoint trustee**
**(if any)**| |---|---|---|---|---| |1
2
3
4
5
6
8
9
10
11|Kathryn Rogers|Chair||| ||Susannah Silva-
Gould|Treasurer||| ||Anna Campion|Treasurer||| ||Sarah Barnes|Secretary||| ||Nicola Bayly|||| ||Hayley Barnep|||| ||Tifany Carter|||| ||Sally Heath|||| ||Nadia Lang|||| ||Nic Maher|||| ## **Name of chief execuCve or names of senior staff members (OpConal informaCon)** Sally Heath, Manager ## **DeclaraCons** ## **The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.** **Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees** |**Signature(s)**|Kathryn Rogers|Anna Campion| |---|---|---| |||| |**Full name(s)**|Kathryn Rogers|Anna Campion| |||| |**PosiCon (eg Secretary,**
**Chair, etc)**|Chair|Treasurer| |||| |**Date**|18/2/2021|18/2/2021|