Chairs Report to the Trustees of Saplings Pre School 

For the Financial Year September 1[st] 2020 to 31[st] August 2021 

Charity Number 1038172 

As it was for everyone, this was a tough year for Saplings with the Management Team constantly having to cover shifts where staff had come into close contact with a case of Covid-19, and staff on edge about possible infection risks within the setting.   As a result, numbers of children on roll were kept low to reduce the risks and given the high number of children with SEN or behavioural difficulties, we did not feel able to take advantage of the slight relaxation in rules regarding safe ratio rules. 

Even if we had felt able to increase our capacity, applications were at an all time low, with parents reporting lack of confidence in sending their children out of the home environment to mix with others. 

Obviously,  our  income  was  negatively  affected  and  our  loss  this  year  was considerable, daily numbers continued to be low throughout the year and the outlook for next year continues to be bleak. 

Despite a punishing daily cleaning regime, staff barely leaving their homes other than for work and working closely with parents to ensure that sick children were not sent into Pre-school, we devastated in December to find that all but one member  of  staff  had  contracted  the  Covid  virus.   The  only  positives  in  the situation were that as the outbreak coincided with the end of term, the disruption for  the  parents  and  children  was  minimal  and  the  stringent  testing  routine undertaken by the staff meant that the virus did not spread further than the staff. 

We  returned  to  Pre-School  in January  with  trepidation  as  the Spring term  is normally the one where coughs and colds abound, however, with even more rigorous  protocols  in  place  we  were  able  to  finish  the  year  without  further disruption, again, parents worked with us to ensure that testing took place where necessary  and  as  soon  as  the  weather  was  warm  enough,  we  moved  the sessions outside where the infection risk was lower. 

During  the Summer  term,  the  Department  of  Education  notified us that  our percentage of children  with Special  Education Needs  was  twice  the national average, which came as no surprise since three other settings in the area closed permanently during the first wave of Covid-19 leaving parents in the area with a hugely reduced choice of Pre School. We as a setting have always striven to find a place for any child who applies, regardless of their needs or situation and as a result we found ourselves with eleven out of 21 children requiring some form of extra support, which meant that the Summer term continued to offer the already stressed staff plenty of challenges. 

All in all a year we were glad to see the back of. 

Samantha Springle 



Chair of Committee

Income and Expenditure for financial Year September 1st 2020 to  August 31st 2021 

|Month|Opening Balance|Cheques|Credit Transfers|Cash|HCC|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|September|80,268.24||360.00|5.00|2032.62|
|October|76,761.72||1878.61||7977.72|
|November|81,387.40||237.12|7.00|1858.00|
|December|78,157.77||2211.52||1858.00|
|January|77,584.34||638.61||7428.20|
|February|80,808.62||1602.84|103.00|1962.00|
|March|79,690.46|274.50|2041.08|15.00|1962.00|
|April|79,434.43||2364.60||4103.87|
|May|80,540.63||872.24|348.00|7023.55|
|June|81,927.72||2353.13||1970.00|
|July|80,040.84||2685.07|18.00|1970.00|
|August|79,495.54||20.00||1965.25|
|||274.50||496.00|42111.21|
|||||*||
|||||Held for|PC|





|Total Income|Total without cash|Wages|HMRC|Rent|Barclaycard|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|2397.62|2392.62|3959.06|464.68|655.50|800.90|
|9856.33|9856.33|3556.73|436.88|529.00|517.84|
|2102.12|2095.12|3707.04|436.88|621.00|345.83|
|4069.52|4069.52|3545.29|397.12|0.00|681.54|
|8066.81|8066.81|3480.19|373.24|678.50|291.60|
|3667.84|3564.84|3411.61|375.04|345.00|532.35|
|4292.58|4277.58|3542.37|371.62|460.00|81.66|
|6468.47|6468.47|3742.97|377.56|450.00|772.20|
|8243.79|7895.79|4524.75|542.48|577.00|249.31|
|4323.13|4323.13|4379.33|520.68|540.50|707.24|
|4673.07|4655.07|4021.83|430.38|455.00|273.96|
|1985.25|1985.25|3886.66|444.32|0.00|290.12|
|60146.53|59650.53|45757.83|5170.88|5311.50|5544.55|



Balance on statement at 1.9.21 76,840.53 

Difference of +3 pence 

Figures agreed by Mrs Jackie Nixon ….............................. 



|Internet|Other|Total|Statement Balance|
|---|---|---|---|
|14.00|5.00|5899.14|76,761.72|
|14.00|176.20|5230.65|81,387.40|
|14.00|200.00|5324.75|78,157.77|
|14.00|5.00|4642.95|77,584.34|
|14.00|5.00|4842.53|80,808.62|
|14.00|5.00|4683.00|79,690.46|
|14.00|63.96|4533.61|79,434.43|
|14.54|5.00|5362.27|80,540.63|
|14.20|600.96|6508.70|81,927.72|
|14.20|48.08|6210.01|80,040.84|
|14.20|5.00|5200.37|79,495.54|
|14.20|5.00|4640.30|76,840.49|
|169.34|1124.20|63079.00||





Treasurers Report to the Annual General Meeting of Saplings Pre School 

Friday 27[th] March 2021 at the Scout Hut, Birchwood Way, AL2 2SF 

Financial Position at the end of the Fiscal Year September 1[st] 2020 – 31[st] August 2021 

Balance Brought  Forward                                               £  80,268.24 

Total Income for the Year                                                £  59650.53 

A total of                                                                            £139,918.77 

Total expenditure for the Year                                        £  63,078.78 

Balance at Bank as of 31[st] August 2021                          £ 76,840.53 Petty cash held for the year September 2020 

To August 2021                                                                            496.00 

These figures were provided by our Book Keeper Carolyn Izard and the accounts verified by our Independent Accounts Manager Mrs Jackie Nixon 

Signed                        Mrs Samantha Springle                   Chair of Committee 

Mrs Carolyn Izard                             Book Keeper 

Mrs Jackie Nixon                               Independent Accounts Manager 

Mrs Alison Mead                                Setting Manager