OpenCharities

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

2023-12-31-accounts

Rainbow Corner Day Nursery (Registered charity No. 1041396) FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31st December 2023

RAINBOW CORNER DAY NURSERY CHARITY NO 1041396 TO THE TRUSTEES OF RAINBOW CORNER DAY NURSERY INDEPENDENT EXMANIER'S REPORT I havè examined the statements on pages 1 to 8 which have been prepared on the basis of the accounting policies set out on page 4. Respectlve Responslbllltles of Trustee and Examln8r The charity's trustees of the charity are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under Section 144 of th8 Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that 8n independent examination is needed. It is my responsi bility to: Examine the accounts under Section 145 ofthe Charities Act, To follow procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charitycommission (under section 14515)Ib} of the Charities Act) and. To state whether particular matters have come to my attention. Basis of Ind8pendent Examlner's Statement My examination was carried out with general Directions given bythe Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept bythe charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all evidence that would be required in an audit. 8nd consequently no opinion is given asto whetherthe accounts present a true and fairview and the report Is limited to those matters set out in the statement below. Independent Examiner's Statement In connection with my examination, no matter had come to my attenlion lother than that disclosed below): (11 which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any material respectthe requirements: To keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 ofthe Charities Act To prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act have not been met; or {21 -to which. in my opinion attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding ofthe accounts to be reached. Tomasz Lyon-staniewski, FCA 3 Sydenham Grove Sydenham Oxon OX39 4LP

Rainbow Corner Day Nursery Balance Sheet as at 31st December 2023 2023 Note 2022 Fixed assets 65,331 77,971 65,331 77,971 Current Assets Debtors & prepayments Cash at Bank 3,820 3,739 149,239 141,652 153,059 145,390 Current Llabllities Creditors 21,560 28,278 21,560 Net Current Assets 28,278 131,499 Net A88ets 117,112 196.830 195,084 Represented by:. Funds Unrestrtcted 196,830 195,084 196,830 195,084 Approved by the Trustees on and signed on its behalf by-. Sarah Warner (Chairperson) Emily Darlington ( Treasurer) Page 2

Ralnbow Corner Day Nursery Statement of Financial Activities For the year ended 31st December 2023 Unrestricted Restricted Funds Funds Total Funds 2023 2022 Note Incoming Resources Fees & other income 590,758 590,758 563,213 Fund raisin9 income 4,165 4,165 5,376 Other ordinary incoming resources Income from investments 642 642 Total Incomlng Resources 595,564 595,564 568,605 Resources Used Direct expenditure 29,326 29,326 28,092 Fund raising and publicity 148 148 1,559 Management and administration 564,345 564,345 527,512 Total Resources Used 593,819 593,819 557,163 Net IOutgoing)Ilncoming Resources 1,746 1,746 11,442 Balances Brought Forward at 1st January 2023 (2Q22} 195,084 195,084 183,642 Balances Carried Forward at 31 st December 2023 {2022) 196,830 196,830 195,084 Page 3

RAINBOW CORNER DAY NURSERY NOTESTO THE ACCOUNTS Forthe year ended 31 December 2023 Accounting Policies 8) The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with applicable accounting standards and folLow the recommendations in Statement of Recommended Practice: Charities SORP. bl Voluntary income is received byway of donations and gifts and is included in full in the Statement of Financial Activities when received. cl Grants including grants for the purchase of fixed assets are recognised in full in the Statement of Financial Activities when received. d) Restricted funds are to be used for specific purposes as laid down bythe donor. Expenditure which meets these criteria is identified to the fund. together with a fair allocation of management and support costs. e) Unrestricted funds are donations and other income received or generated for the objects of the charity without further specified purpose 2nd are available as general funds. fl Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the trustees for particular purpose. gl Staff costs and overhead expenses are allocated to activities on the basis of staff time spent on those activities. h) Fundraising and publicity costs comprise the costs actually incurred in producing materials for promotional purposes. i) Management and administration costs of the charity relate to the costs of running the charity such as the costs of meetings, audit and statutory compliance. and include any costs which cannot be specifically identified to another expenditure classification. j) Depreciation is provided on all tangible fixed assets at rates calculated to write off the cost of each asset over its estimated useful life, which is set at five years for fixtures and fittings, three years for IT and electrical equipment and the building has been written down over the period of the lease. k) Investments held as fixed assets are revalued at mid-market value at the balance sheet (iate and the gain or loss taken to the Statement of Financial Activities. Page 4

Incoming Resources Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds Total Funds 2023 2022 2 (a) Fees & other income Fees Membership Grants & donations 578,484 3,300 8,974 578,484 3,300 8,974 554.807 2,530 5,876 590,758 590,758 563.213 2 (b) Fund raising income General fund raising 4,165 4,165 5,376 4,165 4,165 5,376 2 Ic) Other ordinary incoming resources Sundries 21d) Income from investments Interest from savings account 642 642 17 642 642 17 Total In¢oming Resources 595,564 595,564 568,605 Page 5

3 Resources Used Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds Total Funds 2023 2022 3 (a Direct expenditure Materials Perishable supplies Toys and equipment Outings 8,443 16,969 3,529 385 8,443 16,969 3.529 385 11,158 13,552 2,821 560 29,326 29,326 28,092 3 (b; Fund raising and donations General fund raising 148 148 1,559 148 148 1,559 3 (cl Management and administration Administration-. Salaries Pension Employers Nl Uniforms Training & welfare Entertaininglgifts & Team Building Printing & stationery Postage Advertising Telephone Light & heat Rent & rates Cleaners Subscriptions Insurance Repairs & renewals Equipment expensed Professional Gosts Bank charges Depreciation Donations 445,766 8,961 27,024 1,637 2,160 2,414 3,604 445,766 8,961 27,024 1,637 2,160 2,414 3,604 411,508 8,347 26,337 1,484 3,485 2,429 2,908 60 1,675 5,409 12,572 11,982 893 3,072 6,518 334 12,863 298 17,047 50 60 1,675 5,409 12,572 11,982 893 3,072 6,518 334 12,863 298 17,047 50 1,195 3,106 10,817 11,800 1,183 3,032 7,641 12,821 278 19,110 30.00 564.345 564,345 527,512 Total Resources Used 593.819 593,819 557,163 Page 6

Fixed assets Building Fixtures & fittings and Equip Total Cost Balance brought fO￿ard Additions 198,722 2,750 98,014 1,657 296,736 4,407 Balance carried forward 201,472 99,671 301,143 Depreciation Balance brought fornard Charge for year 145,742 6,819 73,022 10,228 218,765 17,047 Balance carried forward 152,562 83,250 235,812 Net assets @ 2023 48,910 16.421 65,331 Net assets @ 2022 52,980 24.992 77,971 Analysis of net assets by fund Unrestricted Funds Restrlcted Funds Totsl Fixed Assets Current Assets Current Liabilities 65,331 153,059 (21,560) 65,331 153,059 (21,560) Fund balance 196,830 196,830 Debtors and prepayments 2023 2022 Trade Debtors Prepayments 1.319 2,501 3,820 3,739 3,739 Liabilities: Amounts falling duo withln one year 2023 2022 Inland Revenue IPAYE, NIC) Holiday pay accrual Other Greditors 7,833 8,391 5,336 21,560 9,061 15,185 4,032 28,278 Fund Detsils 2023 2022 There are no restricted funds Page 7

Stsff costs and remuneration As at the year end there were Iwenty two pem)anent employee's and eighl supply (part timel employees. Manager & Senior staff 179,934 Nursery nurses 199,227 Nursery assistants, etc 14 76.635 Kitchen staff 25.955 481.751 10 Trustees remuneratlon and expenses None of the trustees receive a remuneration or receive expenses when carrying out duties on behalf of the charity. 11 Independent Examiner Tomasz Lyon-staniewski, FCA 3 Sydenham Grove Sydenham Oxon OX39 4LP Page 8

Chair’s Report for 2024 AGM

Introduction

My name is Sarah Warner and I am mum to George, 6 and Hamish, 3. George started at Rainbow Nursery when he was 14 months old and enjoyed his time there immensely. Hamish is following in his brother’s footsteps and started in 2022 and moved up into Yellow Chicks last September. He always loves coming to nursery. One thing that has struck me over years is the level of care and attention that every child receives. We are exceptionally lucky to have such a wonderful nursery in our community. I have been on the Management Committee since 2019 and this has been my third and final year as Chair.

Review of 2023

The cost of living crisis continues to affect us all and has also had a big impact on nursery over the last 12 months. Significant rises in costs across the board, such as energy, food, supplies such as nappies and cream along with a further increase to the national minimum wage, lease and insurance, which have all had a big impact on the cost of providing the expected level of care for our children. Debbie, Sandra and all of the staff do a wonderful job at looking at ways of keeping costs manageable without compromising the level of care that we as parents expect. I am sure that you will all join me in thanking them all for their continued hard work and dedication in running the amazing community resource.

2024 Budget and Income Predictability

As a charity, our focus each year with respect to the budget is of course to at least break-even or ideally to make a small profit that we can put into the reserves and fund improving our facilities. A budget is set each year and a forecast updated every month to reflect the actual position for the months that have gone and use any new information to better predict future months.

This is always a tricky job but even more so this year. Continued rising costs across the board, including a 9.8% increase in the National Minimum Wage, along with the new Government Childcare funding initiatives currently being introduced have increased the financial and administrative burden and are having a detrimental impact on the budget and outlook for 2024. In order to maintain the viability of the nursery, we therefore have had no choice but to raise fees again this year. April will see a 14% increase in fees for the 2+ year old children. The 9 month – 2 year olds will see a 10% increase in April followed by at least a 4% increase in September when the funding for that age group comes into place. The Committee will continue to monitor the budget and forecasts very closely over the coming months and it may be necessary for further increases across the board in September. The Committee and Management Team have worked extremely hard to keep this rise to a minimum and the figure has been benchmarked against other nurseries in the area and we feel that we remain competitive.

I am aware that this will not be welcome news to families with already stretched household budgets. However, it is crucial that nursery is able to remain afloat and viable and in a position to continue providing outstanding care for your children. Rainbow is not alone in facing these challenges which are industry wide and sadly many nurseries are closing as a result.

Looking Forward

The future continues to be challenging but we are exceptionally lucky to have a wonderful team of extremely dedicated staff who consistently go above and beyond their roles to ensure the highest standards of care for our children so I am sure that we can look forward with optimism.

With all this in mind, it continues to be as important as ever for you to keep nursery updated of your requirements or any changes to your childcare provision needs in order to help us with our forecasting and planning.

Fundraising

Fundraising is as important as ever and as a charity it is mandatory that we fundraise each year, as without it we would lose our charitable status. We understand that money and time are precious to everyone but if everyone can give a little then it spreads the burden and helps keep our nursery running!

We are looking forward to our Easter Raffle and Rainbow’s 40[th] birthday celebrations on Saturday 21[st] September. I hope that you will all get involved to make these events a big success. Further details can be found on Tapestry.

Parent participation within nursery is key and over the years we have had many fundraising events which have been run by parents, past and present.

The Fundraising Committee works very hard throughout the year planning and delivering many fun fundraising events. If you have any suggestions as to any events that we can run, or an offer of running a fundraising event, they would be gratefully received.

If you don’t have time to organise or come to a fundraising event, you can still support nursery’s fundraising by giving a donation via one of the following channels:

Management Committee

I would like to thank Helen Tyrell who is stepping down from the committee this year for her support as Secretary in recent years.

If any parent is interested in joining the management committee, we are always looking for keen, enthusiastic parents to join. We meet approximately 4 times a year and I am happy to discuss in more detail what is involved with anyone who might be interested.

We would also be interested to hear from parents who may have a particular skillset that nursery might be able to call on from time to time. Maybe you’re a surveyor or a solicitor, plumber or electrician. Our nursery relies heavily on parents getting involved to please do get in touch if you might be able to support us going forward.

This is also my last AGM as Chair and whilst I am staying on the Management Committee for now, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Debbie, Sandra and all the staff at Rainbow for all their dedicated hard work and support.

RAINBOW CORNER DAY NURSERY

MANAGERS A.G.M. REPORT FOR 2024

WELCOME

A very warm welcome to new and existing parents and staff, we very much consider ourselves as “The Rainbow Family” and I hope you all feel the same.

As Rainbow Moves into its 40[th] year I am proud to say we are still very much here to help you care for and educate your child/children. To help you as a family with this task we need to work together to support each other so I hope this and the other reports from Sarah our Chairperson and Susie our Early years teacher help you to understand what Rainbow stands for, why we do what we do and how you can help us continue to provide the high quality care Rainbow parents have come to expect.

STAFFING

As a manager I am extremely proud to have such a dedicated, well-qualified, experienced, hardworking staff team, they all in their different ways provide the children and the nursery with a vast amount of experience and provide the best care and education possible, throughout what must be said is a long working day.

I also hope you feel that they support you, both as new understandably concerned parents as you return to work and leave your precious little ones with us and the continued partnership working throughout your child’s time with us. I cannot thank them enough for being such a wonderful team.

Compared to most nurseries we have a very low staff turnover, but things do change from time to time and since our last AGM we have said farewell to Amanda Saunders who resigned in May and wish her well in her new role. We have welcomed Ellie full time and Ellen part time to the staff team.

We also welcome Gill and Trina as new supply staff, alongside Pauline and Barbara our longstanding members, who all do a brilliant job of covering staff absences, they can all walk into the nursery and fill in almost any job role that is given them and so special thanks goes to them all, without them it would make this job even harder,

It was great to welcome Carole back to the kitchen in February following her knee operation and thank her for her commitment to nursery with preparing and cooking our lovely food. We would like to thank Sue, Trudy, Gill and everyone else who pulled together to help staff the kitchen while Carole recovered.

TRAINING

Training continues to be a high priority and again even working fulltime the staff have continue to develop their skills to help improve the care and education we provide for the children. All Staff continue to update their early year’s knowledge whenever possible in lots of different ways.

The baby room team are due to undertake an Inspirational baby room practice session in June.

Sandra, Susie and I continue to attend relevant Zoom/Teams meetings, face to face training and networking within the childcare sector to help us keep up to date in this everchanging world. We have a great working partnership with the Watlington Primary Foundation unit and school, Family Hub and Health visitor and continue to meet on a regular basis to make sure we are doing the best we can to provide a wide range of services and support for local families. This year we have also gained two more designated safeguarding leads, Amanda and Kayleigh join Sandra, Susie, Sharon, Becky and myself, the rest of the staff are due to refresh their generalist safeguarding later in the year.

POLICIES AND OTHER IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS.

Policies, risk assessments, safeguarding audit and our self-evaluation are regularly updated. We use the Early Years Alliance, Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children’s Board and OFSTED websites to assist us with these tasks. Our policies reflect any changes made by OFTSED, the DFE or to the EYFS as well as changes we make ourselves. We hope you will take the opportunity to view these which were

included in your recent online AGM pack, they are also located in the operational plan in the lobby. Our Policies will be re-adopted during the AGM along with our constitution, please keep your eyes open for new notices and information posted within the nursery, newsletters, emails and on Tapestry.

OFSTED

Our last OFSTED inspection was graded OUTSTANDING on 16/8/2018 however, we understand outstanding is harder than ever to achieve with the new revised changes but all the staff, the management team and the committee continue to work hard to achieve the best we possibly can and still provide a fun and varied educational time for your children.

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH INSPECTION.

Environmental Health carryout spot checks from time to time, and on their last visit we continued to keep our Food Hygiene rating award of 5 scores on the doors. Good fresh home cooked food is a big part of Rainbow, and we continue to adhere to any new health initiatives regarding healthy eating and a good balanced diet for under 5’s even with the rising costs.

At Rainbow we like to educate the children about all things in moderation and not extremes, so we do still have small treats.

ALLERGIES

We often have children with severe allergies including some with EpiPen’s. We also have many other children with minor allergies and intolerances so we MUST ask you not to allow your child to bring food into Nursery.

ILLNESS

Our Staff, many of whom are parents themselves fully understand how difficult it is for you as working parents when your child/children are ill and you are unable to work, However, we must ask you to consider your child and the other children in nursery. I know sometimes you are called back from work to pick your child up when they are poorly at nursery only to find they seem fine when they get home but I can assure you we never send children home unless we really feel that they are too poorly or distressed to be at nursery. We all know that when we feel unwell the only place we want to be is tucked up in our own homes. Nursery is not the place for sick children who require one to one care. So please help us by being sensitive to your child’s needs and to the staff when these cases arise. We must also ask you to adhere to all the Public Health England advice including the 48-hour exclusions policy after the last bout of any Diarrhoea/Vomiting and we really appreciate and thank you all for your understanding again this last year.

IMPROVMENTS AND DEVELOPMENT PLANS

Our new staff/meeting room project feels a little closer this year with the very kind offer from a parent who is helping us to secure a lease with the Acer trust, so we have the permission to build a cabin on the bank at the front of nursery. We then have the problem of gas/water pipes and planning, if anyone has any skills that might help or if you are interested in helping with this project, we would love to hear from you.

RECORDS OF ACHIEVEMENT

Please remember your children’s records of achievement and our Tapestry system are available for you to see and contribute to at any time, the two year check which is completed by your key person when your child is between the age of two and a half - three years old is an additional but important assessment, we hope this helps you to share this information with your health visitor as this progress check helps to identify a child’s strengths and any areas where the child’s progress is less than expected. If there are any significant emerging concerns this will enable staff and parents to develop a targeted plan to support the child’s future learning and development and seek other professional help if required.

PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT

As Sarah has explained in her report, we are a registered charity and so every bit of free/discounted help or donations we get are greatly received and there are many ways in which this can be done. We fully understand that not all parents can spare the time to be a full committee member although this is not as time consuming as you may think, so please feel free to come and have a chat if it is something you feel you might be interested in.

With the ever increasing cost of living, energy bills, etc there are lots of smaller but just as important and worthwhile things that parents can do to help Rainbow, for example helping us with topics including your own work experiences, hobbies or outside contacts, helping with odd jobs such as sewing, DIY, cooking or lending items from home to go with projects, helping with activities or simply reading a story before or after work, which of course your children will love or if you feel you have a hidden talent that you wish to share with us or think you can help in anyway please let us know we are always glad of your assistance however small.

In the past Parents and/or their contacts/work company have offered to complete both minor/major jobs in nursery cheaper or even free of charge like electrical, plumbing and DIY work, which can make a huge difference to our budget. We thank the parents that came and helped with our garden spring clean a few weeks ago and all the parents and staff that have helped with different tasks over the last year, especially Angus and Paul who again this year have been there to help us in our hours of need.

We ask you all to consider how you may be able to help this coming year, whether it be fundraising, joining a committee or general help when required.

OTHER HELP YOU CAN GIVE .

If you can give us as much notice as possible if you have holiday booked or your child/children are due to be absent, we can then offer this space to other parents who may need an extra day, it also helps us save money on staffing. If you require an extra session or day here or there, please always feel free to ask, I am afraid we can’t always help due to ratios, but we are very happy to fill spare spaces when we can.

FUNDRAISING

Fundraising seems to get harder each year as we know money and time is tight for everyone, but thanks to a really dedicated staff team and a few parents, we raised £4164.92 from our Story Trail, Quiz night, Easter and Christmas hamper raffle and cake stall, commission from the chocolate and photo orders, Christmas card sales and our Preloved sale, right down to the smaller fundraising ideas like our 5p Rainbow pots.

Fundraising continues to be an important part of Rainbow and there are lots of ways of helping, if any of you can match fund events through your workplace, please let us know and we can see how we can fit this in with forthcoming events.

Another way to help nursery provide all the wonderful activities is to make parental voluntary monthly, annual or one-off donation, if you are a taxpayer this money can also be gift aided adding another 25% to your donation from the government. We thank those parents that already do this it makes a huge difference to Rainbow and raised £1853.13 plus the gift aid so a great addition to our fundraising.

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE.

We have been very lucky to have such supportive and helpful parent management teams over the years but none more so than the last few years, special thanks must go to Sarah and the other committee members for all their support, guidance and expertise in helping to run Rainbow.

Sarah Warner, Emily Darlington, Belinda Odell, Rebecca Reddecliffe, Gill Morris, Emma Knight and Hannah Lowry have all offered to stay on the committee, we say a sad goodbye to Helen Tyrrell whose children have moved on to school but thank her for all her years of dedication and support to nursery both as a committee member but also as Secretary over the last few years. This year we are looking for a new Chair as Sarah is stepping down but is going to take on the secretary role. We do also still have space on the committee and so if you are interested, please let us know.

We also thank our very dedicated custodial Trustees, Tim Jones, Tim Anders and Bruce Thompson who have been a part of Rainbow for many years helping us in maintaining the building and lease.

I hope you will join me in thanking Sarah and all the other committee members, fundraising staff and parents for all their hard work. I cannot express how very important these roles are to the Nursery and we would not have what we have today without all the help and commitment from past parents and Staff, so please try and help whenever you can so we can continue in their footsteps.

Last but no means least I hope you will join me again in thanking all the staff for their pure dedication. Please continue to stay safe and well.

Nursery Manager

Early Years Co-ordinator’s report – March 2024

Following the changes to the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework last year, we have worked really hard to take everything we know about young children’s development, what we believe to be most important and how to give them the best start in life and incorporate this into our own “Rainbow Curriculum”. Staff have all been involved in this from the beginning and this hopefully gives everyone confidence in using it in the way that best supports our children.

Initiatives put in place over recent years are now becoming embedded –

If you feel there is more we could do to support you, either individually or something that would benefit other parents too, please do speak to one of us.

As always, our greatest resource is our staff who are continually interacting with the children throughout the day – providing models of language, playing alongside children to extend their imaginative play, encouraging sounds and words, questioning and scaffolding their thinking. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our amazing team of

staff, each of whom has a wealth of experience, enthusiasm and energy to contribute. It has not always been easy with ever increasing costs, staff shortages and difficulties in recruiting, but everyone has pulled together and carried on tirelessly. We have been very lucky to recruit new staff during this year who have quickly become part of the team, and everybody continues to come into work every day with a smile on their face, new ideas and fresh enthusiasm for the job. As well as the staff in the rooms we have an incredibly dedicated kitchen staff, management team and committee who support us in so many ways – so a huge thank you to them all.

There are many ways you can support your children at home as they learn and develop, especially in the area of language and communication – most importantly just talking to them, listening and allowing them time to speak.

be linked to a given topic or theme and might provide some inspiration for different things to do at home. The 50 Things to do before you’re 5 app is also great for this! https://oxfordshire.50thingstodo.org/app/os#!50thingstodobefor e5/welcome