Ford Pre-school & Ford Toddlers Pre school Managers report Jan 2024
This report will give an overview and of key events from September 2002 until July 2023
During the year 22/23 we had 32 children accessing the setting which is an all time record high, 20 of whom were receiving funding the number in July were: 22 children on Monday 17 children on Tuesday 18 children Wednesday 15 children Thursday 16 children Friday.
We have a maximum capacity of 16 children per day in the main downstairs room meaning that we were making use of the upstairs room at least 3 days a week. Upstairs we can have 8 children so we still had capacity.
The staff structure has mostly remained the same. I (Rebecca Clark) am the Manager, Gemma is the afterschool and holiday club co-ordinator. Debbie continued her role as Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) and behaviour management . Hannah is the Deputy Manager as well as working after school and at the holiday club alongside Gemma. Samantha is an Early Years Practitioner but she has also taken on the role as speech and language coordinator, and Rebecca is an early Years Practitioner. Debbie, Samatha, Gemma, Hannah and Rebecca are all key workers to a group of children, they have all formed positive relationships with those children and their families and have facilitated some amazing personalised learning opportunities for their key children to help support them on their learning journey
Due to the higher than average number of children staff have gone above and beyond to still give the children the nurturing one to one time that we at pre school pride ourselves in providing. Making use of the extensive outdoor learning opportunities that we have, as well as planning and providing for all children, the next steps in their development to be achieved in a fun way and that all children have developed on their learning journey in a positive way.
The number of children that would leave preschool at the end of this year would be 12 and the year after 13 meaning at the moment 2024 is forecast to be a small year number wise for Preschool. Because of this we have offset £6500 from this year's budget to cover and short fall in staffing costs during this year.
We have introduced a new invoice system in the setting as the previous one was no longer supported, however this has sadly met with some complications and increased workload, but i am hopeful these have been ironed out.
We had some banking issues this year due to the mandates not being successfully processed on the bank end. All correct information and documentation was received by the bank but they did not accurately put this through their system meaning online access was denied until this issue was corrected. The bank admitted blame and sent us £200 by means of an apology, in turn pre school passed this directly to staff paying for them to have a day out at kelso races as an apology to them for the inconvenience of having to go back to being paid by cheque.
We have made some amazing alterations to the front garden with the amazing support for some of our familys. We have had our new climbing frame erected with a bark chipping safety surface underneath, 2 large tractor tyres delivered that we have filled with chipping to provide a digging area. For many years we had the large sand pit in the growing garden but
due to many stones and general wear and tear the polytunnel that was covering it was no longer fit for purpose. Using the wood from this we re-located the sand pit into the front garden creating a sandpit that was big enough for 16+ children to play in at once. 3 tons of sand were used to fill it and the feedback from the children has been very positive.
We were delighted to welcome Samatha back after her Maternity leave working 2 and a half days a week.
We have always made full use of the fruit and veg that we have grown in preschool making soup, boiled potatoes, strawberries and apple pie, crumble and juice. This is always enjoyable for the children as well as really educational. This year we have made the most of the veg garden following Hannahs lead planting a wider variety of produce on a larger scale however due to the poor soil and rabbits the success was still limited.
We were thrilled to be granted access to the farm again this year meaning we could take all the children that day down to see the new lambs. We were all able to have a cuddle, count them, identify the numbers that were on them, match the numbers to the mums, talk about the food chain as well as talk about how best to look after animals. The children really enjoyed this and were able to share a lot of their real life experiences.
With not all children having consent to go off the school ground, and the higher number of children accessing the setting it has made accessing the local community a little harder. However in small groups we have managed to go and collect conkers, view the castle and visit the post office. A walk in the local community gives a huge amount of learning opportunities.
Holiday club popularity has continued to be low during the half terms. Meaning that with the successful holiday club in the summer it is only just managing to break even. On occasion there have been as few as 3 children in attendance from only 2 households. This is a subject that will need to be looked into further. As the applications have already been confirmed for 23/24 the holiday clubs will need to be honoured however a review into it will need to be carried out before services are offered for the 24/25 school year.
We were very lucky to be able to access funding from Etal Hall to put on an event for local families. We use this to provide a family day at Northumberland Zoo. The funding covered the bus, entrance to the zoo for all children and an adult as well as an ice cream for all from the cafe. We all met up in the play park for lunch, the weather was lovely and warm and many of the animals made an appearance. The day was a great success, positive feedback from staff as they felt they were able to casually talk to parents building up the strong relationships that we encourage. Parents and families gave us positive feedback saying things like, “It was lovely to do something that we would normally not be able to afford to do”, “it was lovely to have the opportunity to meet some of the other parents”, “it was nice to be able to have a day out with just my youngest while my other children were safe at school.” There is a little funding left that will be used to fund boogie beats and the Christmas party in the 23/24 school year. Thank you to Etal Hall for the opportunity to access the funding.
All staff have updated all relevant training where necessary, inline with the EYFS guidelines, with many staff undertaking additional training in areas of interest to strengthen their practice and directly benefit the children in the setting.
In the academic year 23/24 I (Rebecca Clark) will not be counted in the day to day ratios which will allow more office and admin time.
With the news that the school system was going to be restructured to two tier, we have been looking into ways to A: grow preschool and improved the environment that we can provide for our children and Families and B: free up the space that we have up stairs in the main school that houses our additional space, office, library and storage. After a discussion with the head teacher and meeting with Lord and Lady Jociey it was suggested that we could look into the possibility of having a purpose built build erected on the gravel area next to the Pre School gate allowing free flow access form the new build into the current room. Gillian Seed has kindly agreed to be the architect on the job and has been very patient with us while we decide exactly what we were booking to build. The funding for this build will be through charity funding as well as fundraising with the kind help from Gemma Douglas. This will not only increase the space that Preschool has use of and allow us to have a purpose built modern building, but it will also mean that the school will have use of the upstairs area to create an additional classroom for years 5 and 6.
We are truly indebted to those parents that have supported us and entrusted us with the care of their most prized possessions, and it is an honour and privilege to watch as those babies blossom into children ready to make the next step in their lives into oak class or whatever that step may be. We are so lucky with the environment that we have as we are able to create unique learning opportunities for the children in our care.
We know that there are big things to come for Ford Pre School and we look forward to them.
Rebecca Clark 30/1/2024
Ford Pre-School Ford Toddlers Financial Statement 2022/2023
| INCOME EXPENDITURE Pre-school/Lunch Fees from Parents 30,397.17 £ Wages Early Years Education Funding 60,315.13 £ Pension Toddlers Fees - £ Consumables Buldings Fundraising/Donations 306.66 £ Equipment Grants 1,306.64 £ Outdoor Learning HMRC CJRS - £ NCC Lunch Provision Interest 26.40 £ Insurance/ Subscriptions HMRC Refund SMP - £ Admin/Other PS Mobile & Smartboard EYPP - £ Rent/ Repairs Special Education Needs Snacktime Food and Disability Payments - £ Training & Mileage Fruit Fees - £ additional staff allawance Covid Compliance/PPE 92,352.00 £ Amount |
70,482.57 £ Amount |
|---|---|
| 2,024.05 £ |
|
| 423.31 £ 1,050.00 £ 2,038.49 £ 1,208.09 £ 4,177.00 £ 309.20 £ - £ 1,000.60 £ 2,475.00 £ 371.50 £ 80.00 £ £6,500.00 150.00 £ |
|
| 92,289.81 £ |
| 31/03/2022 | Balance BF (1) | £ | 13,359.00 |
|---|---|---|---|
| " | Balance BF (2) | £ | 612.06 |
| " | Balance BF (3) | £ | 17,800.88 |
| " | Toddler Cash Float | £ | 8.64 |
| CSH/CHQto be baank | £ | 100.55 |
|
| " | unpresented cheque | -£ | 488.00 |
| " | |||
| " | |||
| £ | 123,745.13 |
31/03/2023 Balance at Bank (1) 19392.76 Balance at Bank (2) £ 626.09 Balance at Bank (3) £ 17,827.28 Unpresented Chqs/ DD(1) Unpresented cheques (2) CSH/CHQ to be banked £ 100.55 Toddler Cash Float £ 8.64 £ 37,955.32 £ 130,245.13
Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trusteesl members of Ford Pre-school & Ford Toddlers On accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023 Charity no lif any) 1042921 Set out on pages AThACHED ACCOUNTS PAGES RECEXPIFINANCIAL STATE Re$pectiv• The charitVs trustees are responsibLg for the preparation of the account8. responslbilitios of The charrty's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year trustees and examinèr under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to.. examine the accounts under section 145 of th8 Charities Act. to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by th8 Charity Commission {under section 145(5){b} of the Charities Act, and to state whether particular matters have come to my attention. Basis of Independent My examination was carried out in accordan with general Directions given examlneV$ statement by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the thanty and a comparison of the accounts presented th those records. 11 also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in Ihe accounts. and seeking explanations from the trustees conceming any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a 'true and fairf view and the report is limrted to those matters set out in the statement below. Independent In connedion bN?th my examination, no matter has corne to my attention examlner's statement (other than that disdosed below ') 1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any material respect, the requirements". to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Chanties Act., and to prepare accounts which accord wrth the accounting records and omply Yth the a¢counkn"ng requirements of the Charities Ac* have not been met., or 2. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the acurrtS to be reached. . Please delete the words in the brackets rfthey do not apply. Slgned". Date: S1-oi.20 Name: Relevant professlonal quallficatlonls) or body (if any): 51cAA IER March 2012
Address: Section B Disclosure Only complete rf the examiner needs to highlight material problems. IER March 2012