Ford Pre-school
Ford Early Years Room Toddlers Hugh Joicey C of E First School Ford Berwick upon Tweed. TD15 2QA 07899320510 fordpreschool@gmail.com ope be bn Sides ye NN ( / Registered Charity No 1042921 Forest School Ofsted Reg No : EY269577
‘Nurturing Happy, Healthy Creative Explorers Embarking on Life’s Learning Adventure’
Ford Pre-school & Ford Toddlers
Pre-school Managers Report January 2026
This report will give an overview of key events from September 2024 until July 2025
During the year 24/25 we had 23 children accessing the setting, which is a slight drop on the previous year's record highs. 22 of these children were accessing some/all of their funding entitlement.
the numbers in July were: 17 children on Monday 15 children on Tuesday 16 children Wednesday 16 children Thursday 15 children Friday.
We have a maximum capacity of 16 children in the pre-school room and as on monday one child was a morning and one was an afternoon meaning all of these children were able to be comfortably accommodated in this room. Meaning the office and additional space upstairs were free for alterations to be made (Please see below under younger children.)
Staff structure
The staff structure has mostly remained the same. I (Rebecca Clark) am the Manager, Hannah is the Deputy Manager who also works in after school club and at the holiday club alongside Gemma who is the afterschool and holiday club co-ordinator. Debbie continued her role as Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) and behaviour management . Samantha is our 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. These roles have been kept open when any member of staff has been on maternity leave ready for when staff have returned.
Safeguarding
As we all know safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and the staff take their role in this very seriously. Myself and Gemma are trained designated persons meaning there is always at least one on site should a safeguarding concern take place. Gemma's designated person training will lapse in the coming year but Hannah is going to undertake hers meaning we will still have 2 DSLs, this is following Gemmas’ request. All staff took part in a refresher in
September and they are all confident in their safeguarding knowledge. We continue to discuss safeguarding and refresh our knowledge throughout the year.
Staff dedication
Another very busy year for all staff, we have all worked as a team to cover planned and unplanned absences, meaning that the setting was always within the correct ratio and the children were always able to thrive. Staff have worked exceedingly hard to help all of their key children achieve their next steps in their learning journey. They have tailored activities to allow all children to reach their full potential This has shown in the child's individual achievements, and assessments made on the school readiness passport. The staff also took a lot of time to write a report for each of their key children at the end of the academic year accurately capturing each child's personality, achievements, and goals.
Annex building
Last year we had planning approved for an annex building on the gravel area outside pre school. We have had the detailed plans drawn up, the structural engineer report and all of the drainage levels taken. This information was correlated into a tender pack and issued out to contractors. We got the tender packs back in with the estimated costs. These costs were significantly higher than we had budgeted for. We have some considerations to make but we still have plans to extend the floor space that we can access. Any building and or works will be funded from fundraising, grant, and donations.
Younger children
The additional Annex space was initially designed to allow us the space to extend the age of children so that we can provide care by lowering our intake age. Lowering the age to birth to allow us to cater for the child care needs of more families within the area. With the closest provision that provides care for children under 2 being Berwick or Alnwick this is a much needed resource for the families within the locality.
Having had the office and additional space upstairs passed by the Fire Regulation Authority, the Northumberland County Council and Ofsted we have made the decision to adapt the space upstairs into an under twos care and learning environment. Rebecca Tait alongside myself (Rebecca Clark) have undertaken lots of training and visits to other settings to enable the best set up of the environment. After the open day we had 10 children sign up ready to start in the new academic year.
Recruitment
The numbers in the main pre school room are forecasted to be lower than average (this number dip is what we have forecasted for a couple of years). Hannah has also returned to her original contact hours after her maternity leave. With this in mind we will not be recruiting a maternity leave cover for Samantha whose maternity leave will start on September the 1st. To allow for the expansion upstairs we have taken on two members of staff, Ellie Buglass a fully qualified level 3 practitioner and Antonia Heston level 3 apprentice ready to start in September.
Fundraising
Fundraising as a non profit organisation is always on our minds and, with our expansion plans and dreams, we have agreed to make a huge fundraising drive to support us in raising our substantial total that expansion will require.
Open Day
We hosted our Third open day which was a real success. This gave parents and carers the opportunity to explore the setting as well as access our new under 2s environment. Along with their child it gave parents and carers the opportunity to talk to staff and other families, find out information about our plans for the future and be reminded of the things that make Ford Pre-school so unique. Again the feedback from staff, families and visitors was positive and something we will be doing again in the future. It is a great opportunity to be able to showcase what we do and demonstrate how we encourage our children to thrive. We had a record number of new families accessing and lots of these children have been registered to start with us in September or in the near future.
Outdoor Learning
As any family, child or visitor would be able to tell you the environment that we have and the outdoor space that we have access to is second to none, the staff are amazing at taking the learning outdoors, accessing nature and fueling that love of learning. The children have enjoyed exploring the local environment walking to visit the castle, park and post office as well as accessing all we have to offer within the grounds
Maternity leave
Hannah returned from maternity leave in June and Samantha shared her fantastic news with us that she was expecting a baby at the beginning of September. We were all overjoyed. MIllie is a beautiful happy baby with 2 doating Big Brothers. Due to the drop in child numbers that we have been forecasting we didn't need to recruit maternity cover as Samantha's hours could be covered with the existing staff and the fact that Hannah had returned.
Hourly rate increases
In April, with the increased minimum wage, the Committee made the decision to increase the hourly rate parents would be charged for time outside their funding entitlement to £5 per hour to cover the additional outgoings for staff wages, and we agreed the snack price would go up to £7 per term to cover the increased food price.
Funding
The implementation of 2 year funding means that children from 2 years old will be able to access 15 hours per week of government funding. This funding is going to stretch to 9 month old children and then allow 2 year old children to access 30 hours. This is now called Working Family Entitlement and the majority of families are able to access this when both parents are working.
Family Day
We hosted a family day at Spittal Park. The weather was fantastic, and the splash park was working. The sun was shining, meaning a paddle in the sea was possible for all. This was a fantastic opportunity for staff to chat to parents as well as parents meeting each other. As
always, the feedback was positive with the children talking about the day in setting for the weeks to come
Holiday Clubs
The popularity of the holiday club has been decreasing over recent years. The half term holiday clubs have been particularly unpopular with on some days only 1 child attending others no one requesting. We need 6 children to attend per session to make the session viable. This resulted in the holiday club not running during half terms and the service needed being assessed long before the holiday.
The summer holiday club has been popular and we hope with the new year group and the introduction of babies that the need for this service will return.
After School Club
Pre School took over the management of all of the school afterschool clubs within the school. This means that pre-school staff provide care for school children until 5pm Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and until 4.15 on Thursday and Friday. Main school is supporting this by providing a member of staff for 4 hours per week. We are working closely with the school to provide this needed service for families without putting unrealistic demands onto the teaching staff.
Future vision
Although our future vision of the annex building is possibly going to be altered in some way we still have a vision of being able to provide more spaces for under 2s, more school holiday care while still maintaining the exceptionally high standards that we endeavour to provide.
Thank you
Over the last few years we have been through many changes and have had some big decisions to make. Thanks to the strong Committee that Ford Pre School has we have been able to navigate these with ease and my job has been helped knowing I have a strong Committee to lean on. A Committee lead Pre School is only as good as its members and we have some of the best.
Special thanks have to be extended to Helen, Hannah, Bridget and Rianne who are all new to our committee but have been a huge asset to us already, Abbie and Indra who have been officers on the committee for 9+ years, Anna who continues to support us and to Cara who has decided to step down, thank you for your support over the last few years.
I also want to give a huge thank you to the staff who go above and beyond every day. Their passion, enthusiasm and dedication to their role is second to none and allows us to offer what we can.
Here is to next year of big changes and continued success.
Rebecca Clark
Ford Pre School and Toddlers Manager
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(HARIIY (OMMISSION Independent examiner's 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 2025 Charity no (if any) 1042921 Set out on pages ATTACHED ACCOUNTS PAGES RECIEXPIFINANCIAL STATE Respective The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. responsibilities of The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year trustees and examiner 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 the Charities Act, to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the 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 accordance with general Directions given examiner's statement by the Charity 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 consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning 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 fair, view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below. Independent In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention examiner's statement (other than that disclosed 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 Charities Act" and to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act have not been met., or 2. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply. Signed: Date: 2016 . Name: JeTrtfvJ LI Relevant professional qualificationls) or body (if any): fvl eics CaAd. IER March 2012
Address: Section B Disclosure Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material problems. IER March 2012