2020-08-31-accounts

Thurnby and Bushby Playgroup Leaders report for A.G.M. 2020 (to be held on Friday 12[th] March 2021- delayed due to Covid-19 Pandemic)

We continue to follow the EYFS, which has 7 developmental areas of learning, with activities which are adult led, and also child initiated. All children are allocated a key person who oversees their development and helps them to add to their Learning Journey. This is a collection of evidence of activities and a record of how they have developed, and next steps, which are targets to reach whilst at playgroup.

News-

Committee - A big thank you to them for their hard work and their fantastic support. Our chair person remains unchanged, Rochelle Jarrett , as does our treasurer Karen O’Donovan. Priya Brookes and Nabila Ali remain as general members. The position of secretary remains unfilled, as we said good bye to Sophiya Khan during this year. Helen Shepherd remains as our representative for Ofsted. Again we thank all who have joined and support us, as without a full committee we cannot run. Any parent wishing to join the committee will be expected to complete an enhanced DBS and an EY2, which allows them to be checked as suitable to be involved with playgroup’s roles. All other parents joined our forum, which allows them to support us and attend meetings but with less responsibility than a committee member.

Staff Changes- Rachel Hartshorn continued to be a casual member of staff, but due to lower numbers and the results of the Ofsted inspections we have not been in a financial position to pay her. She has now found other employment and we thank her for her support and wish her well in her new venture.

Ofsted-

• Following Ofsted visits on Friday 1[st] February 2019 by Josie Mates and then on Monday 8[th] July 2019 by Caroline Clarke, we began the Autumn term awaiting a revisit by Caroline in the new term and then another final full Ofsted within 6 months. This was a very stressful and financially challenging time for all involved, and the staff and committee spent long periods of the summer holidays updating and making changes above and beyond what was expected of them. We thank all who supported us,

• Tuesday 7[th] January 2020- Ofsted inspector, Caroline Clarke returned and inspected us, on our first day of the new term! We were delighted with a Good outcome, and pleased to be able to announce that the funding would now be re instated for the whole of the Spring term.

Training-

• Weds 18[th] September- All staff attended an information and training evening at the Leicester Race course regarding the New Ofsted Education Inspection Framework. The way Ofsted inspects Early years is changing, and this introduction course prepared us as to what to expect for our impending inspection.

• Monday 1[st] June- Kerri Le-Butt attended a training day at St. Luke’s school regarding rules and regulations regarding the re opening of the school and playgroup, and the guidelines regarding the Pandemic. This included access and egress, social distancing, changes to opening times to allow staggered starts/finishes as well as general concerns over staff and child safety.

Covid-19 Pandemic-

In February/ March 2020, we were made aware of the wide sweeping coronavirus outbreak around parts of the world, and initially were encouraged to wash hands more regularly and for extended periods of time (singing happy birthday twice!). Staff received regular updates (sometimes on a daily basis!) regarding procedures we must follow and updated all policies and procedures regarding these as instructed to do so.

On 23[rd] March due to government advice/Lockdown, we offered places for key workers children only, and of those able to attend none chose to do so. We closed our doors on Monday 23[rd] March and although staff continued to attend weekly to complete necessary paper work, and continued to be in touch with our families needs for childcare, we did not re open until Wednesday 3[rd] June 2020.

To allow social distancing we now began our sessions at 9-10am and ended them at 12-10 and 3-10 respectively, and due to lower numbers returning and no requests for more than 15 hours, we opened during the summer term Monday to Wednesday only.

During the first lockdown in March, our staff members were put onto the furlough scheme, and some remained on this even when we reopened as our numbers were lower etc.

Other mentionable items regarding playgroup -

• Chubb renewed our fire appliances, and replaced ones as necessary to comply with legal recommendations- Thursday 7[th] November 2019.

• PAT testing was completed on all electrical items- Tuesday 1[st] October 2019

• Air conditioning units tested and cleaned-Monday 16[th] September 2019

• Both our hot water units have now burst and we are not able to access hot water- we are in touch with several plumbers and hope to have this rectified as soon as possible,

• Jane Gemmell continues to support us regarding Ofsted and is now also our area SENCO

• Due to the pandemic our transition visits from teachers from St. Luke’s. Fernvale and Houghton schools, as part of our readiness for children moving to school in September, were not able to take place. Written reports were sent to each child’s school as required.

• Our milk delivery contract changed firms from Kirby and West to Pensworth Dairy

Termly Activities- Autumn Term 2019- Total number of children-20

Numbers Mon 16 Tues 10 Weds 15 Thurs 12 Fri 13 PM 10 PM 9

Themes- First half term we were ‘Down on the Farm’, and the second half we learned about Autumn festivals and celebrations. These included Navaratri (Sunday 29[th] September)- we decorated dandiya sticks and dressed up and danced to beautiful music- thank you to one of our families who helped us celebrate this wonderful festival. We attended to village Macmillan Coffee Morning on Thursday 10[th] October- they are wonderful and open the side door (so we remain within school grounds) and the back room is set up with cold drinks and delicious cakes for all the children. We talk about the wonderful work nurses do, and the importance of helping people less fortunate than ourselves, We celebrated Diwali (Sunday 27[th] October) with card making, dancing and many props such as masks, clothing etc for the children to learn about the festival of lights. During the week of Halloween, we had Pumpkin Week, and scooped out pumpkins, made many different crafts etc and played with slime. Tuesday 5[th] November was Bonfire night, we made firework pictures, and for Remembrance Sunday, (10[th] November) we made poppies and talked about the soldiers in the war. On Monday 11[th] November at 11 o clock we sat outside and when the bells chimed on the village church clock, we held a 2 minutes silence- the children did this brilliantly. Friday 15[th] November was BBC Children in Need and we had a Pudsey Bear day! We also celebrated St Andrews day, and for the whole of the December weeks, Christmas. We had an advent calendar with each child being chosen to open one date, decorated the playgroup, and acted out the story of the Nativity, as well as the following events.

Play/Craft Morning- Thursday 05/12/19 - We invited families to join us for a craft morning, which again was a great success. We had a great turn out, with nearly all children being accompanied, and everybody had a great (and messy!!) time! We began selling tickets for our annual Christmas raffle with prizes including a luxury hamper, chocolate hamper, and a pamper hamper, plus lots more.

Christmas Party- 18/12/19 (afternoon) this was held at playgroup, as usual and the children enjoyed food, games with Lisa Lolly to entertain us, and a visit from Santa. The raffle was drawn; we had some amazing prizes, and raised valuable funds.

Christmas Meal-13/12/19 we held our annual, adults only Christmas meal, at the Rose and Crown. It was a smaller number than usual but staff and parents, past and present had a fantastic evening, with good food, drink and several games of skittles. This was a great success and we hope will continue to be an annual event.

Spring Term 2020- Total number of children- 32

Mon 22 Tues 17 Weds 23 Thurs 21 Fri 13 PM 12 PM 17

We began with an Ofsted inspection on the first day of the new term, and were delighted with a ‘GOOD’ outcome. This meant we could reinstate funding and resume normal hours etc.

Themes- First half term we had a Wildlife theme, including learning about hibernation and migration, and habitats, such as Oceans and the Arctic. We also focussed on a different country each week, with countries such as Australia, China (during which we celebrated Chinese New year- the year of the Rat Saturday 25[th] January), and ended the half term with an emotions/Love week, celebrating St Valentine’s Day (Friday 14[th] February 2020).

The second half term began on Monday 24[th] February and we had a theme about our World- to include looking after our environment by doing things such as recycling, and growing fruits and vegetables, and to include a space week, learning about other planets in comparison to ours. We started the week with pancake races, to celebrate Shrove Tuesday (Tuesday 25[th] February 2020) and St, David’s day on Sunday 1[st] March. During week 8, on Thursday 5[th] March we celebrated World Book Day, and invited all our parents to stay for a morning story- the children and staff wore PJs and dressed ready for a bed time story, and the children talked about their favourite book. During week 9 we celebrated the festival of Holi- and each day we chose a colour to focus on. During this week we began washing hands more regularly, and for extended times, as advised by the government, due to a coronavirus pandemic that was sweeping the world. We also followed all advice regarding excluding children if they became symptomatic for the advised period of 14 days. Following more advice about social distancing and not meeting in large gatherings, we made the sad decision to cancel our Mother’s day ‘Cakes and Shakes’ morning which was due to be held on Friday 20[th] March 2020. The children still made their mum’s lovely cards, drew pictures of their mums, and thanks to a fantastic donation from Coles Nursery in Thurnby, the were able to plant a primrose and give them to their mums. After the official government update regarding Covid-19 Pandemic, the country went into Lockdown- we were advised to only offer places to children of Key workers only- all our families chose not to attend and care for them at home, therefore playgroup closed until June 1st when this lockdown ended. We were in regular contact with families throughout this time, in case their circumstances changed, and to provide educational, and fun activities to do at home.

Summer Term 2020 – Total number of children- 34

Mon 22 Tues 19 Weds 23 Thurs 19 Fri 16

PM 14 PM 19

The Summer term did not begin until after half term, which means all first half terms plans were cancelled. We re-opened for children on Weds 3[rd] June 2020, and will open just 15 hours until more children return/numbers increase. Social distancing was in place, and we followed all rules set out by the government to keep us all safe. These included self isolation and testing if symptomatic, washing hands, wearing PPE when in close contact with children, limiting access to adults to the setting, limiting items going to and from the setting (no book bags), each child having named spots on a trolley for individual snacks and lunches provided from home, no use of soft furnishings and toys, and limited shared access to resources. We continued to update our polices and made all aware of procedures they must follow to allow attendance. We were in a better financial position this year and were relieved the government continued to provide funding for children even if they chose not to attend, however we had only just began to get back to an even keel after the Ofsted funding withdrawal, and so this puts the playgroup in further financial disruption.

Theme- Our planned theme of the Olympics/fitness was reduced due to all group events being cancelled, but we continued to talk about being healthy and keeping fit. We made Father’s day cards during the week up to Father’s day on Sunday 21[st] June, and closed for the summer holidays on Thursday 9[th] July 2020

Our annual Sports day, picnic, and other group events all had to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 rules of no group gatherings. Transition visits to and from schools/teachers also had to be cancelled, and staff made extra efforts to send comprehensive reports to schools to all our leavers. Our leavers party was also cancelled, but we were able enjoy party style activities during sessions and to invite parents to collect their learning journeys, leaving gifts, and medals rewarding the children for surviving the Lockdowns, during the summer holidays in pre arranged individual time slots.

Thurnby & Bushby Playgroup Income & Expenditure Account

1st September 2019 - 31st August 2020

----- Start of picture text -----
Income Expenditure
Funding 32,010.24
Furlough income 9,964.06
Parents Fees 3,558.00
Registration Fees 380.00
Learning Journey Contributions 510.00
Bank Interest 0.07
Milk Refund 295.22
Fundraising 454.81
Funding (Course) 0.00
Grant Income 9,400.00
Donations 3,655.50
30 Minutes Club 152.00
Wages/Tax & NI (43,107.45)
Ofsted Renewal 0.00
Milk (291.36)
Waste Collection 0.00
Rent & Premises Costs (1,847.00)
PLA Renewal (106.00)
Business Rates (1,306.40)
Building Insurance (930.98)
Phone Contract (314.94)
Other Expenses (195.00)
Pupil Premium (154.14)
Stationery and Stamps (220.68)
PLA Shop 0.00
Fire Safety (47.22)
YPO Office Supplies 0.00
Costco 0.00
Photography (304.89)
Cleaning Products (22.55)
Seasonal, Toys and Crafts (91.96)
Refreshments (4.73)
Garden Items 0.00
Computer Equipment (128.12)
ESPO 0.00
Petty Cash 0.00
Courses 0.00
Gardener 0.00
Electricity/Water (597.34)
Entertainer (95.00)
Lottery Licence 0.00
Book People 0.00
Air Con Service (124.20)
Photocopying 0.00
Baker Ross 0.00
DBS check (100.00)
cash transfer 0.00
60,379.90 (49,989.96)
Net Income/(Expenditure) 10,389.94
----- End of picture text -----

Bank & Cash b/f 3,501.67 Bank & Cash c/f 13,891.61

AUDIT CERTIFICATE

for Thurnby & Bushby Playgroup

I hereby certify that the accounts of Thurnby & Bushby Playgroup for the period to 31[st] August 2020 represents a true and fair view of the Playgroup's financial operations for the period. I confirm that adequate financial records are maintained by the Playgroup.

Damian Mitchell Independent Financial Adviser and Director Harcourt Financial Ltd The Old Dairy 2 High Street Fleckney Leicestershire LE8 8AJ

16.06.2021