2024-03-31-accounts

COREST-.ART

ANNUAL REPORT 2024

Registered Charity Number: 1064759 Registration Ofsted Number: EY337731

SURESTART ‘Where Kids Come First’, Ockendon Family Hub, 2a Afton Drive, South Ockendon, Essex, RM15 5PA Tel : [phone] Mobile : [phone] E-mail : [e-mail]

Our Charitable Aims for our work with Children and Families

Our charitable aim is “to provide children in our care with opportunities to LEARN THROUGH PLAY in a stimulating and exciting setting. We also wish to support families and encourage their involvement in their children’s education outside of the home. In providing quality care we are committed to developing the full potential of all our children and staff” .

Our Groups and Fees from April 2024-March 2025

GROUPS	AGE	TIME	COST	DAY
Breakfast Club	Rising 5 to 12yrs	7.30am to 8.45 am	£6.93	Monday to Friday Term time only
Pre-School MorningSessions	2 to 5yrs	8.30am to 11.30am	£20.95 or free entitlement	Monday to Friday Term time only
Pre-School Afternoon Sessions	2 to 5yrs	11.30am to 2.30pm	£20.95 or free entitlement	Monday to Friday Term time only
Full-Day Care MorningSessions	0 to 5yrs	8.00am to 1.00pm	£34.76	Monday to Friday 38/51 weeksperyear
Full-Day Care Afternoon Sessions	0 to 5yrs	1.00pm to 6.00pm	£34.76	Monday to Friday 38/51 weeks per year
Full-Day Care Full Day	0 to 5yrs	8.00am to 6.00pm	£66.04	Monday to Friday 38/51 weeksperyear
After School Kids Club	Rising 5 to 12yrs	3.00pm to 6.00pm	£18.32	Monday to Friday Term time only
Holiday Club	Rising 5 to 12yrs	8.00am to 6.00pm	£34.76	Monday to Friday using Thurrock Council school calendar
Holiday Club	Rising 5 to 12yrs	8.00am to 1.00pm OR 1.00pm to 6.00pm	£17.38 £17.38	Monday to Friday using Thurrock Council school calendar

	DETAILS OF STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS
STAFF MEMBERS	JOB ROLE	START DATE	EXPERIENCE/TRAINING/ QUALIFICATIONS
Lucy Pollock	Manager/Safeguarding Officer/Keyworker	March 1993	NNEB III/First Aid/Child Protection
Tanya Gould	Deputy Manager/ Room Leader/ Keyworker/Behaviour Officer	Jan 2000	Cache III/First Aid /Child Protection
Rita Town	Cook	April 2002	Food Hygiene/Safeguarding
Tammy Marsh	Nursery Practitioner/ Keyworker/Speech & Language Officer	June 2002	NOCN in Childcare II/First Aid/Safeguarding
Kirsten Regan	Administrator/Cook	July 2003 Left Nov 2024	First Aid/Safeguarding/A number of day courses
Jackie Goulden	SENCO/ Nursery Practitioner /Keyworker	June 2007	NVQ III in Childcare and Education/First Aid/Safeguarding
Lorraine Latham	Nursery Practitioner /Keyworker	June 2017	Safeguarding/First Aid/A number ofonline courses
Laura Dove	Cleaner	July2017
Angel Jolly	Nursery Practitioner /Keyworker	Sept 2018	Children and Young People Level II/First Aid/ Safeguarding
Tina Bottjer	Nursery Practitioner /Keyworker	Feb 2022	Cache Level 4/First Aid/Safeguarding
Katie O’Connell	Nursery Practitioner /Keyworker	Mar 2023	Level 3 Diploma in Children’s Learning and Development (Early Years Educator)/First Aid/Safeguarding
Holly Mathews	Nursery Practitioner	Sept 2023 Left Nov 2024
Munni Islam	Nursery Practitioner	Sept 2023	BA Honours in Childhood and Youth Studies
Tia Reeves	Nursery Practitioner	July 2024	CACHE Level III Diploma for the Children & Young People’s Workforce/Probation until December 2024
Gillian Davidoff	Administrator & Finance	Jan 2025	Book Keeping Level 2, Sage Online
Jo Town	Kitchen Assistant	Jan 2025	Food Hygiene

The SURESTART Staff 2024 (and Task Group names)

Lucy (Limpets) Manager Tanya (Terrapins) Kirsten & Safeguarding Lead Deputy Manager & Administrator Blustery Bay Room Leader & Cook (Left Nov 2024)

Tina (Turtles) Katie (Kingfish) Jackie (Jellyfish) Rita - Cook Calm Cove Room Leader Calm Cove Room Leader SEND Co-ordinator

Tammy (Tuna’s) Lorraine (Lobsters) Angel (Angelfish) Laura-Cleaner

Holly (Humpback Whales) Munni (Manta Rays) Tia (Tiger Sharks) (Left Nov 2024)

Gillian

Jo

TRUSTEES ON THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Kirsten Regan – Secretary Left as staff member, joined the Committee

I have lived in South Ockendon all my life. Upon leaving school I worked in the City, having a short break from work to have my children, before starting here at Surestart in 2003. I have seen lots of changes in Ockendon over the years and have a keen interest in our local community.

Pricila Zanini Parent Representative

I have a 14 month old son that has been attending Surestart for the last 3 months. I also have two daughters that have attended Surestart for over 3 years, until they started primary school, in 2021 and 2023. As our first language at home is Portuguese, my girls became fluent in English when attending Surestart. My youngest daughter has also developed so much confidence here, as she was very shy. My daughters still attend Holiday Club and love them! I have complete confidence that Surestart staff are dedicated and passionate for what they do and I can see how much my children have learned.

I joined the Committee in 2020 as a parent representative and hope to support with continued communication between parents and staff. My role is to bring a parental perspective to support the nursery to achieve its highest aims and standards.

Samara Tor - Chairperson Parent Representative

I'm Samara and I am currently the Chair of the Committee. I have two children who have previously attend Surestart. I attended Surestart when I was young therefore this nursery has always and will always be a huge part of my life and my family. Surestart and the incredible staff employed here go above and beyond each day to make a home away from home for your children and I have been committed to helping this nursery keep going.

Mackenzie Klessa-Smith Community Representative

Hi my name is Mack and I’m a current member of the Surestart Committee and have been for over a year now. I decided to join because I want to make a difference and help keep this wonderful charity running for another 30 years and beyond! I did also attend Surestart many years ago when I was a child and so I want to continue supporting the fantastic work that they strive for every day.

Rebecca Willers - Treasurer Parent Representative

I have a 3-year-old that has been attending Surestart since she was a year and I also have siblings that attended Surestart many years ago, providing our family with meaningful respite for my disabled sister. I am incredibly grateful for the wonderful opportunities and loving environment that is offered to my daughter at sure start and I wished to volunteer and offer my professional experience to the committee, therefore joining in June 2024. I am also a qualified special needs teacher and a designated safeguarding lead within my role at a maintained SEND school in Harlow.

Chairpersons Report SURESTART ‘Where Kids Come First’ – 2024

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome and thank you for attending the SURESTART ‘Where Kids Come First’ Annual General Meeting. This meeting is being held in person this year and is anticipated to last for 60 minutes.

The AGM is a legal requirement under our charitable status and Constitution and is held around this time each year. We have to make sure we report on the business side of the charity and its operations and this year covers the financial matters from 2023/24, as accounts are always a year behind. The rest of the report and information will pertain to the operational year 2024.

This will be my last report as Chair of the Committee as I will be stepping down as both the Chair and as a member of the Committee at the end of this meeting. I’ll start with introductions to the current Committee members.

Chair – Samara Tor Vice Chair – Kirsten Regan Secretary – Staff representative – – Treasurer Rebecca Willers

Parent representatives – Pricila Zanini, Leanne Starr Community representatives – Mackenzie Klessa-Smith

I have been on the Committee for about 6 years now. I took over as Chair after Terri Daniels left in early 2023. We have recently been joined by Rebecca Willers who is mum to one of our Surestart children as well as our Safeguarding Lead contact. We’ve also welcomed Leanne Star to our Committee family.

To be able to run as a Committee for this Charity we need a minimum of five members so we are constantly looking for others to join us so that we can always ensure we have the right level of support and challenge to keep us on our path of continuous improvement and remain operating in line with our Constitution and charitable status. We must continue to recruit to the Committee and grow numbers so that we can succession plan effectively for the future, always ensuring SURESTART can continue to offer their unrivalled services to the children and families in our local area so we urge you all to consider if you would like to stand for the Committee or if you know someone who may be interested in joining the Committee.

A role on the Committee is very rewarding and valuable with opportunities to get involved in sustaining and developing the business and it will give you the chance to have input into the running of the setting. You would need to be able to attend 4-5 meetings per year, with at least 50% of them held virtually to make attending easier. You may be occasionally asked to

take on a specific task such as helping with quality audits, recruitment, marketing or fundraising and events (only a few hours every few months).

This year has improved financially for all involved with the minimum living wage being increased as well as the introduction of nine-month-old funding. The Trustees are still committed to overseeing the financial processes of the charity.

We waved a very tough goodbye to Kirsten our admin who started a new job in the city however she has chosen to stay on our Committee as Vice Chair and a goodbye to Holly and welcomed our new admin Gillian, our new kitchen assistant Joanne and new nursery practitioner Tia to the SURESTART family.

Running a successful and sustainable nursery continues to be a huge challenge and the team at SURESTART continue to deliver an excellent service for the children and families in South Ockendon and beyond.

We continue to work in partnership with the Family Hub and other local community organisations to ensure that we support the local community as best we can. We have been lucky to receive help and donations from local businesses, including Nisa. Some of the Committee aims for the future include:

1. Continuing to encourage new members to join to increase membership and longevity of Committee.

2. Setting up regular Committee learning walks and audits to support an improved oversight and accountability for nursery operations, the curriculum and the quality of teaching and learning.

3. Using our new Fundraising strategy to identify grant funding sources that can support projects we identify to be beneficial to the children and families (for example, speech and language, SEND, emotional well-being and behaviour). We need to use our fundraising strategy to strengthen our financial sustainability.

4. Creating a succession plan to ensure SURESTART ‘Where Kids Come First’ is future proof and sustainable.

5. Setting a Committee Management Task Plan so the Committee know what duties are required, by when and by whom.

6. Setting up two parent forums per year so that we have more involvement and can share more information with parents.

If anyone has any good ideas and suggestions, please let us know.

Thanks again everyone for your help and support.

Regards Samara Tor Chairperson

Income & Expenditure Summary for The Years Ended 31" March Income 2023 2024 Grant Funding Full Day Less refunds. Kid's/ holiday club Pre-school & grants Fundraising Breakfast club Lunch / Dinner club Other income/donations 750 111,992 31,652 148, 150 204 118,807 27.447 112.921 77 2,639 4,434 263 366 299 161 'lull day income adjusted by unpaid cheques & refvnds. (reimbursement offees) Expenditure Equipment& fittings Fundraising/ photographs Sundry/ food & supplies Wage, Nat. Ins., pensions & Vouchers Rent, rates & cleaning Postage/stationary & office Telephone, mobile & Internet Bank charges Insurances Subscriptions, training, travel Legal & prof. Fees 1.753 16 17,446 221,485 32,176 1,423 758 2,180 608 19,873 238,160 15,525 1,205 1,184 1,398 1,087 1,507 901 280 217 284 755 Surplus {Deficit) Balb fwd. fwd. (16,851) 137,357 120 506 14,406 120 506 134 912 'Represented by bonks os ot 31.3.2024, pety cashJ7oot5. accrua15 ond creditors checked and verrfied 12.01.2025 Bodell & Co Accountants ACCA Tel: [phone] Email: [e-mail]

OUR THANKS TO OUR SUPPORTERS MENTIONED IN THIS REPORT AND ALSO TO:

• Thurrock Council Early Years Team, especially Terri, Colette, Katie, Jenny, Paul and Dawn

• • Treetops Outreach team for their support

• • Jonathan, Julieta and the team at Nursery Kitchen in Basildon

• • James from Bodell & Co, our Accountants • Zoe our photographer (Smile Studios)

• • Chris Adlington for maintenance jobs

• • Georgia Regan for plumbing work

• • Nick Gould for toy repairs

• • Raffle prizes from Bargain Booze, International Shop, Nisa, Lidl, Smokers Paradise

• • P D Flooring for their donation of carpet squares for the children to sit on

• And to YOU for the donations of toys and equipment your children no longer use, for your support during this year, and for choosing us as your childcare provider!