OpenCharities

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

2023-02-28-accounts

Therfield Village Preschool ANNUAL REPORT 1[st] March 2022 – 28th February 2023

Registered Charity No. 1086252

WELCOME

Welcome to Therfield Village Preschool’s 22[nd] Annual Report. This report covers the period 1[st] March 2022 - 28[th] Feb 2023.

The purpose of this report is to provide you with information regarding the preschool, to keep you informed about its development over the past year and our future plans.

This report is divided into the following sections:

Section 1: Reports: Reports:
1.1 Chair’s Report
1.2 Leader’s Report
1.3 Finance & Fundraising Report
Section 2: Aims of the Preschool
Section 3: People:
3.1 The Staff Team
3.2 The Committee
Section 4: Key Developments
Section 5: Future Plans

SECTION 1: REPORTS

1.1 CHAIR’S REPORT – Vassilisa Noble (Stepped down)/Lisa Kingsley (New Chairperson)

A very warm welcome to everyone!

– Vassilisa Noble (March 2022 October 2022)

The end of Spring term and Summer term (2022) were very strong for preschool with a high number of attendance and our preschool ladies doing the most amazing job in finishing the year on a high.

We trialled and adopted new extended opening hours for our preschool, and I can confirm that they have been great success.

There has been an increase in the number of children attending and this in return has insured that our preschool is going to carry on being a great offering to the community in the future.

The Summer term has been once again one of our busiest one of the year and this has the potential now to carry on into the numbers for September 2022/2023 year.

On the personal note, as my personal and work commitments have started to change, I am no longer able to stay as the Chairperson of the committee, therefore, I have taken the decision to step down the role and this has been confirmed in the committee meeting back in September 2022.

Thank you to everyone at the preschool for your hard work and all the support that you have shown me of the past couple of years. It has been a great experience and a challenge at the same time (wasn’t counting on Covid appearing but we have gotten through it).

Lisa Kingsley – thank you so very much for stepping into the Chairperson position and taking on this great role. I know that preschool is in great pair of hands. Thank you to all the committee members for your continued support of the preschool staff and our great little community. None of this would be possible without you.

– Lisa Kingsley (November 2022 Present)

Firstly, a huge thank you to Vassilisa for all of her amazing work, leading the preschool since 2019, not least through covid and out to the other side safely.

We had a slightly slower than anticipated start to the autumn term following the departure of a large number of Owls, however numbers were up again by Easter with many new 2-year-old starters. We would like to welcome all our new children and their families.

The committee worked extremely hard to put some fundamental operational changes into place. These have included:

Changing to a new accountant, Sam Selkirk, from previous Hardcastle & Burton.

Introducing an admissions role within the committee, streamlining the process and response times. Replacing the old phone with a new smart phone with cheaper contract, and introducing a wifi hotspot to the premises enabling staff to update Tapestry and social media while still on site. Purchase of a SumUp card reader for electronic payments, which has proved useful at fundraising events.

A new email system was introduced with the invaluable help of Sophie Murphy.

To carry out the responsibilities of Chairperson would be impossible without the support and guidance from the preschool leader, Tina Downing and her wonderfully hard working and

enthusiastic team. And the tireless efforts of the committee. The dedication of our preschool team is simply amazing.

We would also like to thank many others for their role in the life of the preschool including but not limited to:

The staff team

Firstly, we would like to say a huge thank you to all the staff for their hard work throughout the year, to keep the preschool a happy, warm and safe environment in which our children can play and learn.

We have had many new starters and the staff have done an outstanding job of settling them in. Our staff continue to deliver the EYFS to our children, whilst catering to the needs of the individual child in order to provide the EYFS required child-led curriculum. Activities led by the children’s interests and curiosity continue to be the strengths of our small and friendly preschool. The preschool continues to offer a unique, happy and homely environment in a close-knit village.

Therfield Village Preschool is extremely fortunate in having Tina Downing as its leader and Natalie Hunn as its deputy leader. Sue Hamilton continues in her SENCo role and Aline Revell and Dunja Starc continue as key members of the team as qualified practitioners. Nicola Drew, our valued preschool assistants will be leaving us at the end of term, we wish her well in her new role and are pleased to keep her on as a member of bank staff. Our bank staff team also includes Harry Walsh as a valued member of the team.

Community

The preschool is fortunate in having close links with Therfield First School and we hope to continue to work in the future together to build on the transition periods for the children as they move onto the bigger schools.

Unfortunately, the role of Rector at St Mary’s Church continues to be vacant, although we hope to establish close links once a suitable candidate is in post.

Committee changes and challenges

As a committee led preschool, we greatly value our committee members for giving their precious time and commitment.

Any parents, family or community members that would like to join us, are able to help or want to know more about the roles that we have, please have a look at the section 3.2 Committee Members and you are always welcome to come have a chat with me or any other members. We will always be more than happy to take you through what we do and how we do it. Please do come and join us if you can.

1.2 - LEADERS REPORT MARCH 2022-FEBRUARY 2023

2022/23 Developments – taken from previous proposed and planned actions:

Spring highlights

Easter is always an exciting opportunity to explore the Spring weather, and this year we even had some Spring snow! Thankfully our brilliant parents and families who support us with our Easter Egg Hunt did not let the weather get in the way, and the children enjoyed running freely around Therfield Recreation Ground to save all our missing eggs, before swapping them for a chocolate one. Thank you to all our families who make this event possible.

Summer highlights

This Summer we were determined to make the most of being able to return to organising and hosting events and celebrations that could involve all the children and their families.

Our Party in the park was a great success with lots of our families joining us for a play and a picnic in Therfield Playground. Sports day this year however was not just about the races and families cheering on their children for their brilliant effort but also an opportunity for us to say a big thankyou and goodbye to Mrs O’Brien who has planned and led our Sports Day with the Year 4 children from Therfield School for the last few years.

Our favourite fundraising events are those that involve the children, this year the committee had the lovely idea of an ‘Ice cream’ sale at the end of a busy preschool day, helped by some of our children.

Over the past couple of years our End of term party and leavers assembly have been affected by the pandemic, so we were extremely excited to return to a full assembly and celebrations this year. This fun and busy party morning was followed by parents and families joining for our goodbye and good lucks.

Autumn highlights

We started back for the Autumn with a healthy number of children registered. We were excited to be able to offer them increased hours, adding afternoon clubs initially on a Monday for the Owls and on a Thursday.

We placed a strong focus for the academic year ahead on Children’s Wellbeing and ensuring they felt safe and welcomed and we could support their communication and social skills as we all recover together from the disruptions of the previous few years.

We were very fortunate to be visited by a real life Tractor as we learnt all about Harvest time and the Harvest festival. The children went to have a close look in small groups, being able to climb up into the drivers seat.

Our first day after the half term break was October 31[st] so during our session we enjoyed Halloween celebrations, with costumes, lots of pumpkins, potion making, discovery play, playdough etc

Staff and committee update

At the 2022 AGM we were pleased to welcome Abbie and Lisa onto the committee as Vassilisa stepped down as chairperson, although generously agreeing to remain on the committee to support us, our new chairperson Lisa and liaising with Therfield Village Hall committee. We were grateful that Claire agreed to continue as a joint treasurer along with Sophie and Laura who also joined us.

We were very excited to see Sue and Dunja begin their Level 3 training in Early years childcare and education, demonstrating their commitment to be the best practitioners they can be, and we wish them every success in their learning journey.

Leader’s note

It has been a positive year as we really have all learnt to live with Covid and thanks to the support of our parents and families, and the dedication of the brilliant staff team I am fortunate to work with, we have seen the children grow in confidence, embrace their learning and new experiences on offer and prepare for not only the next step in their learning but for their future.

Of course, preschool could not operate at all without our proactive and hardworking committee who give up their own time whilst already juggling family and work commitments, to help us not only to continue - but to grow, develop and succeed.

We feel a strong and welcome part of the community and a lot of this is thanks to those who work with us, we would therefore like to thank Therfield First School, particularly Mrs McGovern and Miss Haxton for their support throughout the year and for working with us to ensure a smooth transition for the children moving on. The Village Hall committee, particularly Martin, who works hard to help us meet the needs of other hall users whilst minimising disruption to the provision we offer, and to Ivan from the Fox and Duck who offers parking, is happy to pop on a red suit and beard at Christmas time and has helped with fundraising events, including for my own personal cause this year.

Finally, I could not complete this report without saying a huge thank you to some wonderfully supportive members of our community who arranged a local Covid heroes’ night in May 2022. The meal was at the Fox and Duck and myself and Natalie were honoured to be invited to take part just for doing what we saw as part of our role and responsibility working in early years.

We know that a lot of people were involved in making this night happen and we will be forever grateful, but we particularly wanted to mention the brilliant and generous Jim Bullard who has supported preschool in many ways over the years and will be sorely missed as a friendly, fun and fabulous member of the community.

2023/24 plans for development:

Income 22-23
ENP/DAF/ENF/30 hours
funding		 incl below
Nursery Funding received £65,660.25
Othergrants £0.00
Events/fundraising/donations £1,067.99
Fees received £22,529.05
Owls, lunch, afternoons,
clothes/bag sales		 incl. above
Interest £16.91
Other £5.23
HMRC JRS(COVID) £0.00
Total £89,279.43
Income 21-22
ENP/DAF/ENF/30 hours funding incl below
Nursery Funding received £52,951.93
Othergrants £0.00
Events/fundraising/donations £1,372.89
Fees received £28,369.40
Owls, lunch, afternoons,
clothes/bag sales		 incl. above
Interest
Other £185.00
HMRC JRS(COVID) £1,938.51
Total £84,817.71
Expenditure 22-23
Preschool equipment -£1,077.22
Wages, Pensions & PAYE -£72,139.97
Insurance, Registration,
Accounting		 -£2,632.39
Advertising/marketing -£151.20
Hall Hire -£7,272.00
Petty cash (daily
consumables)		 -£840.00
Jumper/t shirts -£437.50
Printing/photocopying -£583.46
Phone/Internet -£286.21
Fundraising costs £19.99
Bank charges -£75.00
Staff training -£165.60
Other -£202.70
Total -£85,883.24
•
Expenditure 21-22
Preschool equipment -£2,121.27
Wages, Pensions & PAYE -£68,061.38
Insurance, Registration,
Accounting		 -£2,568.94
Advertising/marketing £0.00
Hall Hire -£10,019.25
Petty cash (daily consumables) -£1060.00
Jumper/t shirts -£457.88
Printing/photocopying -£311.80
Phone -£136.92
Fundraising costs £0.00
Bank charges -£96.00
Staff training -£649.20
Other -£438.55
Total -£85,921.19
Excess of Income over
expenditure		 £3,396.19
Add Balance brought forward £13,088.60
Balance carried forward £16,484.88
Difference £0.09
Represented by:
**Balance CafCash A/C ** £16,484.88
**Balance Caf Savings A/C ** £7,630.55
Balance ofpetty cash in hand -£50.13
Cash in Hand £0.00
Paypal £30.00
Difference £0.00
£24,095.30
Excess of Income over
expenditure		 -£1,103.46
Add Balance brought forward £14,192.15
Balance carried forward £13,088.60
Difference £0.09
Represented by:
Balance CafCash A/C £13,088.60
Balance Caf Savings A/C £7,601.49
Balance ofpetty cash in hand £122.84
Cash in Hand £0.00
Paypal £30.00
Difference £0.00
£20,842.93

Treasurer: Date: 02/10/23 Independent Auditor: S.Selkirk Date: 21/12/23

SECTION 2. AIMS OF THE PRESCHOOL

SECTION 3: PEOPLE

3.1 THE STAFF TEAM

We are extremely fortunate to have a truly wonderful, dedicated team of staff who work at the preschool:

Tina Downing - Leader

Tina has been with us for over 11 years as our Preschool Leader. She holds a certificate in Early Years Practice and a Foundation Degree in Early Years Child Care and Education. Tina initiates and organises the daily programme of activities at the preschool, monitoring the quality of teaching and charting developmental progress of the children. She is responsible for short and long-term planning. She also supervises all staff including appraisals and liaises with Therfield First School and the preschool committee. Tina heads up the senior management team and she is our SENCO lead.

Natalie Hunn , - Deputy Leader

Natalie has been working for the preschool for over 10 years. She holds a Cache Level 3 Diploma in childcare. Natalie became our Deputy Leader in September 2018 and has had a positive impact within the team from the very start. She has introduced number of new initiatives to help streamline how the preschool works and has been working closely with Tina.

Aline Revell - Qualified Assistant

Aline joined the preschool in February 2014 as a preschool assistant. She is qualified in Food Hygiene. She qualified in her Skillsfirst Level 2 certificate for the Children and Young People’s Workforce (QCF) in May 2017.

Sue Hamilton - Qualified Assistant and SENCo.

Sue has been a permanent member of staff since September 2014. She is a former preschool parent and committee member, and an experienced foster carer. She has commenced an apprenticeship in her Level 3 Early Years qualification. Sue is the team SENCO and working alongside Tina in this area.

Dunja Starc – Qualified Assistant

Dunja joined the team in October 2020 and she has become part of the team very quickly. She has also commenced an apprenticeship in her Level 3 Early Years qualification.

Nicola Drew – Preschool Assistant

Nic joined the team in May 2021 and quickly became an inspiring and valued team member. Nic is due to leave us at the end of this Spring term and we wish her all the very best in her new job.

Harry Walsh – Preschool Assistant (Bank Staff)

Harry provides additional support to the team when he is home in the UK, in between his education in the States pursuing a football scholarship. He is much loved by the children and team alike, bringing a young and fresh dynamic with him.

All members of staff are police checked through the DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service), participate in half-termly planning meetings to plan the curriculum and share ideas, and are updating continuously their knowledge and skills through additional childcare training courses. With a key worker system in operation, staff members are each responsible for observing and charting the progress of a small group of children.

3.2 COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Committee changes:

We would like to thank Claire Lewzey for her continued unwavering reliability and efficiency in her role as Joint Treasurer. Her hard work ensures the accounts are kept in great order.

The committee has had a few changes over the past year, and I believe these changes ensure that we always have a committee who are fully dedicated to the current and future needs of the preschool. We ensure that the majority of members have either previously had, or currently have, a child attending the preschool.

Our current committee members:

Lisa Kingsley Chairperson
Claire Lewzey Joint Treasurer
Sophie Murphy Joint Treasurer
Abbie Knights Secretary & Fundraising
Vassilisa Noble Village Hall Committee
Laura Hanson Admissions Coordinator

Committee Roles

The committee has been re-organised into various sub-committees (Finance, Admissions, Funndraising) all of which are overseen by the Chair. The members of the sub-committees are responsible for taking forward their own specific areas of work as well as being involved in more general committee work. Every member is involved in fundraising as much as they are able to.

The committee is responsible for the management of the preschool and undertakes various roles including the following:

SECTION 4: KEY DEVELOPMENTS

4.1 Owls’ club

For the first time, from September 2022, we have been able to offer an Owls’ club (for the children moving on to school in September) throughout the academic year. The aim of this club is to provide the children with more focused activities in preparation for school and to ease their transition to school.

4.2 Starting age

The starting age for preschool children was reduced to 2 years in September 2013. This has continued to be a popular age to join the Preschool. We are happy to continue to offer places for children from 2 years old. The numbers of children under 2.5 years old are monitored very closely by the Leader (Tina) and Chair (Lisa). If a term is forecast to have a high number of children under 2.5 years old joining the preschool, these children’s start dates are staggered accordingly to ensure each child is settled in based on their individual needs.

4.3 Village hall

Thank you to the Village Hall for supporting our preschool throughout the years. Currently, the rent charges are remaining the same. We have secured village hall approval for new fencing and replacement of both gates.

4.4 Marketing and Fundraising

We continue to spread the word about the setting via our website, current parents, social media (especially sharing fundraiser information on Facebook). We have a healthy number of children attending preschool currently, almost to capacity. It is however important we do not sit back to ensure we see numbers grow following a large Owl departure in the summer term.

9[th] April 2022 - Tractor Rally, organised by Abbie and her dad and friends. It was a wonderful day that proved to be extremely popular and a great fundraiser for preschool. A total of £401.50 was raised.

27[th] November 2022 – The second Christmas Market, organised by Abbie and Danielle, took place at the village hall, with many stalls from local businesses. This event proved even more successful than the previous year, raising a huge £560.

Thank you to Abbie for your amazing commitment, your time and efforts to support our preschool and to all the people who gave their time and support in order for these fundraising efforts and fun days to go ahead.

5. FUTURE PLANS

5.1 Policies – updates and implementation

Tina has undertaken the policy updating role. The policies are now all reviewed for this year and updated.

1.3 EXPENDITURE REPORT

Therfield Village Preschool - Income and Expenditure (1[st] March 2022 – 28[th] February 2023)

----- Start of picture text -----
Income 22-23 Income 21-22
ENP/DAF/ENF/30 hours incl below ENP/DAF/ENF/30 hours funding incl below
funding
Nursery Funding received £65,660.25 Nursery Funding received £52,951.93
Other grants £0.00 Other grants £0.00
Events/fundraising/donations £1,067.99 Events/fundraising/donations £1,372.89
Fees received £22,529.05 Fees received £28,369.40
Owls, lunch, afternoons, incl. above Owls, lunch, afternoons, incl. above
clothes/bag sales clothes/bag sales
Interest £16.91 Interest
Other £5.23 Other £185.00
HMRC JRS (COVID) £0.00 HMRC JRS (COVID) £1,938.51
Total £89,279.43 Total £84,817.71
Expenditure 22-23 Expenditure 21-22
Preschool equipment -£1,077.22 Preschool equipment -£2,121.27
Wages, Pensions & PAYE -£72,139.97 Wages, Pensions & PAYE -£68,061.38
Insurance, Registration, -£2,632.39 Insurance, Registration, -£2,568.94
Accounting Accounting
Advertising/marketing -£151.20 Advertising/marketing £0.00
Hall Hire -£7,272.00 Hall Hire -£10,019.25
Petty cash (daily -£840.00 Petty cash (daily consumables) -£1060.00
consumables)
Jumper/t shirts -£437.50 Jumper/t shirts -£457.88
Printing/photocopying -£583.46 Printing/photocopying -£311.80
Phone/Internet -£286.21 Phone -£136.92
----- End of picture text -----

----- Start of picture text -----
Fundraising costs £19.99 Fundraising costs £0.00
Bank charges -£75.00 Bank charges -£96.00
Staff training -£165.60 Staff training -£649.20
Other -£202.70 Other -£438.55
Total -£85,883.24 Total -£85,921.19
Excess of Income over £3,396.19 Excess of Income over -£1,103.46
expenditure expenditure
Add Balance brought forward £13,088.60 Add Balance brought forward £14,192.15
Balance carried forward £16,484.88 Balance carried forward £13,088.60
Difference £0.09 Difference £0.09
Represented by: Represented by:
Balance CafCash A/C £16,484.88 Balance CafCash A/C £13,088.60
Balance Caf Savings A/C £7,630.55 Balance Caf Savings A/C £7,601.49
Balance of petty cash in hand -£50.13 Balance of petty cash in hand £122.84
Cash in Hand £0.00 Cash in Hand £0.00
Paypal £30.00 Paypal £30.00
Difference £0.00 Difference £0.00
£24,095.30 £20,842.93
----- End of picture text -----

Treasurer: Date: 02/10/23 Independent Auditor: Date: 21/12/2023

Independent examiner's report on the accounts

Section A Independent Examiner’s Report

Report to the trustees/
members of
On accounts for the year
ended
Set out on pages
Responsibilities and
basis of report
Independent
examiner's statement		 THERFIELD VILLAGE PRE-SCHOOL THERFIELD VILLAGE PRE-SCHOOL THERFIELD VILLAGE PRE-SCHOOL
28THFEBRUARY 2023 Charity no
(if any)		 1086252
1-16
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above
charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended28/02/203.
As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the
accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011
(“the Act”).
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out
under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I
have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission
under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have
come to my attention in connection with the examination (other than that
disclosed below *) which gives me cause to believe that in, any material
respect:

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed: Name: Samantha Selkirk Relevant professional MAAT qualification(s) or body (if any): Address: 56 Browning Close Royston Herts, SG8 7EY

Date: 21/12/2023

Oct 2018

1

IER

Section B Disclosure

Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).

Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .

N/A

Oct 2018

2

IER