2021-08-31-accounts - Whiteley Pre-School

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Whiteley Preschool AGM – 23[rd] May 2022

7:30 pm – Rookery Room, Whiteley Community Centre

Attendees

Hayley Montague (HM) – Chairperson

Gemma Hardy (GH) – Secretary

Laura Bilbie (LB) – Childcare Manager

Mark Grey (MG) – Whiteley Community Centre Manager

James Barrett (JB)

Sheri Parsons (SP)

Laura Speak (LS)

Apologies

Louise Curd

Minutes

HM welcomes all to the first face-to-face meeting since the pandemic.

At the beginning of Summer Term 2021 Laura was appointed as Childcare Manager and has managed the staff well and ensured the EYFS is fully delivered. EY Log has been more fully utilised with invoicing, accident forms & parent observations now being completed online, as well as staff observations and tracking. With Gemma as Business Manager and overseeing safeguarding as DSL, the management team is stable, highly experienced and works effectively together.

At the end of the Summer Term 2021, Ofsted inspected Pre-School and we were awarded a ‘Good’ rating across all areas of the inspection. This fantastic report reflected the dedication and hard work the Team had put into welcoming children back into the setting after the disruption of covid. All the improvements and plans which had been implemented to drive forward the necessary changes were recognised by Ofsted and rewarded with our improved rating which more accurately reflected the setting.

Unfortunately, Autumn Term 2021 had many disruptions, again due to Covid. The Christmas Fundraising Fayre was cancelled, as well as the Quiz Night and Christmas performances by the children. This reduced the Pre-School’s ability to further interact with our parents, removed our fundraising events and increased pressure on the staff.

However, with a reduction in Covid restrictions during Spring term 2021 we were gradually able to welcome parents back in at pick-up time and begin to hold some events, such as our Mother’s Day Afternoon and Easter Parade. This has increased our parent contact and allowed them to see Pre-School first-hand again and get more involved in Preschool life and supporting the Pre-school. We have had more response when seeking Trustees and are pleased to welcome a new Treasurer, James Barrett.

After Easter the play equipment in the garden was upgraded by the Community Centre, revitalising the space and providing new experiences for the children in their play. The children who will be graduating after Summer Term had a trip to Marwell Zoo. The first leavers trip in three years which was lovely day out and we are thankful to the staff and the parent volunteers who supported the trip.

With a combination of a positive Ofsted report, increasing advertising, Covid restrictions reducing, being able to show parents around Pre-School, holding events and increasing contact with parents, we have found that demand for places has increased.

As demand has increased, we have noticed that many of these enquiries were coming from the new housing development in North Whiteley, however, many parents were struggling to get from North Whiteley to the Community Centre. Due to there being no provisions for early years childcare in North Whiteley it has been decided to open a Whiteley Pre-School satellite setting in Cornerstone C of E Primary School in North Whiteley. This will enable children in North Whiteley to have access to the high quality, affordable childcare Whiteley Pre-School currently provides at a site nearer to them. We are excitedly looking forward to welcoming many new families at our new site, Whiteley PreSchool North in September 2022.

Again, this year presented many new challenges which has tested the resilience and ability of the staff to adapt, and we have been proud of how the team have worked together to support one another and continued to provide excellent care for our children. We look forward to a new chapter for Whiteley Pre-School with the satellite setting opening next year.

GH added -

Along with staff shortages due to Covid we have struggled to recruit staff again this year and those that we did recruit did not work out. We have spent a lot on recruitment with Indeed, but it fails to provide any candidates. All staff that are successful have been found through Facebook or word of mouth/ ex or current parents. Difficulty in recruiting in Early Years is a nationwide problem. We will continue will employing apprentices in both settings next year.

We have seen a change in both Childcare Manager and Deputy Childcare Manager. These roles are providing increasingly more difficulty to fill. We have reflected over the past two years on our induction process to ensure we fill each role at the setting with the right individuals.

We have faced difficulty in finding new committee members and generally with parent interaction with the setting, I believe this to be a result of covid. This is now improving. Parent partnerships have always been a huge strength of our setting and we are working hard to return them to pre-covid standards.

Operating out of a community centre has posed bigger challenges than previous years throughout lockdown and during the Covid outbreak we had in October-November. The staff have again faced another challenging year and have worked hard to ensure that preschool remained open and operational.

Financial Report

The preschool was closely monitored by the Business Manager and Chair, Louise has been unavailable during large parts of the year. The preschool achieved a surplus of £ 5,088.03, however, this has only been achieved because of the community centre not charging us for the Sweethills room for the whole of the year and the ability to claim Furlough payments. The lack/inability of fundraising has impacted the with a total of £ 219.50 compared to £2,508.47 the previous year.

Wages have increased significantly over the past two years, and this is expected to continue. From 2019 wages have increased by £12,746. Mainly due to minimum wage increases.

Income raised through the EYE grant totalled 137,474.10 which was an increase compared to the previous year. Term fees accounted for £30, 958.72.

For the last two years we have been fortunate that due to Covid the community centre have not charged us for the full amount (not charged for Sweethills). This has saved us over £10,000 meaning the preschool has been able to remain sustainable. From 1[st] June 2022 we will be recommencing the full charges for hiring both the main hall and Sweethills, including the 10% increase that came into place on April 1[st] 2022. This means that Whiteley Preschool will no longer be a sustainable business and will likely not be able to operate beyond the next financial year. We are currently in negotiations with the community centre committee to significantly reduce these costs in hope that we can secure the future of the preschool.

Had we paid the full amount for hire chargers for last year the preschool would have been deficit £7,680.52. Income was £174, 596.40 and expenditure would have been £182,276.92.

JB asked if the rent goes up annually, if all utilities are included and if the community centre is in receipt of any grants.

MG responded that the community centre has never had much assistance in the forms of grants.

GH confirmed rent has not been increased for many years and that electricity is included in hire charges.

MG – community centre committee are thinking about small incrementations in hire charges annually instead of the larger jump every few years.

SP asked what parents can do to help to ensure that the preschool can remain open as it is needed in the community.

LB answered that we need parents support with fundraising and volunteering.

SP asked if parents are aware that the preschool is a charity and reliant on fundraising?

HM responded that they are, it is told to every parent on their first visit to the setting, but Covid has had a lasting impact on this and on fundraising generally.

LB we pride ourself on being affordable and do not want to have to ask parents to top up fees, this is what makes us unique in an over saturated area for childcare provision.

GH asked if there were any further questions. There were none.

Voting then took place.

HM and GH are happy to remain in their current role. All said yes.

LS nominated as general member – awaiting ID check for DBS & EY2 form.

JB nominated as Treasurer – DBS & EY2 form already completed.

SP will possibly join and/or form a separate fundraising committee.

Therefore, the current committee will continue as:

Chairperson – Hayley Montague

Treasurer – James Barrett

Secretary - Gemma Hardy

General Member – Laura Speak

We will continue to recruit for a minimum of one more general member.

The removal of Louise Curd has been requested and will be actioned.

Whiteley Pre-School

Detailed Receipts and Payments Account

Year ended 31-Aug-21 £ 128,616.40 3,992.42 823.08 5,052.02 1,085.94 15,031.02 26.25 1,110.44 13.08 326.62 978.00 15.21 947.82 1,423.15 457.53 90.48 109.55 6,423.71 585.52 150.00 556.68 725.61 35.00 345.01 75.00 100.10 282.73 30.00 100.00	Year ended 31-Aug-20 £ 125,482.87 3,534.66 5,387.76 1,519.11 16,067.88 496.80 1,099.13 15.46 828.00 21.42 608.15 174.98 528.30 121.26 2,325.15 432.24 156.60 437.33 745.40 564.48 114.76 862.80 259.12 236.44 30.00 3,628.75	Year ended 31-Aug-21 £ 685.00 30,958.72 137,474.10 219.50 10.00 8.45 5,240.63	Year ended 31-Aug-20 £ 925.00 29,488.60 134,207.47 2,508.47 130.56 380.00 103.08 35.00 722.03 10,139.54	Year ended 31-Aug-19 £ 625.00 31,659.89 119,525.08 17,843.69 453.46 126.14 128.71 60.00 5,787.14
		174,596.40	178,639.75	176,209.11

169,508.37	165,678.85	5,088.03	12,960.90	11,270.16

Surplus of Income over Expenditure

Balance Sheet

Capital Reserves at 01/09/20 Surplus of Income in year Balance at 31/08/21		as at 31-Aug-21 £ 112,396.45 5,088.03	as at 31-Aug-20 £ 99,435.55 12,960.90
		117,484.48	112,396.45

Represented by: Bank Reserve Account Bank Current Account Cash less: creditors plus: Andrea amount owed less: credit card Creditors Accounting		as at 31-Aug-21 £ 89,435.96 28,963.06 63.46 ‐978.00	as at 31-Aug-20 £ 79,427.51 33,733.48 63.46 ‐828 0.00
		117,484.48	112,396.45
		978 978

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Whiteley Pre School Gull Coppice Yew Tree Drive Whiteley PO15 7LA

30" May 2022

Dear Committee

T have today finalised the 2020/21 accounts, as agreed.

Your accounts have been prepared on a receipt and payment basis.

All bank transactions have been imported into Xero from the CSVs downloaded from your internet banking. These transactions have then been allocated to the relevant income or expenditure category headings.

Based on the information provided, I can confirm that these accounts are a true reflection of the trading activity and the financial position of Whiteley Pre-school.

The Xero account is now up and running ready for up to date bank feeds and more real time information, waiting on your instructions to proceed.

I am pleased to have been of service and hope I can continue to do so in future years.

Yours sincerely

Trudy Byles AICB CB.Cert

Trudy Byles AICB is licenced and regulated by the ICB under licence number 2700 OFBOOKCERTIENES KEEPERS

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