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← Oak Hill Community Nursery

2023-09-30-accounts

Company No. 05850668 Charity No. 1130993

OAK HILL COMMUNITY NURSERY (Limited by Guarantee)

TRUSTEES’ REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

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OAK HILL COMMUNITY NURSERY

CONTENTS

Page
Reference and Administration Details 1
Trustees Report 2 - 5
Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities 6
Independent Auditor’s Report 7 - 9
Statement of Financial Activities 10
Balance Sheet 11
Cash Flow Statement 12
Notes to the Accounts 13 - 20

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OAK HILL COMMUNITY NURSERY

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATION DETAILS

Status Company Limited by Guarantee No. 05850668
Registered Charity No. 1130993, registered 6 August 2009
The Company’s governing document is its Memorandum
and Articles of Association
Secretary and Registered Office: Denise Stultz
29 Wallbutton Road
Brockley
London
SE4 2NX
Trustees: Denise Stultz
John Fowler
Sandra Margolies
Gwenlian Evans
Key Management:
Nursery Manager: Paula Lane
Deputy Manager: Samantha Cordwell
Auditor: Azets Audit Services
Chartered Accountants
2ndFloor
Regis House
45 King William Street
London
EC4R 9AN
Bankers: National Westminster Bank plc
87 Sidcup High Street
Sidcup
Kent
DA14 6DL

1

OAK HILL COMMUNITY NURSERY

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

The Trustees present their report and the audited financial statements of the charity for the year ended 30 September 2023. The trustees have adopted the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) “Accounting and Reporting by Charities” (FRS 102) in preparing the annual report and financial statements of the charity.

Objectives and activities

2023: A challenging year

Oak Hill staff report that post-lockdown effects have continued to be felt in terms of children’s social development. Once again special thanks are due to Paula and her team for the ongoing leadership and team efforts throughout some very difficult and demanding times.

Charitable purposes and aims

The nursery’s primary charitable purpose is the advancement of the education of children aged from birth to five years whose parents/carers live or work locally. This it does by offering appropriate play and learning facilities with fees as low as possible. The aim of low fees is to support families who might not otherwise be able to afford high-quality childcare and education in order to seek or sustain employment and/or take an active role in community life.

The nursery continues to offer the opportunity to parents and carers to become involved in the activities of the nursery/day care provision. It also participates in an apprenticeship scheme.

The nursery offers support and advice to parents to support them in their child’s learning and development. Weekly updates continue to be circulated to inform parents and carers of the children’s weekly activities and any in-house or governmental updates.

Approach to fundraising

There are two aspects to fundraising at the nursery. Every year the staff organise a fundraising event, a Summer Fair on a Saturday, where a range of activities are on offer for the whole family. The 2023 event raised funds for the nursery for renovation of the outdoor play area. Despite the heavy rain, it was a popular and well-attended occasion. The Deputy Manager’s responsibilities include the monitoring and evaluation of the nursery’s fundraising activities.

In addition to fundraising for the nursery itself, there are occasions when the nursery raises funds for outside causes. These tend to be one-off activities with the nursery acting as a convenient hub. Arrangements are made to collect gifts in kind as well as money. Parents are told in advance via the weekly updates.

The nursery keeps its fees as low as it can, aware of the financial pressure that childcare can pose, so it is careful to ensure that fundraising activities remain truly voluntary. No complaints have been recorded.

Activities: childcare

The nursery is designed to provide 55 places to local families between the hours of 8.00 am and 6.00 pm Monday to Friday. There are spaces for up to 15 babies from 6 months to 2 years (Snowdrops) and 40 spaces for 2- to 5-yearolds (Sunbells). Children of all abilities are given an equal opportunity to enjoy and learn, with the highest level of childcare and education.

Places are either full-time or part-time, for local parents/carers who need flexibility in their childcare arrangements to fit around their working or community life. Spaces are allocated on a first come/first served waiting-list basis to ensure equality and fairness.

Fees are kept low in order to support and attract low-income families, who can then sustain or seek employment. The nursery offers some fully funded places to eligible parents; although this does involve additional work for nursery staff, the main bureaucratic burden falls on the parents themselves.

Healthy well-balanced meals are prepared and cooked in our own kitchen. All allergy and special dietary requirements are catered for within feasibility. The nursery cook continually experiments with new recipes to provide the children with a range of nutritious culturally diverse meals on a rotating menu basis. The children have three meals a day, with a healthy snack in between meals.

2

OAK HILL COMMUNITY NURSERY

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

Objectives and activities - continued

Activities: education

The nursery implements the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum alongside spontaneous planning. The staff team provide activities around the children’s interests and their learning needs. These are evaluated in order to ascertain the individual child’s developmental stage. The nursery operates a key-person system where individual members of staff work with a small group of children, supporting them to build relationships, feel safe and secure and build a relationship with the parents. Staff make sure that the needs of the child are being met and regularly meet with and report to parents on their child’s progress.

In April 2018 the nursery was inspected by Ofsted and once again were assessed as Good in all categories.

Activities: family support

The nursery staff team supports families by facilitating and sign-posting parents to training and support opportunities on aspects of childcare, learning and development. The nursery supports fathers in particular by encouraging them to take a more active role in their children’s upbringing. The manager and deputy provide additional support to parents in the care and education of their child, especially in regards to key transitions.

Activities: staff and volunteer training

In conjunction with colleges, universities and training providers, the nursery offers a training and development base for volunteers and students who seek to establish a career in early years care and education, social work or paediatric nursing. They are supported through a mentor arrangement and regular supervisions to develop their skills and learning. The nursery welcomes students for work experience primarily from the 6th form college situated next door and also from other Lewisham borough schools and colleges.

Public benefit

The Trustees of Oak Hill Nursery have complied with the duty in section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission.

The Charity’s objectives are the advancement of education by offering appropriate play and learning facilities and by offering the opportunity for parents and carers to take responsibility for and to become involved in the nursery.

The Trustees consider that Oak Hill’s principal activities and aims, as described above (early years care, education, family support and training, development of staff in early years practices), are consistent with the Charity’s objectives.

The beneficiaries of the Charity are children of families/carers living or working locally.

The Charity charges a fee for its core services, keeping fees as low as possible to benefit families who would otherwise be unable to afford childcare, to enable them to sustain or seek employment, or maintain active community life.

The Early Learning Entitlement allows Oak Hill Nursery to offer provision to those who qualify, but this entitlement is only sufficient to cover school hours and terms rather than the nursery’s more extensive provision.

Achievements and performance

Childcare and education

The Seeds of Empathy programme continues to be of influence in the nursery. The nursery staff have had both inservice and outsourced training on spontaneous planning as a means of enhancing the children’s experiences and development and this training is demonstrably influencing practice. Staff continue to implement the training received on ‘Natural Thinkers’, which is similar to The Forest School ethos.

Family support

The Nursery Manager and Special Educational Needs and Disability Co-ordinator (SENDCo) continue to regularly support families with children with additional and/or special needs in accessing 1-1 support, funding or specialist support.

3

OAK HILL COMMUNITY NURSERY

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

Achievements and performance - continued

Staff and volunteer development

Oak Hill places considerable emphasis on staff growth and development, with the manager and deputy providing both in-house and off-site training both proving positive. The nursery takes part in an apprenticeship scheme and actively encourages all staff to regularly assess their professional development and practice.

Financial review

Currently all training for staff has to be paid for and has been economically sourced from different providers to continue to offer the staff members appropriate continued professional development.

Costs of nursery supplies play materials and outings increased as the nursery scaled up the extent of its charitable activities during the year. Premises, office and central costs were static.

Maintenance problems have continued to arise too often and requests have been passed around from Borough department to department. As landlord, the Borough can seek to pass on as far as possible the maximum proportion of maintenance and repair costs. While this is understandable, all too often it has had the effect of increasing the time taken to secure necessary repairs. The system of using only an approved contractor can prove slow and too much nursery staff time has been taken up with progress chasing.

The Charity recorded a surplus of £39,035 (2022: deficit of £3,839) during the year, increasing the unrestricted reserve to £334,561 (2022: £299,365) of which £17,000 has been designated toward future IT upgrades and repairing the garden.

Reserves policy

The Board continues to create adequate reserves to enable the Charity to meet any extraordinary payments and unforeseen expenditure. Free reserves (excluding fixed assets) amounted to £312,843 at the year end. The reserves are set at 6 months’ expenditure to reflect the absence of any capital assets in an organisation such as Oak Hill.

Risk management

The Trustees can confirm that the major risks to which the Charity is exposed, as identified by Trustees, have been reviewed and systems or procedures have been established to manage those risks. During 2023 three main risks were identified for particular monitoring:

Arrangements were made to mitigate these risks as follows:

However, it must be reported that the year has been characterised by recurring difficulties caused by landlord performance that has been less than satisfactory, particularly in relation to maintenance issues.

Future costs

The charity has received the support of Lewisham Council for many years. The level of rent is subject to negotiation with the Council and the Board is actively exploring how the nursery can remain financially viable whilst preserving its charitable aims of maintaining low-cost childcare and education to low-income families. Oak Hill continues to keep salaries under review, bearing in mind the need for planning towards all staff receiving the Real Living Wage as a minimum and maintaining pension contributions. A fees increase in 2021 funded some staff salary increases in 2022, with a further increase being unavoidable from September 2023.

4

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

OAK HILL COMMUNITY NURSERY

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

Plans for the future

The business plan aims to find new sources of income to help fund the Charity’s activities in addition to fee income. The Charity aims to retain its position as a low-cost provider of high-quality childcare. Local authority cutbacks continue to create a more volatile financial environment and the Trustees continued to look at all options. It has nevertheless proved possible to consider ways in which the whole site could be used more effectively for the benefit of the community.

The nursery gained charitable status in 2009. The management and governance systems were then updated. The Board‘s review of the Charity’s governance arrangements and financial systems was completed in July 2019 and the revised Articles of Association received Charities Commission approval in 2020.

The Board will be keeping recruitment to the nursery under constant review. Recruitment was healthy for September 2022 and September 2023; however, shortage of staff in September 2023 meant that the nursery was not able to offer a place to every child on its waiting list. It is a situation which the Manager will be continuing to monitor.

Structure, governance and management

Trustees of the charity

The directors of the charitable company are its trustees for the purposes of charity law. The trustees who have served during the year and since the year end were as follows:

Gwen Evans John Fowler Sandra Margolies Denise Stultz

None of the Trustees had an interest in any contract or transaction during the year under review.

Status

The nursery is constituted as a company limited by guarantee and was granted charitable status on 6 August 2009. The Charity’s governing document is contained in its 2020 Articles of Association.

Company membership

Trustees are co-opted or can stand for election at the AGM.

Delegation

The day-to-day management of the nursery is delegated to Paula Lane, the Nursery Manager, and the Deputy Manager Samantha Cordwell. The management team work with a close-knit team of 20 permanent staff, and if necessary agency workers. There is a robust system of staff development and support in place led by the manager and deputy. The staff members receive regular supervisions. There are regular staff meetings and the senior team meet once a month for support and development. The Nursery Manager reports regularly to the Trustees and is able to call upon them at short notice in any contingency. The strategic direction and development of the nursery is a matter for the Leadership Team, consisting of the Nursery Manager, Deputy Manager and the Trustees, as is the level of fees set for service users. Salaries are kept under regular review with the Manager presenting proposals to the Board of Trustees for discussion. It is likely that further salary increases will be needed in 2024.

Relationships

The nursery has built good relationships with local schools, colleges and universities and regularly has students complete their work placements at the nursery. The Children’s Centre rationalised its use of local premises and has vacated the front of the building; consultation about its future was successfully undertaken by the borough and negotiations about future use are in progress, although there is some conflict between Oak Hill’s charitable objectives and Lewisham’s need to maximise income from an asset.

5

OAK HILL COMMUNITY NURSERY

TRUSTEES’ REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

Statement of trustees’ responsibilities

The trustees (who are also directors of Oak Hill Community Nursery for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year, which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for the year. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In so far as the trustees are aware:

This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to smaller entities.

Approved by the Board and signed on its behalf:

……………………

Gwenlian Evans

Date:

6

OAK HILL COMMUNITY NURSERY

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT

TO THE MEMBERS OF OAK HILL COMMUNITY NURSERY

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Oak Hill Community Nursery (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 30 September 2023 which comprise of the statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Cash Flow Statement and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland’ (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard and the provisions available for small entities, in the circumstances set out in note 2 to the financial statements, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the ISAs (UK) require us to report to you where:

Other information

The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

7

OAK HILL COMMUNITY NURSERY

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT

TO THE MEMBERS OF OAK HILL COMMUNITY NURSERY

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the directors’ report included within the trustees’ report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The specific procedures for this engagement and the extent to which these are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: https://www.frc.org.uk/Our-Work/Audit/Audit-and-assurance/Standards-and-guidance/Standards-and-guidance-forauditors/Auditors-responsibilities-for-audit/Description-of-auditors-responsibilities-for-audit.aspx. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

8

OAK HILL COMMUNITY NURSERY

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT

TO THE MEMBERS OF OAK HILL COMMUNITY NURSERY

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

John Howard (Senior Statutory Auditor)

For and on behalf of Azets Audit Services

Statutory Auditor, Chartered Accountants 2[nd] Floor, Regis House 45 King William Street London EC4R 9AN

Date:

9

OAK HILL COMMUNITY NURSERY

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (Including Income and Expenditure Account)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

Notes
INCOME
Charitable activities
3
Investment income
4
Other income
5
TOTAL INCOME
EXPENDITURE
Charitable activities
6
TOTAL EXPENDITURE
7
NET INCOME /(EXPENDITURE)
RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS
Total funds brought forward
TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD
17		 Unrestricted
Funds
Total Funds
2023
Total Funds
2022
£
£
£
704,972
704,972
585,889
1,305
1,305
83
1,593
1,593
4,468
__
_
_
707,870
707,870
590,440
__
_
__
668,835
668,835
594,279
_
_
__
668,835
668,835
594,279
_
_
__
39,035
39,035
(3,839)
295,526
295,526
299,365
_
___
______
334,561
334,561
295,526

All transactions are derived from continuing activities.

All recognised gains and losses are included in the Statement of Financial Activities.

The notes on pages 13 to 20 form part of the financial statements.

10

OAK HILL COMMUNITY NURSERY

BALANCE SHEET

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

Notes 2023 2022
£ £ £ £
FIXED ASSETS
Tangible fixed assets 12 4,718 4,917
______ ______
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors 13 3,314 21,528
Cash at bank and in hand 356,571 324,307
______ ______
359,885 345,835
CURRENT LIABILITIES
Creditors:
Amounts falling due within one year 14 (30,042) (55,226)
______ ______
NET CURRENT ASSETS 329,843 290,609
______ ______
NET ASSETS 334,561 295,526
______ ______
FUNDS
Unrestricted funds:
General fund 317,561 278,526
Designated funds 17 17,000 17,000
______ ______
334,561
______		 295,526
______

Approved on behalf of the board on and signed on their behalf by

....................................................................... Gwenlian Evan Trustee

Company No. 05850668

The notes on pages 13 to 20 form part of these financial statements.

11

OAK HILL COMMUNITY NURSERY

CASH FLOW STATEMENT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

Notes

CASH FLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES
Cash generated from operating activities
15
NET CASH FLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES
CASH FLOW FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Payments to acquire tangible fixed assets
Interest received
NET CASH FLOW FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES
NET (DECREASE)/ INCREASE IN CASH AND C
EQUIVALENTS
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS AT BEGINNING OF
YEAR
TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD
Cash and cash equivalents consists of:
Cash at bank and in hand		 Total Funds
2023
£
33,272
__
33,272
_
(2,313)
1,305
_
(1,008)
__
32,264
324,307
_
356,571
_
356,571
______		 Total Funds
2022
£
9,772
__
9,772
_
(5,943)
83
_
(5,860)
__
3,912
320,395
_
324,307
_
324,307
______

The notes on pages 13 to 20 form part of these financial statements.

12

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

OAK HILL COMMUNITY NURSERY

AS AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

Oak Hill Community Nursery is a company limited by guarantee in the United Kingdom. The charitable company’s registered number, charity number and address of the registered office is given in the reference and administration details on page 1 of these financial statements. The members of the company are the trustees named on page 1. In the event of the charity being wound up, the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member of the charity.

2. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The principle accounting policies adopted, judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty in the preparation of the financial statements are as follows:

(a) Basis of Accounting

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) issued on 16 July 2014, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), the Companies Act 2006 and UK Generally Accepted Practice.

Oak Hill Community Nursery meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy notes.

The financial statements are presented in sterling (£) which is also the functional currency for the charity.

(b) Preparation of the accounts on a going concern basis

At the time of approving these financial statements the Trustees have assessed the financial consequences of continued uncertainties yet are confident that the charities financial resources are sufficient to meet its liabilities for 12 months from authorising these financial statements. The budgeted income and expenditure remains sufficient with the level of the reserves for the charity to continue as a going concern. The financial statements have therefore been prepared on a going concern basis.

(c) Fund Accounting

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the company.

Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the trustees for particular purposes.

Restricted funds are subject to restrictions on their expenditure imposed by the donor or through the terms of an appeal.

13

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

OAK HILL COMMUNITY NURSERY

AS AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

2. ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)

(d) Income

All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once the Nursery has entitlement to the funds, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably. Income is deferred when the fees or donations are received in advance of the period in which they relate.

(e) Expenditure

Expenditure is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once there is a legal constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.

All costs are allocated between the expenditure categories of the SOFA on a basis designed to reflect the use of the resource. Costs relating to a particular activity are allocated directly, others are apportioned on an appropriate basis.

(f) Allocation of support and governance costs

Support costs are those that assist the work of the charitable company but do not directly represent charitable activities. Support costs include governance costs, premises costs, office and central costs and depreciation. They are incurred directly in support of expenditure on the objects of the charitable company.

Governance costs comprise all costs involving the public accountability of the charitable company and its compliance with regulation and good practice. These costs include costs related to statutory audit, accountancy fees, legal fees and consultancy fees.

Support and Governance costs are allocated to charitable activities in proportion to the direct charitable expenditure on that activity, where the charitable company considers that support costs are incurred as part of the delivery of that activity.

(g) Pensions

The Nursery operates a defined contribution scheme. Contributions payable to the charitable company’s pension scheme are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period to which they relate.

14

OAK HILL COMMUNITY NURSERY

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

AS AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

2. ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)

(h) Employee benefits

Short term employee benefits, including holiday entitlement, are recognised as an expense in the period which they are incurred.

(i) Operating leases

Rentals applicable to operating leases, where substantially all of the benefits and risks of ownership remain with the lessor, are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities as incurred.

(j) Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation. The cost of minor additions or those costing below £100 are not capitalised. Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost of each asset over its expected useful life. The rates used are as follows:

Office equipment: 33% Furniture and fixtures 25%

(k) Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid. Accrued income is measured at the amount due to be received.

(l) Cash at bank and in hand

Cash at bank and cash in hand includes cash and short term highly liquid investments with a short maturity of three months or less from the date of acquisition or opening of the deposit or similar accounts.

(m) Creditors

Creditors are recognised where the charitable company has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably.

Trade, other creditors and accruals are recognised at their settlement amount due.

Deferred income is where income is received, some or all of which is specifically in relation to future periods, the relevant amount is deferred and credited to the Statement of Financial Activities in the period to which it relates.

(n) Financial instruments

The charitable company only has financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value and subsequently measured at their settlement value.

(o) Taxation

As a charitable company, the nursery is not liable to taxation on its income or on surpluses on disposal of investments.

15

OAK HILL COMMUNITY NURSERY

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

AS AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

2. ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)

(p) Judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty

Accounting estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances.

The following judgements (apart from those involving estimates) have been made in the process of applying the above accounting policies that have had the most significant effect on amounts recognised in the financial statements:

Useful economic lives of tangible assets

The annual depreciation charge for tangible assets is sensitive to changes in the estimated useful economic lives and residual values of the assets. The useful economic lives and residual values are re-assessed annually. They are amended when necessary to reflect current estimates, based on technological advancement, future investments, economic utilisation and the physical condition of the assets. See note 12 for the carrying amount of the furniture and fittings and office equipment, and note j for the useful economic lives for each class of assets.

There are no key assumptions concerning the future and other key sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial year.

3. INCOME FROM CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

Unrestricted
Funds


£

Fees
591,607
LB Nursery Education grant
107,896
Donations and fundraising
5,469
____
704,972		 Total
2023
£

591,607
107,896
5,469
____
704,972		 Total
2022
£
504,035
79,897
1,957
____
585,889

In 2022 all of the income was attributable to the unrestricted fund.

4.

INVESTMENT INCOME

Unrestricted
Funds


£

Bank interest
1,305
 Total
2023
£

1,305
 Total
2022
£
83

In 2022 all of the investment income was attributable to the unrestricted fund.

5. OTHER INCOME

Unrestricted
Funds


£

Other income
1,593
____
1,593
 Total
2023
£

1,593
____
1,593
 Total
2022
£
4,468
____
4,468

In 2022 all of the other income was attributable to the unrestricted fund.

16

OAK HILL COMMUNITY NURSERY

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

AS AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

6. CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES

Unrestricted
Funds


£

Advancement of the education of children
668,835
 Total
2023
£

668,835
 Total
2022
£
594,279

In 2022 all of the expenditure was attributable to the unrestricted fund.

7.
ANALYSIS OF EXPENDITURE
Advancement of the education of children		 Direct
Charitable
£
570,007		 Support
costs
£
(note 8)
98,828		 Total
2023
£
668,835		 Total
2022
£
594,279

In 2022 £487,015 of the expenditure related to direct charitable expenditure, and the remaining £107,264 related to support costs.

8.
SUPPORT COSTS
Governance costs (note 9)
Premises costs
Office and central costs
Depreciation
9.
GOVERNANCE COSTS
Auditors remuneration
-
Audit fee
-
Accounting, current year
-
Other non-audit services
Other governance costs
Other governance costs consist of legal fees and consultancy fees.
10.
NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE) FOR THE YEAR
This is stated after charging:
Depreciation
Audit fee
Operating lease costs		 2023
£
15,834
72,932
7,550
2,512
__
98,828
_
2023
£
9,300
1,200
-
5,334
___
15,834
______
2023
£
2,512
9,300
48,000
 2022
£
20,075
79,601
6,093
1,495
__
107,264
_
2022
£
9,000
1,200
7,539
2,336
___
20,075
______
2022
£
1,495
7,500
48,000

17

OAK HILL COMMUNITY NURSERY

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

AS AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

11.
ANALYSIS OF STAFF COSTS, TRUSTEE REMUNERATION
AND EXPENSES AND THE COST OF KEY MANAGEMENT
PERSONNEL
Wages and salaries
Social security
Defined contribution pension costs
Agency staff
The average number of full-time equivalent employees:
Nursery staff
Employee time has been allocated to direct charitable expenditure.		 2023
£
428,333
13,825
8,532
64,185
__
514,875
_
22
___		 2022
£
410,977
18,414
9,711
10,071
__
449,173
_
24
___

No employee received emoluments of more than £60,000 (2022: none).

During 2023, no trustees (2022: £nil) were paid or received any other benefits from employment with the charitable company. No trustee or any person connected with them received any expenses during the year (2022: £nil).

The key management of the charitable company comprise the trustees, the nursery manager and the deputy manager. The trustees do not receive any remuneration for this role.

The total employee benefits of the key management personnel of the charitable company were £96,776 (2022: £85,891).

12.
TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS
Furniture
Office
and fittings
equipment
£
£
Cost
At 1 October 2022
5,532
21,549
Additions
-
2,313
Disposals
-
-
_
_
At 30 September 2023
5,532
23,862
_
_
Depreciation
At 1 October 2022
5,532
16,632
Charge for the year
-
2,512
Disposals
-
-
_
_
At 30 September 2023
5,532
19,144
_
_
Net Book Value
At 30 September 2023
-
4,718
_
_
At 30 September 2022
-
4,917		 Total
£
27,081
2,313
-
_
29,394
_
22,164
2,512
-
_
24,676
_
4,718
____
4,917

18

OAK HILL COMMUNITY NURSERY

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

AS AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

13.
DEBTORS
2023
£
Trade debtors
6
Other debtors
3,125
Prepayments
183
_
3,314
_
14.
CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR
2023
£
Trade creditors
4,508
Other creditors
6,749
Accruals
10,860
Deferred income (note 14.1)
7,925
_
30,042
_
14.1
DEFERRED INCOME
2023
£
At 1 October 2022
10,675
Additional during the year
7,925
Amounts released to income
(10,675)
_
At 30 September 2023
7,925
_
Deferred income in both 2023 and 2022 relates to nursery fees for the following autumn term.
15.
RECONCILIATION OF NET INCOME TO CASH GENERATED
FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES
2023
£
Net income for the year
39,035
Depreciation charges
2,512
Interest receivable
(1,305)
_
40,242
Decrease/(increase) in trade and other debtors
18,214
(Decrease)/increase in trade and other creditors
(25,184)
_
Cash generated from operating activities
33,272
___
16.
ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS
2023
£
Tangible fixed assets
4,718
Current assets
359,885
Current liabilities
(30,042)
_
334,561
_		 2022
£
9,395
-
12,133
_
21,528
_
2022
£
3,273
29,278
12,000
10,675
_
55,226
_
2022
£
5,220
10,675
(5,220)
_
10,675
_
2022
£
(3,839)
1,495
(83)
_
(2,427)
(7,661)
19,860
_
9,772
___
2022
£
4,917
345,835
(55,226)
_
295,526
_

19

OAK HILL COMMUNITY NURSERY

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

AS AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

17. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS

Unrestricted funds:
General funds
Designated funds		 At 1
October
2022
£
278,526
17,000
______
295,526		 Incoming
Resources
Outgoing
Resources
£
£
707,870
(668,835)
-
-
______
______
707,870
(668,835)		 Transfer
At 30
September
2023
£
£
-
317,561
-
17,000
______
______
-
334,561

Designated funds

Designated funds form part of Unrestricted Funds and are amounts set aside by the Trustees to meet specific future requirements of the organisation.

In 2019 expenditure of £7,000 spent towards the IT upgrade was allocated against the designated fund leaving a designated fund of £17,000 to meet the remaining IT upgrade costs and costs towards repairing the garden. No expenditure was incurred during 2023 (2022: £nil).

17.A MOVEMENT IN FUNDS – Prior year

Unrestricted funds:
General funds
Designated funds		 At 1
October
2021
£
282,365
17,000
______
299,365		 Incoming
Resources
Outgoing
Resources
£
£
590,440
(594,279)
-
-
______
______
590,440
(594,279)		 Transfer
At 30
September
2022
£
£
-
278,526
-
17,000
______
______
-
295,526

18. PENSION SCHEME

The charitable company operates a defined contribution pension plan for its employees. The amount recognised as an expense in the year was £8,532 (2022: £9,711).

19. LEASE COMMITMENTS

The charitable company sole lease commitment is its tenancy at Oakhill Nursery. Total future minimum lease payments under the operating lease are as follows:

Not later than one year
Later than one and not later than five years
Later than five years		 2023
£
48,000
24,000
-
______
72,000
______		 2022
£
48,000
72,000
-
______
120,000
______

20. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

There are no related party transactions during the year (2022: none)

20