**TREASURER’S AGM REPORT – 5[th] OCTOBER 2021** 

|**Bank Account & Cash Balances**|**Year Ending 31.8.2021**|**Year Ending 31.8.2020**|**Difference**|
|---|---|---|---|
|Current Account & Cash|£21,977.23|£15,177.76|£6,799.47|
|Reserves Accounts|£18,630.56|£21,509.66|-£2,879.10|
|**TOTAL**|**£40,607.79**|**£36,687.42**|**£3,920.37**|



2020-2021 was another unusual financial period for St Mary’s Preschool with COVID continuing to impact the setting. The year-end accounts report a £3,920.37 profit compared to a £1,559.85 loss last year however this figure must be treated with caution as it is mostly attributable to grants received from Buckinghamshire Council. These were awarded to help the setting throughout the uncertainty of the pandemic and will be required during the 2021-2022 academic year as the pre-school continues its return to more normal operations and builds on the current low pupil numbers caused by the fact that new students were not able to be taken on during the initial lockdown period last year. 

**Staff costs** – Staff costs, as always, are the main expense for the setting and they have increased by around £15,000 since last year to a total of £70,426. Such a large increase is unusual and is driven by the fact that last year’s figure was much reduced as a result of the COVID lockdown and subsequent reduced working hours. The staff have always been and continue to be the most valuable asset of St Mary’s Pre-School and were welldeserving of their wage increase in April which was made in line with the 2.2% increase in the National Minimum Wage. 

**Grants –** A major source of income this year has been grants from Buckinghamshire Council. The setting received a £12,000 sustainability grant in April 2021 to support the pre-school through COVID, a £4,000 inclusion grant in December 2020 to help children with special educational needs and a £2,000 towards COVID cleaning in March 2021. 

**Fundraising –** Fundraising has improved following a difficult year in 2019-2020 however the pre-school has still been unable to run events that have traditionally been good sources of income such as the family fun day, quiz night and street fayre. A total of £2709.25 was made from fundraising activities with the obstacle course standing out with a total of £771.50. Fundraising income for the year can be broken down as shown in the table. 

**Parent donations** – Parent donations have remained steady with a total of £1,481.50 compared to £1,518.40 last year. In addition parents have 

|**Fundraising Activity**|**Amount**|
|---|---|
|Tea Towels|£210.00|
|Easter Trail|£65.00|
|Euros Sweepstake|£120.00|
|Keyrings|£90.00|
|Obstacle Course|£771.50|
|Photos|£464.00|
|Raffle|£330.00|
|Christmas Raffle|£353.00|
|Christmas ActivityPacks|£48.00|
|Christmas Cards|£62.50|
|Cake Sale|£195.25|
|**Total**|**£2709.25**|



continued to support the setting with donations of cleaning products and other materials which is always very much appreciated. 

In summary, St Mary’s Pre-School has managed the 2020-2021 financial year better than was expected at this time last year, mostly as a result of grants from Buckinghamshire Council. The COVID pandemic has been challenging for all Early Years settings and St Mary’s Pre-School are fortunate in that reserves have not been needed in order to get through the period however the timing of financial reporting never provides a complete picture of the situation and it is known that there are still costs to be paid in 2021-2022 that relate to 20202021 and that pupil numbers are still recovering. Donations and fundraising will therefore, as ever, continue to be a vital source of income for the pre-school in the next financial year. 



## **UNAUDITED END OF YEAR ACCOUNTS FOR ST MARY'S PRE-SCHOOL 1st SEPTEMBER 2020 - 31st AUGUST 2021** 

|**INCOME**<br>Fees<br>Early Years Funding<br>Fundraising<br>Donations<br>Uniform<br>Grants<br>Other<br>**TOTAL INCOME**<br>**EXPENDITURE**<br>Gross Wages<br>Pension payments<br>Rent<br>Payroll Services<br>Milk<br>Insurance<br>Training<br>Committee expenses<br>OFSTED<br>Other staff related<br>Toys & Materials<br>Fundraising Expenses<br>Business Costs<br>Other<br>**TOTAL EXPENDITURE**<br>**Profit/Loss for period**<br>Current Account & Cash (End of year)<br>Reserves (End of year)|**Year Ending**<br>**31st Aug 2020**<br>£3,530.45<br>£63,881.68<br>£1,491.50<br>£1,518.40<br>-<br>£250.00<br>£109.00<br>**£70,781.03**<br>£55,528.42<br>£1,334.95<br>£5,790.00<br>£648.00<br>£291.46<br>-<br>£2,742.26<br>-<br>£50.00<br>-<br>£4,431.52<br>-<br>£1,524.27<br>-<br>**£72,340.88**<br>**(£1,559.85)**<br>£15,177.76<br>£21,509.66<br>**£36,687.42**|**Year Ending**<br>**31st Aug 2021**<br>£6,481.00<br>£57,337.60<br>£2,709.25<br>£1,481.50<br>£18.50<br>£18,000.00<br>-<br>**£86,027.85**<br>£70,425.60<br>£1,438.76<br>£5,470.00<br>£540.00<br>-<br>£888.45<br>£1,614.38<br>-<br>£50.00<br>£145.74<br>£620.85<br>£600.12<br>£313.58<br>-<br>**£82,107.48**<br>**£3,920.37**<br>£21,977.23<br>£6,799.47<br>£18,630.56<br>(£2,879.10)<br>**£40,607.79**<br>£3,920.37|
|---|---|---|





## **St Mary’s Pre-School** 

## **Annual General Meeting** 

**05/10/2021, 8pm** 

## **Business - Review of the year** 

The academic year of September 2020 to 2021 has been another challenging one for St Mary’s pre-school, due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In January 2021, while the schools were closed (to all except for key worker children), because of rising numbers of COVID-19 cases, the government made the decision to keep pre-schools open to all children. Mrs. Brooks and her team worked tirelessly to ensure that everyone was kept safe, but still able to benefit from and enjoy their preschool experience during this time. 

Thankfully, the start of the September 2021 academic year has seen restrictions eased and a return to some form of normality. 

## **Children and Staffing** 

We had 28 children on roll in September 2020 and there were 29 children that left the setting in July 2021 to go to primary school. 

The lockdown from January to March 2021 meant that there were restrictions on visitors into the setting and bubble sizes had to be kept to a maximum of 30 children. This meant that we were only able to take two new children in January 2021 and two in April 2021 (despite having a waiting list). This, together with the fact that we tend to see a two-year cycle (where the second year has a lower intake of children at the beginning of the academic year), has meant that we have started the 2021/22 academic year with 10 children. This is a much lower number than we are used to. 

We expect to have two more children start after half term, six will join us in January and a further two at Easter. We are in discussions with County and within our committee meetings about how to raise the profile of the pre-school to help boost numbers. We are also taking children slightly younger than normal and extending our hours to help with this. 

The lower numbers will have an impact on the government funding received, which is a concern. However, there is the opportunity to use this quieter time to do activities that are not normally possible with large numbers, like trips out to the local park or high street. There will also be more time for staff training. 

In terms of staffing, we started September 2020 with 8 members of staff. In July 2021 we sadly said goodbye to Miss Chapman. She started with the pre-school in 2019, while studying to become a qualified pre-school assistant and has provided 



invaluable support to the team, at a time when the pre-school was extremely busy. She has decided to relocate with her family and will be very much missed, but we wish her all the best in her future career. 

We also recently saw Mrs. Smith, the deputy pre-school leader, leave in September 2021 as she wished to pursue a career in the NHS. She started at the pre-school in 2018. She has been a real asset to children and staff and a wonderful help to Mrs. Brooks, assisting with the running of the pre-school. She will be missed, and we wish her the best in her future career. 

Miss Ingleby and Mrs. Mallett will temporarily step up into the deputy role, until the post has been recruited to. Mrs. Smith had previously been the deputy safeguarding officer. In her absence, Mrs. Brooks will continue her role as designated safeguarding officer, with the support of Mrs. Dunn (who is the committee designated safeguarding officer).  Mrs. Mallett has completed her Early Years Educator Level 3 training and now Mrs. Shapland is about to embark on her level 2 course. 

We currently have 6 members of staff and hope to recruit a new deputy preschool leader very soon. 

## **Hours** 

In September 2020 the government guidelines allowed larger bubbles (of up to 30 children), meaning that the pre-school could be considered one bubble and therefore had more flexibility, than it had in the previous academic year, with regards to the hours that could be offered. We were able to offer 20 hours per week initially and in the summer term we increased this to a total of 22 hours per week. 

From September 2021 we have continued to offer 22 hours per week, with plans to extend the hours, from January 2022 to 24 hours 45 minutes per week. 

## **Preschool Setting & Building** 

The preschool staff have continued to update and follow their guidelines throughout the September 2020/21 academic year, to keep the environment ‘COVID safe’. Thorough risk assessments continued to be completed by Mrs. Brooks, in collaboration with the staff and committee, in response to changes in restrictions. Thorough cleaning of the hall, equipment and toys continued to be paramount. As was good hand hygiene and an encouragement of social distancing between parents at drop off and pick up times. 

During most of the 2020/21 academic year, St Mary’s Hall was used exclusively by the preschool. This meant that the equipment could remain in place and did not need clearing away, which allowed more time for cleaning. Going forwards, into the 2021/22 academic year, the hall is now being used by the other groups, meaning that staff are having to set up put away on most days, which has an impact on how they use their time. 



## **Funding** 

Our fees are £6.50 per hour for those who do not receive government funding. 

We continued to receive the usual government funding, for children that were eligible, throughout the 2020/21 academic year. 

We were incredibly lucky to receive grants amounting to £18,000 due to loss of funds because of COVID-19. This was immensely helpful throughout the 2020/21 academic year will also help us going forwards. 

## **Fundraising** 

Despite the COVID-19 restrictions, we had some very successful fundraising events in the 2020/21 academic year, which were well supported by parents and carers. 

The children got creative making their own Christmas and thank you card designs to sell. We sold photographs of the children at Christmas and the end of the academic year. We had some very successful raffles (at Christmas and in the summer). We sold festive activity packs, which were a great way to keep little ones entertained in what was a very different ‘locked down Christmas’ for us all. 

At Easter, there were still restrictions about the numbers of people who could mix, so we were not able to run our family fun day. Instead, we ran an easter trail, which was advertised to the local community, as well as preschool parents. It raised money but also help to advertise St Mary’s pre-school and was enjoyed by all involved. The preschool also completed their traditional sponsored obstacle course. We got involved in the ‘Bags 2 schools’ scheme, allowing the preschool to raise money from the donation of unwanted clothes, shoes and accessories by preschool parents, carers and staff. We hope to do this regularly, advertising to the local community so they can also donate items. We invested in some teddy key rings, which we sold to leavers in the summer of 2021 and hope to sell at many future fundraising events! 

We have continued to encourage the use of easy fundraising, donation ink cartridges and monetary donations to the preschool. We also set up an amazon wish list to enable parents and carers to make specific donations of resources. 

We raised over £2,700 through fundraising and received just over £1,400 in monetary donations from parents, which has been incredibly helpful in supporting the running of the preschool and purchasing resources. 

Despite these successes, we were understandably limited with our fundraising potential, due to COVID-19 restrictions. Although the grants that we received have made up for our lost opportunities in fundraising, given our current low numbers of children, we will need to have a real focus on fundraising during the 2021/22 academic year. Now that there are fewer restrictions, we are hoping to be able to run some of our normal events, such as the Christmas wreath making 



and our family fun day. We have plans to re-establish the fundraising team to help with the planning and running of these events. 

## **Election** 

We are pleased that all our current members wish to stay on the committee for the 2021/22 academic year. We are also happy to have new members join the committee, to bring fresh ideas and a new perspective. 

I would like to thank all the committee members for their time and dedication to the setting and for the support they have given me in the role as the Chairperson, especially during another unusual and challenging year. We all bring different skills and experiences which enables the committee to run so effectively. 

Lastly and most importantly, I would like to say a huge thank you to Mrs. Brooks and the fantastic team of staff who nurture, support, and inspire the children every day in the setting. I have been so impressed by the way in which, despite the obvious stress that the last year will no doubt of caused, they have always remained professional and provided an outstanding level of care for the children. Thank you.