(Registered Charity No. 1133135) Annual Report and Financial Statements For year ended 31 August 2023
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Rainbow Preschool
Trustees’ Annual Report for the year 1 September 2021 to 31 August 2022
Reference and administration details
Address Methodist Church Spring Lane Colden Common Winchester SO21 1SB
Names of charity trustees
| Committee 20 Sept 2022 – 3 Oct 2023 |
Changes at AGM 3 Oct 2023 |
Current Committee 3 Oct 2023 - Current |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Chair | Victoria Hammond | RESIGNED | |
| Vice Chair | Kate Zurowski | RESIGNED | |
| Joint Chair | Ellie Ashton | ||
| Joint Chair | Irene Anderson | ||
| Secretary | Alexandra De Wet | RESIGNED | Kerri Crutchfield |
| Treasurer | Ben Beech – RESIGNED & replaced at a committee meeting on 09/01/2023 Cecilia Reid |
RESIGNED | Andy Hagell |
| Amanda Rowe | RESIGNED | Mutlu Mersin | |
| Katie Peden | RESIGNED | Marianna Nyalka | |
| Clio Barton | RESIGNED | Ben Radford | |
| Tracy Gilmour |
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Structure, governance and management
Rainbow Preschool is a registered charity (number 1133135), which has adopted the Pre-school Learning Alliance Model Pre-school Constitution (2011) within which it operates (adopted at EGM 8 March 2016). The preschool is an association consisting of Family members (parents or guardians of the children attending the preschool) and Affiliate members (individuals interested in supporting the aims of the preschool). Trustees (Officers and Committee members) are elected for one year at the Annual General Meeting held in June. Retiring Officers and Committee members are eligible for re-election unless they have already served on the Committee in any capacity for ten consecutive years. The preschool is a registered member of the Pre-school Learning Alliance and also with Ofsted.
Objectives and activities
The aims of the preschool are to enhance the development and education of children, primarily under statutory school age, by encouraging parents to understand and provide for the needs of their children through community groups. The preschool offers a safe, happy and stimulating environment, where children learn through play in a wide range of activities whilst fulfilling the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum. We acknowledge the right of parents to take responsibility for and to become involved in the activities of our group and we offer opportunities for all children, whatever their race, culture, religion, means or ability. We encourage the study of the needs of all children and their families and promote public interest in and recognition of such needs in our local area.
The preschool services the village of Colden Common, together with the local rural area in an effort to ensure that the public all have access and can benefit from the service provided within the preschool learning environment. The Trustees have considered the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit and by opening their doors to all local communities, feel they fulfil their requirements to demonstrate the services provided are for the benefit of the public.
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Achievements and performance
There were 39 children on role by the summer term and of these, 36 were in receipt of early years funding.
We had 8 members of staff working at Rainbows during this period. All staff members hold appropriate early years qualifications. Our Manager and Deputy Manager are qualified to Foundation Degree.
Yearly Overview
Both the Chair and the Manager presented their yearly reports for 2022-2023 at the AGM. These reports are included below.
Due to the Financial year finishing in September, the accounts for 2022-2023 have not yet been audited. The Treasurer’s report for 2021-2022 was presented at the AGM. The Treasurer’s report for 2022-2023 will be presented at next years AGM.
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Chair’s Annual Report 2022-2023
This year it has been wonderful to watch Rainbows move further again from the restrictions that have been in place the last few years. The Christmas show, Macmillan coffee morning, easter service and the picnic in the park to celebrate the coronation were all a success. I’m aware how much the parents enjoyed being able to come into the setting and proudly watch the performances and share time with their children. The trips to school in the second half of the year for the older children has continued the strong connection Rainbows has with Colden Common Primary school. I know these trips were enjoyed by children and staff alike and I’m sure played a big part in the recent smooth transition for children from Rainbows to school this year.
The variety of activities has continued this year both in and out of the setting. I know the allotment has once again been well enjoyed by all and the experiences with duck eggs, tadpoles and caterpillars will have made special memories for the children. A special thank you to Helen for always looking after these so well for the children. A variety of visitors has also been very well achieved and added to the experience the children had this year. The visiting animals and dance classes were an exciting addition to the days for all the children and we are thankful to all this years visitors for enriching the children’s experiences further.
We also need to thank Nelianne for her excellent session on wellbeing for the staff and Laura from Stokes studio for providing staff with an afternoon of pottery bringing out the creative side of the staff.
This year has presented many challenges both professionally and personally for many of the Rainbows team. However, as always, the staff stepped up and supported one another throughout which allowed Rainbows to continue its Outstanding provision to children and their families. They have all demonstrated their strength and commitment to provide the best care possible to the children which has been evident each time I have visited the setting. My favourite part of this role has been visiting the setting in working hours, watching the staff and children interact and engage in activities. It reminds me of the warmth and kindness of all the staff which allow children to feel safe and thrive during their time at Rainbows.
We are grateful to Jenny who stepped up to support the staff as temporary manager which occurred with minimal disruption to the setting and the children. She was a wonderful member of the team and we were lucky to have her for this time. We are also grateful for all the additional time, flexibility and effort put in by each and every staff member across this year to support one another and the setting.
The committee as well has stepped up and strongly supported the setting throughout and I am grateful for the support they given myself and the team. The breadth of knowledge and backgrounds has been invaluable and I am very grateful for the support they have shown. Ann-Marie as a supporter of the committee has also given a tremendous amount of hours, knowledge and support to the committee and staff which has been invaluable.
On a personal note, I am sad to have come to the end of my Rainbows journey. The staff at Rainbows nurtured my children in their time there allowing them to thrive and have a smooth transition to the journey to school. They are now well settled into their second and fourth years of school now and so the time has come for me to also move on. I have no doubt in Tracy’s ability to lead and support a new committee through the next year and I am certain Rainbows will continue to play a large and important role in the Colden Common community and the young families it supports.
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Victoria Hammond Rainbow Committee Chair October 2023
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Manager’s Annual Report 2022-2023
Our first event this year was our Harvest service including a Macmillan coffee morning in September. The children enjoyed sharing a few familiar songs to their family. Thank you to the parents for their donations to Winchester Night Shelter and for Rev Ruth for sharing a short address with the children.
During the Autumn term we acknowledged Diwali, Halloween, and Bonfire night as well as Remembrance.
Pudsey bear could be found in a variety of different areas around Rainbows in support of Children in Need. We coloured, painted and collaged pictures, large and small showing our wonderful fine and gross motor skills. Some of the children also came in with wonderful Children in Need outfits. Thank you all for your kind donations.
We joined in with Nursery Rhyme week, a world-wide initiative celebrating the importance of nursery rhymes in early childhood development. The children enjoyed singing a variety of rhymes whilst baking and creating crafts.
Mary and Jim brought their Christmas window display into Rainbows for the children to see this year. Mary came in daily and told the children the Christmas story which they really enjoyed, she also shared some star biscuits with them.
The Christmas Service went well. Once again, this year we performed a mixture of our old and new songs and acted out the Christmas story and the children were wonderful. The Methodist Church gifted each child with a lovely Christmas book, “Amazing days”.
We also had our Christmas party with entertainment from Moo Music and a surprise visit from Father Christmas. Many thanks go to the staff and John Archer for their contributions to a successful party.
On our Inset Day in January the team shared a wellbeing session in the morning and a creative pottery experience in the afternoon. We would like to thank Nelianne, for coming to run the morning session. It was a fantastic opportunity for the team to take some time out to think about what makes us feel good and how our positive emotions and character strengths can help us to achieve wellbeing at work. The afternoon gave us a chance to be creative with Laura, Stoke Studio we would like to thank her for her patience and for giving us a wonderful creative experience.
During the Spring term we led the children through an exciting Chinese New Year Celebration including a visit from two rabbits, we supported World Book Day, enjoyed celebrating Red Nose Day, planted a flower for Mother’s Day, as well as making pancakes for Shrove Tuesday. We also had a visit from Julie, Hampshire Healthy Hero’s workshop, talking about oral care. The children really enjoyed her visit especially cleaning the giant teeth.
At our Easter service we performed a selection of songs and the children looked wonderful wearing their Easter Bonnets. Thanks also go to Ruth for her participation once again.
After the Easter break, I was away from Rainbows for six weeks following surgery. We would like to say a big thank you to Jenny who covered my absence. I am sure you will agree she did a fantastic job, and we were delighted that she continued to help with some cover once I returned.
Walk with Wheels - it was great to see so many children (and parents) taking part in our Walk with Wheels week. We tried to stamp their passports appropriately each day. Walk with Wheels is an initiative designed to encourage active travel to
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and from preschool/school. We were very lucky to win their Early Years competition and we have recently received a lovely wellie boot stand as our prize. We celebrated the Kings coronation with a picnic at the park. The children received a lovely coronation medal.
We were very fortunate to be able to watch tadpoles changing into frogs again. We also welcomed five little ducklings to Rainbows. This was a lovely experience for the children and one that has now become an annual event. Thank you to Arthurs family for agreeing to have them and for sending over some videos and photos that we could share with the children on Facebook. Thank you so much to Helen for looking after the tadpoles and ducklings so well outside of Rainbow opening hours, they were in good hands.
We also watched ten hungry caterpillars change into beautiful butterflies. We also visited a family’s garden pond to see the very big fish.
The children really enjoyed Anna from Zoo Lab coming into visit us with a variety of different creatures twice this year, which was a real treat. Throughout the year we have also welcomed Boggie Mites, Diddy dance and Debutots into Rainbows and Yoga through cosmic kids. We also welcomed Karon with her two tortoises.
The children once again really enjoyed our allotment venture this year. We are always modifying our allotment to provide the best learning opportunities for our children. The allotment is proving a wonderful learning and play area for the children, and they really enjoy visiting it regularly.
Following last year’s success, we decided to have a Leavers Farewell once again this year. We repeated entertainment from Big Cat Jungle Party and a visit from Marucci’s ice cream van as it worked so well last year. We welcomed the parents to a short leaver’s presentation where the children received either a book bag or PE bag. This is also a very emotional time, but we know that the children are prepared and ready for their next step, school.
Unfortunately, we have had limited opportunities to attend Colden Common Primary school this year to use the hall for a weekly PE session, but we were delighted when they eventually started after Easter. These visits are very helpful for the children as they become familiar with the school and to recognise some teachers and reception staff. We were not able to visit the reception classroom as in previous years but hopefully, we will improve on this for next year fingers crossed.
We would like to thank four students from Kings school for choosing to come into Rainbows for the last week of term for their Work Experience.
Our fundraising this year included a jumble sale, a tombola at the Winter Fayre and Easter Market, a Nerf gun alley at the Common have a go event. The children each created a handprint which was then transformed by All My Own Work into wonderful keepsakes and Christmas gifts for their families. We also held a Bags2School collection post jumble sale. We arranged a Family Photo session that proved very popular again in September, with a percentage going to preschool as well as the photos being a lovely gift for you. We have also had another couple of visits from a photographer throughout the year. Our thanks go to the committee and staff for all their efforts in making these events a great success. We have purchased some great new equipment this year as well as receiving some lovely donations.
All staff have completed some essential courses throughout the year, Manual handling, and Food Hygiene. They have also completed a variety of other courses. These courses have given the staff an opportunity to gain knowledge and expertise enabling us to help and support the children in our care.
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This September we have enjoyed welcoming a lot of new families to Rainbows and hopefully some of the parents are here tonight, to hear all about what we have been up to and possibly join our committee!!
...... and finally, I would like to say an especially big thank you this year to our staff, committee and admin as without their support and commitment we wouldn’t have the fantastic Outstanding preschool we can offer today.
Tracy Gilmour
Manager
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Treasurer’s Annual Report – Sept 2021 - Aug 2022
This year the Preschool made a profit of £148.24, however, the Committee decided to pay two bonuses to the staff. A ‘Covid’ bonus of £10,000 plus pension contributions and an end of year bonus of £5,000 plus pension contributions was paid, divided pro-rata amongst the staff. The budget for these came out of this year’s profit and so without payment of bonuses the profit for the Preschool would have been in excess of £15,000 for 2021-2022.
This year the committee decided to transfer Rainbow Preschools’ bank account to a new bank due to extra charges HSBC were introducing. It was also identified that the preschool was not fully covered by the Financial Conduct Authority protection scheme of £85,000 per financial institution, so it was decided to also open a savings account. The committee decided to open a charity account with the Co-Operative Bank for the main Rainbow Preschool bank account and this open by Summer 2022 with parents paying fees into it from the beginning of the Autumn term 2022. The committee has not yet opened a savings account, though when they do so the preschool can expect a large return on the money banked there due to higher interest rates. Income from savings interest alone may be in the region of £1500-£2000 per year based on current interest rates, which will significantly contribute to the preschool’s running costs.
The costs of the preschool went up this year due to an increase in the National Living Wage. This was calculated to have a significant impact on the preschool’s outgoings and so it was decided that the L3 grades would receive a larger percentage pay rise than the Manager and Deputy Manager. This was required to ensure the L3 grades were sufficiently above the National Living Wage to ensure the grades below L3 were also above the National Living Wage. As the Manager and Deputy Manager grades did not receive quite such a large pay rise it was decided these grades would receive a greater weighting of the end of year bonus to make up for this difference going forwards. During 2022-2023 this bonus weighting is planned to be formalised in a ‘End of Year bonus scheme’ to ensure it is applied correctly by future Treasurers.
For 2022-2023 the committee needs to bear in mind that high inflation is going to result in increased costs for the preschool. Consideration needs to be given to how rising costs can be balanced against funding if this does not also rise sufficiently. Luckily the preschool is in a very secure financial position and would be able to shoulder small losses for a few years if needed. However, going forwards it would be prudent to review income and outgoings regularly as small changes (e.g. small fee increases) carried out early over a long period of time will be easier to manage than larger changes made later if profitability becomes an issue.
Capital at the end of the year stands at £21,919.37 in the Co-Op charity account and £72,431.92 in the HSBC business account, totalling at £94,351.29.
The accounts for 2021-2022 are being audited by Juliet Acklam.
Ben Beech Treasurer
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Signed accounts ncome xpenses Overview As At 18 October 2022 ccount Det nin osin I Petty Cash 31541366 HSBC- Current Accoun 31541374 HSBC- Savings (Reserv 67249503 Cooperative Bank £26.Ix) 26.1%) £59,042.97 £35,160.08 £0.00 £72,431.67 £o.c £21,919.62 TOTAL IN BANK REQUIRED RESERVE FUNDS AVAIL4BLE £94,377.29 £35.(M)O.OQ £59.377.29 This Year's Profit / Loss £148.24 certi (J £%loZIL023 . Page 11
GDPR
Gifts
HCC
HMRC- NI
£0.
£o.(K)
£1,744.94
£18.(1)
£o.(rfJ
£109.92
£1.322.82
£1.952.LKJ
£218.10
£308.30
HMRC- Tax
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Payroll
Pension- Employee
Pension- Employer
Preschool
£140.60
£o.c
£o.Tr)
£738.31
£0.
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£689.59
£517.22
£8.75
£2,189.70
£381.19
£uo.
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£1.550.CKJ
£42.30
£34,916.59
£91.19
E166.50
£5.83
£679.42
£o.c
£241.66
E181.26
£0.
Rent
Stsff Welfare
Supervision Seuetary
Tennis
,691.90
£223.25
£o.(N)
£o.c
£2.430.C(I
£o.cty)
£0.
EO.C
É80.C
EO.(k)
£34,298.50
£o.th)
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Travel
£o.ctyJ
£0.00
£24,418.02
£0.00
EXPENSESTOTAS E30.575.63
Wage5
Website
£45.341.16
£47.887.18
TERM PROFIT / LOSS
£9.016.85 -£6,913.05
-£1,955.56
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Declaration
The Trustees report has been approved by the Management committee and signed on their behalf by
Victoria Hammond - Chair
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