Trustees' annual report for Moss Side Village Playgroup for the period ending 31 March 2024. Review of the significant or main activities undertaken by the charity to further its charitable purposes for the public benefit. The Committee of Moss Side Village Playgroup Charity present their annual report and audited accounts for the year ended 31 March 2024 and confirm they comply with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011, the trust deed and the Charities SORP 2005.
The accounts have been submitted for you to review as part of this report. The charity receives funding from LCC (Lancashire County Council) for funded 2-, 3-, and 4-year-olds that attend the playgroup. Alongside this the charity organises fundraising events up to 3 times a year to raise funds to operate, such as a Halloween party, Christmas party and Easter bingo.
The structure of the nursery is as follows: • Committee Team • Nursery Manager • Deputy Nursery Manager • Early Years Practitioners.
What the setting provides
Moss Side Playgroup is a committee run non-profit organisation catering for children aged between 2 and 4. We also offer Breakfast and After School care for the children who attend Moss Side Primary School for children aged 4-11 years. The setting is registered to take up to 45 children on each session.
The playgroup is a pack away setting run from within the local community centre. There are now 2 separate classrooms, one for children aged 2-3 years and one for children aged 3-4 years, with the opportunity for mixed age groups during quieter sessions.
The nursery is now open for the following sessions, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday 9.00 am - 3.00 pm for nursery sessions, 7.30am – 9.00am for breakfast club Monday – Friday and 3.30pm – 6.00pm for after school club. Parents are able to use their funded sessions flexibly. Sessions cost £17.50 per 3-hour session and £35.00 for a full day. Moss side Playgroup currently employs 6 staff, four who hold a relevant Level 3 or above qualification, one Lv2 practitioner, one who is Early Years trained and an unqualified member of staff. Staff: child ratios are correctly adhered to at all times in compliance with Ofsted regulations.
The Finance Manager Jenna Dewhurst, is responsible for managing the payroll and all budgets and funding, she is also a qualified LV3 nursery nurse who is available for some regular supply work in the nursery and she is responsible for health and safety. Kershtine Webster, Nursery Manager has Early Years Teacher Status, she is the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO), the deputy Safeguarding Lead and the person responsible for behaviour management. Tess is the Deputy Manager, the deputy SENCO, the Designated Safeguarding Lead and the and the ENCO (Equality Named Coordinator) and the PANCO (Physical Activity and Nutrition coordinator). Keely is a LV2 nursery assistant and the PICO (Parental Involvement /coordinator. Michelle Murphy is an
unqualified, experienced member of staff who works in the breakfast and after school club and is responsible for Health and Safety. All practitioners can be identified on the parent‛s notice board in the reception area. The playgroup has 4 members on the committee, one being the chairperson. The committee members are Rebecca Wilson (Chairperson), Anthony Wilson (Treasurer), Julia Walsh (Secretary) and Kershtine Webster (Committee member, playgroup manager and nominated person to deal with OFSTED inspections).
Our Aims:
What the setting provides:
We follow the guiding principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS): Unique Child – Every child is a unique child who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self assured; Positive Relationships – Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships; Enabling Environments – Children learn and develop in enabling environments in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and; Learning and Development – Children learn and develop in different ways. The setting supports children In the Moment, using their interests to support their learning and development. The setting also implements certain aspects of the curiosity approach in order to encourage children to engage more with the environment and learning opportunities.
The classrooms are well organised and the resources are continually reviewed to support the interests and learning needs of the children. We offer an indoor and outdoor classroom to enable children to choose where and how they prefer to learn. Both the indoor and outdoor environment provide opportunities for children to explore a range of natural, open ended resource, develop their independence, decision making, problem solving and to develop all of their skills. There are writing, mathematical, creative and imaginative, physical, malleable and sensory opportunities throughout the environment. There is a separate dining area to promote healthy eating and support the development independence and appropriate social skills. All the practitioners have high expectations of the children and support them to become confident and independent learners who behave well and demonstrate kindness and empathy for each other.
How progress and development is monitored:
All children have a key persons and their role is to develop trusting, sensitive relationships with children and families to enable respectful sharing of information.
We have three groups in the nursery, the Little Explorers (2yrs), The Mini Discoverers (3yrs) and The Big Investigators (Pre-school). Planning for children’s learning is now In the Moment and practitioners are skilled in identifying suitable teaching moments where they can support children to develop and extend their skills and knowledge.
Tapestry, an online learning journal is also used to observe, assess and monitor children’s progress and this is a shared learning tool that parents can also use at home to record learning and special moments.
Over the child‛s first 3 weeks at the playgroup the child‛s key person gathers key information to form a baseline assessment along with information that has been shared initially. This provides a developmental starting point from which we can plan future learning opportunities. It also helps us
identify individual needs that the child may have. For all 2-year-olds, during the first six weeks in setting, their 2-year-old progress check is completed for the 3 prime areas of learning.
Progress is monitored continuously for all children in all of the seven areas of learning; (3 Prime Areas) Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Communication and Language, Physical Development, (4 Specific Areas) Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design. Any children who require additional support are identified and the procedures for supporting children with SEND are followed. Parents have the opportunity to discuss children’s progress in parents’ sessions in the spring term and for the pre-school children in the summer term. All children can approach their key persons daily for updates.
Special Educational Needs:
All children are supported to achieve their full potential following the procedures set out below:
Universal Support
-
All children have access to quality teaching and health services to meet their individual needs.
-
All key persons will observe children and track their progress to ensure they are meeting the expected milestones in all areas of their development.
-
Any concerns that have been identified will be discussed with parents and the necessary support put in place. Practitioners can access the SEND Toolkit for guidance and resources to support children.
Targeted Support
-
Partitioners will follow the graduated response whilst supporting children who are not meeting their milestones or have an identified additional need. All children identified as needing additional support will have a targeted learning plan in place. The SENCO will initiate a SEND support plan and work with parents to agree smart targets and strategies that are achievable. These targets will be reviewed half Termly.
-
All practitioners will follow the ‘Assess, Plan, Do and Review model by monitoring and reviewing the SEN support plan half Termly. All practitioners will focus on the Childs progress and the impact of the strategies and interventions used.
-
Children who are not making the expected progress will be referred to the appropriate professionals such as the G.P, Child Development Centre, and Educational Psychologist etc. The setting will also complete a RIST form to involve the area Inclusion Teacher, who provides support and guidance for the setting and for parents.
-
The setting may also use their Inclusion funding or EYPP funding to provide additional support/resources.
Early Years Specialist Support
-
If children continue to need additional support, the setting will continue to work with other professionals on set targets and strategies and follow the ‘assess, plan, do, review model’.
-
The setting SENCO will discuss with parents the need for an Educational Health and Care Plan.
-
Children’s progress will be reviewed Termly and the setting will also hold an annual review.
-
The SEN record will be updated regularly to record the provision and support for children with SEND.
Shared Learning:
Our setting recognises the importance of shared learning and the Tapestry APP enables us to do this on a daily basis. We also liaise half Termly with parents and parent’s sessions are held in the spring term to discuss children’s progress. Home link activities are set, if required, every term for children to do with their parents in the holiday periods. Parents are also welcome to make an appointment to see their key person at any time.Practitioners engage in high quality open-ended questions to gain the views of the children at our playgroup. Questions such as, ‘What do you think…‛ and ‘I wonder…‛ allow children to share their views on aspects of learning within the environment. Practitioners use positive tones and body language to encourage children‛s views. Children also have access to learning in the wider community, taking part in nature walks and shopping trips. External learning opportunities are also provided through visits from people from the local community into our setting. Such as leaders from Mosque, fire brigade, nurses, dentists etc.
Risk Assessments:
Annual risk assessments take place by Kershtine Webster (Committee member, playgroup manager and nominated person to deal with OFSTED) along with daily risk assessments completed by Michelle Murphy {person responsible for health and safety).
Future Plans:
The committee intend to continue their current strategies of maintaining the playgroups position in a competitive market by investing to provide high quality education for our children. Achieving high standards and supporting children and families is a constant aim and ensuring the quality of teaching and learning continues. The manager continues to review the individual needs of children and families who access the nursery provision and the quality of education provided
Regards, Rebecca Wilson (Chairperson) Kershtine Webster (Playgroup Manager, Committee member)