2021-08-31-accounts

Trustees’ annual report (including Directors’ report) for the period

From: Period start date - 1[st ] September 2020 To: Period end date - 31[st ] August 2021

Charity name: Caterpillars Pre-school

Charity registration number: 1137958

Company number: 07287209

Objectives and activities

	SORP referenc e
Summary of the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document	Para 1.17	The objectives of both Caterpillars Pre-schools is 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 and by:- • Offering appropriate play, education and care facilities and training courses, together with the right of parents to take responsibility for and to become involved in the activities of such groups, ensuring that they offer opportunities for all children whatever their race, culture, religion, means or ability; • Encouraging the study of the needs of such children and their families and promoting public interest in the recognition of such needs; • Instigating, adhering to and furthering the aims and objects of the Early Years Alliance.
Summary of the main activities in relation to those purposes for the public benefit, in particular, the activities, projects or services identified in the accounts.	Para 1.17 and 1.19	The Ofsted inspections in October 2014 for the Birch Setting and in January 2020 for the Marks Tey setting, remain the most recent inspections. At these times, both settings achieved an Outstanding rating. For Birch this was the 2ndtime and for Marks Tey, it was the 3rdOutstanding rating. Over what was a particularly difficult reporting period, due to ongoing covid restrictions, all staff remained incredibly committed, hardworking and innovative to reflect and maintain these high standards and strive to improve on these achievements. The full OFSTED reports are available to view on our website (Marks Tey Report – EY422628 & Birch - EY422633). These independent reports continue to demonstrate how our core activities continue to meet our main objectives as detailed above. Staff work extremely hard to ensure that they keep the key comments from the reports at the forefront when planning activities for the year. These included;

Marks Tey ● those children who learn best from being outdoors are able to do so. ● Staff observe children as they play and engage them in exciting and purposeful play. Children's individual needs are at the heart of everything staff do. Children respond positively to the high expectations of staff and make rapid progress in all the preschool management team monitors the quality of the provision exceptionally well. They are highly effective in driving improvement. Staff are extremely motivated, enthusiastic and demonstrate a strong commitment towards maintaining excellence in all areas. ● Staff provide a superb range of activities, both indoors and outside, that promotes all areas of learning. They give thorough attention to planning for outdoors. ● Children's language and communication skills are given high priority. Staff skilfully talk with children and challenge their thinking. They engage children in conversation, actively listen to what children have to say and skilfully extend and develop their vocabulary. ● Children feel extremely safe in this exceptionally warm and welcoming pre-school. They develop incredibly secure emotional attachments to their key person and other staff. ● Partnerships with parents are extremely friendly and trusting. Parents are actively encouraged to remain involved in their child's learning, both in the pre-school setting and at home. The key-person system is implemented exceptionally well, to help ensure that each child's individual care and learning needs are precisely met. Birch ● Children consistently make exceptionally good progress because extremely high quality of teaching ensures that they have engaging, stimulating and imaginative learning opportunities at all times, both indoors and outside, as they play, investigate and explore. ● Children develop firm, meaningful attachments to their Keyperson and the other adults caring for them, enabling them to play and learn confidently, with increasing independence. The highly effective partnerships with parents are recognised as key to the development of the children’s emotional well-being. ● All children are safe and free from harm as all staff have a secure understanding of safeguarding and child protection matters. They work tirelessly and efficiently as a team to create a safe, complete child-centred environment in which children thrive and flourish.

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		All of these statements remain a key driver at Caterpillars and are at the forefront of the planning and development of activities for the children attending our settings.
Statement confirming whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit	Para 1.18	Both in the planning of activities and decision making at our committee meetings we have full regard to the Charities Commission’s Guidance on public benefit.

Additional information (optional)

You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

	SORP reference
Policy on grant making	Para 1.38	N/A
Policy on social investment including program related investment	Para 1.38	N/A
Contribution made by volunteers Other	Para 1.38	Caterpillars has always relied on a strong and committed committee of volunteers who help support the running of the Pre-schools through both the management committee and in normal years, through the organisation of a programme of fundraising events. The contribution of volunteers during this financial year to fundraising activities was minimal due to the restrictions in place due as a result of the covid 19 pandemic. However, throughout the lockdown periods and ongoing restrictions, the Pre-schools themselves would not have continued to succeed without the support of the volunteer committee members who worked tirelessly with the staff to ensure they could continue to support the families and friends of the children who attend the Pre-schools through these challenging times.

Achievements and performance

Summary of the main achievements	Summary of the main achievements
	Summary of the main achievements	Para 1.20		Settings: Marks Tey

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of the charity, identifying the difference the charity’s work has made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider benefits to society as a whole.	of the charity, identifying the difference the charity’s work has made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider benefits to society as a whole.
	of the charity, identifying the difference the charity’s work has made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider benefits to society as a whole.		Through another unprecedented year with the ongoing restrictions due to the Covid 19 pandemic, the setting was very relieved to be able to stay open for the full year despite the national lockdown in January 2021. Although some parents chose to keep their children off during this period the setting continued to operate as normally as possible to maintain as much normality as possible for those children attending. . The staff’s continuing ability to adapt, including making the best use of zoom to maintain connectivity with both families and outside agencies has been a significant achievement over this year. It has provided a lifeline to connect to parents as well as enable staff to continue to support all children both in the setting and at home. This was especially important for those children receiving speech therapy as it meant this could happen in the setting. A really positive outcome of this was that staff could actually learn what happens at a speech therapy appointments and to understand the role better. As the year progressed and all children returned, by the summer the children were really enjoying all the outside activities especially using the field and joining in with sports day. Some activities that have been run over the year are ; Chinese New Year Healthy Eating Week Developing Independence World Book Day Oral health Birch* All staff returned from furlough in September 2020. All the new children and parents accepted the changes required to enable the continued safe sharing of the site with the primary school to comply with the covid restrictions and social distancing requirements that remained in force. Like Marks Tey, in January 2021 when Lockdown 3 was instigated, some families decided to keep their children at home until March although the number of children attending increased week on week as parents confidence in the situation and the measures that had been put in place to protect children and staff increased. For those children who remained at home, staff maintained contact with parents and children through emails.

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One key purchase was a worry monster for children to use to support their emotional development. This has continued to prove popular with the children enabling them to share their concerns through writing/drawing their worries and feeding it to the worry monster. The setting was fortunate to obtain another outdoor mud kitchen for free which has been the most popular resource throughout the year. Staff continue to prepare for the expected Ofsted inspection. Training Staff have continued to engage in developing their own practice including using a range of online webinars, training provided via Zoom, Teams as well as using Educare and in house training events. All staff completed their paediatric first aid in July 2020 which included 1 day face to face. Transition arrangements At the end of the summer term, 20 children moved up to their new primary schools. Staff at Marks Tey were still able to visit Lakelands and St Andrews schools to assist with the transitions . Transitions were put in place in the summer term. Although staff we were unable to visit schools, information was shared with them. Children who were due to join Birch Primary School went on daily walks around to the reception area which proved very popular. The majority of our children left in July with good levels of development. External services required for some children were unfortunately unavailable due to restrictions, however by the staff working closely with parents, we delivered individual programmes to support learning needs. Priorities for improvement to the settings: Discussions with a local primary school to potentially move to buildings on the school site are at an early stage. This could be an exciting opportunity for Caterpillars Marks Tey as this could offer the Preschool a permanent home.

Fundraising

Fundraising has been hampered by the Covid 19 pandemic, however the settings have been very fortunate to receive two £100 donations from parents at each setting towards new resources. At Birch this was used to purchase gym rope, sports equipment, tool box and tools.

General

Waiting lists at both settings remain strong ensuring the preschools ongoing sustainability. All Staff have been working to a revised statutory curriculum from Sept 2021.

Additional information (optional)

You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

Achievements against objectives set	Para 1.41
Performance of fundraising activities against objectives set	Para 1.41
Investment performance against objectives	Para 1.41
Other

Financial review

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Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the period	Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the period
	Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the period	Para 1.21	Wages and training remain the biggest area of expense for Caterpillars. Whilst the numbers at both settings remain strong, the pressure to balance income against expenses becomes more challenging year on year against a backdrop of substantial minimum wage rises and increases to pension contributions set against small increases, in the government funding levels. Despite these ongoing challenges, Caterpillars remains a strong brand with great staff and good support from Parents and Carers, this is reflected in well attended events that raise much needed funds for various items and projects at the sites. The account balances as at 31stAugust 2021 were as follows; Birch Community (current account – fundraising) - £2,037.84 Marks Tey Community (Main - current account) - £19,720.42 Birch Deposit account (Reserve for both settings)- £28,569.72 Marks Tey Deposit account (Savings for both settings) - £24,182.77Total across all accounts as at 31stAugust 2021 - £74,510.75

Statement explaining the policy for holding reserves stating why they are held	Para 1.22	The charity holds three months running costs in a separate account as a contingency for redundancy and other liabilities in the event of closure.
Amount of reserves held	Para 1.22	Reserves as at 31/8/2021 - £28,569.72
Reasons for holding zero reserves	Para 1.22
Details of fund materially in deficit	Para 1.24

Explanation of any uncertainties about the charity continuing as a going concern	Explanation of any uncertainties about the charity continuing as a going concern
	Explanation of any uncertainties about the charity continuing as a going concern	Para 1.23

Additional information (optional)

You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

The charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising)	Para 1.47	The majority of income comes from government funded places, with a smaller percentage from direct fees (non-funded hours) and uniform sales.
Investment policy and objectives including any social investment policy adopted	Para 1.46	N/A

A description of the principal risks facing the charity
	Para 1.46	The current chairperson is due to step down in October 2021 so the need to ensure the smooth transition to the new chair to enable the continued running of the pre-schools during still challenging times is essential.

Structure, governance and management

Description of charity’s trusts:
Type of governing document: for example, trust deed, memorandum and articles of association etc	Para 1.25	1.25 Articles and Memorandum of Association
How is the charity constituted?	Para 1.25	The charity is registered as a limited company with effect from 1stNovember 2010

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	7	7
for example limited company, unincorporated association, CIO
Trustee selection methods including details of any constitutional provisions e.g. election to post or name of any person or body entitled to appoint one or more trustees	Para 1.25	Election at the Annual General Meeting. The charity is committed to engaging a diverse committee of trustees which reflects the society in which we operate.

Additional information (optional)

You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

Policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees	Para 1.51	We have a policy and for the induction of trustees and volunteers.
The charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works	Para 1.51
Relationship with any related parties	Para 1.51
Other

Reference and administrative details

Charity name	Caterpillars Pre-school
Other name the charity uses
Registered charity number	1137958
Charity’s principal address	Caterpillars Pre-school, St Andrews Church Hall, Church Lane, Marks Tey, Colchester, Essex, CO6 1LW

Names of the charity trustee who manage the Charity

Trustee Name	Office (if any)	Dates acted if not	Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (if any)
Matthew Doonan	Chair	September 2020- November 2020	Vote of members at AGM
Cerise Upham	Chair	November 2020-August 2021	Vote of members at AGM
	Treasurer	September 2020 – November 2021	Vote of members at AGM
	Treasurer	November 2020 – August 2021	Vote of members at AGM
Amber Pullen		November 2020 – August 2021	Vote of members at AGM
Kirsty Kemp		November 2020 – August 2021	Vote of members at AGM
Rev K Moore		September 2020 – August 2021	Vote of members at AGM

Corporate trustees – names of the directors at the date the report was approved

Director name
Amber Pullen	Chairperson
Alex Brenig-Jones	Treasurer
Sarah Lawrence	Secretary
Christina Brenig-Jones	Trustee

Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity

Trustee name	Dates acted if not for whole year
N/A

Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others

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Description of the assets held in this

N/A

capacity

Name and objects of the charity on N/A whose behalf the assets are held and how this falls within the custodian charity’s objects

Details of arrangements for safe

N/A

custody and segregation of such assets from the charity’s own assets

Additional information (optional)

Names and addresses of advisers (optional information)

Type of adviser Name Address

	Accountants	Axis Accounting	4a Lodge Court, Lodge Park, Langham, Colchester CO4 5NE
	Banker	HSBC	26 High Street, Colchester, Essex, CO1 1DQ

Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (optional information)

Becky Brenchley – Pre-school Manager - Marks Tey

Chrystal Clark – Pre-school Manager - Birch

Exemptions from disclosure

Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details

Other optional information

Declarations

The company has taken advantage of the small companies’ exemption in preparing the report above.

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report (including directors’ report) above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees/directors

----- Start of picture text -----
Signature(s)
Amber Pullen
Full name(s) Sarah Lawrence
Position (for example Pre-school Administrator & Chair
Secretary, Chair, etc) Secretary
Date
27 [th] May 2022
----- End of picture text -----

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Registered number: 07287209

CATERPILLARS PRE-SCHOOL UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021

Axis Accounting & Bookkeeping Ltd

4a Lodge Court Lodge Lane Langham Colchester CO4 5NE

Caterpillars Pre-School Unaudited Financial Statements For The Year Ended 31 August 2021

Contents

	Page
Company Information	1
Profit and Loss Account	2
Balance Sheet	3
The following pages do not form part of the statutory accounts:
Trading Profit and Loss Account	4—5

Caterpillars Pre-School Company Information For The Year Ended 31 August 2021

Directors	Mrs Sarah Powell
	Reverend Catherine Moore
	Ms Cherise Upham
	Ms Kirsty Kemp
	Ms Rachel Marsh
	Ms Amber Pullen
	Mr Matthew Doonan
Company Number	07287209
Registered Office	St Andrews Church Hall Church Lane
	Marks Tey
	Colchester
	Essex
	CO6 1LW
Accountants	Axis Accounting & Bookkeeping Ltd
	4a Lodge Court Lodge Lane
	Langham
	Colchester
	CO4 5NE

Page 1

Caterpillars Pre-School Profit and Loss Account For The Year Ended 31 August 2021

TURNOVER Other income Cost of raw materials and consumables Staff costs Depreciation and other amounts written off assets Other charges NET PROFIT/(LOSS)	2021 £ 116,156 3,265 (3,721) (99,160) (674) (11,489) 4,377	2020 £ 101,998 5,649 (3,921) (92,695) (674) (12,307)
		(1,950)

Page 2

Caterpillars Pre-School Balance Sheet As at 31 August 2021

Fixed assets Current assets Prepayments and accrued income Creditors: Amounts Falling Due Within One Year NET CURRENT ASSETS TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES NET ASSETS CAPITAL AND RESERVES Notes	2021 £ - 74,504 (126) (375)	2020 £ 674 69,588 (360) (276)
	74,003	68,952
	74,003	69,626
	74,003	69,626
	74,003	69,626

1. Average Number of Employees

Average number of employees, including directors, during the year was as follows: 10 (2020: 10)

2. General Information

Caterpillars Pre-School is a private company, limited by shares, incorporated in England & Wales, registered number 07287209. The registered office is St Andrews Church Hall Church Lane, Marks Tey, Colchester, Essex, CO6 1LW.

For the year ending 31 August 2021 the company was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

Directors' responsibilities:

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit in accordance with section 476 of the Companies Act 2006.

The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts.

These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the micro-entity provisions.

On behalf of the board

Date

Page 3

Caterpillars Pre-School Trading Profit and Loss Account For The Year Ended 31 August 2021

TURNOVER Fee income Funding Fundraising Milk reimbursement Uniform and book bags OTHER INCOME Other operating income Interest receivable and similar income COST OF RAW MATERIALS AND CONSUMABLES Milk costs Resources Uniform and book bag costs Snacks STAFF COSTS Cost of sales: Wages and salaries Administration: Employers NI Employers pensions - defined contributions scheme Staff training DEPRECIATION AND OTHER AMOUNTS WRITTEN OFF ASSETS Depreciation OTHER CHARGES Other direct costs: Other direct costs Premises expenses: Rent Repairs and maintenance Cleaning	2021 £ £ 15,304 99,703 100 301 748 116,156 3,260 5 3,265 119,421 376 2,194 1,096 55 (3,721) 95,037 1,642 1,665 816 4,123 (99,160) 674 (674) - 5,253 - 615 5,868	2021 £ £ 15,304 99,703 100 301 748 116,156 3,260 5 3,265 119,421 376 2,194 1,096 55 (3,721) 95,037 1,642 1,665 816 4,123 (99,160) 674 (674) - 5,253 - 615 5,868	2020 £ £ 12,810 88,318 255 320 295 101,998 5,560 89 5,649 107,647 287 2,172 905 557 (3,921) 89,947 - 1,463 1,285 2,748 (92,695) 674 (674) 59 4,128 6 128 4,262 ...CONTINUED
	3,260 5		5,560 89
	376 2,194 1,096 55		287 2,172 905 557
		119,421 (3,721) (99,160) (674)
	95,037 1,642 1,665 816		89,947 - 1,463 1,285
	4,123		2,748
	674 - 5,253 - 615		674 59 4,128 6 128
	5,868		4,262

Page 4

Caterpillars Pre-School Trading Profit and Loss Account (continued) For The Year Ended 31 August 2021

General administration costs: Computer software, consumables and maintenance Insurance Printing, postage and stationery Postage Advertising and marketing costs Telecommunications and data costs Accountancy fees Legal fees Subscriptions Sundry expenses Gifts Equipment NET PROFIT/(LOSS)	120 781 1,135 12 15 607 1,213 35 495 926 282 -	(11,489)	142 724 876 2 - 267 1,107 1,848 533 1,517 30 940	(12,307)
	5,621		7,986
		4,377		(1,950)

Page 5

CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Iiidei)eiidLJllt Exaininer s Rci)orl Roport to th trustao$1 members of CATERPILLARS PRE SCHOOL (ESSEX) LIMITED On accounts for th• year •nd 311812021 Charity no (If any) 1137958 Sot out on pages I report to the trustees on rny examinatbon of the accounts of the above charity (Ihe Trust") for the year ended 3110812021. Responslbllities and bas1$ of report As the charitys trustees. you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charitres Act 2011 (Ihe A¢). I report in respe( of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under sedion 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination. I have followed all the ap￿1¢able Directi¢)ns given by the Charity Commisston under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. Independent ￿he charrty's gross income exceeded £250,000 and l am qualif￿1 to examinerfs statement undertake the examination by being a qualffied member of ICAEW. I have completed my examination. I confirni that no material matters have come lo my attention in CA)nnection with the examination (other than that disclosed below ") which gives me cause to believe that in, any material the accounting records ￿re not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements conceming the fO￿n and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts arKI Reports) Regulations 21x18 other than any requirement that the accourrts give a Irue and fairf view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no concems and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper urKlerstarKling of the account8 to be reached. . Re8se delete the wvds in the brackets rfthey do 8ppIy. Slgned: 1311012021 Nam8: KAREN BARTLE Relevant prof•sslonal quallfiutlonls) or body (rfany): ICAEW IER Oct 2018

Address: 4A LODGE COURT, LODGE PARK, LODGE LANE LANGHAM. C04 SNE Seclioii B Disclosure Only complete rf the examiner needs to highlight material matters of conL%m (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners). Glvo here brlef detall8 of any ttom8 that tho oxamlner w18hes to dl•clos•. IER Oct 2018