Chair’s Annual Report
Laurel Farm Steiner Kindergarten 17 Carlingcott Bath BA2 8AN
Charity Number: 1163992
Trustees: Rebecka Mau (Chair), Will Harries (Treasurer), Anne-Marie Owen (Secretary), Helena Miscioscia (Marketing & Fundraising)
Structure
Laurel Farm Steiner Kindergarten (LFSK) operates as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) with a board of trustees. LFSK is an early years setting for children aged between 2.5 - 6. It is managed by a board of trustees and in addition employs a Teacher, and a Teaching Assistant, Administrator and Advisory Teacher. Trustees are recruited through a nomination process at one of the 6-8 weekly trustee meetings.
Activities and Objectives
Laurel Farm Kindergarten addresses all the seven areas of learning and development in accordance with the EYFS.
Three of these are prime areas:
1) Communication and Language
2) Physical Development
3) Personal, Social and Emotional Development
In addition, we support four specific areas:
1) Literacy
2) Mathematics
3) Understanding the World
4) Expressive Arts and Design
Laurel Farm Kindergarten, 17 Carlingcott, Peasedown St John, Bath, BA2 8AN Charity Reg. No. 1163992 on 15th October 2015
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We seek to take the whole needs of the child into account: physical, social, academic, emotional and spiritual . The day and week have a natural rhythm and use repetition to deepen a feeling of security. Activities include puppet plays and story-telling, creative craft, cooking, baking, sewing, building and making. We are unique in that we observe and honour the changing seasons and the life cycle of the natural world. We welcome and celebrate the gifts that nature brings us and therefore we hold festivals and gatherings throughout the year as either a family event or a kindergarten event.
Financial Review
Laurel Farm Kindergarten started the academic year on a very positive footing, with a much better bank balance than the previous year, and a number of very generous donations and solid fundraising over the autumn and winter months. We were able to commit more funds to staff training, and had a larger number of children signing up at the start of the year, and over winter, than the previous year.
Unfortunately, the coronavirus situation hit us in March, and severely impacted us not only as a community but also as a business.
New parents were more hesitant to sign their children up due to the unstable situation, and we also had to stop the Greensprouts sessions from the March lockdown through to the end of the academic year and beyond. While Greensprouts doesn’t generate much income in and of itself, it is an important way in which new families are introduced to the setting, and so also negatively impacted our income for the year due to having less children on the roll.
Despite a reduction in rent and the furlough scheme over the lockdown itself, costs as a whole increased by around 15% above the previous year in part because we needed to spend more time on regular and thorough cleaning, hence we paid staff for longer hours and paid for additional cleaning products.
Because of the pandemic we were not able to run a Summer Fair or Advent Fair which are the main community fundraising events.
All of this has obviously lead to a drop in our income, with total profits down by almost 50% compared to the end of the previous year.
On a positive note, we did create the Friends’ of Laurel Farm newspaper which will be published termly and generates regular income, and organised an Advent raffle and a book sale, all of which helped us through the year.
By the end of the year we had begun looking into applying for a Coronavirus bounce-back loan, and at the grants available. A grant or loan will enable Laurel Farm Kindergarten to weather the COVID-19 restrictions until numbers of children attending are able to increase, which we will be able to do effectively once the situation is more stable.
Achievements and Performance
- Change in session times: From September we have offered Kindergarten sessions Monday until Thursday between 9.30am and 2.30pm. Though it is currently unavailable, there is the option for additional afternoon sessions if there is enough demand.
Laurel Farm Kindergarten, 17 Carlingcott, Peasedown St John, Bath, BA2 8AN
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The Kindergarten’s attendance is stable but there are still spaces available which will need to be filled to be financially viable.
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Maintaining Ofsted ready. We are still upholding our Outstanding from 2014 inspections.
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We are maintaining our marketing strategies and efforts, and our increased presence on social media. Claude posts photos of activities regularly.
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Open afternoons are held regularly to attract new families. They needed to be put on hold from March until September because of Covid restrictions.
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Covid-19: Due to the pandemic all Early Years settings were ordered to close by the government in March. Settings were given the option to open again for the second part of the summer term but the board of Trustees made the decision to open again in September after careful consideration of risks and benefits.
To ensure that the setting can operate safely a range of protective measures have been put in place according to government guidelines and communicated to parents.
The Trustees and Lead Teacher have written a detailed Covid risk assessment, infection prevention and control document and detailed cleaning schedule.
To accommodate social distancing requirements and a smoother transition from drop off to play, the sessions start and end outdoors in a new enclosed play space. After fundraising we were able to buy a new timber shelter for this area.
The children spend a large part of their day outdoors where transmission of the virus is less likely. The playroom has been adapted to meet the recommended requirements.
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The Parent and Child group Greensprouts needed to be put on hold from the first lockdown in March. It is likely to start up again outdoors in the spring term. Several families have already expressed their interest.
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Claude has planned the year full of community events to celebrate the festivals and create and maintain that community feel for which Laurel Farm Kindergarten is known as much as possible. We have had a community day at the start of the autumn term to get the Magic Glade and the vegetable patch ready for the start off the year. The children have celebrated Michaelmas. Most recently the children have celebrated Martinmas with a lantern walk and had an advent spiral outdoors.
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Continuous fundraising and marketing is needed to keep the Kindergarten running and to build the reserves we need to be able to be a thriving community. We are looking at the possibility of creating an administrator-manager post once this is financially viable. For now, we are in the process of establishing a strong Board of Trustees which includes a Marketing & Fundraising Trustee and Business Strategy Trustee. I will be available as the Chair of Trustees until the end of the spring term.
Rebecka Mau
Chair of Trustees LFSK
Laurel Farm Kindergarten, 17 Carlingcott, Peasedown St John, Bath, BA2 8AN
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LAUREL FARM STEINER KINDERGARTEN
Charity number: 1163992
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020
LAUREL FARM STEINER KINDERGARTEN
CONTENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020
| Page | |
|---|---|
| Statement of Financial Activities | 1 |
| Balance Sheet | 2 |
| Notes to the Financial Statements | 3 - 4 |
| Independent Examiners Report | 5 |
LAUREL FARM STEINER KINDERGARTEN
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020
| Note Incoming resources Donations Charitable activities 2 Total incoming resources Resources expended Charitable activities 3 Total resources expended Net incoming resources Funds at 1 September 2019 Funds at 31 August 2020 |
2020 Total £ 3,967 41,509 45,477 44,032 44,032 1,444 3,157 4,601 |
2019 Total £ 2,073 39,139 |
|---|---|---|
| 41,212 36,352 |
||
| 36,352 | ||
| 4,860 (1,703) |
||
| 3,157 |
Notes on pages 3 to 4 form part of these financial statements
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LAUREL FARM STEINER KINDERGARTEN
BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 AUGUST 2020
| Note Current Assets Cash at bank and in hand Current Liabilities Creditors 5 Net current assets Funds Unrestricted funds |
2020 Total £ 6,745 6,745 2,144 2,144 4,601 4,601 4,601 |
2019 Total £ 5,538 |
|---|---|---|
| 5,538 2,381 |
||
| 2,381 | ||
| 3,157 | ||
| 3,157 | ||
| 3,157 |
The trustees declare that they have approved the accounts above.
Signed Date
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LAUREL FARM STEINER KINDERGARTEN
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020
1. Accounting Policies
Basis of the preparation of the accounts
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement on Recommended Practise applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015). (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Rebulic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.
Cash flow statement
The directors have taken advantage of the exemption in Financial Reporting Standard 1 (revised) from including a cash flow statement in the financial statements on the grounds that the company is small.
Income
Income from donations and grants, including capital grants, is included in incoming resources when these are receivable, except as follows:
When donors specify that donations and grants given to the charity must be used in future accounting periods, the income is deferred until those periods.
When donors impose conditions, which have to be fulfilled before the charity becomes entitled to use such income, the income is deferred and not included in incoming resources until the pre-conditions have been met.
When donors specify that donations and grants, including capital grants, are for particular restricted purposes, which do not amount to pre-conditions regarding entitlement, this income is included in the incoming resources of restricted funds when receivable.
Expenditure
Expenditure on projects is treated as direct charitable expenditure. All expenditure is unrestricted.
Going concern
These accounts have been prepared on a going concern basis.
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LAUREL FARM STEINER KINDERGARTEN
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020
| 2. Incoming resources from charitable activities Funding Fees 3. Costs of charitable activities Salaries Advertising Professional fees Dues and subscriptions Food, supplies, etc Insurances Printing, postage and stationery Rent or lease of buildings Telephone Training Sundry expense |
2020 £ 27,412 14,097 |
2019 £ 25,307 13,832 |
|---|---|---|
| 41,509 | 39,139 | |
| 2020 £ 30,158 19 263 404 1,153 437 525 8,306 30 1,831 906 |
2019 £ 23,177 109 317 404 1,219 439 360 9,828 - 225 276 |
|
| 44,032 | 36,354 |
4. Staff
An average of 4 (2019:3) staff were employed during the year.
No employee earned over £60,000 during the year.
| 5. Creditors Other creditors and accruals |
2020 2019 £ £ 2,144 2,381 2,144 2,381 |
|---|---|
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LAUREL FARM STEINER KINDERGARTEN
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2020
I report on the accounts of Laurel Farm Steiner Kindergarten for the year ended 31 August 2020 which are set out on pages 1 to 4.
Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner
The Charity’s Trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The Charity’s Trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year (under section 144 (2) of the Charities Act 2011 (The Act) but that an independent examination is needed.
It is my responsibility to:
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Examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act,
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To follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners (under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act, and
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To state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of independent examiner’s Statement
My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the Charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes considerations of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts.
Independent examiner’s statement
In the course of my examination, no material matters have come to my attention which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
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the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or
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the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or
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the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of the accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair' view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.
I 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 understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Shelley-Marie Rudling FMAAT AATQB for and on behalf of:
Community360 Winsley’s House, High Street, Colchester, Essex Date 13/03/2023
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