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2022-08-31-accounts

Little Saints Pre-School CIO

Trustees Annual Report and Financial Statement September 2021 - August 2022

Charity No: 1174144

Little Saints Trustees Annual Report - September 2021 - August 2022

Contents Page
Reference and Administrative Information 3
Structure, Management and Governance 4
Charity Aims and Objectives 5
Activities, Achievements and Performance 6
Financial Review 7
Financial Statement 9
Independent Examination 11

Little Saints Trustees Annual Report - September 2021 - August 2022

Reference and Administrative Information

Charity Details

Charity Name: Little Saints Pre-School CIO

Charity Registration Number: 1174144

Operational Address: All Saints Community Centre, Fulford Road, West Ewell, Surrey, KT19 9QZ Website: https:\littlesaints-preschool.com

Trustees

rustees
Name Position Dates of Service for Dates of Service for
Pre-School CIO Pre-School Committee
Mrs L Viscione Chair October 2018 to present N/A
Trustee August 2017 to
September 2018		 October 2016 to July 2017
Mrs C Farris Secretary / Deputy Manager August 2017 to present November 2004 to July
2017
Mrs C Sale Trustee / Pre-School August 2017 to present October 2004 to July 2017
Manager
Mrs N Williams Staff Representative / August 2017 to present October 2016 to July 2017
Trustee
Ms E Cooling Trustee October 2020 to present N/A

Treasurer (employed)

Name Date of Service Ms L Harding November 2019 to present

Other Details

Bank: Lloyds Bank

Independent Examiners: Hazel Day, Tudor John Ltd, Nightingale House, 46-48 East Street, Epsom, Surrey, KT17 1HQ

Little Saints Trustees Annual Report - September 2021 - August 2022

Structure, Governance and Management

Little Saints Pre-School is a charity run Pre-School that operates from a church hall at the heart of the local community. The Charity is a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) that is Ofsted registered. The Charity provides quality child care in a safe, caring, happy and stimulating environment, whilst following the the Early Years foundation stage 2021.

Governing document

The governing document is a constitution. The organisation is a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) and is a body in membership of the Early Years Learning Alliance. This organisation was incorporated and registered as a charity on 4th August 2017. Prior to this date Little Saints was a committee run Pre-School.

Organisational Structure

Little Saints Pre-School has a minimum of 3 and up to 12 trustees that meet termly (October, February, June). The charity trustees are responsible for financial planning, other strategic planning, policies, key decisions and administration of the charity. The trustee positions are entirely voluntary and as such no re-numeration or financial benefits are given for their time. At present there are 5 members.

The day to day operation of the charity is performed by the Pre-School Manager and Deputy Manager, with advice on finances from the Treasurer. The Manager, Deputy and staff are constantly evaluating the Pre-School to improve the quality and learning on offer.

During Trustee meetings all charitable matters are discussed including income stream, ongoing performance, fund-raising, and to approve forthcoming expenditure.

The charity monitors performance against budgeted targets and reports termly to the trustees, and annually at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). During the AGM trustee appointments and resignations are made.

Recruitment and appointment of trustees

It is the aim of the charity to recruit trustees from parents of the Pre-School, ex-parents and members of the local community. In the first instance trustee vacancies are advertised within the parent community, through the parent welcome session and via email and parent only social media. There is a general difficulty in recruiting trustees and then retaining trustees longer than 1 or 2 years.

Trustee Induction and Training

All new trustees are given an introduction pack including; a copy of the constitution and any amendments made to it, a copy of the last year accounts, a copy of the roles and responsibilities of trustees (CC3 - The Essential Trustee, what you need to know, what you need to do, Charity Commission publication). A confidentiality and photo consent agreement are also obtained. In addition, trustees are encouraged to read the Charity Commission newsletters. Any further training is reviewed on an annual basis.

Related parties

Little Saints Trustees Annual Report - September 2021 - August 2022

There were no related party transactions during this period.

Risk Management

The Pre-School management has reviewed the major risks to which the charity is exposed. Systems and procedures have been established to minimise these risks. The risks that the charity may be exposed to is reviewed and discussed on an annual basis, or earlier, if needed.

Little Saints internal policies have been put in place to minimise risk for all parties. Children and staff health, wellbeing, care and safety are promoted through the vigorous policies, procedures and risk assessments. There are currently 48 active policies, the main ones are listed on the website. These policies are available to read on request. Policy and procedure advice is taken from outside agencies such as Surrey Safeguarding. Furthermore, we are fully insured.

The Charity operates a separate bank account for the reserve and closely monitors costs to ensure it operates within its means.

In 2018/19, a new school nursery opened within the local area. This has been identified as a potential issue that could affect the numbers of children attending the setting for the foreseeable future. The Pre-School has seen a different number and profile of children attending since the pandemic, Brexit and continuing inflation. There are less children at the beginning of autumn term which then increases over the year which increases the risk of making a deficit. The charity will continue to operate according to guidelines issued by the government for Pre-Schools.

Additional Governance Issues

Little Saints is a member of the Early Years Learning Alliance. As a Pre-School, additional governance is also taken from the Surrey Early Years, Ofsted and including regular notification updates from the Surrey Safeguarding Children Partnership.

Charity Aims and Objectives

Little Saints Pre-School promotes the development and education of children within the local community (West Ewell) by;

The primary objective of the Pre-School within these aims is to provide quality fully inclusive child care, to deliver the early years foundation stage 2021 and to support the families of children using our facilities.

Furthermore, the charity’s purpose is set out in the organisation’s constitution (see objectives above).

Little Saints Trustees Annual Report - September 2021 - August 2022

Ensuring aims

The Charity reviews the aims, objectives and activities each year. This review looks at the achievements from 01 September 2021 to 31 August 2022.

Statutory Declaration on Public Benefit

The Trustees declare that they have complied with their duty to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the charity commission in exercising their powers or duties.

Activities, Achievements & Performance

The primary role of the Charity is to deliver quality fully inclusive child care, to deliver the early years foundation stage 2021 and to support the families of children using the facilities. The activities benefit families with children between 2 and 5 years as these are the primary users of our services.

This review period showed a return to normal operations, however, there was a continuing reduction in child numbers, especially in the Autumn term, primarily due to the economic climate and therefore an increased likelihood of parents waiting until their children are fully funded before sending their children to Pre-School.

Experiences

Throughout 21/22 the Pre-School operations returned to normal. The pandemic no longer exerted any influence. The Early Years Foundation Stage 2021 was implemented from September and the full curriculum was followed from this time. This included, new child targeted learning, adult led and child led activities, in the moment planning and group planning activities. Children’s education was enhanced, using a variety of resources to promote their learning experiences, while ensuring all children had the right level of support to ensure they were engaged and challenged and gaining or moving towards their individual expected outcomes of learning and development.

The experiences offered during this time included both inside and outside learning environment. As children attending are from a variety of cultures and backgrounds, the Pre-School also promoted fully inclusive activities and festivals for all children and adults attending. These included different multi-cultural themes and festivals such as Rosh Hashanah, Diwali, Christmas, Chinese New Year and Easter. Additionally, visits from local professionals (such as the police, Irish dancing) were resumed. We also saw a return of outings to the park, post office and local farm. The children also benefitted from partaking in small and large group activities.

Many planned events such as Mother’s Day, Father’s Day gift shop, mufti-day, raffles and cake sales were able to go ahead as planned. Participation in the Westminster mile, All Saints Christmas Fair and Quiz night were able to go ahead for the first time since Covid-19.

The management no longer needed to restrict parents entering the playroom, and parents were invited in for meetings to discuss child development, to view the reports and learning journals and volunteering was actively encouraged again. Educational professionals (ie SEND) were able to come into the Pre-School to support additional learning needs. It was found that during the 21/22 review period that there was an increase in children requiring additional support.

Overall, the Trustees feel that Little Saints Pre-School had a successful year fulfilling the objectives, despite many continuing challenges of lower child numbers, increasing numbers of children requiring additional support and higher costs. This view was supported by the excellent parental feedback received.

Little Saints Trustees Annual Report - September 2021 - August 2022

The Charity continued to employ 13 members of staff, 8 qualified childcare practitioners, 4 unqualified child care practitioners and 1 treasurer.

Financial Review

For the financial year 1[st] September 2021 to August 31[st] 2022, Little Saints Pre-School made a deficit of £1,324. This was deemed due in part to a change in pattern of requirement seen from parents since the Covid-19 pandemic, Brexit and increasing inflation. Parents are waiting until they receive funding from Early Years before sending their children to Pre-School, or sending children for less days until funding is received. The income has fallen in relation to the costs as a result of the Early Years funding being considerably lower than directly payable fees for non-funded children.

In the Autumn term, numbers of children were lower than seen previously, with number being at 50% of full capacity. Staff costs were higher than usual as Little Saints employed additional staff to cope with higher numbers of children with additional needs. These costs were recouped during the Spring and Summer term when extra funding was provided by Surrey County Council for the additional support. A total of £11,396 was put towards additional resources and staff costs to support and progress the children.

Numbers of children increased during the Spring and by the Summer term numbers were near prepandemic levels.

Fundraising and special events were able to be run as normal. Fundraising events resulted in an additional income of £3,994 due to a well executed fundraising plan. This was significantly higher than 20/21. Voluntary donations generated £1,500 due to strong support from the parents. Lunch club was run again raising a total of £630. Additionally, the Pre-School was able to claim back 2 years of Gift Aid from HMRC, resulting in an income of £728.

Overall, income in 21/22 was higher than 20/21, however, so was expenditure. The Pre-School continued with its careful expenditure policy in an attempt to minimise losses, however, rises in minimum wages meant staff costs rose considerably during this period. Resources within the facility were managed carefully while providing all the necessary resources for the children. Additional donations of resources and cleaning products from parents were accepted. Hall hire price remained the same as 20/21 throughout this review period.

It is expected that challenges due to different patterns of childcare uptake will be ongoing. It is expected that the pattern of lower numbers in Autumn, slowly increasing throughout the Spring and Summer terms will become the new norm. Furthermore, it is expected that lower numbers of children attending before full funding is available (because of the continuing effect of stretched family incomes), will continue be part of the future life of the Pre-School for the foreseeable future. For further details of the accounts please see the financial statement. These are presented on a cash basis.

Principle funding sources

The main source of funding is from fees for the children attending gathered directly from parents, tax free childcare and from Surrey Early Years Free Education Entitlement (from 2 year FEET or from 3 years). Other sources of revenue come from donations and fund-raising events. The main expenditure is wages and hall hire. Restricted funds is funding received for children that require additional support (SEND).

Reserves policy

Little Saints Trustees Annual Report - September 2021 - August 2022

Currently, the reserve statement is within the finance policy. The reserve amount is reviewed and updated on an annual basis allowing the Pre-School to perform its legal responsibilities if required to close. The reserve bank account for 21/22 holds £35,117.

Investments

The charity has no long term banking investments. The funds are held in 2 separate accounts. Surplus funds are set aside and used for replacement of equipment and activities for the children.

Particulars of Any Outstanding Guarantee Given by the Charity

The trustees declare that the Charity has given no guarantee where potential liability is outstanding at the date of the statement of assets and liabilities

Particulars of Any Outstanding Debt

The Trustees declare that the charity has no outstanding debt which is secured by an express charge of any of the assets of the charity at the date of the statement of assets and liabilities.

Plans for the future

It is the Trustees intention that the Charity continue to provide its services in-line with its aims and objectives. During this time of challenging economic environment, the Charity and its Trustees believe it is more important than ever to provide caring and supportive childcare to continue to support the community. The careful and conservative fiscal approach the Charity has been operating by is continuing to serve the Charity well and has been an asset within this year.

Little Saints Trustees Annual Report - September 2021 - August 2022

Financial Statement

Receipts and payments 21/22 20/21
A1 Receipts Unrestricted Restricted Total Unrestricted Restricted Total
Fees 92,915 92,915 83,112 83,112
Voluntary donations 1,500 1,500 1,995 1,995
SEND funding 11,396 11,396 2,874 2,874
Uniform sales 1,013 1,013 887 887
Special events 0 0 0 0
Fundraising activities 3,994 3,994 1,986 1,986
Other income 175 175 142 142
Other funding 728 728 10,000 10,000
TOTAL 100,325 11,396 111,721 98,122 2,874 100,996
A3 Payments
Staff Costs 83,798 83,798 76,983 76,983
Hall hire 13,456 13,456 11,965 11,965
SEND expenditure 8,317 1,610 1,610 1,610
Special events expenditure 547 547 363 363
Running costs 2,983 2,983 3,447 3,447
Administrative costs 2,396 2,396 2,392 2,392
Uniform purchases 1,129 1,129 707 707
Other expenditure 419 419 912 912
TOTAL 104,728 8,317 113,045 96,769 1,610 98,379
Net receipts and (4,403) 3,079 (1,324) 1,353 1,264 2,617
payments

Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

Cash funds
Current account 9,625 6,076 15,701 14,363 2,997 17,360
Deposit account 35,117 35,117 35,117 35,117
Cash 335 335 0 0
TOTAL 45,077 6,076 51,153 49,480 2,997 52,477
Change (1,324) 2,617

Other assets / liabilities Pension contributions due

Little Saints Trustees Annual Report - September 2021 - August 2022

Declaration

The Trustees declare that they have approved the above report and authorised that it be signed on their behalf.

The Trustees’ annual report was approved on 30th June 2023 and signed on behalf of the Little Saints Trustees by:

Luisa Viscione

(Chairperson, Trustee)

..................................................

Little Saints Trustees Annual Report - September 2021 - August 2022

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