MAYFLOWER PLAYGROUP HAYWARDS HEATH CIO (Reg. Charity No. 1181625) Page 1 of 2 TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT for 2022
Mayflower Playgroup was established in 1973. It is a registered CIO (no. 1181625) and operates in association with Christ Church Haywards Heath in West Sussex. The Playgroup continues to work in accordance with its constitution, maintaining its evangelical Christian ethos.
The Playgroup provides Sessional Care and Nursery Education on a non-profit-making basis, catering for children from two years to school-age, from the locality. Sessional care is offered five days a week, with varying lengths of day available. The playgroup offers a safe learning environment and high staff-to-child ratio to encourage maximum spiritual, intellectual, and physical development in preparing the children for their next developmental stage and for life and citizenship in general. The staff operate within the Early Years Foundation framework and best practices learned from their training.
Children are cared for in secure, safe, and suitable premises that are organised to provide a warm welcome to children and their parents. The provision of well-resourced workshop areas and appropriate projects allow children to develop their knowledge and understanding of the world. Staff seek to provide a range of learning opportunities and experiences for children both inside and outside. The outside area is used in all weather, and the planting and landscaping of this area have been worked on for the benefit of the children. Many of the children benefit from the use of a large hall on-site for weekly sporting activities with an outside provider.
The day-to-day running of the Playgroup is the responsibility of a Supervisor who reports regularly to the other Trustees. In 2022, Mrs Caroline Nicholls continued to lead the Playgroup as Supervisor in a dedicated and professional manner, ably assisted by Mrs Shirley Woodfield and Mrs Sarah Konig as Deputy Supervisors. Mrs Shirley Woodfield retired from the role of Deputy Supervisor at the end of August, 2022.
During the year ended December 2022, the following served as Trustees of the CIO: Andrew Billinghay Sarah McQuaker (Chair of Trustees) Caroline Nicholls Mark Ventham
This arrangement is in line with the Constitution of the CIO. The Trustees continue to seek others to join them in the coming year, in accordance with the Constitution.
At the end of 2022, there were 8 permanent members of staff, which provided consistency of provision. The Playgroup was open on Mondays to Fridays for 38 weeks of the year. The daily session length varied from 3 hours to 5.5 hours in accordance with statutory requirements.
There was an average of 32 children per morning with a total of 55 children on register over the year. We are grateful for the continued provision of young children attending the Playgroup and that this grew marginally from the previous year.
During this year, the staff of Mayflower continued to prioritise caring for the children and helping them to settle and flourish; seeking to offer them rich experiences in line with EYFS themes. Staff also took time to speak with families to support them as needed. End of term services were held, to which many parents and relatives came. Children and parents celebrated the Queen’s Jubilee together.
The Policies and Procedures for the daily operation of the setting were reviewed and updated as government guidance and requirements regarding Covid-19 were changed.
MAYFLOWER PLAYGROUP HAYWARDS HEATH CIO (Reg. Charity No. 1181625) Page 1 of 2 TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT for 2022
The Playgroup continued to support a number of children with additional needs as well as speech and language needs and continued to welcome a number of children with English as an additional language.
The Playgroup was visited by an Ofsted inspector in June 2022, and received a Good rating. The report acknowledged the strong bonds between children and the staff team, as well as their enjoyment of learning activities and the setting, and the way the staff team felt valued and well-led. The Supervisor led the staff team in reflecting on the report and its recommendation.
The Playgroup operates in accordance with a financial plan approved by the Trustees. Income is derived primarily from the ‘Free Entitlement’ payment from West Sussex County Council (WSCC). The Playgroup receives some additional income from fees paid by parents of children who are too young to qualify for the Free Entitlement provision. Fees are set at an affordable level for parents, commensurate with the grant provided for funded children.
The Playgroup expends all funds to meet the operating costs of the Playgroup, including the cost of paying staff and purchasing learning and welfare resources to enhance the provision of Sessional Care and Nursery Education. Funding received for children with additional needs was spent to purchase equipment to enable these children to benefit from their day-to-day experience in the setting and for their peers to enjoy alongside them. Staff continued to attend training events as required (Safeguarding and First Aid); to develop good practices, and to understand the new EYFS statutory framework and Ofsted inspection procedures in anticipation of an expected inspection.
The Playgroup has continued to benefit from the ongoing generosity of Christ Church Haywards Heath in providing premises for use by Mayflower at a discounted rate. The amount paid towards Utilities was reviewed, in line with inflation.
Total cash reserves at the end of 2022 were £63,00. Of this, £25,000 is held with the aim, in the event of the unexpected closure of the playgroup, of meeting the costs of giving parents and staff at least half a term’s notice of any closure plans plus meeting all financial obligations including staff redundancy pay.
The Trustees remain confident that ongoing management of costs, coupled with the stable Local Authority funding rate, will enable the Playgroup to maintain a stable reserve position for 2023. However, playgroups such as Mayflower continue to see significant increases in annual costs and it will be essential to the longer-term financial stability of such playgroups that Local authority rates for funded places continue to increase annually in line with inflation.
The Trustees continue to review the financial position of the Playgroup and how best to reduce the administrative load of the Supervisor. Regular financial review meetings were held.
The Trustees are thankful to the Lord that the Playgroup has continued to be provided for financially and wish to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the Playgroup staff that has led to such a secure, loving and developmentally valuable setting for young children and their families. We are grateful for the continued maintenance and development of this valuable service to the local community.
MAYFLOWER PLAYGROUP HAYWARDS HEATH CIO (Reg. Charity No. 1181625) Page 1 of 2 TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT for 2022
SIGNED
Sarah McQuaker On behalf of the Trustees
19[th] September, 2023
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