## **StPeter’sSummerProject**
## **Summer2022–Report**
## **StPeter'sChildrenandYoungPeople'sActivitiesGroup**
Registeredcharitynumber1182872
## **Introduction**
This was the fourth year of our summer project, organised by the St. Peter’s Children and Young People’s Activities Group and known locally as St. Peter’s Summer Project. It caters for Year 5 and 6 children aged 9-11, with the occasional younger sibling, who come from the four primary schools in what was the St Peter’s Ward of Islington South and Finsbury. In 2022, the ward was reorganised into two enlarged wards - “St Mary’s and St James” and “St Peter’s and Canalside”.
## **Background to the project**
Children in our primary schools come from vastly different backgrounds in terms of wealth and advantage. The huge disparity in Islington, and especially in the project’s local area, led to the establishment of the St Peter’s Children and Young People’s Activities Group as a charity in 2019. The charity has run the St Peter’s Summer Project over 4 weeks in August since 2019. For our first three years we were based in the ARC Community Centre. In 2022, due to increased community use of the centre, it was not possible for ARC to lease the space needed for the project. We were fortunate that New North Academy, one of our partner schools, was happy to lease us accommodation.
New North Academy is a modern, well-equipped school with good indoor and excellent outdoor facilities. The outdoor space, including a multi-use sports enclosed pitch and a climbing frame along with outdoor classrooms, was very welcome in the hot summer of 2022. We had the use of two goodsized classrooms which are used as rooms for before and after school clubs during term time and which open directly to the outdoor space. A large hall provided space for our lead teacher who is a qualified yoga practitioner to run sessions for all the children at the beginning of the day. We also had use of the school’s large, well-equipped kitchen.
**New North Academy main hall**
Food has always been an important part of our project. Although the Angel area in Islington is generally wealthy, levels of child poverty are very high (and this is also the case for poverty in the elderly population). In 2022 child poverty continued to increase across the UK including London where the percentage is now 20%. Islington, contrary to public perception, is home to some of London’s poorest children with child poverty at more than double the London average at 42%. A combination of factors, including high housing costs, the impact of years of austerity on family incomes and the additional pressures arising from the pandemic, has meant that demand has grown for food banks and holiday projects such as ours. In Islington, 36% of primary school children are eligible for free school meals - in England we are fourth highest of local authority areas with eligible children. An additional issue for Islington is the wealth gap which renders the borough as one of the most unequal places for children to grow up in.
The primary schools with which we work have a higher percentage of children eligible for free school meals than the average in Islington. Indeed, two schools are the highest and third highest in the borough on this measure, with over 50% of children qualifying for free school meals. Islington Council was a pioneer in introducing free school meals for all primary school children and for its holiday hunger schemes. We work closely with Islington’s holiday activities and food programme (HAF) who provide funding and cooked meals on request. In
2022, we took up the HAF cooked meals two to three days a week, provided sandwiches on days out and volunteers and trustees cooked meals on other days.
This year, as in previous years, our cohort included children with special needs and children in receipt of free school meals, as well as children where family circumstances meant that a holiday project was likely to be particularly helpful. We aimed to make them feel valued, to have fun and to learn, especially in the core programme of sport, yoga and mindfulness, cookery, arts and crafts, literacy, numeracy and speaking skills. And we hoped to build their selfconfidence to enable them to fulfil their potential. Our aim was that they should start the new school year without the fall-off in basic skills that can occur when children don’t **Making Jewellery** have the chance to reinforce
them over the long summer break. And of course, the impact of Covid-19 shutdowns has had a disproportionate impact on children who are already disadvantaged.
These are big ambitions, and we are only able to report the judgements of all of those involved. This year as in previous years, we asked parents **Stained Glass Design** of project feedback reports. and children and parents
and children to complete end **Stained Glass Design** of project feedback reports. Children enjoyed the activities and children and parents thought that the four weeks of learning together with sports and arts helped with confidence and back to school readiness. This was reinforced on the last day of the project when over 20 parents joined the children for an end of project celebration. However, we are aware that we should more rigorously evaluate academic outcomes. As a consequence, we are making changes for 2023 which are described later in this report.
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Clay
Initials
drying
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One of the strengths of the project is our mix of staff and volunteers which means that we can accommodate a wide range of children’s needs. This has included children who require additional help up to and including one-to-one support from trained teaching assistants.
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Visit to Arsenal Football Club
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One major change following the relaxation of Covid restrictions this year has been the increase in opportunities to take trips outside the immediate area. As well as benefitting from the generosity of Arsenal football club who welcomed our children for an exciting stadium tour, we also took the Year 6 children to the Wonder Room at the Science Museum and Year 5s to London Zoo.
**The programme**
The 2022 project ran for 5 days a week for four weeks. Programmed activities took place from 10am until 2.30 pm but staff and volunteers were available from 9.30 to meet and greet parents and children before the day starts. Breakfast was available for any child who wanted it and on most days there were at least five children who had something to eat before the programme started.
**London Zoo viewing penguins underwater**
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Science Museum
Wonder Lab
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Children were divided into two separate year groups for most of the activities. After the brief morning
yoga and exercise session, children went to their classrooms for lessons aimed at developing academic skills and confidence. There was, as in previous years, a strong emphasis on reading and the project provided age-appropriate books which children were encouraged to choose and take home. Literacy was also encouraged through children’s writing about their experiences during the four weeks including trips and other activities. For example, at the end of project celebration on the last day, children gave oral presentations to the group of parents about the work they had undertaken and showed them examples of their written and art work displayed in the classrooms. In addition, the Year 5 group took part in a HAF -supported project on healthy food that linked their reactions to looking at, tasting and touching different foods and developing their vocabulary to describe these experiences.
**Notes on Food Tasting**
Cooking has always been popular and in 2022 we had the benefit of cooking facilities in the classrooms. With a focus on sustainability, the children sourced local blackberries and apples to make crumble.
Numeracy skills were encouraged and developed through maths games and challenges as well as more formal input. There were also science experiments. This year, the younger group focused on the impact of oil spills on wildlife. Year 6 children greatly enjoyed their day at the Science Museum, especially the Wonder Lab with its exciting hands-on experiments and experiences.
**Making Crumble with foraged foods**
Our catchment area includes a stretch of the Regent’s Canal and every year the project commissions kayaking sessions where children learn to enjoy being on the water while keeping safe. These sessions were very popular again this year and featured as a highlight when children told us what they liked best about the project. For many children, this was a totally new experience and it was heart-warming to see children grow in confidence as they
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Lining up for a kayaking
Adventure
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learned to steer the boats more competently as the day
progressed.
## **TRIPS**
If kayaking was the most popular activity, the Arsenal stadium visits were a close second in popularity. Children were thrilled by the whole experience from seeing the dressing rooms to the hospitality suites and the vast expanse of the pitch. The visits were led by Arsenal in the Community’s development officer, Samir Singh, who was an excellent guide to the history of the club and stadium and ensured the trip was informative and enjoyable.
This was the first year that we were able to take the children to trips outside Islington and both the Zoo and the Science Museum Wonder Lab were good choices for the respective age groups. Both visits were followed up with quizzes and research work by the children on what they had learned and what they had liked best.
## **Our cohort**
Altogether 40 children took part in the project which was a small increase on the previous year. While most children attended most
**Samir Singh and the Arsenal trophy cabinet**
days, there were some exceptions. Mostly this was due to families going away during the period which was less of an issue previously as Covid restrictions had made this difficult. In some cases children had days out to go to other HAF funded activities including coding workshops.
## **Further development**
This year as in previous years, we undertook a review of our project, taking into account feedback from children and families, teachers, volunteers, trustees and local funders. The consensus was that the programme had met many of its objectives in that it provided safe care, good food, new and worthwhile experiences for children and had assisted families with childcare and providing healthy meals and a good holiday experience for their children. However, while it was likely that the teaching input which included reading, writing up experiences and maths games/challenges enhanced children’s skills and at least partially addressed any dips in attainment during the holiday, we had no evidence beyond some selfreporting that the project had met its educational objectives.
of a four-week summer project, we are with our schools on supporting an
We have sought specialist advice from a secondary school teacher with a specialism in literacy and Year 7 children and from a recently retired head teacher of an Ofsted-judged ‘Outstanding’ school in Islington. Both our advisers work in schools in deprived, multicultural areas close to our neighbourhood and have good experience in helping children in disadvantaged families to achieve well in education.
As a result of our internal review and the advice we have received we are planning significant changes this year. Instead **Designing a Board Game** planning to work Easter Booster
programme of academic teaching for a week in the Easter holiday along with a two-week summer project with a mix of academic input and some external trips. The Easter sessions should enable our partner schools and ourselves to evaluate the impact of the additional teaching and also to tailor any individual help for the more disadvantaged children who attend the summer project.
## **Our thanks**
We are enormously grateful to all those organisations who helped us, financially and in kind:
Take list of donors from Income plus volunteers and “in kind” providers
Ellis David for insurance, Popham’s for treats during the morning breaks, and the many individuals who donated so generously.
Many thanks, too, to our many brilliant volunteers:
## **Feedback**
Do we have feedback from young people/staff/parents?
## **Who we are**
## **The Trustees**
- Prof Sue Richards, Chair. Sue was an academic in the field of public policy and management and latterly a senior civil servant in the Cabinet Office.
- Helen Schofield, Hon. Secretary and Treasurer. Helen is a retired community administrator and adult tutor with wide experience in Camden and Islington boroughs.
- Linda Shaughnessy, Trustee. Linda worked as a literary agent until she retired in 2016. Since then she has worked in the voluntary sector on a part-time basis.
- Kathy Bundred, Trustee. Kathy has worked in children’s services, in local government as a social worker and has managed the Children’s Fund, a programme for children in need.
## **Senior Education Adviser**
- Vivien Cutler was the Senior Education Adviser throughout 2022 and previous years. This was her last year as Education Adviser as she has enrolled at SOAS on a full-time history degree. Vivien has been an invaluable member of the team with her experience as a headteacher, Director of Schools roles and as a local councillor in the ward. As well as advising the trustees, Vivien has led the project each year, liaising with schools, teachers and families and managing the activities over the four weeks.
## **Finance / donations**
Our costs for the 2022 project come to ???. We do have some reserves for the 2023 project but need to raise more to cover total costs. We hope to be able to invite more children to take part so we will have a need for additional funds. All new donations will be very gratefully received. These can be by cheque made payable to St Peter’s Children and Young People’s Activities Group and sent to 4 Union Square, London N1 7DH, or via BACS into our account, as follows:
- Sort code: 23-05-80
- Account number: 33070251
- Account name: SPAG (short version of St Peter’s Children and Young People’s Activities Group)
- Reference: your surname
Please then send an email to our Treasurer Helen Schofield (stpeterscayg@gmail.com) and she will send you a Gift Aid form to sign, which will enable us to claim a further 25% from public funds.
**St Peter's Children & Young People's Activities Group 1182872 St Peter's Children & Young People's Activities Group 1182872**
## **Receipts and payments accounts**
**For the period** Period start date Period end date **To from** 2/1/2022 1/31/2023
## **Section A Receipts and payments**
|**Section A Receipts and payments**||||
|---|---|---|---|
|**A1 Receipts**
Local Authority
**15,700**
Grants
**10,000**
Donations
**4,300**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**30,000**
**-**
**-**
**_Sub total_ -**
**_Total receipts_ 30,000**
**A3 Payments**
Admin & Settinguo costs
**-**
Hire of Premises
**6,000**
Staffing
**24,720**
Project Costs
**2,081**
Additional materials
**776**
Project Food
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**_Sub total_ 33,577**
**-**
**-**
**_Sub total_ -**
**_Total payments_ 33,577**
**_Net of receipts/(payments)_ - 3,577**
**A5 Transfers between funds**
**-**
**A6 Cash funds last year end**
**32,412**
**_Cash funds this year end_ 28,835**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for AR)_
**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table).**
**A4 Asset and investment**
**purchases, (see table)**|**to the nearest £**
**Restricted**
**funds**|**to the nearest £**
**Endowment**
**funds**|**Total funds**
**to the nearest £**|
||**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**15,700**|
||||**10,000**|
||||**4,300**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**30,000**|
|||||
||**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
|||||
||**-**|**-**|**30,000**|
|||||
||**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**|
||||**6,000**|
||||**24,720**|
||||**2,081**|
||||**776**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**33,577**|
|||||
||**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
|||||
||**-**|**-**|**33,577**|
|||||
||**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**- 3,577**|
||||**-**|
||||**32,412**|
||||**28,835**|
## **Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**
|**Categories**
**B1 Cash funds**
**B2 Other monetary assets**
**B3 Investment assets**
**B5 Liabilities**
**B4 Assets retained for the**
**charity’s own use**
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees|**Details**
Bank cash balance
Retained as reserves for 2023 Project
**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
Signature
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))|**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**11,835**
**-**
**17,000**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**28,835**
**-**
OK
OK
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
Print Name
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Fund to which**
**liability relates**
**Amount due**
**(optional)**|**to nearest £**
**Restricted**
**funds**|
|---|---|---|---|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||OK|
||||**to nearest £**
**Restricted**
**funds**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**Cost (optional)**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**Cost (optional)**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**Amount due**
**(optional)**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
|||**Prof Sue Richards**||
|||**Ms Linda Shaughnessy**||
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CC16a
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## **Last year**
**to the nearest £**
**10,600 18,000 8,950 - - - - - 37,550**
**-**
**37,550**
**239 6,000 12,830 2,550 361 228 - - - 22,208**
**-**
**22,208 15,342 - - 15,342**
## **Endowment funds**
## **to nearest £**
**-**
OK
## **Endowment funds**
## **to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Current value (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Current value (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**When due (optional)**
Date of approval
**21-Apr-23 21-Apr-23**
##