ARGOED PLAYGROUP TRUSTEES, REPORT 202012021 **Address:-** W.I. Hall Chambers Lane Mynydd Isa CH7 6UB **Charity Number: -** 1184038 **Trustees:-** Jennifer Harthen Helena Heaps Lynne Ingman Janice Shaw **Supervisors:-** Tracy Porter – Lead Supervisor Emma Meredith Bianca Simpson – Relief Playworker ## **Objectives** The aims of Argoed Playgroup are to provide a happy, safe and relaxed environment for children to learn and develop their skills through play and structured activities. We support children’s development and ease the transition to school with the support of qualified staff. The playgroup exists to provide pre-school education from the ages of 2 – 4. This takes place in the form of a wide variety of activities both indoors and outdoors. During sessions we help to develop fine and gross motor skills, basic maths and language skills, learning of the Welsh language and social interaction with peers. We deliver Early Education with the support of the Local Authority. To keep our fees at a realistic level the committee and parents fundraise and this in turn raises our profile in the community. The trustees have received a copy of the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit. ## **Staf** Tracy has NVQ Level 3 and 4 in Children’s Care, Learning and Development and CACHE Level 3 in Childcare and Child Development. During the year Emma has gained her NVQ Level 3 in Children’s Care and Development. This has meant that Emma has been able to take charge as lead supervisor on the odd occasion when Tracy has been absent. The staff regularly attend any training courses that become available to update them on new practices. This academic year Tracy has had to renew her First Aid and Hygiene certification and both Emma and Tracy have been on Autism Awareness Training and Additional Learning Needs Training. We were delighted this year when Emma received an award of Childcare Work Based Learner of the Year for all here efforts in promoting Welsh within the playgroup setting. All staff and volunteers have a DBS disclosure certificate either specific to the Argoed Playgroup or portable for use in childcare settings. In January the staff began EE assessments which involves observing and planning suitable tasks to extend the children’s learning and independence. ## **Premises** The W. I. Hall provides the group with a large indoor space where a good number of activities can be laid out for each sessions’ activities. We have use of the kitchen in which we have a table top fridge to store milk and snacks. There are also two toilets for the group’s use. There is a large grass area to the side of the building which is fenced off. This is used daily for part of the playgroup session when the weather permits. In the Spring we were fortunate to receive a £3,000 grant which was to be used to purchase resources for outside. The garden area now boasts a playhouse, a wooden train, a miniature climbing wall and a water pump station. The items bought are of a very good quality and these will give pleasure to many young children in years to come. ## **Resources** The playgroup has a wide selection or resources to stimulate the children’s learning which enables the supervisors to change the activities regularly and in line with the theme for the week. Before moving to the W.I. Hall we had to purchase two large sheds which are at the back of the hall. Many of the resources are stored in these two locked sheds and we are able to keep some of the large items on half of the staged area in the hall. ## **Sessions** In the autumn term we were open for four morning sessions from 9.15 – 11.45. Due to demand for places, we increased this to five sessions each week in January. Thankfully we didn’t have to cancel any sessions this year because of cases of Covid but the supervisors continued to take precautions as before. Parents were still not allowed into the setting but dropped their children at the door and waited outside to collect them at the end of each session. ## **Finances** The fees for this year were set at £10 per session. From January we benefitted from EE funding for some of our children. Wage slips are produced for us by AVOW and the wages averaged out over twelve months. We were able to do more fundraising this year. We held a successful raffle at Christmas, a clothes collection, and an Easter Egg Hunt. We were also fortunate to receive match funding for some of this fundraising from one of the parent’s employers. We have also benefitted from several grants this year from Flintshire County Council – some of these were for sustainability and others to purchase resources. ## **Committee** We currently have five members on the committee – three members take up the officer positions of Chair, Secretary and Treasurer and then we have two more mums. The committee meet regularly and often invite the supervisors to join us at these meetings. During the summer we have continued to meet using the Zoom platform. ## **Policies** All the necessary policies are in place and we annually review these to make sure they are up to date. ## **Constitution** CIO – we have used the Early Years Wales constitution template and have adapted it to be suitable for our playgroup setting. The trustees are selected from members of the committee – currently the trustees are the chair, secretary, treasurer and one parent. ## **Outside Agencies** We are supported by Early Years Wales and have regular contact with our development officer. We are also supported by Flintshire County Council Early Education advisory teachers. We are registered with Care Inspectorate Wales who monitor childcare and early education. ## **Argoed Playgroup Income and Expenditure Report Year 1st September 2020 To 31 st August 2021** |**Income:**|**£**|**£**| |---|---|---| |Playgroup Weekly Fees||| |7,925.51||| |Grants||| |5,989.14||| |Early Entitlement Funding||4,083.75| |HMRC Furlough
and Statutory Sick Pay||| |2,947.40||| |Fund Raising||1.501.70| |Match Funding||| |1,500.00||| |Overpayment refund||| |632.15||| |Subtotal of Income 2020/21||| |24.579.65||| |Balance B/F as per Accounts 2019/20||| |1,914.50||| |**Total Income:**||| |**26.494.15**||| |**Expenditure:**||| |Wages|14,812.16|| |Rent||2,090.00| |Insurance|535.08|| |AVOW – payroll fees||242.16| |Snacks and Sundries||135.12| |U Check|47.20|| |Date Protection||40.00| |Lottery Licences||40.00| |Courses||128.00| |Toys purchased from grants||3,471.02| |Tables bought from last year’s Bryn Gwalia|Grant|783.99| |General resources||562.05| |Refunds||95.00| |Overpayment||632.15| **Total Expenditure 23,613.93** **Income Exceeding Expenditure as per Bank Balance at 31[st] August 2021** Cash in Hand £18.30 Bank £2,861.92 **£2,880.22** Signed as correct by ………………………….......... ………………………………… ……………………………..... Janice Shaw Lynne Ingman Helena Heaps Chairperson Treasurer Secretary (HARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examlnerfs report on the accounts Section A Indppp.ndpnl E¥amii)ei 4 Rpporl RIP￿ty th• trustee•l h£ooWJ> ILA y&R￿p On*CCo￿ th• &LLsi 2021 Chvlty no Iig¥03g out w p•0 I rwt tots tnJths ￿ my exwnhith rlth8 Iwty fft Tru￿ ftythèyw•w￿d 2ts21 RwporAlblllllM Asts Tnrt Y￿ #e futre wepw8 bull of ofts aCC￿nts li cl ts CW)e8 Act 2011 kn. I reiYAt h le￿￿ cwrknj sth 145 2￿1 kl cryrycwtmyexam¥wlKrfJ. I 145(5Kbl cltre Ind•p•nd•nt I hwe Cl￿FI￿1 my 8x8m*th. I wffmith8t no matwll m*tW8 h8V• •xamln•V8 8tst•m•rt c(*ngto my Dth.. FLI ER Octob•r 2018