ARGOED PLAYGROUP TRUSTEES, REPORT 2022/2023
Address:- W.I. Hall, Chambers Lane, Mynydd Isa, CH7 6UB
Charity Number: - 1184038
Trustees:-
Samantha Ramsay - Treasurer
Victoria Mann - Chair
Rebecca Ashbrook - Secretary
Supervisors:- Tracy Porter – Setting Supervisor
Natalie Jones- Senior Supervisor
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.
Staff
Setting Supervisor Tracy Porter has NVQ Level 3 & 4 in Children’s Care, learning and Development, CACHE Level 3 in Childcare & Child Development, Working in Partnership with parents and has attended Child Protection Awareness Foundation Training (level 1) and Atrium Basic Paediatric First Aid Training. Tracy has completed Food Safety in catering (level 2), a 3-day Early Entitlement Flintshire Training for the Foundation Phase and also, various training organized by Early Entitlement and Flying Start. What’s more, Tracy has attended Speech, language and Communication training, Leuven Scales of Wellbeing and
Involvement, Interacting or Interfering Training and completed the Curriculum for Wales Modules.
Senior Supervisor Natalie Jones is currently studying level 3 in Children’s Care, Learning and Development. Natalie has a BAHons in Early Childhood Studies and has an up-to-date DBS, Paediatric level 3 First Aid and Food Hygiene certificates. Natalie has also attended Child Protection Awareness training and has completed the Curriculum for Wales Modules and has attended various Early Entitlement training courses. Natalie has also completed Speech, language and Communication training, Leuven Scales of Wellbeing and Involvement, Interacting or Interfering Training, ACE’s training and recently attended a Childcare Development Seminar.
Bianca Simpson is our relief worker. Bianca holds a DBS for Argoed playgroup and has attended a Child Protection Awareness Training. Bianca is willing to work towards a Childcare qualification.
Argoed playgroup work to ensure all the staff are well qualified and experienced. We have attended training to enable us to provide the new curriculum for Wales which came into effect from September 2022. We attended training sessions provided by Early Entitlement and have completed all of the Curriculum for Wales modules during this term. We also attended regular cluster meetings, which provided knowledge and guidance on how to effectively implement the ‘focus week’, planning in the moment and a child’s next steps. We are open to new ideas and to make the most of opportunities that enable us to acquire knowledge and develop our expertise. This enables us to share responsibilities and ensures the smooth running of the playgroup.
We have implemented Planning in the moment. We let the children choose what they want to do, join them and support them in their pursuits. We work closely with the children and observe their interactions and choices. We then use this knowledge to extend a child’s learning in the moment. We identify when a child first shows an interest/fascination in something, then we wait for the opportunity to extend the child's interest by asking open-ended questions and thinking of ways this interest can be applied to other areas of teaching. We document the observations and what we did to support that
child on their focus week page in their learning booklets. We have appropriate storage to allow the children to have free access to a variety of resources, they can access and explore everything independently. We observe and alter areas within the playgroup to further a child’s learning, by adding or changing resources.
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 session. 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.
Resources
The playgroup has a wide selection or resources to stimulate the children’s learning which enables the supervisors to change the activities available to the children regularly. 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
We open for four morning sessions form 9:15 – 11:45.
Finances
The fees for this year were set at £12.50 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 have continued to fundraise this year. In the Spring we had an Easter Egg Hunt and Stay and Play session.
We benefitted from several grants this year from Flintshire County Council – some of these were for sustainability and others to purchase resources. In particular in the summer term, the supervisors used grant money to organise various activities such as a multi sports experience and a tae kwon do session.
Committee
We currently have four members on the committee – three members take up the officer positions of Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. The committee meet regularly and often invite the supervisors to join us at these meetings.
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 (from September 2023).
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 ended 31st August 2023 | |||
| Income sheet | Snack sheet | Total | |
| £ | £ | £ | |
| Income | |||
| Playgroup weekly fees | £6,622.00 | 35.50 | £6,657.50 |
| Grants | £7,535.48 | £7,535.48 | |
| Early Enttlement Funding | £7,158.00 | £7,158.00 | |
| HMRC SSP | £0.00 | £0.00 | |
| Fund Raising | £705.58 | 110.00 | £815.58 |
| Match Funding | £0.00 | £0.00 | |
| Snacks money | £296.00 | 30.00 | £326.00 |
| Total income | £22,317.06 | 175.50 | £22,492.56 |
| Expenditure | |||
| Wages | £15,373.78 | £15,373.78 | |
| Rent | £2,368.00 | £2,368.00 | |
| Insurance | £390.32 | £390.32 | |
| AVOW - payroll fees | £277.72 | £277.72 | |
| Snacks | £75.00 | 112.10 | £187.10 |
| Cleaning / toiletries | 18.89 | £18.89 | |
| U Check | £56.00 | £56.00 | |
| Data Protecton | £35.00 | £35.00 | |
| Lotery licences | £20.00 | £20.00 | |
| Courses / training | £20.00 | £20.00 | |
| Toys purchased from grants | £1,102.45 | £1,102.45 | |
| Other equipment | £1,134.55 | £1,134.55 | |
| Statonery | £311.23 | £311.23 | |
| Sundry | £230.83 | 35.48 | £266.31 |
| Memberships and subscriptons | £0.00 | £0.00 | |
| Refunds | £100.00 | £100.00 | |
| Total expenditure | £21,494.88 | 166.47 | £21,661.35 |
| Net positon | £822.18 | 9.03 | £831.21 |
| snack balance 1/9/22 | 33.05 | ||
| snack balance 31/8/23 | 42.08 |
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trustoesl members of Argoed Playgroup On a¢counts lor the year 3110812023 &nd8d Charity no 1164038 lif anyl Set out on pages . I report to the trusteè5 on my examinath.on of the accounts of the abo¥e eharty 1.the Trusfi for the year erKled 31108 12023_ R•sponslbllltles and A8 the thanty ttustaes of the Trust, you a responsible for the preparation bas of report ol the accounts in a(&)rdarKe wrth the requirements of the Charities Aet 2011 (Yhe ACV'I CGMA I report in re$pert ol my examination of the Trust's account$ Corr OLrt under section 145 of the 201 l Act an¢ in Carrying out rny examination. I have followed the applicable Dir¢¢tion6 given by the Charity C¢ynmissi under section 14515llbl tsf the Art. I hav* compleied my exatnination 5 confim that no material matters have come to rny attentEon l in wnnection with the examin81ion whith gives rn? cause to believe tIt in, any material rgspect." a¢unting record$ w8r¢ not kept in accordan wrth se¢tron 130 of the Act or th8 a¢xtyJnts do noi accord wrth tho accountirq ts)rds I have no concerns and hove ¢ome auoss no olher matters in conroction with the exaTninalTron to which attention shoutd tre drawn In oiderto enalAe propeT understanding of the accounts to be reached. ' Pleas9 d818t8 the in the br8ckot¥ rffheydo not apply. Signod: l£•J. Nam•: Barbara Gotrje Relevant professional qual111c0nI$¥ or body IK any).. CGMA ACMA IChartÈrèd Institute of Management Accountants) Addr•ss.' 40 Greenway. Saughall. Chester, CHI 6EQ
Section B Di$c105ure Only c)mDlele If the examir,er needs lo highli9hl matters ol concern (see CC32. Independenl examinatson of charity aryounts". direc4ior% aThJ guidance for ¢xarninersl. Giv• h8rè bd•f d•tails of any items that the examiner wlshos to disclose.