2021-08-31-accounts - Acacia Pre-School

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Acacia Pre-School (A charitable incorporated organisation)

Receipts and Payment Accounts FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st] AUGUST 2021

Charity Number: 1186604

Trustees' Annual Report for the period

		Period start date	Period start date	Period start date			Period end date	Period end date	Period end date
From	1		Sept	2020	To	31		Aug	2021

Section A Reference and administration details

Charity name Acacia Pre-school

Other names charity is known by

Registered charity number (if any) 1186604

Charity's principal address Malden Wanderers Clubhouse

Cambridge Avenue New Malden Postcode KT3 4LE

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

Trustee name	Office (if any)	Dates acted if not for whole year
Arabella Claire Stewart	Chair of Trustees	Appointed30 September 2021
Celine Fenech		Appointed 7 October 2020
James Robinson	Treasurer	Appointed 18 October 2021
Leigh Smith	NurseryManager
James Hughes		Appointed30 September 2021
Tom Connor		Appointed on30 September 2021
Rose Hughes	Secretary	Appointed7 October 2020

Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)

Name	Dates acted if not for whole year
None

Section B Structure, governance and management

Description of the charity’s trusts

Charitable Investment Organisation (CIO) Constitution Type of governing document (eg. trust deed, constitution)

Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) How the charity is constituted (eg. trust, association, company)

Trustees are appointed or reappointed annually at the Annual General Trustee selection methods Meeting held in October (eg. appointed by, elected by)

Additional governance issues (Optional information)

You may choose to include additional information, where relevant, about:

policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees;
the charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works;
relationship with any related parties;
trustees’ consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them.

Policies

Acacia Pre-School has a Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy and will work with children, parents and the community to ensure the rights and safety of children and to give them the very best start in life. Our safeguarding policy is based on the three key commitments of the Preschool Learning Alliance Safeguarding Children Policy. DBS checks are performed on all new employees and Trustees. Acacia also has policies regarding Volunteer Confidentiality and Equality and Diversity. Acacia follows the national curriculum, as laid out in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). It is our policy to observe all children in their activities and note their progression accordingly, enabling them be the ‘best they can be’. All observations are made with respect for the child and are non-bias.

Relationships

Acacia Preschool is a member of The Early Years Alliance, which is the largest early years membership organisation and voluntary sector provider of quality affordable childcare and education in England. As educational charity, the Alliance represents the interests of over 14,000 member settings who deliver care and learning to over 800,000 families every.

Trustees

All new trustees receive information focusing in particular on the background, constitution and workings of Acacia Preschool, including the role of a trustee, key safeguarding policies and a copy of the Constitution. All trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no remuneration or other benefits.

Section C Objectives and activities

The objects of Acacia Preschool are set out in our governing document. The charity works for the public benefit having as its objects the development and education of children and young people in particular by: (1) promoting their care and safety; (2) promoting their education and Summary of the objects of the promoting parental involvement; (3) promoting their health and wellbeing; charity set out in its (4) providing services to support them and their families and carers; (5) governing document providing services to individuals holding membership of the cio; and (6) furthering the aims of the pre-school learning alliance.

Acacia Pre-School is run with the ultimate objective of helping children develop through ‘Excellence at Play’

Summary of the main
activities undertaken for the
public benefit in relation to
these objects (include within
this section the statutory
declaration that trustees have
had regard to the guidance
issued by the Charity
Commission on public
benefit)

The Trustees of Acacia Preschool have had due regard to the Charity
Commission’s guidance on public benefit.
The main public benefit activity remains the develop a child’s social,
emotional and physical skills through positive play. We work to offer a
diverse range of learning opportunities for children between 2 and 4
years 10 months. We are a member of the Early Years Alliance and
follow the EYFS curriculum to help children with their social, emotional
and physical skills and encourage equal opportunities, multi-cultural and
special educational needs within our setting.

Section D Achievements and performance

Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year

This past year was a very successful year, despite the ongoing challenges of Covid-19. The nursery began the year with a reduced intake as we were unsure of what impact the safety measures would have on us. However, our numbers quickly grew, and ended up having our busiest year ever. We would like to acknowledge & thank the whole Acacia staff team for their constant support, commitment & hard work, as without them we would not be in the positive situation that we continue to be in.

Admissions 2020-2021

The nursery had 47 children on roll at the start of the year, which grew to 51 by the summer term. At the start of the year, the nursey had between 14 and 20 children who stayed for the whole day, benefitting from the 30hour scheme. These numbers rose to between 18 and 29 by the end of the summer term.

Currently, the nursery has 42 children on roll (with between 33 and 38 children in attendance each day), with between 7 and 9 children staying for the full day.

Ofsted

Our most recent Ofsted inspection was in February 2017 & we achieved a rating of ‘Good’ overall, although we were told that it was a ‘very good’. We were extremely pleased with this as we were inspected under a new framework, and it was the first inspection since I took over as manager. This was due to the dedication & hard work of all the staff. We aim to continue this high level throughout this academic year and look forward to our next full inspection, which could be at any time from now. Once again, a new Framework was introduced this year.

RBK EYC

As an ‘Early Years Provider’ we come under the Governments EYFS & all its specific legalities regarding performance, curriculum, planning etc… We continue to work with the Early Years Consultants who are there to offer support as and when required. We also continue to work closely with other outside agencies, i.e. the area SENCo, speech and language therapists, physiotherapists etc… as and when required. We regularly attend networks for SEN, 2-year olds and managers and leaders.

Transfer to CIO

As reported in FY20, it was decided that the nursey would convert from an unincorporated charity to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). The main reason for this conversion was to remove the financial liability from the trustees. To do this conversion, everything that was associated with Unincorporated Charity such as the bank account, Ofsted, Charity Commission was reapplied for under the new CIO legal entity. The CIO officially was registered by the Charity Commission on 19th November 2019 but we could not fully operate as a CIO until OFSTED officially confirmed the CIO registration. This took place FY20. FY21 has been the first full year of nursery activity accounted for through the CIO entity.

Section E Financial review

Brief statement of the charity’s policy on reserves

The reserves policy adopted by the trustees continues retain cash reserves equal to 3 months salaries and one-year rent, should the pre-school need to suddenly cease operation. This equates to £63k. The reserves of at the end of FY21 were £86k, which is above our minimum reserves target.

Further financial review details (Optional information)

You may choose to include additional information, where relevant about:

the charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising);
how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity;
investment policy and objectives including any ethical investment policy adopted.

Acacia Preschools funding is broken down by type in the accounts presented. The main source of funding continues to be from Achieving for Children (AfC) which is a community interest company (a not-for-profit social enterprise) created in 2014 by the Royal Borough of Kingston and the London Borough of Richmond to provide their children’s services. Acacia Preschool also receives fees paid directly from parent of Children not currently entitled to statutory funding.

Our main costs continue to be our staff and rent. In FY21 our rent was reviewed and increase was agreed to for our site at Malden Wanderers. We had a higher proportion of 3 + year olds attending Acacia Preschool in FY 21 funded by the AfC statutory funding resulting an increased contribution from Royal Borough of Kingston in the later part of the financial year post lockdown. This, combined with cost controls in place in FY21 as result of the pandemic, led to very positive result for the charity.

As a result, the trustees have committed use some of this surplus from FY21 to investment in our website and email system to better service current and prospective parents in New Malden.

As noted in Section D, the activities of the nursery transferred to the CIO in July 2020, which was part way through that financial year. FY21 is the first year of full activity hence the increase in receipts and payments recorded when compare to FY20.

Section F Other optional information

Section G Declaration

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signature(s) Arabella Stewart Full name(s)[James Robinson ] Position (eg Secretary, Chair, Treasurer Chair etc) Date 20 June 2022

Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Acacia Preschool Charitable Incorporated Organisation (‘the CIO’)

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the CIO for the year ended 31 August 2021.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees of the CIO you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).

I report in respect of my examination of the CIO’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act. In carrying out my examination I have followed all applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.

Independent examiner’s statement

Since the CIO’s gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the 2011 Act. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I a member of ICAEW, which is one of the listed bodies.

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

accounting records were not kept in respect of the CIO as required by section 130 of the Act; or
the accounts do not accord with those records; or
the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed:

Name: Jane Durrell ACA (ICAEW) Address: 5 Woodland Close, Hutton, Essex

Date: 24 June 2022

Section A Receipts and payments Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Endowment funds Total funds to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ A1 Receipts ACACIA PRE-SCHOOL 01-Sep-20 Receipts andpayments accounts To For the period from 1186604 31-Aug-21	Section A Receipts and payments Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Endowment funds Total funds to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ A1 Receipts ACACIA PRE-SCHOOL 01-Sep-20 Receipts andpayments accounts To For the period from 1186604 31-Aug-21	Section A Receipts and payments Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Endowment funds Total funds to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ A1 Receipts ACACIA PRE-SCHOOL 01-Sep-20 Receipts andpayments accounts To For the period from 1186604 31-Aug-21	Section A Receipts and payments Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Endowment funds Total funds to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ A1 Receipts ACACIA PRE-SCHOOL 01-Sep-20 Receipts andpayments accounts To For the period from 1186604 31-Aug-21	Section A Receipts and payments Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Endowment funds Total funds to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ A1 Receipts ACACIA PRE-SCHOOL 01-Sep-20 Receipts andpayments accounts To For the period from 1186604 31-Aug-21	CC16a
	For the period from	01-Sep-20	To	31-Aug-21
			Endowment funds to the nearest £		Last year to the nearest £
AFC - 2 Yr Funding	12,759	-	-	12,759	-
AFC - EYPP	684	-	-	684	-
AFC 3&4 Yr Funding	146,807	-	-	146,807	-
Fees	44,466	-	-	44,466	600
Grants	3,288	-	-	3,288	3,062
Donations	3,254	-	-	3,254	-
Transfers in from Acacia Charity	70,546			70,546	15,000
*Total receipts* A3 Payments	281,804	-	-	281,804
					18,662

SalaryExpense	161,864	-	-	161,864	12,854
Professional Fees	2,278	-	-	2,278	-
Expenditure from donations	1,930	-	-	1,930	-
General Expenses	270	-	-	270	423
Telephone	123	-	-	123	-
Subscriptions	283	-	-	283	-
Cleaning	1,061	-	-	1,061	-
Equipment	1,990	-	-	1,990	-
Craft Materials	382	-	-	382	-
Food	734	-	-	734	-
Premises	22,505	-	-	22,505	-
Postage,Printing& Stationery	518	-	-	518	-
Staff Training	182	-	-	182	-
Return of Deposits	600	-	-	600	600
Bank Charges	8	-	-	8	-
**Total payments **	194,727	-	-	194,727	13,877
*Net of receipts/(payments)* A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end
	87,077	-	-	87,077	4,785
	-	-	-	-	-
	4,785	-	-	4,785	-
*Cash funds this year end* Section B Statement Categories Funds Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees Cash funds Liabilities	91,862	-	-	91,862	4,785
	Acacia Main Account		20,490	-	-
	Deposit Account		2,700	-	-
	Reserves Account		68,501	-	-
	Petty Cash		172	-	-
	Details *Total cash funds*		91,862	-	-
					When due (optional)
	Deferred Income		-	-	-
	Holding Deposits		-	-	-
	Payroll Taxes Payable		-	-	-
	*Total Liabilities*		-	-	-
					Date of approval
	Unrestricted Funds		91,862
	Signature
			James Robinson		20 June 2022
	7		Arabella Stewart		20 June 2022