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2023-03-31-accounts

Trustees' Annual Report for the period

Period start date Period end date 01 April 2022 31 March 2023 From To

Section A Reference and administration details

Charity name LITTLE CHICKS NURSERY PLUS Other names charity is known by Registered charity number (if any) 1187967 Charity's principal address Gwersyllt Community Primary School Dodds Lane Gwersyllt, Wrexham Postcode LL11 4NT

LITTLE CHICKS NURSERY PLUS

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

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20		 Trustee name Office (if any) Dates acted if not for whole
year		 Name of person (or body) entitled
to appoint trustee (ifany)
Jenni-Lee Vietri Chair
Sian Wilson Secretary
Linda Jones Treasurer
Siobahn Price
Karen Doore
Janice Craig
Trish Hatton To December 2022
Joel Moore
Linzi Powell
Karen Davies

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

Name Dates acted if not for whole year

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Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)
Type of adviser
Name
Address		 Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)
Type of adviser
Name
Address		 Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)
Type of adviser
Name
Address
Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)

Section B Structure, governance and management

Description of the charity’s trusts

CIO - ASSOCIATION Registered 14 Feb 2020 Type of governing document (eg. trust deed, constitution) Charitable Incorporated Association How the charity is constituted (eg. trust, association, company) Elected by trustees Trustee selection methods

Additional governance issues (Optional information)

Little Chicks is registered by Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) under part 2 You may choose to include of the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010 to provide day care. additional information, where relevant, about: Little Chicks is registered for 20 places.

The appointment and induction of the trustees is governed by the constitution. The charity trustees are responsible for the overall management and control of Little Chicks Nursery Plus Charity and meet a minimum of four times a year, plus an Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in the Autumn term. Trustees and members are recruited at the AGM. Recruitment of trustees continues to be a challenge due to the provision only applying to most potential members for the Nursery class academic year of nine months.

The day-to-day operational management of the Little Chicks provision is undertaken by the staff employed by Little Chicks Nursery Plus.

Section C Objectives and activities

Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document

The object of the Charity is to enhance the development and education of children in Wales, for the public benefit, by encouraging parents to understand and provide for their needs though high quality child care.

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The aims of Little Chicks are to

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)

and our more specific recent objectives:

In meeting these, the trustees have due regard to the Charities Commission’s public benefit guidance when exercising any powers or duties to which the guidance is relevant.

Initiatives

Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)

You may choose to include further statements, where relevant, about:

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Section D Achievements and performance

Overview of provision Summary of the main Little Chicks Nursery Plus is open to nursery pupils between the ages of achievements of the charity 3-4 years, registered to attend the Early Years unit at Gwersyllt during the year Community Primary School, Wrexham. Little Chicks operates during school term time, Monday – Friday 11:20 – 14:50 Children are supervised by qualified, experienced staff. Little Chicks is a predominantly English medium setting with some use of Welsh. A wide range of activities are offered within a fun, relaxed atmosphere. They are planned to suit the children’s age, stage and individual need, meet our aims and objectives, and reflect Welsh Government current strategy www.wales.gov.uk/childrenyoungpeople/. Children are encouraged to explore and learn through their play and small focus tasks. Daily activities include sand, water, small world, painting, role play and craft. Each week activities are planned around a different topic. Some of the favourites are Dinosaur week, Chinese New Year, Exploring the North Pole and Minibeasts. Outside play is always encouraged when weather permits and there is direct access to an enclosed playground. At lunchtime, children can either bring a packed lunch from home or purchase a school dinner. A mid-afternoon drink and snack are provided as part of the healthy eating initiative. Little Chicks works with the support of Early Years Wales to invest in our staff’s commitment to their continuous provisional development through reliably endorsed courses, events and training pathways, and parents/carers are kept informed of these. Little Chicks has produced a pack of policies and procedures that describe arrangements for dealing with routine operational practice, complaints, concerns and any emergency that may occur during operational hours. They are designed to ensure effective and safe management of our service and to offer the best possible environment and experience for the children and families who use it. The policies and procedures are developed and maintained in line with and/or exceed national minimum standards and regulations. They are reviewed regularly (at least annually) and updated (and CIW informed of any changes) as necessary. The policy pack is available for all who visit, work in or use Little Chicks to see them. The pack is available from the setting.

Communicating with our parents/carers

Little Chicks maintains a website with up-to-date information.

The Facebook page continues to be used by staff to share the upcoming topics to be covered, photos of the activities being undertaken and also links to other sites that support other learning activities for parents/carers to try at home. It is great to receive instant feedback via the comments on the posts from the parents. Many parents use the Facebook Messenger as a way to contact the staff so we no longer have the mobile phone.

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Section D Achievements and erformance p

We also continue to promote Little Chicks and the upcoming topics via the school e-newsletter that is distributed by email every Friday during the school term, and through the Gwersyllt C.P. School blog and Notice Board on the school Yard.

Overview of the Year

In the Summer of 2022 it was confirmed by the school that Little Chicks would remain based in the Early Years unit by Gwersyllt C.P. This allowed us to organise and update many of our resources, purchase a new outdoor storage unit and finally begin to feel settled after all the disruption caused by the Covid19 Pandemic.

We held an Xplore! Science Day for the children in July 2022 which they thoroughly enjoyed and prompted fantastic feedback from parents and carers.

In July 2022 we also appointed an additional member of staff taking our staffing up to 3 for the school year 2022-23. This was in anticipation of a new student joining us in September with Downs Syndrome. All 3 members of staff attended Makaton training courses in the Summer and additional courses throughout the year in order to communicate with this child and also develop the use of Makaton with the other children in her class so they are all able to communicate together.

As well as renewing current qualifications and learning Makaton, the Little Chicks staff have also completed Safeguarding Lead training, Healthy Snack Training and Sue has completed and passed her Teaching Assistant Level 2.

Financially this year, Little Chicks has had its challenges. In September we learned that we were expecting a pupil with very complex needs who needed 1:1 support on a daily basis. With no time to advertise for an additional member of staff we had to employ agency supply staff at a cost to us of £120 per day. We were using supply staff one to two days per week. We applied for funding for this pupil which we were granted at Christmas, but we were unable to claim back-pay. Finding a member of staff to employ on an hourly rate proved difficult as no one was available for just 3 hours a day. All this resulted in a drastic diminishing of our account. In January 2023, after a meeting with the parent, the child left Little Chicks so we were able to start building up our funds again. Unfortunately, this meant we were unable to book Little Hobbits Forest School as much this year, or fund Christmas activities for the children. Since January 2023 our financial situation, thankfully, has begun to improve and hopefully from September we will have sufficient funds again to book valuable educational experiences with outside agencies again.

Future Plans

Little Chicks has thrived again this year with growing attendance figures every term. We intend to operate with three members of staff into the next academic year. Our staff will continue their training and to utilise Makaton in the future to support any more children we may have on roll who are non-verbal or have limited communication skills.

We have plans now to decorate our classroom space in the Summer to promote and provide a suitable calm space for the children. We also - hope to re engage with Little Hobbits Forest School and other local

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Section D Achievements and erformance p

providers, such as Diddy Dance, to offer more practical learning opportunities for the children.

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Section E Financial review

Brief statement of the charity’s policy on reserves

The charity aims to hold 3 months of operational costs in the event of a loss of income and to meet any unforeseen expenditure that may occur. The reserve is built up from the unrestricted income and the level of reserves required is reviewed by the Trustees to ensure it remains appropriate

Details of any funds materially

in deficit

Further financial review details (Optional information)

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

In March, the committee agreed to the proposal to increase staff pay in line with the National Minimum Wage increase from April 2023.

No fundraising took place during this financial year.

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)
Full name(s)
Position (eg Secretary, Chair,
etc)
Date		 Jenni-Lee Vietri Sian Wilson
Jenni-Lee Vietri Sian Wilson

Chair		 Secretary
29/08/2023
29/08/2023

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Charity Name No (if any) LITTLE CHICKS NURSERY PLUS 1187967 Receipts and payments accounts

CC16a

For the period Period start date Period end date To from 01/04/2022 31/03/2023

Section A Receipts and payments
Unrestricted
funds		 Restricted
funds		 Endowment
funds		 Total funds Last year
to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £
A1 Receipts
Childcare offer funding
25,133		 - - 25,133 16,711
Self-funding payments
7,380		 - - 7,380 6,602
Donations
200		 - - 200 -
- - - - -
Section A Receipts and payments Section A Receipts and payments
A1 Receipts Unrestricted
funds
to the nearest £
25,133
7,380
200
-		 Restricted
funds
to the nearest £
-
-
-
-		 Endowment
funds
to the nearest £
-
-
-
-		 Total funds
to the nearest £
25,133
7,380
200
-		 Last year
to the nearest £
Childcare offer funding 25,133 - - 25,133 16,711
Self-funding payments 7,380 - - 7,380 6,602
Donations 200 - - 200 -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
Sub total(Gross income for AR) 32,713 - - 32,713 23,313
A2 Asset and investment sales, (see
table).
-
- -
Sub total - -
Total receipts
A3 Payments
23,313
Wages costs 29,195 18,990
Direct costs 2,490 2,097
Othercosts 4,415 5,828
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
**Sub total ** 36,100 26,915
A4 Asset and investment purchases,
(see table)
-
-
**Sub total ** - -
Total payments
Net of receipts/(payments)
A5 Transfers between funds
A6 Cash funds last year end
Cash funds this year end
26,915
(3,386) - 3,386 - 3,603
- - -
11,111 11,111 -
7,725 7,725 - 3,603

CCXX R1 accounts (SS)

31/08/2023

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Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
Categories
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of
all the trustees
B1 Cash funds
B2 Other monetary assets
B4 Assets retained for the
charity’s own use
B5 Liabilities
B3 Investment assets		 Sian Wilson
Signature
Jenni-Lee Vietri
Details
HSBC current account
Details
Total cash funds
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
Details
Details
Details		 Unrestricted
funds
to nearest £
7,725
-
-
7,725
OK
Unrestricted
funds
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fund to which
asset belongs
Fund to which
asset belongs
Fund to which
liability relates
Print		 Endowment
funds
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
OK
Endowment
funds
to nearest £
-
-
-
-
-
-
Current value
(optional)
-
-
-
-
-
Current value
(optional)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
When due
(optional)
Date of
approval
Jenni-Lee Vietri Jenni-Lee Vietri 27/08/2023
Sian Wilson Sian Wilson 29/08/2023

CCXX R2 accounts (SS)

31/08/2023

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CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independflrit exciminer's report on tlie ac.counts Section Independent Examiner's eport Report to the trusteesl members of LIThLE CHICKS NURSERY PLUS On accounts for the year ended 31 MARCH 2023 Chai'iti no 18i9E7 Set out on pages 1 to 2 and pages 1 to 7 ofthe Trustees, Annual Report I report to the trustees on my examination of thi: clCC.ounl> of thi) above charity ("the Trust") for the year ended 31103 121]*'? Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust. you are res)cn¢ible lo- the prepar81ion basis of report of the accounts in accordance wilh the requirenienls of tlie Charil ies Act 2011 ('the Act.) I report in respect of my examination of the Tru'.it' > ¢lCCOi nts ￿l-r1ed out under seclion 145 of the 2011 Act and in carryiiig cut my ex&mination, I have followed the applicable Directions given bi lh= Ch8ri-' y bommission under seclion 145{5)(b) of the Act. I have completed my examination. I confim th¢lt no matf¥rial m,atlers have come to my attention (other than that disclosed bi!ILW ') n cnnriection with the examination which gvies me cause to belieiie that in. any material respect.. accounting records were not kept in acc(Irdance M'iti c,ection 130 of the Act or the accounts do not accord with the accc,uiil ng re=ords Independent examiner's statement I have no concems and have come across no (the- matt3rs in <:onn&ction with the examination lo which attention should l)e c rawii in ordE.,r to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be rea=hei Please delete the words in thè brackets rf thej, co ,?ot a?ply. Signed: Ciate: '21031L023 Name: BRUCE ROBERTS Relevant professional qualification{s) or body lif any): FCA Address: UNIT 10, EDISON COURT ELLICE WAY. WREXHAM TECHNOLOGY PAIIP: WREXHAM LL13 7YT IER October 2018

Sec Oiily complete if the examiner needs lo highlight matters of concern (see CC32, Injependent examination of charity accounts.- directions and guidance for eJaminers}. Give here brif!f ,Jet¢ ils of any itema tli?t the examiner wishes t.o disclose. IER October 2018