HOLMWOOD PRESCHOOLWALLINGTON
TRUSTEES ANNUAL REpoirr FOR THE PERIOD 0110412023 TO 3110312024
Holmwood Preschool Waliington
Walllngron URC
20 Stanley Park Road.
Wallington
SM6 OEU
Charitycommission number: 1196919
Companies House number: CE027452
Trustees:
SheiL8 Cruchley {Chalr)
Lynn Skelton (Secretary)
Craig Bowman (Minister of VIURC. ex officio)
Karen Green Id8yto day Manager. ex officio)
Christopher Jackson
Bookkeeping.. Prepared Ltd
Payroll Serylces: Essential Payro
The objectof the CIO is:
To advance the education of children of prevschool age by the provision of safe and
Satisfying learning through play by:
l. providing a safe stimulating environment ensuring equal opportunities tor all children
r8gardless of race, culture, religion. gender, home circumstances and medical
background
11. promoting publlc Interest in and recognltion of the needs ol pre-school chlldren and
their families.
iii. adhering to national and Local requirements for early ye8rs settings.
Duringthe 202&24 financial year, HOlmv￿od Preschool Vdallington has finally begun to operate
8s a functioning Charitable Incorporated Organisation. concluding a long drawn-out process to
separate the preschool actFvities from those of Vlauington UnFted Refomied Church.
For manyyears, Holmwood Preschool operated as an activity of the church. For various
reasons, it was agreed that the preschool should be established as 8 charf(8ble body In Its own
right. Holmwood Preschool wallin￿On was officially recognised as a CIO by the Charity
Commission on 3 December 2021 with a new constitLrtion.
However. the CIO w8$ not able to operate as intenoed for the following two years. As the
preschool is an Otsted-registered earlyyeaFS provision. its a￿1vr(leS could not be transferred to
the CIO until Ofsted had made an inspection and r&registered the operation. That process was
finally completed when the preschool was repregistered ty Ofsted on 5 December 2023.

Until that time, Wallington URC continued to operate the preschool under its prevrous ofsted
registration. with the long-standing team of experienced employees continuingto provide high
quality care and education for the under-fives.
The CIO has therefore only been lully operational with effect from 5 December 2023. Despite
the formal change of status. the leadership team and staff essentially remain the same.
Upon re-registration on 5 December 2023. the preschool flnances were immedi8tely separated
from those of WURC through 8 form81 transfer trom the church to the CIO. The preschool had
been keeping its own bank accounts for manyyearn. prep8ring its own annual accounts 8nd
reportingto the Elders. Meeting of WURC and to preschool parents at an AGM. However, as the
preschool was 8 church activty its accounts were also required to be reported in the church's
8nnu81accounts. This is no longerthe case.
Whereas the preschool had prevlously made regular donations to WURC foi the use of church
premises. the CIO now operates under a signed Licence to Occupy and pays rent at an 8greed
rate. We 8180 have a Separate agreement relating to the storage of equipment on the premises.
Our constltution provldes for potential Trustees to be nominated by th8 church. by the
preschool staff and by the parents or carers of children attending the preschool. The Trustees
may also appolnt others who they feel would bring relevant skills and expertise to the operation
ofthe CIO.
Inltlal Trustees h8d been put in p18ce 8S Pert otthe process of estsbiishing th8 CIO, being drawn
from existing supporters of the preschool within the church. However. they did not meet
regularly until the preschool became operational 0$ 8 CIO on 5 December 2023. Because of
the Christmas season. the first Trustees, meeting lollowing the formal transfer of operations
Wes held on 19 January2024. Since then. the Trustees have met qU8rterlytyzoom. Occasional
discussions are held via 8m8il if an urgent matter needs addressing.
Approaches h8ve been made to Various parents and carers to become trustees. but those who
had expressed interest at the outset were no longer in a position to take on a two-ye8r term of
office by tha time the Ofstsd re-registr8tion had been completed. mainly because their children
were moving on and would soon be starting school. Nowthat we are afunctioning cio will
endeavour to attract other individuals to become trustees, but this will probably be more
effective after the start of each school year in September vh)en the new cohort starts at
preschool. All potential trustees will be 8ppointed in accordance with our Constitution.
In addition to the staff v4ho directly look afterthe children, directed day to day by our Managèr.
we have a paid bookkèeper and a paid administr8tor who is the primary contsct with the Ioc81
aLrthority and prospective parents.
The Chair ofTrustees manages the HRfunctions and 1$ atsothe primary contact ft)rthe Mansger
for all issues ranging from outbreaks of infectious diseases, premises problems. supporting
families in need. and stsffing needs. The chair also liaises with the bookkeeper to form a
Finance Sub-committee. vthich makes financial decisions that ale reported to the Trustees. or.
where appropriate, seeks perniission frorn the Trustees. The Secretary may also be involved in
Finance Sub-committee discussions.

In May 2024 we took advice from the ChaTIty Commission and submitted a nil return coverlng
the period from the CIO being rewstered on 3 December 2021 until 31" March 2023. because
the CIO was not operatlonal during that period.
This Annu81 Return covers the whole financial yearfrom 1 ApTiI 2023 to 31°, March 2024. even
though Holmwood Preschoolonly began to operate as a CIO trom 5 December 2023. Recent
advice fiom the Charity Commission and our accountant is that this return should show the
income and expenditure forthe entire reporting period.
As an Ofsted registered preschool, we recelve fundlngfor each child's place from the
govemmentvia the LocalAuthority- This takes into account children's ages. number of sessions
8ttended. social situation and any speci8leduc8tional needs. A small number of parents oftwo
year olds do not meet the funding criteria pay feas atthe lower 3 and 4 year old rate. We
have held our fees atthe lower rate provided by the LA in order to make the preschool more
accessible for parents, and we sometimes provide additional subsidies to 8ny children whose
families are in need.
Local authority funding is increased each April. and those increases were greater in 2023-24
than in recent yesrs. That has made a big difference to the fin8nci81 he81th of the preschool. as
C8n be seen in our accounts.
enditure
Our expenditure is piimarily on staff wages. payment for use of the premises. public liability
insurance and membership of the Early Years Alliance which supports early ye8rs provislons.
The increase in government fun(Ilng has meant that we been able to award the stsff a bigger
8nnu81 pay increase than usual, and we decided to implement th8 incre8se from April, rather
than the start of the academic year. This will be reviewed annually to ensure th8t staff are
rèmunerated f8irly and sustslnably to help us to ret8in and attract high qu81ty Staff.
We subscribe to the Tapestry secure online reporting system about a child's progress and
engagement, where staff règularly upload photos and observations and each family can accèss
their own child's records at any time. It is excellent value for money and is included in the
accounts under Support Costs.
Equipment is sometlmes bought new and sometirnes via online ch8nnels such as Facebook
marketplace: materials are occasionally provide(J by staff, or other friends of the preschool.
Each December we identify specific projects to focus resources on refreshing e.g. the home
corner. water play. cosy seatingforthe book comer etc.
Holmwood Preschool has three accounts with the Trustee SavFngs Bank. The Main Account is
used for all day-to-daytransactions. including paying the wages each month. Funding payments
from the Local Authority are atso made into this account. The Reserve Account holds sufficient
funds to cover three months of costs in case we ha￿ to suspend operations for a catastrophic
event such asflooding. This accounteams a small amount of interest. Thethird account is kept
for card payments, and is mostly used foronline purchases. The card is held bythe Preschool
Manager and money is transferred into the account as requested to cover specrfic purchases.

We are very cautious about spending. and as a result the preschool finances are very healthy.
Holmwood Preschool provides 8 nurturing environment for young children before they re8ch
statLrtory school age. tt runs morning sessions on Monday to Friday duringtemi time for 38
weeks of the year. Each session iasts for 3 hours 8nd there is an optional Lunch Club for a
further hour, threetimes perweek. Eighteen children attend each session, and there are usu811y
four staff. which means thet our stafflchildren ratio exceeds the required level. We have five
staff who are all qualified in Early Years provision (Early Years teacher. Diploma, NVQ 3 and
NVQ2). Safeguardingthe children is our highest priority. and au daily routines tske this into
account as the children use the toilet and play inside and out. They also have use of the large
hall. which is accessed by a corridor and internal stairs within the premises. These areas are
shared with other premises users. and the stsff are rigorous in ensuring that the children are
accompanied astheygoto and from the hall.
The Trustees have had regard to the Charitycommission's guidance on public benefit.
Holmwood Preschool CIO benefrts the children on its roll and their families by giving nurturlng
and stimulating educational experiences with the well-being of the children as the first priority.
Parental satisfaction is high. and they say that they find staff nurturing. knowledgeable end
professional and feel reassured by th8 lact they are always around to respond to any questions
orconeerns. This has been achieved even with parents who V￿re not abletovisitor introduce
their child to preschool by being there with them. From the way the children talk to their
parentslcarers about their day and the waythey 8r8 eager to come to preschool, parents state
that it is cle8r that staff have strong relationships all the children.
The beneficiaries are the chlldren. their parents and thèiT wider famlly.
The benef it to the children is that they thrive and develop their curiosity. their engagement with
their learning, their relationships with othor children. their18nguage and through that. their
understandingoftheworld. Stsff value the home experiences of each child and build on the
partnerdhip with each family.
All parents beneflt by h8ving confidence in the setting. that it will cherlsh their child and keep
them safe as well as providing educ8tion81 experiences that viiil develop their child's social,
emotion81, physic818nd intellectU81 development.
Parents who find the separatlon trom their child a difficult process are helped to manage this
and find that the evident happiness of their child and good communication from the preschool
settles their own anxiety.
Parents wlth a child whose development is giving concern benefit from additional
communication and plans are made in paFThership with the parents so the child benefit5 by
having the parents and preschool W￿rkIng on the same strategies. If further intervention is
needed meetings are brokere(J bythe staff with expert a(fvice fTom the local authority e8rlyyears
SEND advisors.

In addition to the funding adjustments referred to earlier. w￿ look for opportunities to support
families in need both practically and financially.
ds
During this reporting period there V￿re two children on roll who had an Education Health & C8re
Pian IEHCPI. These were drafted in conjunction wtth parents and the Local Authority Adviser ty
our Manager. who is also our Special Needs & Disabilities Coordinator ISENDCOI. Two other
children had a smaller degree of Special Educational Needs. The high level of needs during this
reporting period required a great amount of extra va)rk by the manager and one assistant who
had excellent skills for supporting these chlldren. Duringthe year. that assistant left the
preschool for another job. and recruiting a suitable replacement proved very challenging. other
staff took on extra sessions to maintain the high quality of provision while several attempts were
undertaken to recrult a replacement. Duringthe Spring Term of2024 we finally found and
appointed a suit8bly qu81ilied and very experience(i Early Years Level 3 assistant.
One of the famllios whose child has an EHCP negotiated with th8 Local Authority for her to stay
at Holmwood tor her school Reception year {Sept 2023 to July 20241. because of the groat
progress she w88 making et preschool. and she has blossomed.
Duringthis periotl, we have been fortun8te in having a number of parentslcarers who already
knew each other quite well. as their older children had previously passed through the
preschool.
With backing from the M8n8Eer and staff. these parents and carers supported the children's
Chrlstm8s performance of songs tellingthe Ngtivtystory byproviding mince pies. cakes. teas
and coffees. This 18 a very popular event with the relatives and friends ofthe families attracting
60+ adults.
In January 2024. 8 parent who is a professional film-maker produced- gt no charge- a video to
go on the preschool website. This shows the preschool facilities and the various actlviti8s that
the children enjoy from day to day. This has been used by prospectNe p8rents as an altern*ive
to coming to visit. All of the families of the children involved V￿re 8sked for permission belore
the filming and the video project has been a great success.
Agreed at the Trustees meetlng on the 14 wlth amendments approved by emalL
01

REGISTERED CHARttY NUMBER: 1196919
Examlnatlon olthe flnancial statements forthe year ended 31 March 2024. for
HOLMWOOD PRESCHOOLWALLINGTON
My examination was carried out in accordance with the general directions given by the
Charity Commission. It included a review ofthe 8ccounting records kept bythe
organisation and a comparlson of the accounts presented with those record8. It also
Included consideratlon of 8ny unusual items or disclosures in the accounts. and the
pursuit of explanations from Trustees about such matters. The procedures undertaken
do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit. Consequently. no
opinion is given as to whether the accounts present 8'true and fairview,, and the report
is limited to those m8tters set out in the statement below.
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attentlon'.111 which giv88
me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements lal to
keep accounting records and Ibl to prepare accounts which accord with those
accounting r8cords, have not been met; or121 to which. in my opinion. attention should
be drawn in order to enable 8 proper understanding ofthe accounts to be reached.
Phlllp Hyde. CPFA
21 January 2025