Heather Playgroup AGM 29th Feb 2024
Persons present – Mrs Simmonds, Mrs Lee, Laura Rolley, Mrs Simmons, Lisa Fairs, Katie Jones, Roxy Anning, Sam Knight, Kirsty Patterson, Georgina Horler
Apologies from – Mrs Whiten, Mrs Todman, Mrs Cherubini
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Managers report read from Mrs Lee. Key things to note:
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Partnership with St Marks Church in going well
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Goodbye to Kirsty, Roxy and Sam, thank you for your support
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Fundraising is key to 2024 – suggestions welcome
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Thank you to the parents who have visited for a stay and play
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New outdoor sink has been installed and made a big impact
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Parent WhatsApp group has been started and is open to all parents using the setting
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Facebook interactions have increased lots, with thanks to Mrs Fairs
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Fees are increasing by 5% from September Under 3s £7.25 and over 3s £6.30
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Last years AGM meeting minutes signed off by Katie Jones
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Rocketeer partnership is now working better with effective communications between the two parties
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Mrs Simmonds working on funding for extension with WSCC to offer more space at the setting and a quieter space for 2yos.
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Two year olds joining the setting is going well so far. Some extended to after lunch sessions – child dependent.
Meeting end
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Annual General Meeting: 29th February 2024
Manager’s Report
The last 10 months of being the new manager at the setting has gone very quickly, as always in early years there is always plenty to do with changes and improvements to our practices.
As you may know, we recently had our Ofsted inspection, of which the result is due in the next few weeks. Although we do not know the official result, we are, however, allowed to say that it went very well.
The children are always at the heart of what we do at Heather. With some having lived through lockdown some have not had the opportunity for wider experiences previously enjoyed. We have worked hard to improve this and have become regulars at our local Church, St Marks, during Harvest Festival and Christmas. We have also found that reducing paperwork enabling more adult time to support social and emotional development and speech and language has been essential and we can see improvements to these. The staff are now focusing on the needs and interests of the individual children.
A vital part of Playgroup is our management committee: We say farewell to Kirsty, Roxy and Sam and I’d like to thank them for all their hard work and commitment to the group. A big welcome to Laura Rolley who has joined us recently. Thank you to all the committee team for your time and commitment that you have shown. (If you have a little time on your hands and would like to get more involved, please do consider joining our committee. As I mentioned just now, it is important that we have current parents as trustees, and you can help shape the future of the group by sharing your views. Please send us an email or ask if you would like more information.)
Fundraising has been very much on the agenda this year and we continue to explore new ways of raising vital funds for our equipment. Christmas was incredibly busy this year and we joined in with North Heath Primary School to promote our setting and sell tickets for our hamper raffle which raised £243.00, this money was put to effective use and has gone towards much needed maths resources. We also engaged the children in a scavenger hunt over the Christmas holidays which raised £151.80. Thank you to everyone who supported this. Thank you also to the parents who came to stay and play, donated toys, equipment, or snack items, you are all an important part of our little playgroup community.
Our sand pit is a much used and loved resource and this has been earmarked for improvement. We have already built up the sides and laid slabs to enable less holes and easier clearing up. The fences have been fixed and new drainage installed in the entrance way. We also undertook the installation of an outdoor sink which has proved invaluable at keeping everything clean, including little hands after a trip to the mud kitchen! We moved our wellies outside and this has kept the indoor space cleaner. A new Wendy House was installed in the summer.
Following a recent survey involving social media use we were able to identify the most popular ways parents and carers engage with it. From this we added Instagram to our Facebook page and introduced a parent What’s app group kindly organised by Laura Rolley to help communication between parents. Our Facebook viewing had gone up a
whooping 160% following this and the dedication and hard work of Mrs Fairs who is our regular poster on there.
I want to take this opportunity to thank all the staff for their commitment and hard work and for supporting me during my time at the setting so far.
Thank you to all of you for joining us tonight, and for helping us to support your children’s development. When we all work together like this, the children can really thrive and benefit.
Debbie Simmonds