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2023-03-31-annual-report

Zero-8-Teen Annual Report 2023 Accredfted Zero 4P con ac? 8Teen NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CHILD CONTACT CENTRES

Table of Contents

o Our Vision & Objectives 3
o Message From Our Chairperson 5
o Operations Manager Report 7
o Children’s Project Manager Report 10
o After School Leader Report 13
o Contact Centre Coordinator’s Report 14
o Finance Administrator’s Report 16
o Committee Membership 17
o Member Groups & Affiliations 18
o Our Funders 20

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Our vision …

‘To provide the highest quality service to meet community needs. ’

Our mission …

‘To support the provision of quality services that address the needs of children and young people at all levels, support parents and the wider community.’

As a group we aim to provide …

families to continue to work /or return to education • The project endeavours to assist each child to develop their own personal social, intellectual, physical, creative and independence skills and to meet the needs of each child as an individual

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On a practical level we aim to serve our families & community by:

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Message from our Chairperson

Welcome to the 2023 Annual Report for Zero-8-Teen, Totz ‘n’ Teenz and the Child Contact Centre.

I shall begin by introducing myself; I had been casually involved with Zero-8-Teen since 2011. I became more actively involved in the Executive Committee in May 2021 and since January 2022 I have been in the role of Chairperson. I have been involved with primary school education all my working adult life and it was through the setting up of a pre-school in 2011 that I became more interested in early years provision and thus acquainted with Zero-8-Teen. It is my hope that Zero-8-Teen continues to grow and develop to provide excellent childcare to the community. This year, it has been my delight to see the setting build upon the good practice of previous years and go from strength to strength.

I am delighted that Mrs Sinead Young’s appointment as Operations Manager in August 2022 has been welcomed by all the staff. Mrs Young has settled in well to the Moylinn Centre, and she got to know all the staff, children, parents and families. No doubt, she has had many challenges but she has approached these in a wise manner achieving positive outcomes; this beautiful and comprehensive Annual Report are an example to her talents and professionalism. I take this opportunity to thank Sinead for all her hard work and dedication, as I appreciate that working with so many sectoral bodies and grant applications can be a lot of new information to process. Sinead has ably managed these steep learning curves. I thank the other managers, Noeleen, Linda, Christine, Lee and Michaela who have helped initiate Sinead into her new role.

The Contact Centre largely operates independently under the Co-Ordinator, Mrs Linda Lyness. Linda works tirelessly with a small band of dedicated and committed volunteers who turn up weekly; and without these volunteers the Contact Centre would not function. They engage with parents, deal with children and help the child make the most of the time they get to see their non-resident parent. For these young volunteers there is often the opportunity to progress their learning through college or university. Linda has been ably assisted by her staff team. Aneta our Deputy Co-Ordinator sadly left us this year, however Andrew and Olga have taken over this role as a job share and are settling well into their new responsibilities, with Lee and Adam as key supports in the team.

I congratulate Noeleen Simpson, Day Care Manager, for her hard work, dedication and commitment and that of her staff. I personally am indebted to her for the amount of work she carries out daily. Noeleen not only manages children during the day but also manages the after-school care in the afternoon. The job is varied and demanding and Noeleen works

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diligently to ensure that it is a success. Her hard work has been rewarded this year with very good inspection reports – well done!

I also congratulate Michaela Canning for all her dedication and hard work as she stepped up into the role as After-School Leader. Michaela has already had an impact and she has upskilled herself with a Forest School qualification and implemented positive changes. The incredibly positive Annual Inspection Report also recognised her talent and capabilities. Well done to Michaela and all her staff!

As Chairperson, I would also like to thank all those who attended the Executive Management Committee meetings. Without these volunteers, Zero-8-Teen could not exist. Tributes must also be paid to our Treasurer, Mrs Grainne McConville, who has many meetings and produces many spreadsheets to ensure that we make sound decisions and remain within budget.

Finally, I thank all employees, volunteers and Executive Committee Members, who work together to make Zero-8-Teen work for the benefit of the community, parents and most importantly for the children. Zero-8-Teen remains firmly dedicated to giving these little ones the best possible start in life!

Teamwork makes the dream work! Everyone involved with Zero-8-Teen should feel proud of what has been achieved this year and be inspired by what more we can achieve in the incoming year!

Well done to everyone!

Jill Neill Chairperson

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Zero-8-Teen Operations Manager Report

Welcome to our Annual Report 2023 which includes updates from all sections of our organisation – Totz N Teenz Daycare, our After School facility and Craigavon Child Contact Centre.

It has been a busy year for all the functions of our centre

Staff Training

We have continued to support our staff team in their Continued Professional Development. In addition to core training refreshers in Safeguarding, First Aid and Food Hygiene, earlier this year a group of our staff took part in Lego Block Therapy training to support children with additional needs.

Most recently in November this year, 12 members of our team completed a Level 1 qualification in the Makaton Language Programme thanks to funding through the Pathway Fund. This will allow us to better support children’s communication development across all age groups.

Makaton has been shown to be a key tool to support adults and children with communication difficulties, to support developing literacy skills and those with English as an additional language. We aim to use our new skills across all the age groups and integrate it as part of our activities in an inclusive way for all children.

As the Makaton Charity explains “By using Makaton, children and adults can take a more active part in life, because communication and language are the key to everything we do and learn.”

Funding

As ever, in line with our charitable status we aim to source funding to support our centre and keep childcare costs as managable as we can for our families. After some delay and much lobbying of our local representatives by parents and organisations across the childcare sector in N. Ireland, we received confirmation of significant Pathway Funding to support our Children’s Daycare Services. We were grateful to also receive confirmation of Bright Start Funding to support our After School service.

These key government grants have been a welcome support in addition to the ongoing support we receive from the Southern Health & Social Care Trust for our childcare and Contact Centre services.

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We were pleased to take part in ABC Council’s Tak£500 programme where both the the Daycare and Contact Centre won a public vote to recive funds for play equipment for the children.

Lurgan Credit Union have also generously provided us with funding this year to support us renewing resources in the nursery. We will be purchasing 2 new tablets to communicate with parents on our Famly App and to support the children’s learning across the age groups.

Improvements to the building

This year we have pushed on with improvements to the indoor & outdoor space in Moylinn House. Our corridors, Pre-school and 2-3’s rooms have all received a fresh coat of paint, in addition to the front exterior of the building being brightened up. We have installed new black out blinds in the children’s sleep areas and added new notice boards to allow the children’s work to be displayed.

Daycare / After Schools Social Services Inspections

The statutory inspections of both Totz N Teenz Daycare and our After School group in St Anthony’s Scout Hall received in-person visits this year. Both inspections provided us with positive feedback on staff interactions with the children and the environment for play and learning.

We continue to work with our staff team to implement recommendations and best practise feedback from our partners in Early Years Social Work.

Re-accreditation for Craigavon Child Contact Centre in 2024

Our Child Contact Centre provides an important service to seperated families in Craigavon & beyond. Every three years the centre is assessed against national standards for Child Contact Centre’s across Northern Ireland. We are preparing the ground for this assessment in early 2024 - our processes and procedures will be audited and an in-person visit of assessors will take place. This regular process means clients can have confidence in the service we provide and we look forward to renewing our accreditation in 2024.

Member links

It has been a pleasure once again to work in cooperation with our local playgroups and Splash Sure Start this year. We continue to work hand in hand with our partners in Moyraverty and Monbrief Pre-Schools to share in the care of many children who attend both pre-school and daycare. Our Finance Admininstrator, Christine, works particularly closely with our partners providing support to the committee’s of both playgroups and regular advice and support on an ongoing basis.

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In addition, we continue our link with Splash Sure Start as a number of Zero-8-Teen staff support the running of the Programme for 2-3 Year olds in the Lurgan / Craigavon area. In my capacity as Zero-8-Teen Operations Manager I also participate in Splash Sure Start’s Committee.

25[th] Anniversary of Zero-8-Teen in 2024

May of 2024 will see Zero-8-Teen’s 25[th] Birthday taking place. We are planning ahead for celebrations and will be reaching out to families, staff and volunteers current and former to gather your memories of the centre over the last quarter of a century. We will be setting dates for a community celebration day and staff team events very soon.

Plans for the future

Looking ahead to 2024, the management team & committee will be working together to gather ideas and develop a new multi-year plan for Zero-8-Teen. Staff and parents / carers will be asked for their feedback and suggestions to help carry us forward in the coming years. We will be in touch in the coming weeks to gather suggestions from all stakeholders.

Finally …

I wish to extend my thanks to the committee, funding partners, staff team and all the families I have worked in collaboration with this year. In particular I would to thank my regular collaborators of Noeleen, Christine and Lee in the daycare and Michaela, Michael, Joanna, Sadie & Louise in After School. It has proved to be a wonderful experience to work as a part of the team and I look forward to another great year in 2024.

Sinéad Young

Operations Manager

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Children’s Project Manager Report

2023 has been a busy year for our setting. The setting continues to grow rapidly which is amazing. To date in the morning, we are almost full. We have a few spaces in the afternoon and have a substantial waiting list for our baby rooms. Most of our other rooms hold space for children moving up through the setting. We have 61 children on our registers for Daycare and additional children due to start in January/February and March 24. Afterschool numbers are growing again, with 28 children on our register.

Together as a strong solid team we have accomplished a lot this year, including an award for the top 20 Daycares in Northern Ireland. A special thanks must be given to our Deputies Caroline, Lee & Michaela who have fully supported me in the overall operations of the Daycare and Afterschool this year. They continue to grow both in confidence and ability, often undertaking tasks that were out of their comfort zone, they are an absolute credit to the organisation. We held a tea party to celebrate the King’s Coronation in May, all staff and children dressed for the occasion and enjoyed our party.

We also added new foliage to the front of our building, giving us some added kerb appeal, this was donated by two of our parents who operate their own farm shop near the Birches called Sweet Drop. They took our pots and baskets to their shop returning them full and blooming. This was a lovely donation and really brightened up our entrance. Thank you so much to “Sweet Drop”.

Over the Summer

we had a few trips and activities planned for all the children. Michaelá our Deputy organized our After-school Summer. During the Summer period Afterschool completed “Fresh Air Friday’s” which was a big hit with the children. All children attended parks, went on walks, visited the Rare Breed Farm, had themed baking days and fun days. Apart from the weather our Summer was great fun! Our children are happy and content within the setting.

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They continue to experience outdoor fun, meet with their friends, and grow and develop in all aspects of play.

With the funding we received this year we purchased some new equipment for all playrooms. Each room got a nice piece of equipment that added to the character of the rooms and all staff continue to complete their core training and additional training to enhance their own personal development.

Our Family App is working well. All parents can log in, pay bills, message staff, view their child’s observations, medications, incident and accident forms. Staff continue to use the app to communicate with the parents/carer’s, especially those parents and carers who are unable to collect their child – it allows them to feel included and get to know the staff member who cares for their children.

We have had a few staff move on – Rebecca, Caroline and Andrew. Caroline and Andrew will continue to support us by doing casual hours. Nicola, another casual member of staff has recently completed her Fit Persons Assessment and will be able to step up as and when needed in both Daycare and Afterschool which is a great support. Two of our students were successful in their application for a permanent role, both Louise and Kyla have settled well.

Andrew has completed his Level 2 in Childcare and Shantelle has almost completed her Level 3 in Childcare. Well done to you both. Lee has also started his booking keeping course which will enable him to help our Finance Administrator when needed.

Most recently the Daycare had their inspection. All paperwork was completed and forwarded to the inspecting Social Workers who then visited the setting. Our Inspection started at 9.30am and was completed by 5.40pm. Both Lee and Sinead sat in on part of the Management question and evidence aspect of the inspection – this was helpful as we had a lot of questions to answer and several samples of paperwork including staff and children’s profiles. I am pleased to report that we had a great inspection and received some lovely feedback from the inspecting Social Worker.

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This included how positive the relationships between staff and children were, how settled the children are, the brightness of the setting and the range of activities on offer. Congratulations to the team, you all did amazingly.

On a personal note, to all the staff I would like to thank you for everything that you do to support not just myself but the setting. The staff are amazing and go above and beyond what is expected of them, often staying on, completing training at night, painting fantastic artwork on our windows and helping Management out when you can, to name but a few of the things you all do.

Noeleen Simpson

Childrens Project Manager

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This year there was a great increase in the numbers in After-School attendance, we are now nearly at full capacity.

As minimum wage increased this year, so did the price of the AfterSchool hall hire, therefore as a result we have had to increase the fees for After-Schools this year.

This year’s annual inspection went really well with very few recommendations. The social worker highlighted the positive improvements and hard work that has went into our sessions. Also highlighting how amazing the interaction and relationships between staff and children were, & how content the children were in the setting.

I finished my Level 2 Qualification in Forest School training & implemented “Fresh Air Friday,” every Friday throughout summer. The children spent the whole morning outside in either our outside grass play area or local forest or woodland areas. They took part in different activities using natural resources they found within the environment such as; making dream catchers with sticks and leaves, collecting natural resources to create a rainbow collage & creating bug hotels and scavenger hunts.

Over the past year our staff have completed various online training and courses such as; Food & Hygiene, Epi-Pen, Fire Training, COSHH & Allergen Training.

Some of the After-School staff also got the opportunity to take part in Lego Block Therapy Training, this was of great benefit to use with the children within the setting. Lego is an activity enjoyed by all but implementing this training has been especially beneficial to the children with additional needs.

All Staff are continuing to avail of training as and when needed.

Afterschool leaders would like to thank all the staff for their continued hard work and dedication they have put in throughout the year, making sure our setting is up to the highest standard that is needed to give the children in our care the best opportunities!

Michaela Canning

After School Leader

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Craigavon Child Contact Centre - Coordinator’s Report

Here at the centre, we have had another busy year with 2023 being a bumper year for volunteers. At present we are running at capacity on Saturday mornings with a waiting list in place however all new referrals are being directed to Wednesday evenings. The introduction last year of starting earlier on Wednesday 6.30pm-8pm, to accommodate younger children has been very well received.

We have successfully achieved our service level agreement funding from the Southern Trust with a small uplift included to support wages.

There have been some changes to the structure of staff this year with Aneta moving on to other employment and Andrew and Olga stepping

into the deputy role as a shared contract which works extremely well for the centre.

Our merry band of volunteers have worked tirelessly to support our families and the centre throughout the year and enjoyed their annual “Thank You” summer get together.

We have successfully recruited new volunteers from

the SRC for this year’s intake and level 5 students will complete their second year here with us this year.

Sinead and I attended the Civic centre for the ABC Council’s TAKE 500 open day which was invaluable for networking with other community groups. Winning this funding allowed us to buy games, gaming accessories and a new TV to accompany a console donated by a parent who attended our centre. These are now used by our families attending the contact sessions at our centre.

We were proud to hear that our centre was nominated this year at the National

Association of Child Contact Centre’s awards for the CEO’s Award for Sustainability. This nomination recognises the centre’s efforts to make significant changes to ensure that the service still exists to serve children and families in the future. E.g.: recruiting younger volunteers, by innovating to overcome a challenge, or any other thing that has helped to ensure the longevity of a service.

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We attended the AGM for the Northern Ireland Network of Child Contact Centre’s and annual dinner in Antrim along with Andrew, one of our deputy coordinators, which again was a great setting to share and work through experiences.

I would like to thank the committee for their continued support of the project, myself and our team of staff and volunteers.

Linda Lyness

Co-Ordinator, Craigavon Child Contact Centre

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Finance Administrator’s Report

Here we are again another year and doesn’t time fly and it has been another busy year. Staff are working hard in the organisation with fundraising events i.e., Black Bag Collection etc which helps us to purchase much needed equipment which enhances the setting and learning experiences of the children.

This year we had a new auditor as Moore & Grimley stood down after the last audit. They made the decision to remove the firm from Charity/Community sector audits, they wish to thank everyone at Zero-8-Teen for retaining their services over the last 20 odd years and wish us continued success in the future. We put the audit out to for offer to a number of local firms, and Flynn & Company Accountants Limited was appointed.

Both Pathway fund and Bright Start School Age Childcare Grant Scheme were kept waiting for a final budget position from the Department of Education. To sustain crucial childcare services over the first three months of the budgetary year, DE authorised interim allocations to all groups at the 22/23 budget level for the period 1 April 2023 to 30 June 2023 only. We were advised at the time that this allocation should not be taken as indication of a promised funding for the remainder of 2023-24, however thankfully the funding was secured for the rest of the year.

Lee our deputy manager agreed to do some Bookkeeping training in addition to the IRIS payroll training he has already done. This provides us with staff cover for the finance end of my role, so it is good to have someone else who can step up if I am out for a while i.e., holidays, sick, bereavement etc.

On a closing note, I wish to thank all our funders, parents, member groups, staff and committee members who have donated and supported our fundraising.

And on a personal note, I would like to thank the Committee for their dedication and commitment during the past year, Noeleen who’s support, advice and dedication keeps me on the right track and to Sinead whose support has been great throughout the year.

However uncertain it is what next year has in store I am positive that as team that we will embrace any changes to come.

Christine Armstrong

Finance Administrator

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EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP 2022/23

CHAIRPERSON Jill Neill DEPUTY CHAIR Sinead Morrow SECRETARY / PARENT REPRESENTATIVE Sarah Ruddy TREASURER Grainne McConville COMMITTEE MEMBERS Joan Heaney Mandy Rogers Annette May Michelle McCrink Ann McKernan

SPLASH SURE START / PARENT COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVE Agnieszka Judiewicz-Kozak

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MEMBER GROUPS & AFFILIATIONS

OUR MEMBER GROUPS

Moyraverty Pre-School Playgroup

Monbrief Pre-School Playgroup

Tannaghmore Pre-School Playgroup

North Lurgan Pre-School Playgroup

Bleary Busy Bees Playgroup

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MEMBER GROUPS & AFFILIATIONS

AFFILIATIONS

NETWORKS

SUPPORTING BUSINESSES

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OUR FUNDERS *•4• The Pathway Fund HSC Southern Health J and S(xial Care Trust TAK£500+ 4 ITJURCOMMUIWIY.. YOVA C4OIC£I Lurgan Credit Union 20