## **Friends of Pond Park Nursery School** ## **Annual Report & Statement of Accounts** **For the period ended 31[st] August 2020** **Charity Number: NIC100684** ## **Trustee’s of Friends of Pond Park Nursery School Annual Report.** The trustees of Friends of Pond Park Nursery School are pleased to submit their annual report and accounts for the period September 1[st] 2019 to 31[st] August 2020. ## **Achievements and Objectives** Voluntary contributions from parents are used to pay for the children’s daily snack, educational visits to and from school, party gifts and numerous extra classroom resources. Donations from parents and the local community are used to purchase classroom and outdoor equipment to enhance the learning facilities for the children. ## **Public Benefit Statement** The school’s links with the wider community continues to develop with regular visitors contributing to activities; from a range of community organisations such as the Fire Brigade, Debbie Doolittle, Community Ambulance, Santa and Mr Hullaballoo theatre company. The children also had visits this school year to forest school venues including Montalto Estate and Minnowburn Forest, Shaw’s Bridge. The children walked to Pond Park Primary School to watch the Christmas Play and also enjoyed visiting the school again on World Book Day to hear stories read by the older children. ## **Parent Involvement** Invaluable parental involvement in the life of the school continues at a high level and a number of parents very kindly gave of their time and effort to help out regularly in the classroom and offering other means of support. This included supporting our charity event, joining our ‘Stay to Play’ sessions and attending Parent Information sessions. Parent questionnaires completed at the end of the last academic year contained extremely positive comments and thanks for the care and dedication of all staff. The responses were a great encouragement to the principal and staff. ## **Overview of some of the learning experiences and other activities during the year** 2019/20 (prior to Covid Pandemic) was a busy and interesting term for all at Pond Park Nursery School with the opportunity to learn through a wide variety of learning experiences and an increasing emphasis on learning in the outdoor environment. - Debbie Doolittle - Mr Hullaballo Travelling Theatre – Autumn Show - Trips to Minnowburn Forest School - Trips to Montalto Estate - Christmas Nativity - Santa Visit - Fire Station Trip - Mr Hullaballo Travelling Theatre – Spring Show 2 ## **COVID-19** Unfortunately the 2019 – 20 Nursery school year was cut short in March 2020 with the event of a national lockdown due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. This was a time of great uncertainty and we were very sad to say farewell to our children before the end of Term 2. Staff continued to stay in touch with all of the children and families via the Seesaw app and home learning ideas and activities were sent home daily. The closure of our school had a huge impact on the events, activities and trips planned for the final term and many bookings were cancelled with immediate effect. Parents who had contributed to the Nursery Fund and paid for 3 terms at the beginning of the school year were each refunded £50 by the school for non attendance in Term 3. At the end of June, Nursery funds were used to purchase farewell gifts for the children which we felt they deserved after such upheaval and disruption to their Nursery School experience. This was a challenging time for everyone in our school community and we were heartened by the lovely photographs and messages sent to us by parents of the children happily playing at home and taking part in activities sent via Seesaw. It was great to see the pre school curriculum being promoted through remote learning opportunities and the children continuing their learning in the home environment. Their resilience and cheerfulness in such strange and difficult times was an inspiration and delight to us all. The charity trustees have had regard to the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland’s public benefit requirement statutory guidance. 3 ## **Independent Examiner’s report to the charity trustees of Friends of Pond Park Nursery School.** I report on the accounts of the Trust for the year ended 31[st] August 2020 which are set on page 4. ## **Respective responsibilities of charity trustees and examiner** As the charity’s trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008. It is my responsibility to: - Examine the accounts under section 65 of the Charities Act - Follow the procedures laid down in the general Direction given by the Commission under section 65(9)(b) of the Charities Act - State whether particular matters have come to my attention ## **Basis of independent examiner’s report** I have examined your charity accounts as required under section 65 of the Charities Act and my examination was carried out in accordance with the general directions given by the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland under section 65(9)(b) of the Charities Act. My examination included a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also included consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as charity trustees concerning any such matters. My role is to state whether any material matters have come to my attention giving me cause to believe: 1. That accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 63 of the Charities Act 2. That the accounts do not accord with those accounting records 3. That the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act 4. That there is further information needed for a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. ## **Independent examiner’s statement** I have completed my examination and have no concerns in respect of the matters (1) to (4) listed above and, in connection with following the directions of the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland; I have found no matters that require drawing your attention to. |Name|Louise Patterson| |---|---| ||| |Relevant Professional Body|Chartered Institute of Management Accountants(CIMA) (ACMA)| |Address|2 Belsize Hollow,Lisburn,BT27 4DJ| |Date|30thJune 2021| 4 **----- Start of picture text -----**
FRIENDS OF POND PARK NURSERY SCHOOL
FINANCIAL STATEMENT 1ST SEPTEMBER 2019 TO 31ST AUGUST 2020
RECEIPTS
Funds & Donations £8,630
PAYMENTS
Classroom Resources (£892)
Facilities & Maintenance (£1,387)
Equipment (£972)
Groceries (£497)
Stationery & Other Sundry (£107)
Gifts for volunteers £0
Training & Education (£721)
School Trips/ Educational Visits (£2,410)
Subscriptions (£296)
Bank Charges (£202)
(£7,483)
Surplus of Receipts over Payments / (deficit) £1,146
ACCUMULATED FUND
Balance as at 1st September 2019 £6,491
Surplus / (deficit) for the Year £1,146
Balance as at 31st August 2020 £7,638
REPRESENTED BY
Bank Account (Main Account) £7,151
Bank Account (General Account) £487
£7,638
Other Assets
None
Liabilities
None
**----- End of picture text -----**
Approved by the trustees on 30th June 2021 and signed on their behalf by: Lois Wilson Amanda McAleese Chair Trustee 5