Poyntzpass Community Playgroup Annual Report Academic year ending June 2024
Contents
Charity Name and Number ........................................................................................................ 2 Registered Address..................................................................................................................... 2 Achievements and Performance ................................................................................................ 2 Highlights ............................................................................................................................... 2 Challenges .............................................................................................................................. 3 Financial Review and Expenditure ............................................................................................. 3 Structure, governance and management .................................................................................. 4 Activities and Objectives ............................................................................................................ 4 Declarations ............................................................................................................................... 5
Charity Name and Number
Poyntzpass Community Playgroup Registered Charity NI: 101926
Registered Address
The Meeting Place, 16-18 Church Street, Poyntzpass, Newry, Co Down, BT35 6SW
The trustees of Poyntzpass Community Playgroup are pleased to submit their report and accounts for the period 1 September 2023- 31 March 2025.
Achievements and Performance
There have been a number of changes to the Playgroup and Committee over the last year with new members joining both and bringing new skills and motivation to the Playgroup.
Highlights
The Playgroup has undergone Personnel changes in 2023 including a new Leader, Deputy Leader and Assistant. These new staff members have settled in to their roles within the Playgroup ethos.
The main achievements of the playgroup over academic year 2023-24, included
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Meeting the educational, care and social needs of the 24 children
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Providing a fun, nurturing environment where all children developed a love of learning
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Establishing links with the local primary schools where the children went on to attend, creating smooth transitions for the children
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The Leader is continuing in their own professional development in completing their Level 7 in Leadership and Training.
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The Committee have supported all the staff in identifying targeted training and opportunities to attend training.
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- The pre-school has continued in its aims of cross-community engagement, working with the two local primary schools in organising shared events. This has also ensured the smooth transition of our children into their primary school settings.
The Management committee have taken an active role in the development of the preschool, and fundraised directly for resources including;
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Garden Upkeep and maintenance
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General Maintenance and upkeep of playgroup setting
Challenges
The 2024/2025 intake was lower than expected (19) due to a low birth rate for the eligible children across Northern Ireland. This has impacted a number of Playgroup and Nursery settings. For the Playgroup this enabled staff to embed within the new setting with a lower intake than would be normal.
Financial Review and Expenditure
Full details attached in Financial Report. The charity has no debts and a reserve policy stipulating reserves of £15,000. No funds are held as a custodian trustee. Reserves are held in order to allow for redundancy payments to staff of 3 months wages in the event of unforeseen closure of the playgroup, as well as any costs to convert the building back to original state. Amount of reserves held £15,000
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Structure, governance and management
The Governance of the Playgroup is detailed in the Constitution. The Charity is made up of a Management Committee of Parents or Guardians of the Children (Family members) and Associate members from which the Trustees are recruited. There are 3 permanent members of staff employed for 27 hours a week - the Playgroup Leader, Deputy Leader and Playgroup Assistant. We also employed a bank member of staff in this period as an assistant. The Charity also works within the wider network of Early Years. Trustees are elected to the post at the Annual General Meeting of the Playgroup. Policies and procedures adopted are reviewed regularly through management committee reviews, these are all available to the public on request. Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity
| Trustee Name | Ofce held and dates (if any) |
|---|---|
| Bríd Waddell | Chairperson: 01 May2017 –30 June 2023 |
| Sorcha Byrne | Vice-Chair: 01 July2021 – 30 June 2023 |
| Kate Ervine | Secretary: 01 July2021 – Present |
There are no corporate trustees and no trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity.
Actvites and Objectves
Poyntzpass Community Playgroup is a cross-community playgroup in a mainly rural locality. The group is established to promote play based learning environments for pre-school children aged between 3 and 5 years in Poyntzpass and the surrounding area, without distinction of age, gender, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, nationality, ethnical identity, political or religious opinion, by associating with the statutory authorities, community and voluntary organisations and the inhabitants in a common effort to advance education. Our main aim is to deliver a balanced pre school curriculum through a wide variety of creative and play activities with an emphasis on the child at the centre of the learning experience.
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Over the academic year 2023-2024, Poyntzpass Community Playgroup met the educational, care and social needs of 19 children. The main activities included delivery of a balanced preschool curriculum for the 19 children
Declaratons
The company has taken advantage of the small companies’ exemption in preparing the report above. The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report (including directors’ report) above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
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Trustee Date