Charity number: NIC107354
ST COLMCILLE'S PRE-SCHOOL PLAYGROUP
UNAUDITED
TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 AUGUST 2025
ST COLMCILLE'S PRE-SCHOOL PLAYGROUP
CONTENTS
| Page | |
|---|---|
| Reference and Administrative Details of the Charity, its Trustees and Advisers | 1 |
| Trustees' Report | 2 - 4 |
| Independent Examiner's Report | 5 - 6 |
| Statement of Financial Activities | 7 |
| Balance Sheet | 8 |
| Notes to the Financial Statements | 9 - 14 |
ST COLMCILLE'S PRE-SCHOOL PLAYGROUP
REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS OF THE CHARITY, ITS TRUSTEES AND ADVISERS FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 AUGUST 2025
FOR THE PERIOD ENDED |
31 AUGUST 2025 |
|---|---|
| Trustees | C Gilmore |
| G Hasson | |
| S McCullough | |
| L Gawlik | |
| Charity registered number NIC107354 Principal office 191 Upper Newtownards Road Belfast BT4 3JB Bankers Danske Bank Donegall Square West Belfast BT1 6JS |
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ST COLMCILLE'S PRE-SCHOOL PLAYGROUP
TRUSTEES' REPORT FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 AUGUST 2025
The Trustees present their annual report together with the financial statements of the St Colmcille's Pre-School Playgroup for the 1 July 2024 to 31 August 2025.
Objectives and activities
a. Policies and objectives
St Colmcille’s Pre-School aims to provide a high quality preschool experience for every child, to enable them to reach their full potential in a place of security and warmth.
The pre-school is registered with Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (BHSCT) and inspected annually by BHSCT to ensure we provide a quality service and maintain high standards.
The pre-school offers up to 42 places funded by the Department of Education for Northern Ireland as part of the governments Pre-school Education Programme and is inspected by the ETI (Education &Training Inspectorate) to ensure high standards are maintained, that we provide an effective preschool education and that we demonstrate the capacity to identify and bring about improvement in the interest of all our learners.
The pre-school is also a member of Early Years, the organisation for young children.
Our public benefit statement is as documented on the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland’s website and remains unchanged, the pre-school was established to promote play based learning environments for all children in their preschool year in East Belfast (beneficiaries) without distinction of race, religion, gender or disability by associating with statutory authorities, community and voluntary organisations and the inhabitants in a common effort to advance education and in particular:
a) To advance the education of the beneficiaries by the provision of safe and satisfying group play, with the right of parents/ carers to take responsible for and to become involved in the activities of the group; and to promote the preservation of health of the beneficiaries. b) To support the values and principles of Early Years.
b. Strategies for achieving objectives
Our curriculum is guided by the various publications produced by the department of Education and is carefully designed to meet the children’s physical, social, emotional and cognitive needs at their particular stage of development. The programme is both broad and balanced, and allows the children to make independent choices, it provides them with opportunities to develop the learning associated with:
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Personal, Social and Emotional Development
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Physical Development
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Language Development
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The Arts (creative, aesthetic development)
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Early Mathematical Development
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The World Around Us
We have seven members of staff in the preschool; a coordinator managing the setting and another six (full time equivalent) members of staff consisting of two teams; a leader and 2 assistants supporting up to 24 children in each of two classes.
The staff have developed a caring, nurturing atmosphere in the preschool, they are committed and professional in all aspects of their job and this is evident in the progression we see in the children’s learning and development.
Parents have expressed their satisfaction that their children are experiencing a happy, fulfilling start to their education and are well prepared to move to the next stage in their education.
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ST COLMCILLE'S PRE-SCHOOL PLAYGROUP
TRUSTEES' REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 AUGUST 2025
Objectives and activities (continued)
c. Fundraising
The preschool is committed to raising funds through a variety of means, the trustees organised a series of events to raise funds which included a sponsored walk, wine and cheese evening, coffee morning and bake sale and raffles. These events were very well supported by the families and local community.
We received a small amount of funding through the Getting Ready to Learn Programme and were able to replace some activity packs for use by children at home with their parents, raising parents awareness of the skills developed and promoted through the use of specific tools and increasing parents engagement with their child’s learning in school.
Achievements and performance
a. Main achievements of the Charity
In the year ended 30th June 2025, we had 40 children attending with 8 members of staff. All 40 children were eligible to receive a preschool place funded by the Education Authority under the Preschool Education Programme (PSEP).
All the children attending the preschool were provided with a variety of learning opportunities throughout the year which were carefully planned to meet their physical, social, emotional and cognitive needs at their particular stage of development.
We continue to engage parents through a variety of means – newsletters, digital platforms, events, concerts, they demonstrate their support to the preschool by their continued involvement in all the group’s activities and fundraising efforts.
Our staff teams have developed a caring, nurturing atmosphere in the preschool, they are committed and professional in all aspects of their job and this is evident in the progression we see in the children’s learning and development. All of our staff attend various courses throughout the year We are very proud to have a staff team who are so willing to further their professional development.
We maintain strong links with the primary school most of our children move on to, we visit regularly and avail of the big hall for physical play sessions, in order to ensure the transition to the next stage of education is as smooth as possible. We have also continued to strengthen our excellent links within the local community, with local schools and other service providers and arrange visits to them with the children.
Financial review
a. Going concern
After making appropriate enquiries, the Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the Charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. For this reason, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements. Further details regarding the adoption of the going concern basis can be found in the accounting policies.
Structure, governance and management
a. Constitution
St Colmcille's Pre-School Playgroup is a registered charity, number NIC107354. The charity is governed by a Constitution.
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ST COLMCILLE'S PRE-SCHOOL PLAYGROUP
TRUSTEES' REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 AUGUST 2025
Structure, governance and management (continued)
b. Methods of appointment or election of Trustees
The management of the Charity is the responsibility of the Trusteess who are elected and co-opted under the terms of the Constitution.
Statement of Trustees' responsibilities
The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
The law applicable to charities in Northern Ireland requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Charity and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure, for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:
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select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
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observe the methods and principles of the Charities SORP (FRS 102);
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make judgments and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
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state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards (FRS 102) have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
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prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Charity will continue in business.
The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Charity's transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008, the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 and the provisions of the Trust deed. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
Approved by order of the members of the board of Trustees and signed on their behalf by:
................................................ ................................................ C Gilmore S McCullough Trustee Trustee
Date: 19/09/2025
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