The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 July 2023.
The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the accounts and comply with the constitution, the Companies Act 2006 and the Statement of Recommended Practice, "Accounting and Reporting by Charities", issued in March 2005.
The Pre-School's objectives are:
> To encourage learning through play in a caring, safe and enthusiastic environment.
> To create an environment which has the highest standard of care and education for our children.
> To work in partnership with parents and carers to achieve our goals.
The Pre-School has a policy to encourage children's learning through play, creativity and by creating opportunities to express opinions and make friends. This is intended to make the Pre-school an enjoyable experience for everyone.
Children are eligible to attend the playgroup at the start of the term following their second birthday.
The Pre-School has policies regarding:
> Admissions
> Positive behaviour
> Child protection
> Safety
> Equal opportunities
> Bullying and harassment in the workplace
> Special needs
> Health
> Hygiene
> Aims and objectives
> Fire procedures
> Fees
The trustees have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the Pre-School should undertake.
The financial year ended 31 July 2023 saw Silkstone Pre-School and Playgroup (pre-school) begin to see the green shoots of recovery following the peak financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. This year, we are pleased to report a profit, a position that could have been even more positive had it not been for the impact of the national staff shortage in Early Years, during the latter part of the financial year.
To protect the long-term viability of pre-school and ensure we could continue the high quality experience for our pre-school children we made the difficult decision to temporarily reduce our opening hours and pause wrap around care. We are extremely grateful to parents and carers for their understanding and continued support. As a long standing and successful pre-school, we have been fortunate to able to flex as necessary.
During the year we continued our child-led learning, promoting and enhancing confidence in critical thinking and problem solving and ensuring all areas of the early years curriculum were taught. We also welcomed our new setting Manager; Beverley and we are delighted to report that through her leadership with Laura, Pre-School achieved a Good grading at our Ofsted visit in June 2023. We are extremely proud of the whole staff team and our super preschoolers, whose knowledge is demonstrable through the positive comments in the Ofsted report, we were described as a welcoming pre-school, where children are happy and eager to learn with their friends. They noted our children have wonderfully developed social skills, happy to share their opinions and experiences.
We have held some wonderful events this year, that has meant that families have been able to come to the setting and enjoy sharing their children’s pre-school experience. This year we have held a Christmas sing-a-long, Coronation Party and Graduation Celebration. We also continued building relationships with the local schools and enjoyed encouraging our leavers’ interaction with their future reception teachers. Our thriving pre-school has continued to strengthen, nurturing happy and school ready children.
Our dedicated staff work incredibly hard to ensure that setting is a fun, safe and caring environment for children. The Committee appreciates and sends a huge thank you to our small dedicated staff team for the positive impact they continue to have on our children. The staff team have worked incredibly hard to maintain our successful setting, and their hard work has not gone unnoticed. By the end of July 2023, there were 5 members of staff with two new members due to join early in the new year.
We unfortunately have to report that in recent years it has become increasingly difficult to recruit people to the trustee role and sadly the responsibility for The Charity is falling on the shoulders of just a few willing volunteers. Unless new volunteers can be found to take on the role of Trustees/ committee members the continued running of Pre School may have to come to an end. This would be a very sad day having to close such a valued resource in the area however without further volunteers Pre School will be unable to meet it’s obligations with The Charity Commission.
The Committee also thank the continued support of existing parents and carers and welcomes all the new families to our pre-school.
The result for the year after all the activities was a surplus of £7,098 and this has been added to reserves.
The charity ensures it carries enough reserves at the bank to cover the salary costs for the term ahead of it. It derives its funding on a quarterly basis and the Trustees are happy the reserves plus funding will allow the charity to pay its liabilities.
It is the policy of the Pre-School that unrestricted funds which have not been designated for a specific use should be maintained at a level equivalent to between three and six month’s expenditure. The trustees consider that reserves at this level will ensure that, in the event of a significant drop in funding, they will be able to continue the Pre-School’s current activities while consideration is given to ways in which additional funds may be raised. This level of reserves has been maintained throughout the year.
The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:
The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of Silkstone Pre-School Playgroup Limited (the Pre-School) for the year ended 31 July 2023.
As the trustees of the Pre-School (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (the 2006 Act).
Having satisfied myself that the financial statements of the Pre-School are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of the Pre-School’s financial statements carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act). In carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
accounting records were not kept in respect of the Pre-School as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or
the financial statements do not accord with those records; or
the financial statements do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
the financial statements have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statements to be reached.
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
Silkstone Pre-School Playgroup Limited is a company limited by guarantee, dependant upon parent volunteers to serve on the committee and act as both directors and trustees.
The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Pre-School's governing document, the Companies Act 2006 and “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016). The Pre-School is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The Pre-School has taken advantage of the provisions in the SORP for charities applying FRS 102 Update Bulletin 1 not to prepare a Statement of Cash Flows.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the Pre-School. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention, modified to include certain financial instruments at fair value. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the Pre-School has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives.
Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the Pre-School has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.
Turnover is measured at the fair value of the consideration received or receivable and represents amounts receivable for services provided in the normal course of business.
These are costs incurred on the Pre-School's charitable operations, including support costs. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.
Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.
Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:
The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in the statement of financial activities.
At each reporting end date, the Pre-School reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss (if any).
Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.
The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received.
Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the Pre-School is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.
Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due.
Funding
Fees
Lunch and after school club
Fund raising
Training
Recreational materials
Snacks and milk
Rent and rates
Light and heat
Water
Repairs and renewals
Telephone
Stationery and postage
Insurance
Audit and accountancy
Bank charges
Sundry expenses
Motor expenses
The average monthly number of employees during the year was:
There were no employees whose annual remuneration was £60,000 or more.
The charity is exempt from taxation on its activities because all its income is applied for charitable purposes.
The unrestricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants which are not subject to specific conditions by donors and grantors as to how they may be used. These include designated funds which have been set aside out of unrestricted funds by the trustees for specific purposes.