345preschools.co.uk

DRAFT MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF 345 PRESCHOOLS LIMITED COMPANY NO 04769758 HELD AT 8 PM ON TUESDAY 9th OCTOBER 2012 The Secretary called the mee ng to order and welcomed all present. The Secretary thanked all present and stated that because 345 Preschools was a not for profit company and charity the involvement of volunteers was essen al to the successful running of the preschools. The Management Commi ee members were introduced. Kat Day introduced herself as the Company Secretary of 345, a post she has held for the past 12 months alongside Lisa Van Blerk the chair. Their roles entail, being a company director for the CLG and trustee of the charity. This is our AGM - in addi on 345 has regular Director mee ngs together with termly commi ee mee ngs also a ended by preschool leaders and representa ves from each se ng; a parent rep, a fundraising rep and newsle er editors. I would like to thank you all for a ending. As a charity and not-for-profit company, it is a formal legal obliga on to hold an AGM once a year to review what we have been doing and elect new Directors and Trustees. Informally it is also social evening to welcome new parents to 345 and welcome back parents whose children are staying on. Many of our staff a end the mee ng so it is also an opportunity for you to meet staff at your preschool and from the three other groups. Refreshments are provided and we would love for people stay for a drink a er the formal proceedings have concluded. The minutes of the 2011 AGM were presented by email last year a er the AGM to all parents and there were no changes. The minutes were presented at AGM and approved. CHAIR'S END OF YEAR REPORT AND HIGHLIGHTS Welcome. Most of you will be aware that 345 has a long history in Muswell Hill. First established in Church Crescent in 1967, in 2012 it was 45 years since the first playgroup was set up to meet a lack of nursery places for the under 5's. 345 has come a long way since then and now operates 4 groups with almost 100 children a ending and turns over almost to £250K per year. Throughout the 2011/12 year we have con nued to operate our 4 preschools: Tetherdown, Church Crescent, Springfield am and Springfield pm. Those of you who are new to 345 you may not be aware of the extent to which the voluntary and charitable sector enable the government to meet this 15 hour commitment. In an area like Muswell Hill, where not many schools offer a nursery class, organisa ons like 345, St James Preschool and Hilltop offer a vital service but depend on the input of willing parents to take on official and fundraising roles. Our pre schools are full at present, with wai ng lists for all groups but I would just like to make two important points here before talking about the highlights of the year. The con nua on of our preschools does depend on two things: ● As a voluntary community group 345 is heavily dependent on the efforts of parent volunteers. These volunteers sit on the main commi ee / fundraising commi ee, they organise and run stalls at our winter and summer fairs, they sell ckets for events and provide support and assistance in a number of other ways. Historically we have appointed 3 Directors and Trustees to our 'Management Commi ee', a Chair, Treasurer and Company Secretary. However, in order to spread the workload, this year we are seeking to appoint 2 Directors from each se ng and at their first mee ng they can decide how to delegate the roles. I really do recommend ge ng involved. ● Financial input from parents and/or the community to keep our finances healthy. It remains very clear that we rely on parents contribu ng either me and money, or both. The income that we receive from the local authority and other central sources is insufficient to cover our costs (even though a considerable amount of the management / governance of 345 is provided free by parent volunteers). We have two main ways of addressing this shor all: 1. We ask parents and carers with children over 3 to make a voluntary dona on to cover the shor all between the cost of providing preschool place and the income we receive from the government in the form of grants. For parents and carers with children under the age of 3, we receive no government support and we have to ask for a fee and a voluntary dona on. 2. Every year we also ask for fund raising volunteers to organise a series of money raising events for 345. These events not only generate an addi onal income but also provide an opportunity for parents, carers and children to meet socially outside a formal preschool environment. In May this year the management commi ee made a proposal to staff regarding a restructure to the preschools. It was proposed that the new 345 Preschools structure would: ● Offer full days Monday to Friday at Springfield ● Offer some full days at Church Crescent ● Con nue to offer morning and a ernoon sessions at both Springfield and Church Crescent ● Con nue to operate Tetherdown in its current form (as due to hall bookings of the a er school club, we are unable to offer full days there). ● Make the leader posi on at Springfield, our largest site, a full me post for a qualified teacher including allocated me to act as Curriculum Manager. This role would be to support staff in all 3 sites in implemen ng the new curriculum, in close collabora on with our manager, Louise Palmer, and repor ng directly to the management commi ee. The proposal would have required the redeployment of some staff in terms of loca on of work and days/hours worked to allow children access to the same staff across a full day and across the week regardless of how parents choose to use their 15 hour en tlement. We were very keen to hear staff views on our proposal and were open to considering any workable alterna ves which would address all of issues underlying our proposal. In addi on, if staff wished to propose more minor changes such as 'swapping' with another staff member to achieve mutually more convenient working hours, we are obviously open to considering these op ons. The management commi ee also sought legal advice to guide us through this process of proposal and consulta on with staff and to make sure as an organisa on that we adhered to our legisla ve and statutory obliga ons towards our staff. Following mee ngs with staff, it become very clear that an agreement on a new staffing structure could not be reached. We as a commi ee felt we could not go ahead with any proposal that did not have the backing of the majority of staff across all our se ngs. We therefore took the decision to close the consulta on process and to make no changes so con nuing with the present staffing arrangements. First of all I would like to thank all of this years management commi ee members who are all leaving. They worked tremendously hard over the past year and gave huge amounts of their me and support to 345 preschools. The team was a fantas c group and I enjoyed working with them greatly.  Cath Cochrane who was 345's Treasurer for the past two and half years. I would like to say that 345 has been extremely fortunate to have had such an experienced accountant as Treasurer for so long and she has made a massive difference to the repor ng and due diligence of the finance systems. She has o en spent up to 2 days a week sor ng out both the financial affairs of 345, the new build at Springfield and also suppor ng in the re-structure.  Kat Day is also stepping down this year a er a year in the post. With her strategic vision, mo va on and drive she was able to support the commi ee with a huge amount of passion and determina on.  Fionnuala Stuart le through the term and she was missed with her sense of a compassion and understanding, she worked very hard to support parents, staff and commi ee.  Kay Dunn leader of Springfield re red a er many many years in 345 preschools. She was a passionate member of the team and will be missed, but she s ll comes back to the Springfield se ng as the story telling lady! She kindly donated to Springfield a beau ful story telling tree.  Stella Kerour le as our newly appointed Leader of Springfield and Curriculum Manager. Again whilst Stella was not in post for very long she worked very hard over the summer and in the first part of the term to take a number of ini a ves forward and se le the new families into 345 Preschool.  Louise Palmer our business manager is in the process of leaving a er 4 years in post. She partnered with the management commi ee to develop a large number of different ini a ves. Since her arrival, the business aspects of 345 including finance, HR and opera ng systems have all been developed, streamlined and organised. There has been significant growth in the organisa on over the last several years and this has seen a greater need for processes and systems to be aligned across each se ng and a central contact for all those ques ons others can't answer!!  Becky Marks the curriculum manager le following the end of her contract. She was able to take forward HR ini a ves and support in the communica on strategy of 345 Preschools. I would like to thank them for all of the me and hard work and huge commitment to 345 community ethos. I would also like to thank the temporary staff who helped out in the year, students and volunteers who also helped out. We are currently seeking to replace these roles so a leader at our Springfield se ng and a manager to support all 345 se ngs with business and general management du es. Apart from the mandatory training, we con nue to provide 2 inset training days and at least 2 addi onal training days for all members of staff in the year and make sure staff a end compulsory training on areas such as child protec on and first aid. Many thanks to the fundraisers this year who arranged a variety of events including the successful winter fair, cinema event and sponsored trampoline bounce. Ofsted Inspec ons & Other Inspec ons All se ngs are prepared for possible inspec on under the new EYFS regime by filling in the SEF and making sure all their statutory paperwork was in place. Haringey con nued with their quality accredita on scheme and this year we were not assessed but we retained a Gold ra ng at Church Crescent and Silver at both Tetherdown and Springfield. Ofsted visited both Church Crescent and Tetherdown and we were delighted with the posi ve results and the good ra ng that was achieved by both se ngs. As this is my last formal event as Chair, I would like to finish by saying a few thank yous, to: ● The staff who make 345 what it is today; ● Those of you who have volunteered to support 345 over the year, formally or informally in a fundraising capacity or in support of the Directors; and ● For the commi ee for being a very suppor ve and professional team to work with. Finally thank you all for a ending this evening and I hope you get involved with 345 in the coming school year. The accounts for the year ending 31 August 2011 were audited and filed at Companies House earlier this year. These accounts show net income for the year of £85,468 and this requires some explana on. During the year work was undertaken on the Springfield se ng for which we received a grant of £64,000 from Haringey Council. This grant is included in our income for the year. Our auditors have required us to capitalise all the money spent on the build and hold it as an asset on our balance sheet. This is because although all the costs of the build fell within one year, the benefits of the money spent will be felt over the term of the lease. So each year the asset will be reduced/depreciated and that amount will be taken as an expense in our income statement. So although we take in the whole grant into our income statement, this year we will not take in any of the costs (as we were not able to use the building un l September this year). So £64,000 of the £85,468 is a one off grant and not part of our normal income. In addi on, we received this year from Haringey a "pathfinder bonus". This was a one off income grant of £20,464 and will not be repeated. So if the grant and the pathfinder bonus are removed you will see that we had net income excluding these items of £1,004. This is in line with our policy, where we aim to break even or add a small amount to our reserves each year and then use the reserves, when required, to either cover net expenditure in difficult years or to put towards expenditure needed to fulfil a long term aim of the organisa on. Last year we had reserves of £110,496. This year we are showing total reserves of £195,964 of which £135,737 relate to the Springfield build asset and £60,227 are reserves available for use in the business. A breakdown of the reserves is included in the audited accounts as note 17 and show the amounts received from Haringey on the build, amounts used from 345 resources for the build and other income. It is very important to note that reserves available for the business to use as at the year-end are £60,227 only and that the £135,737 is included due to the accoun ng treatment we have been required to follow. During the 2011 financial year (as many of you may be aware) 345 undertook a large renova on project at the Springfield se ng. The decision to go ahead with the project had been discussed in the AGM in October 2010 and then confirmed in the subsequent Commi ee mee ng. The Springfield se ng had fallen into a state of some disrepair which had caused the se ng to close on a number of occasions. It was felt that work must be done on the site or we would have to close the pre-school. The building is held on a long term lease from the Alexandra Park Trust who allowed us to make the renova ons but were not required to make anything more than basic repairs under the terms of the lease. The project began with a construc on quote of approximately £105k for the build and there were a number of professional fees and other costs associated with the build (architects, structural engineers, health and safety, planning, legal costs from the Alexandra Park Trust, removals and cleaning) of approximately £14k. The build ran into some unforeseen difficul es related to the founda ons which were of an unusual nature and led to addi onal costs of approximately £11k. This and a number of small "extras" and other items required at the se ng (some of which related directly to the build and some of which were of a more longstanding nature) amounted to a total build cost of approximately £136k. Dra results for the year ending 31 August 2012 The dra results for the year ending 31 August 2012 are not yet finalised and unaudited and may therefore be subject to some change. The accounts will be finalised, audited and then filed at Companies House probably early next year 2013. Our income comes from predominantly four sources: government grants, fees, voluntary contribu ons and fundraising. Grant income: We receive grant income for all children who are 3 and over under a "Single Funding Formula". This grant remains roughly the same as last year at approximately 67% of our income this year compared to approximately 68% in the previous year. Fee income: for those children who are not eligible to receive the grant, we charge a fee equal to the amount received per child under the grant. Although the staff ra os required for 2 year olds are higher than those for the 3 year olds we consider that all children benefit from the higher ra os and so feel it is appropriate to ask for an equal amount from parents. This year to August 2012 fees contributed approximately 16% to our income and increased slightly from last year's 14% due to the extended hours provision. Voluntary Dona ons: In addi on to the fee income and grant income received for each child we ask parents, in so far as they are able, to make a voluntary contribu on to 345. If they are addi onally able to sign a gi aid form then we can reclaim the basic rate income tax which increases the voluntary contribu on so that if £10 is donated then 345 will actually receive £12.50. Voluntary dona ons and related gi aid have contributed approximately 16% of income in 2012, 15% of income in 2011 and 16% of income in 2010. This contribu on of dona ons allow us to con nue to operate on a staff child ra on of up to 1:6 or lower. Addi onal me is required for prac se le children, cover administra on me and also se ng up/down costs, out of hours costs, all of which is not covered by the government grant. The only way we are able to bridge the gap between our costs and the grant income received is through the voluntary contribu on. That said, we seek to be an inclusive community group and want to be accessible to all, so the message is to please pay if you can and sign up for gi aid, and we understand if you cannot. Fundraising: fundraising con nues to be an important source of income, but we have seen a sharp decline over the previous few years in fundraising ac vi es. With this year's fundraising contributed approximately 1% of income compared to 2% the year before. Costs: staff costs and rental costs together account for approximately 90% of our costs against costs in 2010 of 91%. There is li le room for change in either of these costs. Result for the year: this year shows a net income in the region of £4K. Reserves: We pledged last year that we would seek to build up our reserves and this net income has allowed us do exactly that. We now have reserves of approximately £75k. This is just above our minimum 3 month reserves figure of approximately £69k which allows for 3 months opera ng expenditure. Our reserves should always fall between the 3 month reserve figure and the 6 month figure which is currently between £69K and £138K. Year end accounts: 345 is a limited company and although as a small company we are not legally required to have a full audit we feel that verifica on is important, par cularly given the contribu on made by parents. The accounts for this year will be finalised, audited and then filed at Companies House probably later this year or early next year. The accounts for the year ending 31 August 2011 are available to view. If anyone would like to see them please let member of the Commi ee know. Forecast and objec ves: it is an cipated that 2012 - 13 will be a more se led year. Our funding is not changing over the course of the year and we have no significant projects. Our objec ve going forward would be to con nue to fill our se ngs as soon as possible, while being aware of the needs of the children and staff. If we can increase our voluntary contribu ons and fundraising income, then we hope to further improve all of the se ngs which are in much need of replacing some of their old equipment, such as tables, chairs and more equipment and resources for all of our children. The year started with the highly successful winter fair which was a great start for the fundraising team and a big effort put in to make this successful. However this year like last year was a challenge and the following events in the year struggled to find willing volunteers to help organise the events. Over the summer term each se ng also organised the trampoline bounce which again is a good fundraiser. However individual se ngs worked hard and were able to raise money which they can then use for resources, and this was a successful development to the fundraising strategy. The Ar cles of Associa on are a ached and are also available along with the objects of the preschool on the website. We would encourage all members to read both these documents. The following nomina ons were received for Management Commi ee posi ons: Management Commi ee (Elected Roles) NEW COMMITTEE Jennifer Na I'm an American who has lived in the UK for 8 1/2 years now. I have three children, my oldest being Arundeep who a ends Church Crescent. Professionally, I am an Area Manager for Build A Bear Workshop, but currently on maternity leave. Before I started working in retail I worked as a teacher's aide for a school in New York working primarily with students with special needs. Maria Strojek I have 2.5 year old Lars who will start preschool in November. I also have 5 months old daughter Lea. I am currently on maternity leave ll end of January. From February I am coming back to my full me job as Head of Opera onal and Regulatory Risk in Bank of China. As my work is based on project tasks I have to have good organisa onal and project management skills. I also worked as a commi ee member for Associa on of MBA crea ng events and working on new marke ng channels. Kate Newman My son Sol, who is 3 and a half has just started at 345 Springfield and it has been great to see him se le into the nursery so quickly. He is my middle child, I have another son in year 1 at Muswell Hill Primary, and a daughter who is 10 months old (and will hopefully come to 345 Springfield in a couple of years!). I'm interested in being on the commi ee as I was a racted to 345 as a parent run nursery, I hope to feel part of the parent community and to support the staff in making 345 the best possible place for our li le ones to be. In terms of experience, I have been a trustee (treasurer) previously for a charity, which organised interna onal exchanges for young people, and I have spent most of my career working for a charity on interna onal educa on and human rights. I hope to put some of that learning into prac ce on a much smaller scale within the 345 se ng and also to learn more about early years educa on/working with other parents on a commi ee. Sian Bradburn I am a full me mum to two boys. My youngest, Sam, is currently a ending Springfield am. My eldest, Toby also went to Springfield. As for any relevant experience, I was a manager in a large restaurant group, heading up a recep on team. I was responsible for hiring, (occasionally firing), training and dealing with cash takings/reconcilia ons. This was many years ago however! More recently I was a legal rep working in Crown court in central and Greater London, liasing between barrister and defendant in criminal cases. It was a job that required the ability to communicate with people from all walks of life, many of whom were scared, angry and some mes violent. Hopefully this won't be relevant to any 345 related issues! I think most importantly, I love the ethos of 345, and would like to play my part in helping the preschool in the coming year. Mathias Hessler We have one child in Springfield 345, called Luca Simon. My day job is a secretarial role as well, hence I thought I could do a good job as Secretary. I work for the Energy Efficiency Partnership for Buildings, a voluntary network organisa ons, and am dra ing agendas, taking notes, chasing people for their ac ons, networking, helping to organise events etc. I'm a very diligent and structured person and am quite fierce with Outlook appointments, mail merge, distribu on lists and all the mundane wizardry of the office boy. One idea I had may be useful to use among the Commi ee would be some form of online collabora on tool (rather than just whizzing lots of emails around). At the Partnership we use Huddle which costs lots of money, but there're cheaper tools such as Basecamp or even some free solu ons such as Google docs. Paula Lenton I have 4 children, Gracie 2 and a half, James 11, Chloe 13 and Kezia 16. Two a end Highgate Wood school and Kezia goes to Woodhouse College, where she is doing her A levels. I was working at a school in Stoke Newington for 7 years, in which I took on a learning support role for primary school children who struggled emo onally and academically. I worked with the children on a one to one basis and group work. I loved the job. I have a psychology and sociology degree, which has led to this type of work. I believe I am a friendly approachable person and have good communica on skills (I've got to be with 2 teenagers!) Stephany Clark I have two children, Eva who is nearly four and Leon who is 14 months. Before I had my children I worked as an Osteopath in East finchley. I worked for several years as a project manager and site supervisor on a construc on site. I also worked part me as a kung fu, weapons, kickboxing and gymnas cs coach for adults and children in a er school clubs, including at Eton, and private classes. I was part of the London Stunt School, which trained stunt people for film and theatre including fire/car and horse stunts as well as stage combat and ac ng skills. Currently I am a full me mum with a part me baking business to keep me busy! Louise Bardell I have 2 girls. The older one, Rose, is at Coldfall School and the younger, Flora, has just started at Tetherdown 345. I have the me to devote to ge ng involved with the 345 commi ee at the moment because I am not working at present as I am between jobs planning a career change. I worked for Lloyds Banking Group for over 20 years un l last December as a Senior Manager in Risk. From this, I have a lot of general management experience, including managing people, chairing mee ngs, looking at accounts and wri en communica ons & presenta ons of various kinds. All the above commi ee nomina ons were unchallenged and as a result all the candidates were unanimously elected. Staff sugges on for staff and community representa ves on commi ee Sarah Matejcyzk presented a proposal on behalf of the 345 staff: To increase transparency, the commi ee could be extended to include one or two democra cally elected staff members with one vote (each). In addi on, the new commi ee could also consider invi ng "community" Governors as commi ee members for longer-term consistency beyond the commi ee members' term me. Parent Reps and Fundraising Volunteers (Roles not requiring elec on or nomina on): Leaders were asked to provide commi ee with the names of the parent reps and fundraising volunteers to be added below. The minutes of the 2011 AGM were approved at the 2012 AGM on 9th October 2012. Kat Day thanked Lisa Van Blerk for being a fantas c chair who has worked relessly for 345 over the past year. Lisa Van Blerk _________________________________ Chair 2011/2012 Management Commi ee

Source: http://www.345preschools.co.uk/up/AGM/2012-10-09_345_AGM_Notes_final.pdf