annual report pinkie out of school club 2013 14

PINKIE ST PETER’S OUT OF

SCHOOL CLUB

Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) Scottish Registered Charity No. SC033580

ANNUAL REPORT

2013-2014

(Year 11)

Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO)

Scottish Registered Charity No. SC033580

1 Introduction

Pinkie St Peter’s Out of School Club opened for business on 20 August 2003.

The Club continues to be managed by a small group of volunteer parents who

have children at the school, assisted by East Lothian Council’s Community

Development Officer for Musselburgh.

The Club is a registered charity and is also registered with the Care

Inspectorate as a care provider. We operate a Breakfast Club, After School

Club and a Holiday Club for children between the ages of 4 and 14 years. We

have permission for a maximum of 40 children at any one time.

This report outlines the past year's progress.

2 Finance

From August 2006, the Club became financially self-sustaining.

The fees were last increased in January 2009 and, following the annual review

of fees, the Committee was again able to maintain these at the same level.

This recognises the financial challenges facing our registered families and the

careful cost control that the Management Committee and staff exercise over

the Club.

However, the Committee noted several pressures that make it more likely

that, when fees are again reviewed in the autumn term, an increase may well

be required. It is hoped that with careful financial management and increased

numbers, any increase can be kept as low as possible.

The Club has Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) status

which provides a sound basis for the management of the Club.

Pension Reform is beginning to take place on a phased basis from 2012. We

have identified that as an employer this will mean change for the Club and

staff from July 2015. The Committee will work with staff in 2014-15 to make

these changes as well as ensuring that the impact on the financial position is

taken into account in the autumn fee review.

The staff continue to work closely with the Management Committee to review

all club expenditure to get best value when purchasing for the Club. A prepaid



card allows the staff to obtain best value from the funds allocated to them

and also minimise the expense claims required.

The Management Committee monitors the current financial position and

performance against allocated budgets at each Committee meeting. The Club’s

accounts have been independently audited to end July 2013.

We were again very fortunate to receive grant from the employer of one of

our registered families, for £3,000 to help support the Summer Holiday Club.

This grant allowed us to significantly subsidise the Holiday Club, offering

enhanced activities at a low cost to families. We are extremely grateful to

First State Investments and Shirley Bailey for this support.

We again worked with Pinkie Parents to organise the annual Family ceilidh

which was enjoyed by all who attended, helped with teas at the school’s

nativity plays and had a stall at the School Fete in June.

3 Targets

This year, to reflect increasing demand and in anticipation of the growth in

the school, we amended our registration with the Care Inspectorate to

increase the maximum available places in the Club. We are now registered for

a maximum of 40 places at the Breakfast Club, After School Club and Holiday

Club. However, given that the school expansion is at a very early stage and to

maintain comparable statistics, targets for 2013-14 were based on the same

number of places as in previous years.

Therefore our targets for Year 11 were to fill 50% of 20 places in the

Breakfast Club, 50% of 30 places in the After School Club and 75% of the

places in the Summer Holiday Club. These targets were easily exceeded, with

take up at record levels.

The Breakfast Club achieved 74.9% capacity for the year and the After

School Club achieved 70.7% capacity (up from 62.6% and 52.7% in 2012-13).

The 35 minute session achieved 64.1% capacity for 2012-13.

The Committee and staff continue to work with families to understand the

need for holiday clubs and this year opened in the summer holiday for 4 weeks,

Monday to Thursday, to support our families. The Holiday Club also exceeded

its uptake target, with outings proving particularly popular.



The Holiday Club Programme was again varied to appeal to a variety of ages,

needs and interests with only minor changes being required due to the

weather. Feedback was gathered from families using a questionnaire and the

results will be used in planning future Holiday Clubs.

The Committee also continued with the reduced registration fee for the

Holiday Club which allowed families to use the Holiday Club only, with 5

families taking up this option.

Demand for Holiday Club(s) in 2014/15 will be closely monitored.

We continue to offer a pick up service from Loretto RC Primary School, and

this is now being used by a small number of children. We are advertising the

service to seek to increase interest in it to ensure this service is sustainable

for the Club.

4 Staffing

The Club currently employs three permanent and one temporary member of

staff, together with our bank staff when required. The Play Leader has

overall responsibility for the day to day running of the Club and is supported

by two Practitioners and a Support Worker. All staff members have been

cleared by an enhanced Disclosure Scotland check or under the PVG scheme.

Our staff members are all registered at the appropriate level with the

Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC).

Dawn Dray, who has been with the Club since February 2005, was appointed as

Play Leader on 1 August 2013. She has provided sound leadership and

management to the Club throughout the year. Dawn is supported by Gwen

Johnston, who has been with the club since June 2008. We moved to

strengthen the Club’s staffing this year with the appointment of an additional

Practitioner and to appoint a permanent Support Worker. Following

advertisement and a thorough recruitment process, Pamela Devlin was awarded

a fixed term appointment as a Practitioner, and Gemma Reynolds, was

appointed as a Support Worker.

This increase in our staff numbers reflects demand for places at the Club and

increases the Club’s capacity and resilience to respond to this demand. The

Committee will continue to review staffing levels to ensure they are

appropriate.



Our Play Leader, Dawn Dray, is progressing well in her studies working towards

obtaining her SVQ 3 qualification, as required by the SSSC, and Gemma

Reynolds has also started her college work towards the SVQ 3 qualification.

The Club maintains a bank of supply staff who are employed as required to

cover other staff absences. Some members of the Committee have also gone

through an enhanced check with Disclosure Scotland (as have all bank staff) to

allow them to provide emergency cover.

5 Management Committee

The Management Committee for 2013-14 consisted of 8 parents as follows:

James Macleod Chair (October to March)*

Clare Morley Vice Chair

Shirley Bailey Secretary

Rosemary Gray Treasurer

Elaine La Roche Committee Member

Kerry Donaldson Committee Member

Pasi Hyvonen Committee Member

Eileen Dilworth Committee Member

Catherine Reid Parent Volunteer

*James Macleod resigned from the Committee in March 2014 and the

Committee decided continue without a formal Chair until the AGM, splitting all

the roles and responsibilities between members.

Interested parents have attended the meetings since March 2011.

The Committee has responsibility for running the Club, including recruitment

and management of staff, management of finances and administration. All

work is carried out on a voluntary basis.

The Committee is working hard to encourage more parents to get involved, to

help spread the work between more volunteers and to ensure we are a parent-

led organisation, responding to the needs and preferences of our users.

Renewing and maintaining the Committee is always a challenge, and particularly

when active Committee members retire as their children move to secondary



school. A particular challenge for 2014-15 will be replacing our Treasurer,

Rosemary Gray, and as part of this transition the Committee has decided to

move the Club’s financial administration onto a paid basis, recognising that the

very significant level of work Rosemary puts in cannot be continued on a

voluntary basis.

6 Communication with Parents

As well as the day to day communication between Club staff and Club users,

newsletters have been issued regularly to all registered families in the school,

and we have used the Club’s Facebook page and the school website to keep

families up to date and ensure information is available readily. Information

leaflets and packs are available throughout the year and we have staff

present to help parents at P1 intake information sessions.

The Committee have also sought regular feedback from parents and a letter

to parents inviting them to help the Club in various ways was issued before the

AGM. A second online survey of parents and children attending the Club is

planned for later in 2014.

7 Care Inspectorate

The Care Inspectorate carried out their regular inspection of the Club in June

2014 with an overall score of Good. A number of indicators were Very Good.

The club also completes an annual self-assessment for The Care Inspectorate.

Following the Inspection Report, the Club submitted an Action Plan to the Care

Inspectorate, setting out how we will take forward their recommendations and

maintain and improve our performance over the next period. The Action Plan

is regularly reviewed by the Committee.

8 Future

Moving forward into 2014-15, the Committee will continue to encourage

families to participate in the running of the Club, either through joining the

Committee or carrying out specific roles or tasks. The current Committee are

aware that increasing and sustaining participation in the Committee is

essential to the future of the Club.

The Committee will continue to work with the Play Leader and her team to

ensure the best use of resources to ensure all key tasks are completed. The



Committee will also keep the structure of the club under continuous review to

ensure that it is fit for purpose and achieving our objectives.

We will continue to seek grant funding to allow us to develop our service and

improve the facilities for the children.

Our financial position continues to be carefully monitored and stringent

control of budgets will continue to be applied in the coming year.

9. Conclusion

The Club continues to face the challenges of a parent led organisation

managing a high quality child care service. We are committed to maintaining

and sustaining this in 2014-15, and will seek to make careful decisions to

consolidate and support the Club’s objectives and ensure that our

responsibilities are delivered effectively by parents, staff and volunteers.

We are committed to supporting parents as far as possible by maintaining fee

levels at a reasonable level, however, this must be balanced against the costs

of running the Club and building a firm base to protect the long term future of

the Club.

The plans for an extension to Pinkie St Peter’s School are in place and building

is expected to dominate the school during 2014-15. This is an opportunity for

growth in the Club in the medium term, but may also cause disruption. We will

work with the school and appropriate regulatory bodies if the Club has to be

relocated for a short period.

10. Acknowledgements

We are grateful for the continued support of registered families, reflected in

the record usage levels in the Club.

We would also like to acknowledge the support of all parents who have

undertaken roles within the last year. This strengthens and supports the Club

in so many ways, and provides a real benefit to all registered families by

keeping the fees at as low a level as possible.

The support provided by First State Investments to our Summer Holiday Club

was appreciated by the Committee and the registered families who benefited



from lower fees for this facility. The children also appreciated the additional

full day outings and enhancements to the programme.

The Management Committee is grateful to Jane Cummings, East Lothian

Council Community Development Officer for Musselburgh for her consistent

support, and for providing a venue for our Committee meetings.

We would also like to thank the staff within Pinkie St Peter’s School for their

generous support in the last year in so many different ways.

Management Committee

Pinkie St Peter’s Out of School Club

October 2014

annual report pinkie out of school club 2013 14

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