Review of the year 2007 — Year ended 31 March 2007
Achievements and performance
Learning and quality assurance
14,468 learners attended the charity’s training in the year, completing 582,414 guided learning hours (compared to a target of 400,000 guided learning hours). The charity’s learners are the staff and volunteers of pre-school settings and parents taking part in the charity’s family learning programmes. 3,622 learners were funded by the Learning and Skills Council.
With funding from the European Social Fund, the charity provided for 253 parents to work towards a qualification ranging from entry level to level 4 (the target was 230 parents).
The charity’s national NVQ assessment centre enrolled 39 students on to level 2, 216 onto level 3 and 23 on to level 4 (compared to an aggregate target of 150 enrolments). 67 NVQ assessors were trained (compared to a target of 35).
177 pre-school settings were successfully assessed against the charity’s accreditation scheme, Aiming for Quality and 205 settings signed up to the scheme (compared to a target of 350). The shortfall reflects the confusion across the sector created by the Government’s decision to withdraw the Investors in Children kitemark. This has led settings and local authorities to question the future of quality improvement and accreditation schemes. It is hoped that the new Quality Improvement Network of which the Alliance is a part will help direct this work in the future.
The Early Learning Partnerships project has trained 51 practitioners to work with 312 families to help them to engage more effectively with their children’s learning and development at home (against a target of 30 practitioners and 294 families).
Provision of early years services
The charity secured involvement in 40 new children’s centres providing an additional 1,420 new childcare places in areas of need, exceeding the target for the year of 30 children’s centres or nurseries. The charity managed 383 early-years settings and delivered 966 one-off crèches.
We set a target to help move 35 pre-schools to school sites under the Extended Schools Initiative. However, early years services have not been part of the core offer of extended schools resulting in a different approach to this work. The charity has continued to support groups across the country in moving to premises based on school sites; advising on partnership agreements; and developing collaborative work with local schools providing practical input to achieve successful working arrangements between them and our pre-school members.
Early years development work and projects
The charity is funded in more than 100 local authority areas to provide a range of services, including the employment of 569 pre-school development workers and business support officers who provide settings with advice, guidance and management support. 452 pre-schools use the charity’s payroll services. The charity runs 40 subsidised toy libraries, targeting both pre-schools and parents in areas of disadvantage.
The charity is funded to provide inclusion support for early years settings in 30 areas and runs an inclusion conference in Milton Keynes which was attended by 305 individuals from settings and from external agencies such as local authorities.
In 2007, three new publications were issued (target four new publications). The Social Child, examining how children’s behaviour relates to their development and their experiences of attending an early years setting, Role of the Early Years SENCO, supporting early years SENCOs in the important role they have in implementing change effectively and Embracing Equality, which provides information and practical tools to guide settings through the process of working towards equality and inclusive practice. Membership services
The charity provides practical support to its 18,000 members and makes a positive contribution to the care and education of over 600,000 children and their families. Membership benefits include a range of specialist products and services such as free information and advice, a competitive and comprehensive insurance package and access to a legal helpline 24 hours a day.
The charity has launched a range of printed and on-line materials supporting its 3,000 baby and toddler member groups and seeks to update the membership package for these groups
The charity launched EY Essential, a jointly developed management software targeted at the early years sector. 268 settings are now using the software.
The Growing Families club has extended membership to 750,000 parents. Working in partnership with Bounty, the charity has created a Growing Families online parent research panel which seeks to obtain the opinions of 10,000 parents.
Campaigning and sponsorship
In June 2006, the charity was selected to project manage the worlds largest hand painting. 1,500 children from Alliance settings created the painting which was exhibited in Tate Modern.
The Charity jointly developed with the British Nutrition Foundation the Feeding Young Imaginations - Promoting Healthy Eating in Early Years Settings training pack. Partnership with Tesco provided free training programmes and new research to support the initiative. 200 early years staff were trained with a target to reach 9,000 families and the research activity focused on the barriers to healthy eating targeted within areas of deprivation. A report on the research findings is scheduled to be released in late 2007.
The healthy eating campaign has developed new links with the Food Standards Agency and the National Institute of Clinical Excellence.
The Alliance was a joint beneficiary of sales from a special charity DVD produced by the British Video Association. The DVD, Making Children Smile, reached number one in the children’s DVD charts.
Grants payable
The charity appoints a national grants panel of volunteers to provide assurance that the criteria for funding and the paying of grants are met. The charity’s sub-committees have delegated power to award grants to assist pre-schools or subsidise pre-school places. Sixteen local authorities have funded the charity to target and distribute grant aid to groups most in need of financial support.
Volunteering
The charity’s volunteering strategy has been relaunched and rolled out across all regions. It has been based on the ten national standards for volunteering issued by Volunteering England and refers to actions that ensure that all volunteers are recruited, inducted and supported appropriately.
During the year, 912 volunteers gave an estimated 36,507 hours of their time to the charity. 13,756 of these hours were given to committee work at a local level.
In 2007, the charity’s Worcestershire sub-committee was awarded the Queen’s award for volunteering for its work in supporting children with special needs.
Plans for the future
The charity will continue to work with its strategic partners – parents, families, community-based groups, local authorities and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) – to provide high quality care and education for children, to improve the sustainability of groups and to promote the involvement of parents in all aspects of their children’s education.
The charity has a target to extend its network of childcare provision and secure an involvement in a further 30 settings across the country. Additionally, the charity’s management and co-ordination of activities in children's centres will be extended.
The charity will continue to extend its training and learning programme to ensure that staff and volunteers in early years settings have the qualifications and continuing professional development they need to undertake their roles successfully. The target for learners is 13,750. The charity’s national NVQ assessment centre has a target of 230 enrolments for levels 2 and 3 in 2007 for NVQs in children’s care, learning and development, and playwork.
The charity has a target of 300 settings to progress through the Aiming for Quality scheme.
The charity recognises the need to raise the profile of its baby and toddler work and increase membership in this area by 20% Planned work will include establishing baby and toddler forums in each of the regions and a feature in Under Five highlighting current work across the charity. We also intend to produce web based resources that will be password protected for members, a poster pack and a minimum of one other publication for retail.
Ten new publications are planned for 2007/8.
Summarised financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2007
| 2007 £'000 |
2006 £'000 |
|
|---|---|---|
| Income and expenditure | ||
| Total incoming resources | 38,497 | 37,845 |
| Total expenditure | 38,673 | 36,074 |
| Net movement of funds | 176 | 1,771 |
| Reserves | ||
| Restricted funds | 3,134 | 3,900 |
| Net movement of funds | 1,633 | 1,771 |
| Designated funds | 1,737 | 1,737 |
| General unrestricted funds | 6,878 | 6,184 |
| Total funds | 11,645 | 11,821 |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Fixed assets | 4,541 | 4,004 |
| Current assets | 12,130 | 11,353 |
| Creditors – amounts falling due within one year | (5,026) | (3,559) |
| Creditors – amounts falling due after one year | - | - |
| Total net assets | 11,645 | 11,821 |
The figures on this page are extracted from the full accounts which have been audited by Horwath Clark Whitehill LLP, who gave an unqualified audit report on 12 September 2007. The auditors have confirmed that the summarised accounts are consistent with the full accounts for the year ended 31 March 2007. The trustees’ annual report and accounts were approved by the trustees and signed on their behalf on 12 September 2007 and have been submitted to the Charity Commission and the Registrar of Companies.
These summarised accounts may not contain sufficient information to gain a complete understanding of the financial affairs of the charity. For further information, the full accounts, the auditors’ report on those accounts and the trustees’ annual report should be consulted; copies of these can be obtained from the Director of Finance at 188 York Way, London, N7 9AD.
Approved by the National Executive Committee
Elizabeth Marlow
Honorary Treasurer
The following charts show the charity’s income and expenditure broken down by category.
