Annual General Meeting

29^th January 2003, 8 p.m. in the Clubhouse

2002 has been another successful year for the Out of School Club. Our numbers are stable with an average of 14 children in the morning and 16.5 children in the evening. We continue to run all day on school training days and we ran for 11 days in the summer holidays.

We continue to employ 3 staff on permanent contracts and 3 on casual basis.

In July we were inspected by OFSTED, which was a very stressful time for the staff and the committee, but we passed successfully with no actions (whey-hey). We were also visited by NOF, who were suitably impressed, and we won a couple of awards from the Yorkshire Rural Community Council. I have informed the children of these achievements – they feel proud of themselves and the club.

It emerged from the OFSTED inspection that the 1:8 staffing ratio we had been working to only applied to the under 8’s, as does the 18 children limit on our registration. This has given us some flexibility in terms of numbers and staffing. We can run on some nights with just 2 staff and on occasions we have been able to accommodate as many as 23 children. However we find that 20 children is as many as can reasonably be cared for in the present building.

Times continue to be difficult for Out of School Clubs in Craven. In the last year clubs in Skipton and Grassington have closed due to lack of staff, and Cononley took almost a year to open because they were unable to attract suitably qualified staff. In September Craven College launched an NVQ in Playwork, but the timing and organisation of the course makes it unattractive to staff here and in many other clubs. The biggest threat to the continuation of Out of School Clubs is the current regulatory regime (which puts many pressures on management committees) and the recruitment and retention of staff.

In April of last year we were invited to appoint a trustee to Lothersdale Parish Trust. During the past year the Trust has made grants to the Club, which have helped towards the purchase of the new cooker, the fence at the back and a digital camera. We are very grateful to the Trust for this funding and for the recognition, which a place on the Trust gives us.

The Village Trust has installed a water filter, which makes the water in the Clubhouse fit to drink - prior to its installation we were providing bottled water for the children’s drinks. They have also installed additional lighting in the porch and to the side of the Clubhouse. Both great improvements and we thank them for their ongoing support. The Trust have also drawn up plans for an extension to the rear of the Clubhouse which will give an extra room, disabled access and another toilet.

We held a successful fundraiser in December, which raised £100 to buy an air hockey table, which has just arrived this very day! Thanks go to all who turned up on the night either to sell or be sold to! Thanks to Katya, Mike and James Horsfield for their generous donation of £10.00 received this week.

We are holding a Valentine’s Disco in the Village Hall on February 15^th. Tickets are on sale now thanks to David Holt and cost £4.50 – please bring your own drinks and glasses for a cheap night out! Tickets are available from any member of staff or committee member at the club.

We have recently launched the Lothersdale Online project, which we hope will be used by the whole of our community. The site will provide information on groups and organisations within the village, listings of events and contacts, links to services and businesses and will become a resource for all people who have an interest in the village and its community.

We are very grateful for the help of Stephen Remde (a former pupil of Lothersdale School and now studying at Bradford University) who has provided the technical know-how. Once the project is fully up and running the children will be involved in it’s further development and will make good use of the digital camera.

Finally, I would like to reiterate what we have achieved here in Lothersdale. We’ve been running for two years and on the whole the children still want to come and often don’t want to leave. The club has become renowned throughout Craven as a great success.

We constantly strive to improve our practices and to develop our skills, and we will continue to invest both time and money in becoming a better childcare facility. We should also appreciate and celebrate what we have now - which is a thriving club with a good ethos, a good reputation with other childcare professionals and which hopefully meets the needs of its users – the parents and children of the village and the surrounding area, (we are always open to suggestions!)

I would formally like to thank the following, Andrew Wheatstone, Wendy Stephenson and Yvette Jackson for their commitment throughout the year, Jacqui Hargreaves for her support as "bank" staff, Astrid Porter and Helen Marshall for stepping into the brink at short notice to cover staff shortages, Catherine Kennedy for her input as treasurer until she left the area and Judith Ollerenshaw who has been acting treasurer since Catherine’s departure. Also thanks to Mary Hastings-Trew and the staff team at Lothersdale School who continue to be extremely supportive of the club in so many ways.

Thanks to all members of the management committee and a reminder that you are welcome to call in to any session to keep up to date with what’s new.

Katie Peacock

Chair Lothersdale Out-of-School Club

January 2003