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North Ringwood Community House Inc

Annual Report 2011

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Annual General Meeting

21st March 2012

A G E N D A 1. WELCOME BY CHAIRPERSON

2. APOLOGIES

3. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

4. BUSINESS ARISING FROM MINUTES 5. CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT

6. MANAGER’S REPORT

7. FINANCIAL REPORT

8. APPOINTMENT OF AUDITOR

9. GENERAL BUSINESS

10. ELECTION OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS FOR 2012 11 APPOINTMENT OF PUBLIC OFFICER

12. GUEST SPEAKER – Cr Nora Lamont, Maroondah City Council 13. NEXT COMMITTEE MEETING 2012 14. CLOSURE OF MEETING

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North Ringwood Community House Inc

Committee Of Management & Staff - 2011

CHAIRPERSON KEVIN BLAZÉ

VICE CHAIRPERSON PAT KING

SECRETARY JOYCE MURPHY

TREASURER MELISSA HUGHES

PUBLIC OFFICER PAT KING

COMMITTEE ANN CSABI MARGOT HANSEN BEV KEEBLE GLENDA ADDICOTT SHIRLEY BUCKMAN JOHN KYLE ALEX MAKIN LORRAINE RENOUF

MANAGER SUSAN MCDERMOTT

FINANCE MELISSA HUGHES

ADMINISTRATOR

ACCREDITED PROGRAM CHRIS LYNCH

CO-ORDINATOR

PROGRAMS CO-ORDINATOR HELEN FERGUSON

ADMINISTRATIVE MARG KYLE

ASSISTANTS JANINE HANSEN DENISE HIGGINS

CHILDREN’S SERVICES ANN CSABI

CO-ORDINATOR

CRECHE STAFF LISA DOSSOR LINDSAY RAYNOR

VOLUNTEERS: WALKING GROUP CO-ORDINATOR SHIRLEY DEAN/PETER DEAN CRAFT MORNING JEANETTE MCNALLY TAX HELP GRAEME RUSSELL GARDENER LINDSAY COOMBES BROADBAND FOR SENIORS PATRICK MCDERMOTT ANA VAKIL

MICK KERCHEVAL BUILDING MAINTENANCE JOHN KYLE CRECHE SHIRLEEN HUNTER EMMA D’ARISTOTLE BILL PORT

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Meeting opened at 2.00pm

1. Present & Welcome by Chairperson: Lorraine Renouf, Sue McDermott, Melissa Hughes, Helen Ferguson, Russ Haines, Pat King, Bev Keeble, Joyce Murphy, Ann Csabi, Frank Dixon, Cr Nora Lamont, Bill Port, Beryl Port, Kevin Blazé, Marg Kyle, Janine Hanson, Denise Higgins, John Kyle, Janette McNally, Anne Burgoyne, Pat Haw, Chris Lynch, Vic North, Cr Alex Makin

2. Apologies: Maureen McConnell, Louisa Philp, Ryan Smith MP, Mike Symon MP, Isabel Ingles, Pam Philpott, Patrick McDermott, Judy Webber, Glenda Addicott, Bev Keeble, Margot Hanson, Noelene Green, Cr Ann Fraser

3. Minutes of Previous Meeting: Tabled and read. Accepted Moved – Joyce Murphy Seconded – Ann Csabi

4. Business Arising: Nil

5. Chairperson’s Report: As attached Moved – Beryl Port Seconded – Pat King

6. Managers Report: As attached

Moved – Bev Keeble Seconded – Beryl Port

7. Financial Report: As attached Moved – Pat King Seconded – Chris Lynch

8. Appointment of Auditor: Paul Fox from Super Audit Services Pty Ltd in Mornington.

Moved – Joyce Murphy Seconded – Ann Csabi

9. General Business: Sue thanked Bill and Beryl Port for their ongoing support and commitment to NRCHI over many years. As they have both resigned from the committee they were presented with a small gift each. Sue also thanked Lorraine Renouf for her role as chairperson over the past 3 years. Lorraine has resigned as chairperson but will continue on the committee, she was presented with flowers. Chris Lynch has also resigned from the committee, Sue thanked her and presented her with flowers. Marg Kylie was presented with flowers and a gift as she is retiring after 18 years

North Ringwood Community House Inc.

Annual General Meeting

22nd March 2011

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working at NRCHI. Sue thanked Marg for her tireless efforts and commitment to NRCH and noted that she would be greatly missed.

10. Election of Committee Members presented by Anne Burgoyne (Regional Manager, ACFE Eastern Metropolitan Region) Anne congratulated NRCHI on a good business result for 2010 and commented that a 31% fee for service income proved a solid financial base.

Ongoing members who are half-way through their term: Melissa Hughes Joyce Murphy Bev Keeble Margot Hanson Kevin Blazé

Members commencing a new term: Shirley Buckman nominated by Sue McDermott Seconded Chris Lynch Lorraine Renouf nominated by Melissa Hughes Seconded Sue McDermott Ann Csabi nominated by Lorraine Renouf Seconded Marg Kyle Pat King nominated by Ann Csabi Seconded Helen Ferguson Alex Makin nominated by Sue McDermott Seconded Melissa Hughes John Kyle nominated by Lisa Dossor Seconded Ann Csabi Glenda Addicott nominated by Chris Lynch Seconded Sue McDermott Motion that these members be accepted. All in favour Moved – Lorraine Renouf Seconded – Janette McNally

Election of Office Bearers 2011 Motion that the following officers be accepted: All in favour Kevin Blazé nominated as Chairperson Moved – Joyce Murphy Seconded – Ann Csabi Pat King nominated as Vice Chairperson Moved – Bev Keeble Seconded – Alex Makin Joyce Murphy nominated as Secretary Moved – Ann Csabi Seconded – Lorraine Renouf Position of treasurer to be confirmed at next committee meeting. Sue thanked Anne & presented her with a small gift in appreciation.

11. Appointment of Public Officer: Pat King accepted the nomination for the role of Public Officer. Moved – Joyce Murphy Seconded – Kevin Blazé

12. Guest Speaker – Russ Haines, President of the Ringwood & District Historical Society gave a very informative and interesting pictorial presentation on the history of Ringwood. Russ was presented with a small gift in appreciation.

13. Next Committee Meeting 2011: Tuesday 29th

March 2011 @ 1.00pm

14. Meeting closed at 3.25pm

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CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT

2011 was another successful year for the North Ringwood

Community House. We continue to offer a diversity of general adult education courses that engage our community, with good uptake over the range from languages to yoga, zumba to cupcake decorating and even making fascinators for the Melbourne Cup. Enrolments in our computer classes have been somewhat variable, some going up and others down but they have been fairly stable overall. Our one-on-one Broadband for Seniors continues to be popular and funding support for this has been extended to June 2012 with Patrick McDermott supporting the program and Ana Vakil and Mick Kersheval assisting for one term each. Our accredited courses in aged care, community care and disability have had better access to funds through Skills Victoria and that has seen our numbers increase. We have also added other courses to our scope of registration which will see us expand our offerings in 2012. Chris Lynch, our Accredited Training Co-ordinator, has steered that tortuous path, ensuring that all of the course details are compliant. Across our courses, we are privileged to have a stable group of tutors who are reliable and well-liked by our students. In 2011, we had two visits from the Hon. Ryan Smith, Minister for Environment and Climate Change and Minister for Youth Affairs, who presented us with grants from ACFE. One grant is for redevelopment of aspects of our Certificates in aged care and disability, including video materials that will become generally available. The other grant was to implement a system for managing the day-to-day operations of a registered training organisation. We have embraced Moodle as a technology for online delivery and are now developing capabilities that will put us at the forefront of small RTOs. 2011 was a difficult year for the crèche, with numbers starting off low but increasing as the year went on. Of course, our ongoing challenge for all of our activities is space because all of our activities compete for a small number of rooms and this is a factor that strongly limits what we can offer. So much so that we are now having to utilise facilities that are not at this location. In 2009, it was decided that the House should find a new location. In 2010, the Council investigated 31 sites and recommended Quambee Reserve. In February 2011, the Maroondah City Council confirmed their earlier advice that Quambee Reserve would be the best site and committed to funding further consultation into its suitability. Funds were allocated in the middle of the year and some weeks later, Sue McDermott and I met with the Council’s consultant, Melissa Rathje but heard little else in 2011. Just a couple of weeks ago, we met with Noelene Greene, who advised us that further engineering investigations needed to take place at Quambee Reserve. Ms Greene also reaffirmed the commitment of the Council to our relocation.

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Term 3 of last year saw the Holy Spirit Parish undertake major renovations of the driveways and car-parks. Although this did cause problems for some of our staff and students, the project ran well to plan and the Parish kept us well-informed, allowing us to plan around the construction activities. Whilst the available parking has been reduced, disabled access is now considerably improved. Our thanks go to the Parish for their ongoing support of our activities. These activities impacted somewhat on our grounds and we must again acknowledge the voluntary support of Lindsay Coombes in maintaining our grounds. John Kyle has also been active in the maintenance of our buildings.

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Financially, the House is in a good position. The past four years have seen significant growth on income although these have been almost equally balanced by expenses. Our profit has remained at $30-35,000 a year over this period and it is a tribute to the management that a not-for-profit organisation can so reliably hold that position. Our Committee of Management guides the functioning of the House. On behalf of all users and the staff, I thank members for their keen participation. 2011 saw the departure of Lorraine Renouf from the Committee after many years of service to the House. Lorraine had chaired the Committee after serving many years on it; prior to that, she worked in the crèche and co-ordinated the school holiday programme. Marg Kyle took long service leave and then resigned, her position being filled by Denise Higgins. The receipt of our ACFE grants saw some redeployment of Janine Hansen’s time and Marg returned to assist. Helen Ferguson continues to keep all of the programmes running and on track. Melissa Hughes ensures that the books balance and the right people are paid. Finally, Sue McDermott oversees it all, copes with the idiosyncrasies of all the people with whom she must deal and still manages to keep smiling. We are very lucky to have such a great group of people as the public face of the House. In all of my dealings and the conversations I’ve overheard, I hear our staff trying to make things work for others. I think it is that attitude that epitomises the philosophy of the community house.

KEVIN BLAZÉ

Chairperson

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MANAGER’S REPORT

This year I would like to start off my report by acknowledging the valuable role of the Committee of Management and other volunteers who devote their time and energy to ensure the success of the Community House and our programs.

Kevin Blazé took over the role as Chairperson of the Committee of Management after Lorraine Renouf retired. Kevin has given me great support in my role as manager and is always available to lend an ear and give me good advice which I very much appreciate. Pat King, Bev Keeble, Joyce Murphy, Margot Hansen, Melissa Hughes, Ann Csabi, John Kyle, Glenda Addicott and Shirley Buckman have also made themselves available to attend meetings, participate in fundraising activities and represent the Community House whenever required. This volunteer time and effort is very important as it ensures that the House is in touch with and responsive to the community and is genuinely run by the community. The Committee care about what happens in our community and are prepared to take an active role in ensuring that the Community House meets the needs of local residents.

Our other volunteers have also contributed time and energy to the delivery of our programs and House maintenance. I am very grateful for their contribution. These volunteers are:

Shirley & Peter Dean - Bush Nomads.

Jeanette NcNally – craft group.

Lindsay Coombes - gardening.

John Kyle – building maintenance.

Graeme Russell -Tax Help program.

Emma D’Aristotle, Shirleen Hunter & Bill Port - Crèche.

Patrick McDermott, Ana Vakil & Mick Kercheval – Broadband for Seniors Program.

Our main fundraising event this year was the Christmas raffle and I would like to acknowledge the kind support from Maroondah Leisure, Bunnings and Kraft Foods for their donations. Our quest to relocate the North Ringwood Community House is progressing. Maroondah City Council has commenced a detailed landowner assessment of Quambee Reserve which involves looking at the issues of the impact on open space and the facility development. We are currently waiting for the completion of the Master Plan and a report which will include preliminary cost estimates for facility construction and associated site infrastructure, funding options for the construction of NRCHI, a parking and traffic assessment, drainage assessment, design scope and sketch plans. This report will go to Council for further consideration. I would like to thank Maroondah City Council staff and Councillors for their support for the relocation of the North Ringwood Community House Inc and also for their ongoing financial support, which enables us to provide quality programs at a very reasonable cost to participants. 2011 was a very busy year, so much so that I don’t really know where we are putting all these people! We took 2,436 enrolments (up 700 from 2010) into our programs representing 52,696 student contact hours (up by 14,015 from 2010). Of these 51.46% were from Ringwood and 48.54% from surrounding areas. Women were once again the predominant users of the house – 79.11% compared with men 20.89%. Aged groups show 28% are between the ages of 0-40

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years, 44.25% are between the ages of 41-60 years and 27.75 are 61 years of age and over. With all the activities and courses going on here it is extremely difficult to find the room and car parking space to accommodate everyone. (These figures do not include Children’s Services).

Early in 2011 we received funding for two projects from the Adult Community & Further Education (ACFE) Board Capacity & Innovation Fund (Department of Education & Early Childhood Development). The purpose of the first project “Media Rich eLearning for community services” was:

To develop our own innovative eLearning resources by producing a video-based orientation to the workplace environment examining the physical environment, task diversity and complexity of interpersonal relationships encountered by staff in aged care, home & community care and disability sectors.

To make those materials available by eLearning so that the learner can visually encounter the diversity and complexity, with the guidance of a virtual trainer. Thus creating a stimulating environment for students to learn.

To produce text and devise blended (eLearning and face-to-face) activities for problem-based learning that better-contextualizes learning, promoting learner engagement and attainment of skills.

To place the videos in the public domain for other VET Providers.

We were very excited to receive funding for this project as we would be able to develop our own eLearning materials using real life situations. E-Learning packages to date tend to be dry & uninteresting and students often struggle to complete them. Using our own eLearning materials we will be able to expose students to the complexity of the community services industry and keep them engaged. This project is due to be completed at the end of April 2012. Progress to date has shown us some exciting eLearning materials being developed and I am looking forward to seeing the finished product. The second project “Learning & Infrastructure Development” commenced in November 2011 and will be completed in October 2012. This project will enable the House to purchase and set up a student document management and archival system to meet legislative and governance compliance requirements which will streamline office administration & efficiency. We will also investigate new avenues of engaging and supporting students using collaborative technologies, and after our investigation we decided on a moodle site. This site will enable students to access course information, homework, assessment tasks and submit work on-line as well as improving student’s employability skills by strengthening computer skills and confidence.

Our thanks must go to the ACFE Board for funding these projects and to The Hon. Ryan Smith MP, Minister for Environment and Climate Change & Minister for Youth Affairs, who visited us on two occasions to present certificates of acknowledgement for our successful applications for funding. I should also thank ACFE for their ongoing support for our pre-accredited programs and the many professional development opportunities which they provide every year. This year Chris Lynch and I attended the ACE Business Capacity workshop for small-medium ACE RTOs. The intensive 2 day workshop was held in Bendigo on 16-17 June 2011 by CWCC and provided opportunities for networking with other organisations from across ACFE regions.

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During the workshop we looked at current challenges for our organisation, the contestable market, maintaining our existing client base and potentially developing new markets and financial viability in a contestable market. This type of training is invaluable for us and we look forward to other training opportunities as they arise. Our Commonwealth Equipment funding enabled us to purchase computer equipment, printers, whiteboards & document shredder.

In Term 3 the Parish resurfaced the basketball courts, access to the property and car parks. People attending our programs were very understanding of the noise & disruption caused and now that the works have been finished, access to the Community House is much improved. People with physical disabilities are able to negotiate the car park without any problems. Our thanks to the Parish for the road works they carried out. We are fortunate that Holy Spirit Parish have indicated that they are happy to support our decision to relocate or to remain on their grounds. They have provided land for the Community House to operate for more than 37 years which is a wonderful gesture of support to the Ringwood North Community. The Department of Human Services fund 20 hours co-ordination for the House through the “Neighbourhood House Co-ordination Program”. This funding is vital for the House to ensure the House remains financially accessible for everyone in the community. I would like to acknowledge their ongoing support. The state government policy “Securing Jobs for Your Future – Skills for Victoria” has meant changes to the accredited training system. Underpinning the policy is the “Victorian Training Guarantee” - which entitles any person to a government subsidised place in recognised training which can be accessed at any time and will continue to be available for training at higher levels. 2011 was the year when NRCHI entered the “contestable market” when our funding was not limited to a particular amount and we were able to place people in accredited training whatever the demand. Funding for accredited training now comes through Skills Victoria – The Department of Education & Early Childhood Development. Due to the phasing in of these changes over three years we were well prepared and the transition was relatively seamless. We are still finding our feet though as we share the marketplace with TAFE, private Registered Training Organisations (RTO’s) and other not for profit RTO’s like ourselves. We believe that NRCHI can offer accredited training for many adults who feel apprehensive entering the TAFE system, and being a small organisation we can offer more personalised training and study support. However the committee and staff are very aware that we need to continue to provide both quality general adult education programs along with accredited training to meet the needs of all our community. I cannot speak highly enough of our tutors who go out of their way to share their knowledge in a friendly professional manner. They genuinely care about their students and go out of their way to assist them. Our Accredited Training Tutors, Lorraine Bryant, Shirley Buckman, Kathy McCartney, Chris Lynch, Ime Udofia and Penne Hingston ensure the students gain skills and knowledge required for the work place, and many students gain employment after completing their work placement. Chris has been hard at work continuing to ensure our accredited programs meet the VRQA & Skills Victoria requirements. Thank you Chris for all your hard work and commitment to quality education and I look forward to working with you on the expansion of the program in 2012. Our general adult education classes become popular due to the hard work and friendly manner of our tutors who commence at NRCHI and often stay for many years not only delivering quality programs but also offering social support to many house participants. The importance of this social interaction in the community cannot be overestimated. One of our committee members commented to me recently that during hard times it is lovely that the friends made through the community house offer their support and help. This community connectedness is just one reason local community houses play a big role in the health and welfare of participants.

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Our Crèche continues to weather the storms of change! The realisation that “Take a Break” funding will cease in 2012 caused much anxiety as fees would have to increase to meet this shortfall. We looked at our business practises and found areas where we can change and try and cater better for the needs of accredited students. These changes will be instigated in 2012. Occasional care was still offered five mornings per week and our three year old activities group attended on Tuesday afternoons. Ann Csabi, Lisa Dossor and Lindsay Raynor, our caring Crèche staff, have worked hard to provide the children with exciting activities to keep them busy whilst ensuring they are safe and happy. I would like to sincerely thank them all for their hard work, support and friendship. I would also like to acknowledge the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development – DEECD for children’s services funding for the Crèche. The office staff have continued to work hard and are really dedicated to the success of the House. Helen Ferguson provides a great deal of support to both Chris and me with jobs often being done before we ask! Helen deals with our AVETMISS reporting and accuracy is extremely important as it triggers Skill Victoria funding. Marg Kyle, Janine Hanson, Denise Higgins all provide administrative support and are the friendly faces on reception – the first port of call for house participants – a very important role. We welcomed Denise Higgins to the administration team this year and Marg retired and came back for 1 day per week! Melissa is our financial administrator whose professionalism is such an asset to the House. I thank them all for their dedication and friendship.

I would also like to acknowledge the hard work of the Association of Neighbourhood Houses & Learning Centres (ANHLC) & Community Houses Association of the Outer Eastern Suburbs Inc (CHAOS), who support and advocate on behalf of the neighbourhood house sector. These organisations work hard providing professional development sessions for staff & committees, assisting committees of management when issues arise and lobbying government to achieve financial support and greater recognition of the wonderful work carried out by the sector. To date 2012 has been very busy and we are looking forward to another successful year. The difficulties we are facing with lack of space to offer programs and car parking area means we will keep pursuing our goal of relocating the House so that residents and participants of the House will have a community facility that can better meet their growing needs.

SUE McDERMOTT

Manager

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COURSES & ACTIVITIES

Accredited Training

Computer Classes

Certificate IV in Disability Work Dual course – Certificate III in Aged Care Work & Certificate III in Home & Community Care Workplace Level 2 Advanced First Aid CPR

Further Education Italian Language Spanish Language Auslan Creative Writing French Language Budding Authors Chicken Boning Cupcake Decorating

Health & Fitness Pilates Bush Nomads (Bushwalking) Strong People Stay Young Tai Chi for Arthritis Yoga Latin Mix Aerobics Zumba Meditation Chair Yoga Seniors Week Yoga Seniors Week Bush Nomads

Computers for Beginners Computer Fundamentals Computers Intermediate – Students Choice MYOB V19 Word & Excel Apple Mac Managing Digital Photos Broadband for Seniors Selling on Ebay

Pre-accredited Class Introduction to Nursing

Children’s Services Childcare Occasional Care 3 Year Old Activities

Social Support Fab 50’s+ Social Group North Ringwood Book club Craft Morning Patchwork Social Group Consumer Affairs Retirement Talk Consumer Affairs Shopping Rights Wills & Power of Attorney

Art & Craft Furniture Restoration Porcelain Dolls Fascinators Seniors Week Silk Scarf Leadlighting French Polishing

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TUTORS

Leanne Budge Kevin Blazé Louisa Philp Annette Sims Shirley Buckman Feza Gallagher Carl Lutz Joyce Murphy Lorraine Bryant Chris Lynch Glenda Gooding Carol Meade Nadia Lazzari Pene Hingston Patrick McDermott Deborah Sheldon Doris Chivers

John Ford Judy Sammut

Glenys Bowler Carol Poustie

Sanett Van DerMerwe Tania Fernando Janette McNally Lydia Goulding Kerry Murphy Ime Chibbs Isabel Fernandez Janice Zurzolo Ross Wayth Kathy McCartney Veronica Fernandez Trinity Blundell Shirley Dean Annette Dobson

Heather Hefron Denise Budge

Emma Hoiles Joyce Murphy Ines Gullaci

ORGANISATIONS WHO HAVE OCCUPIED NRCHI The Auslan Company Australian Taxation Office – Tax Help Eastern Access Community Health Deakin University Holy Spirit Parish Outside School Hours Care (OSHC)

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ACCREDITED PROGRAM CO-ORDINATORS REPORT

Accredited Training 2011

2011 has been a very busy year for the accredited programs. We have entered the ‘brave new world’ of the contestable market and are holding our own quite comfortably against the TAFE’s and private RTO’s. Certificate IV in Disability Work ‘took off’ in 2011 and we ended up running two classes with a total of 31students. As expected we had 4 students withdraw and some still completing assessments, but most students have passed and are out working in the disability sector. Whilst the numbers for Aged Care and HACC were down in 2011, all but two students have completed the course and again most are working within the industry (many in their placement venues). It is pleasing to see that our overall student satisfaction statistics are standing at 85.2% for last year’s groups. These statistics are required to be submitted to the relevant government departments as part of our risk analysis to remain compliant as an RTO.

We have also been working on the delivery of traineeships for the aged care sector and investigating the prospect of developing an accelerated course for people who have been working in the disability sector without a qualification. These courses are expected to commence by mid 2012.

Other accredited projects include:

Attending expos at Eastland and Brandon Park to promote our courses,

Placing an application with the VRQA to have Certificate IV in Leisure & Health and 5 other Health Units placed on our scope of registration,

Producing a DVD and Manual to complement the CHCCS411B (Work effectively in the Community Sector) delivered in all our accredited programs (Funded by ACFE)

Purchasing an iQual program to meet compliance regulations for audits and general housekeeping of accredited programs (funded under an ACFE grant)

Investigating and setting up a Moodle for our 2012 students. (Many thanks to Janine Hansen who was even working on Christmas Eve trying to work out how to operate the system and insert a multiple choice quiz in time for our 2012 courses.)

Delivery of manual handling to the staff and volunteers at Very Special Kids I would like to thank the trainers Lorraine Bryant, Shirley Buckman, Kathy McCartney, Pene Hingston and Ime Udofia for their hard work and providing quality training to our students, especially under the difficult conditions of noise etc., associated with the upgrading of the car park. Their skill and professionalism made it easy for me to concentrate on other areas of compliance and writing for scope. I would also like to personally thank Sue McDermott (Manager), Helen Ferguson (Skills Vic. and Vettrak guru), the remarkable administration team of Marg Kyle, Melissa Hughes, Denise Higgins and Janine Hansen for all their support - without their knowledge and expertise we would struggle to meet the compliance criteria for an RTO.

CHRIS LYNCH

Accredited Program Co-ordinator

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CHILDREN’S SERVICES REPORT

We have enjoyed another fun filled year in the crèche. We began the year with 41 enrolments in occasional care and 10 enrolments in our 3 year old activity group. We opened five mornings a week for occasional care, including two sessions of four hours each and one three hour 3 year old activity group on a Tuesday afternoon. Each of these sessions was capped at ten children. After the tears subsided, the children were able to discover the many and varied activities on offer. We continue to offer a range of activities for the children around a variety of themes. As usual the most popular activities involve a great deal of mess. These include pasting, painting, finger-painting, shaving cream and of course the ever popular water play. It is amazing just how far that water can reach! We have created some wonderful constructions both with the blocks and with cardboard boxes, made many a cake and cup of tea in the home corner and sold an ever increasing number of ice creams from the cubby house. Along the way we have had a great many laughs and happy moments as a child has finally mastered a new skill. We have created a new book corner which provides a quiet area that the children are using well. We hope to create more inviting play spaces in the coming year. We have done a little fundraising this year with books being offered from Ashton Scholastic and of course the ever popular Christmas toy catalogues which give us credit with which we can purchase new equipment. This year we have about $300 to spend. Our families also support the fundraisers for the Community House.

Christmas came upon us very quickly this year and our time was spent making gifts for our parents as well as making special ornaments for the Christmas tree. We celebrated the end of the year with a party for all of the children. A special visit from Santa was of course a highlight for the children. We thank Bill Port for his assistance at this event. We have been fortunate to have two volunteers who attend each week and assist us with the program. Emma D’Aristotle and Shirleen Hunter spend their time talking and playing with the children. We thank them for their time. My thanks must go to Lindsay Rayner and Lisa Dossor for their continued enthusiasm in providing the fun, care and support to myself and our children and their families who use our service.

ANN CSABI

Children’s Services Co-ordinator

Photo: Ann, Lindsay, Emma, Lisa & Santa Bill

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FINANCIAL REPORT

Financial Year 1st January – 31

st December 2011

The accounts for North Ringwood Community House Inc. have been duly audited by Paul Fox C.P.A. from Super Audit Services Pty Ltd and are presented for your information. During the 2011 year we had a strong demand for accredited courses funded by Skills Victoria. We ran one Certificate III Aged Care and HACC course and two Certificate IV Disability Work courses that saw a steady stream of students coming through the House for most of the year. Demand for the pre-accredited Apple Mac, MYOB and Microsoft Beginners computer classes funded by Adult Community and Further Education (ACFE) proved to be popular with at least one of each, and sometimes two classes of each, running every term. Throughout 2011 the General Adult Education (GAE) classes were once again very well attended with many classes running at, or close to, capacity, especially the Italian and Spanish language classes, and the Latin Mix Aerobics, Yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi and Strong People exercise classes. Income from GAE courses alone was $128,599.

After trialling one longer session of four hours occasional care in the crèche in 2010, a decision was made to run with two longer sessions of four hours in 2011. Although not all the places were filled, demand was consistent over the four terms and the extra hours of care provided served to boost our crèche income. The longer sessions also meant that students from our certificate courses now had the convenience of an on-site crèche whilst they attended their course. One group of three year old kinder activities was also run in 2011 with a consistent number of children attending each term. Income from the crèche for 2011 was $48,703. House hire to outside parties, mainly EACH, added a further $3,490 to our income, whilst fundraising activities including the sale of Cadbury chocolates and a Christmas hamper raffle raised $2,113. Interest earned on Term Deposits amounted to $9,871 for the year. We had two projects funded by ACFE in progress during the year, namely a Learning Infrastructure Grant for the set-up of iQual and a Moodle website for use by our accredited course students; and a Board Capacity and Innovation Grant for the production of a video to be used both in-house by our accredited course students and also by the public upon its completion. Both these projects are still underway and are to be completed in 2012. The Commonwealth Equipment Grant from ACFE gave us $2,758 with which we purchased an office computer, a paper shredder, two porcelain whiteboards, two computer monitors, a black and white laser printer and a colour laser printer. These grants help to keep our equipment and technology up to date and to enhance the delivery of our courses for which we are very much appreciative.

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These are our sources of income for 2011 shown as a percentage of total income:

Fee for Service – 32.4%

Skills Victoria – 25.0%

ACFE Program Funding – 5.5%

ACFE Projects – 4.7%

Crèche Fees – 9.9%

Department of Human Services – 8.9%

Maroondah City Council Grants – 6.5%

Department of Education & Early Childhood Development Grants – 2.2%

Other – 4.9% (includes house hire, fundraising, interest)

It is pleasing to see that once again our fee for service courses account for more than 30% of our income. Grants received from the following organisations are:

Maroondah City Council – $31,849

Department of Education & Early Childhood Development – $10,815

Department of Human Services – $43,899

Adult, Community & Further Education Board – training delivery $21,799

Adult, Community & Further Education Board – special projects and equipment $28,805 Total staff costs including all salary/wages and related on-costs such as WorkSafe and superannuation accounted for 80% of our total expenses in 2011. Tutor expenses and salaries alone were up 58% on 2010 due to the increased demand in both GAE and accredited courses. Of course with greater student numbers comes an increase in office staff costs to competently administer these courses. Total ordinary income for the year 1/1/2011 – 31/12/2011 = $492,390 Total ordinary expenditure for the year = $456,842 Net profit = $ 35,548 The profit for 2011 is another great result and can again be attributed to:

Further strong growth in general adult education, especially language and

exercise classes

Continued strong demand for our certificate courses and our funded computer

classes We would like to thank the Holy Spirit Parish and Holy Spirit Primary School for the use of Parish land for the House and car parking. I would also like to thank our manager Sue for ensuring the continued successful operation of the Community House, and all the office staff, crèche staff, tutors, volunteers and committee members for without them the Community House would not be in operation.

MELISSA HUGHES

Finance Administrator