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More and more providers are turning to software to help them handle their parent communication, observations and admin. But are you getting your money鈥檚 worth?
When Sarah Mackenzie, chief academic officer at N Family Club, started her career in the early years, she took on daily tasks that would sound arcane to many of her younger colleagues today. 鈥淲hen I started in childcare, there was no such thing as observations or assessments online, or any of that. I remember having to take photos of children and glue them into a scrapbook for record-keeping, jotting down observations on sticky notes and using a highlighter for assessments,鈥 she says. 鈥淭hat would probably seem ancient to some of the team in our nurseries now.鈥
Seamless connections
In her role at N Family Club, Sarah has seen software grow to be far more than just a replacement for scrapbooking. The group uses modern technology to serve around 300 children across four settings in London, with two more due to launch next month.
As a relatively new provider, N Family Club started using Famly to help run their settings from the start, creating more seamless connections with parents and ultimately making more time to spend with the children.
Better for parents
For prospective parents, Sarah says, making smart use of technology in an early years setting is becoming an increasingly important selling point. 鈥淪o much of parents鈥 lives are online now, using their smartphones for everything from banking to food and shopping,鈥 she says. 鈥淔or a lot of busy working families, they naturally assume that their childcare provider is also going to have some sort of software that makes things easier and simpler.鈥
But nursery management software isn鈥檛 an instant fix. You can鈥檛 just install the apps and expect a sudden improvement in your offer. What sets you apart from competitors, Sarah says, is showing your team and your families that you know how to use it well.
Right tools for the right job
Finding the right software isn鈥檛 everything. How you choose to use it is just as important. So to help you understand how to make the most of the software you choose, Sarah has some top tips to keep in mind:
- Save yourself time 鈥 You shouldn鈥檛 be spending hours fiddling with your tech setup each day. Ideally, you鈥檒l only be using it to take care of your daily admin duties, leaving you with more time to spend with the children.
- Learn its capabilities 鈥 As you adopt a new software platform, make time to read up on everything that it can do. If you鈥檙e investing in quality tools, you don鈥檛 what to find out later that you have still been using some clunky workarounds when the software has a simpler solution.
- Get your team on board 鈥 If you have new staff joining from another setting that didn鈥檛 use software, or used a different programme, they may have different expectations of how and when they鈥檒l use your new system. Bring everyone together to discuss how you will use the software as a team to avoid any misunderstandings or inefficiencies.
- Know when to use it 鈥 There may be cases where you could rely on your software to solve a problem, but it still works better for your team doing it the old-fashioned way. Remember that your ultimate goal is to save time and make things simpler, so it鈥檚 worth considering which parts of the software will really help you meet that goal.
- Keep an eye of for updates 鈥 It鈥檚 easy enough to just ignore the 鈥渦pdate alert鈥 messages that pop up every so often. But you could be missing a new feature that will have a big impact on your business. You want to choose a software provider that鈥檚 reinvesting back into development and giving you new capabilities or improvements. Take time to read any update notes that you are given and get familiar with new features.
- Contact customer support 鈥 Your management software provider should have a team of specialists on hand to help with any problems you run into. That鈥檚 part of what you are paying for. If you get stuck on anything or want to learn how to use a new feature, give them a ring.
- Put your mission first 鈥 Your software should reflect your goals and values, not the other way around. Think about what your setting鈥檚 mission is and how software can support that. In most cases, the software is there to help minimise the time you spend away from the children. It鈥檚 a tool to accomplish your core goal of delivering outstanding education and helping to raise curious, independent young people. Don鈥檛 get caught up in tech saturation 鈥 keep those values front and centre and only use the software when it is helpful.
Special offer 鈥 50% off
Famly has extended its exclusive 无码天堂 discount offer until 1 October 2020. That means all 无码天堂 members who become Famly customers can get 50% of all packages for their first year with Famly.
For as little as 拢34.50 a month, you can benefit from early years software used by 1000s of providers - including groups like N Family Club, single settings and childminders across the UK.
To learn more about just how much time Famly could save you, head to and see it for yourself with an online demo today.