tapestry learning journal software?

[cloud9]

Has anyone got any experience of using this software? I'm thinking of trialing this in our setting and wondered what everyone else thought ?

[hectors house]

Absolutely fantastic, only costs about £38 a year for up to 12 children (you can buy a larger package for more children), I have been using it since May this year, I am completely up to date now with my journals and parents can see the observations seconds after you "post" it to on-line journal. Had my Ofsted inspection last week and I sat with the inspector and showed her how I add observations, photos, videos and can link it in to EYFS statements, COEL, Leuven Scales, ECAT form, I can do Summative Assessments and look up suggested next steps with just a few clicks - they have also added recently baseline assessments, 2 year development check and an All about me form.

It is just so instant - posted an observation at 6.43 this evening, by 6.45 the parent had read the observation and left a short reply - this is what my Ofsted inspector liked. I have also set up a password (with parents permission) for a Nursery that one child also attends - his keyworker has added couple of comments and an observation.

I would be spending more than £38 a year on paper and ink and was always a couple of months behind with journals. There is another forum for you to get addicted on where people post ideas for future developments (the ECAT form that is now on there was MY IDEA), any problems etc and someone will be along to help you out.

I was lucky enough to see it demonstrated at a Nursery cluster meeting, I asked the Nursery owner to come to our childminding meeting to demonstrate it to us - now half of our network are using it and half of the Nurseries in town too - it makes partnership working with parents and Nurseries achievable.

Good luck - feel free to PM me if you want any more questions answered.

[cloud9]

That's sounds fab, it looks really good. Do you need Internet connection at the time or can the obs and everything be saved (I think they can be saved for management approval anyway) and uploaded later when I have a faster Internet connection ?

[Simona]

Sorry to ask HH... why does using Tapestry make working in partnership with parents and nurseries more achievable?

Would a system devised by a CM herself ...and unique to her...not do the same when shared with parents and nurseries?

[Lal]

I don't use Tapestry, but use orbit at the moment. To answer your question Simona- I would not be able to develop a website, write an app, develop the necessary software with a really usable interface which can be accessed from a range of devices, develop the templates and linking to DM, LO, CoE etc, add functions fro parents to add their observations. It provides interactive accessibility to parents on the device of their choice. All of my parents prefer electronic communication and respond well to it.

I know childminders require lots of skills, but at the moment I don't have time to add software engineer and app designer to my childminding skill set! :)

[Simona]

I don't use Tapestry, but use orbit at the moment. To answer your question Simona- I would not be able to develop a website, write an app, develop the necessary software with a really usable interface which can be accessed from a range of devices, develop the templates and linking to DM, LO, CoE etc, add functions fro parents to add their observations. It provides interactive accessibility to parents on the device of their choice. All of my parents prefer electronic communication and respond well to it.

I know childminders require lots of skills, but at the moment I don't have time to add software engineer and app designer to my childminding skill set! :)

Thank you for your reply Lal
it maybe the best way is for me to look at Tapestry if I can find a CM willing to show me how they use it.

I don't have a website or app or template or any particular software and parents can access the system just like you describe... it can also be shared with other providers....that is why I am intrigued about Tapestry or any other system

If parents access electronic communication that is very good if that is what they like ...but we still need to have those records in our file...or do CMs ask the inspector to log in on the Tapestry and check the contents? ...is there a LJ ...something tangible where all the assessment is transferred to and parents and children alike can revisit at anytime?

[Lal]

In orbit you can choose create a leaning journey of your observations, assessments and next steps/ notes, adding photos and 'postcards' from home for each child. These can be saved as a pdf and printed. I agree that it is important to have information in a paper format for files and so children can look at them. With orbit you can choose the dates you print between, so its easy to add to a printed LJ. For me it's easier than typing obs into word to make a LJ.

[hectors house]

[QUOTE=Simona;1383764]Sorry to ask HH... why does using Tapestry make working in partnership with parents and nurseries more achievable?

Would a system devised by a CM herself ...and unique to her...not do the same when shared with parents and nurseries?[/QUOTE

Because as Lal says I haven't got the knowledge to set that up for myself and I found that with paper journals parents rarely wrote a comment when they took them home - they only took them home about 4 times a year so the observations were out of date by then, now everything is more instant and the Nurseries can see what child has been doing with me without me worrying about whether they will lose the journal.

[Simona]

[QUOTE=Simona;1383764]Sorry to ask HH... why does using Tapestry make working in partnership with parents and nurseries more achievable?

Would a system devised by a CM herself ...and unique to her...not do the same when shared with parents and nurseries?[/QUOTE

Because as Lal says I haven't got the knowledge to set that up for myself and I found that with paper journals parents rarely wrote a comment when they took them home - they only took them home about 4 times a year so the observations were out of date by then, now everything is more instant and the Nurseries can see what child has been doing with me without me worrying about whether they will lose the journal.

Thank you HH...I did say that I also don't have an app, website, template or anything like LAl mentioned and yet I can use a system in the same way as those who use Tapestry

Anything can become online as it is easy to access by both parties...thanks for your replies ...very useful