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View Full Version : Help from users of Tapestry please??



AliceK
29-12-2014, 02:07 PM
Hi
Currently for all my EY's children I send home every day an A5 written diary which has written details about the main things the child has been doing and 1 or 2 photo's from the day. I also send home an A5 sheet which details what they have eaten for Bfast, Lunch. Tea, Snacks, what time they have slept, what nappies they have had etc. Then of course I have my LJ's which parents hardly ever are interested in looking at but they still need to be done all the same.
I have been looking at Tapestry to do some of this online. I know that everything in my LJ's would be done online but what about my daily diaries? For those of you that already use it could I incorporate this info into Tapestry. I would be happy to still send the A5 sheet home detailing the food etc but if I can find a way to cut out the writing of the daily diaries I would like to. It's so time consuming getting them written up, printing out photo's etc to send home every night although the parents do love them. Would it work do you think??

xx

moggy
29-12-2014, 02:42 PM
I do online LJs (obs, progress reviews, next steps) but handwritten daily diaries.

I do hand written diaries because:

- parents write in diaries too, by hand each morning
- Diaries always open on table and I find it quicker to grab the pen and jot down 'nap 1pm-3pm' rather than open laptop or get phone started...find online page...type...save.
- I like the children to see me write- I tell them what I am writing and sometimes they 'help'!
- I find it more personal

But it does sound like you are doing a lot and maybe more than needed...

What you call your 'A5 sheet' is my 'daily diary' ('crackers for snack... dirty nappy... lunch sandwiches, apple and yogurt, nap 1-3pm...').
BUT I include what you call your 'daily diary' (but no photos) all-in-one so it reads: 'Went to park, had fun on swings, crackers for snack by the duck pond, dirty nappy, back for lunch sandwiches, apple and yogurt, nap 1-3pm...'). Is that something that would save you time and paper?

The only photos I do are:
- in LJ and only when related to an obs
- fun/group photos which go in quarterly newsletter.
If I had a nervous new parent who needed more photos during the day to reassure them child was OK I would use 'Whats App' or similar.
Parents like photos but do they really need 1-2 photos a day?! That is a lot of printing and work for you?!

I hope you find a way to help cut your work load

loocyloo
29-12-2014, 06:46 PM
My daily diary sheet is the same content as moggys with an occasional photo. Mine are hand written too as much quicker for me than typing/using pc. Plus (some) parents write in them too!

My LJ s are done weekly but some weeks I might not have an ob on each child. I update development tracker every 2/3 months and see parents to share LJ every 6 months or so.
I do some online and print out, but am about to sort out sharing online with parents ... we'll see how that goes! I can probably already tell you who will access it and who won't!

hectors house
02-01-2015, 09:12 AM
I use Tapestry for my on-line learning journal - I think people have asked Tapestry if a daily diary could be included but they felt that children wouldn't want to look back on their journal in years to come and see how many dirty nappies they did or what they had for lunch, so Tapestry haven't any plans to include it at the moment. You can go on the Tapestry forum (something else to get addicted to) and make suggestions on what you would like them to include, I think a daily diary as a separate section to the on-line journals would be a good idea - they do take notice of some suggestions, I managed to get them to include ECAT forms and to have the parent's replies/comments listed in date order of when they added them rather than date I did observations.

I e-mail parents at the end of each day with a Daily activity sheet that shows what ALL children had available to play with, outings we went on, food offered, naps and nappies, it's not an individual one - I type the children's names into the boxes on the bottom where is says Sleep and Nappies. The parents don't mind seeing how many nappies other children have, if they do they haven't ever said anything and Ofsted saw my e-mailed sheet last Nov and my inspector said it was a great way to keep parents informed, especially as often one parent drops off and the other parent or a grandparent collects.

AliceK
02-01-2015, 06:10 PM
I use Tapestry for my on-line learning journal - I think people have asked Tapestry if a daily diary could be included but they felt that children wouldn't want to look back on their journal in years to come and see how many dirty nappies they did or what they had for lunch, so Tapestry haven't any plans to include it at the moment. You can go on the Tapestry forum (something else to get addicted to) and make suggestions on what you would like them to include, I think a daily diary as a separate section to the on-line journals would be a good idea - they do take notice of some suggestions, I managed to get them to include ECAT forms and to have the parent's replies/comments listed in date order of when they added them rather than date I did observations.

I e-mail parents at the end of each day with a Daily activity sheet that shows what ALL children had available to play with, outings we went on, food offered, naps and nappies, it's not an individual one - I type the children's names into the boxes on the bottom where is says Sleep and Nappies. The parents don't mind seeing how many nappies other children have, if they do they haven't ever said anything and Ofsted saw my e-mailed sheet last Nov and my inspector said it was a great way to keep parents informed, especially as often one parent drops off and the other parent or a grandparent collects.

Thanks for the info :thumbsup:. My daily diaries though don't include food or nappies etc, all that info is on a separate loose A5 sheet. My diaries just details the things the child has enjoyed doing / playing with along with 1 or 2 photos of the day. I'm happy to continue to do the sheet but just wanted to make it easier for the daily diary info.

xxx

hectors house
02-01-2015, 10:40 PM
Thanks for the info :thumbsup:. My daily diaries though don't include food or nappies etc, all that info is on a separate loose A5 sheet. My diaries just details the things the child has enjoyed doing / playing with along with 1 or 2 photos of the day. I'm happy to continue to do the sheet but just wanted to make it easier for the daily diary info.

xxx

I put a general comment on my shared daily sheet about what toys/activities children did and where we went on outings, I put a quick sentence on Tapestry with the photos, sometimes link them to EYFS statements but sometimes photos are just to share with parents or sometimes part of a full observation. Every photo I take (that is any good!) goes on child's Tapestry on-line journal and video's too.

AliceK
03-01-2015, 05:32 PM
I put a general comment on my shared daily sheet about what toys/activities children did and where we went on outings, I put a quick sentence on Tapestry with the photos, sometimes link them to EYFS statements but sometimes photos are just to share with parents or sometimes part of a full observation. Every photo I take (that is any good!) goes on child's Tapestry on-line journal and video's too.

Thanks for that. It sounds like I could probably use Tapestry as the LJ along with daily diary info and just manually continue to fill in the A5 sheet with meals / naps / nappies etc.
I'll have to look into it a bit more now I think I could do that. Thanks again :thumbsup:

xxx

AliceK
04-01-2015, 10:14 PM
Wow. I have purchased it and I am so impressed with it :clapping:. I have added all my children and also added my DD as a guinea pig to play about with the system. It is sooo easy. I have also downloaded the mobile app and can easily add observations / photos from my phone in seconds. I am going to use it as my daily diary for parents and this in itself will build up into a very nice LJ. What a brilliant piece of software, thank you to all who use it who's posts on here I have been reading. Would recommend this to anyone. Its going to save me so much time.

xxx

hectors house
05-01-2015, 09:14 AM
Wow. I have purchased it and I am so impressed with it :clapping:. I have added all my children and also added my DD as a guinea pig to play about with the system. It is sooo easy. I have also downloaded the mobile app and can easily add observations / photos from my phone in seconds. I am going to use it as my daily diary for parents and this in itself will build up into a very nice LJ. What a brilliant piece of software, thank you to all who use it who's posts on here I have been reading. Would recommend this to anyone. Its going to save me so much time.

xxx

My Ofsted inspector (inspection in November) had only seen ******** before, but she was very impressed with Tapestry and I showed her how quick it was to add an observation and link it to areas of learning, COEL etc and how you can print off a Summative Assessment (Snapshot) of child's learning and development whenever you like.

Just send me a PM if you have any other questions

AliceK
05-01-2015, 10:16 AM
My Ofsted inspector (inspection in November) had only seen ******** before, but she was very impressed with Tapestry and I showed her how quick it was to add an observation and link it to areas of learning, COEL etc and how you can print off a Summative Assessment (Snapshot) of child's learning and development whenever you like.

Just send me a PM if you have any other questions

Thanks :thumbsup:

xxx