The Blue Door Nursery is a family owned, Ofsted approved ‘Outstanding’ nursery, providing exemplary care and education for children between the ages of 0 and 5 years. The ethos at Blue Door is that children do best when they’re surrounded by adults who know them really well, who love them and nurture them. Staff use Tapestry to help them observe and monitor the development of children at the setting.
We spoke with owner Rebecca Swindells, and Office Manager Lois Johnson.
Using Tapestry’s Nursery Management System
Invoices
"Everything feels a lot more transparent on Tapestry. The invoices are laid out so that parents and carers can see which sessions their child is in, what is funded and what is not funded. They can see what they’re being charged for and how much things cost, everything is broken down clearly. It is so much easier."
Registers
Staff use the online Register feature, which enables members of the team to see at a glance which children are in that session, and whether any changes have been made, keeping everyone in the loop.
"Parents and carers have busy lives, and they might be in a hurry. We all love how fast and easy Tapestry’s online register is to use, meaning we can make changes and answer questions quickly. And it’s brilliant that everything is in one place – the online learning journal and the nursery management system."
For educators, by educators
Tapestry’ education team, and the settings and schools who test new features, help to shape the development of the platform. Rebecca has had first-hand experience of this, and she told us why this educational input is important:
"The range of educational expertise feeds into everything at Tapestry, from the online journal to the nursery management system. What works for an early years setting might not be the same as what works for a childminder, or for a school. But there is capacity within Tapestry to use it the way that works for you and your children and families. Having the education background within the Tapestry team is key to making it the flexible tool that it is."
Building relationships with parents and carers
Relationships are at the heart of Blue Door’s ethos. Families complete the About Me page on Tapestry when their child begins at the nursery. This helps the team to learn about the child and their parents/carers. Educators use Tapestry’s Observations tool to share children’s WOW moments and achievements with families, and lots of parents engage by commenting on these or sharing their own. The team consider carefully the observations they make and why they are making them.
"We share photos with parents and carers to show them that their child is happy and secure – that’s about reassuring the parent, especially when their child first joins us at Blue Door. Our observations on Tapestry are also – and importantly - about the child, placing markers in time to show what they can do, and this informs our provision for them."
Supporting children with SEND
The team at Blue Door use Tapestry’s Reflections feature creatively as part of their support for children with SEND. Reflections enables the team to link in observations, add documents, and have an ongoing conversation about the plans they have in place for the child.
"If we have adapted our provision for a child, or we've had to bring in external services, we've got a kind of ongoing dialogue which can then link to observations. This is really helpful if a team member has been away, they can see if we have used any new Makaton signs, or if there is a new trigger for the child. It keeps everyone involved with the child on the same page."
