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As more Early Years settings make the switch from paper to an early childhood platform, the more options there are.
Connect Childcare, eyLog, Kinderly, Ovivio (previously Blossom), Parenta, and Famly, are all competing to provide an experience which makes life easier for staff and parents in the Early Years.
So which nursery management software or early childhood platform is right for you?
Well, it’s important to bear in mind that no two systems are the same. While many might share similarities, sometimes those small differences have the biggest impact on saving you time, improving parent partnerships, and helping every child to thrive.
We’ve compiled this summary of what to look for, based on the problems you're looking to solve. Whether it’s the first time you’re moving away from paper or you’re simply looking for a change from your current system, we hope this guide can help to narrow down your choice.
The big ideas
Top tips for choosing nursery software
Before we get started, here are some of the key things to consider before starting your search for an early childhood platform.
- Make sure you know your 'must-haves' versus your 'nice-to-haves'
Not all systems will work for everyone. Draw up a list of the key things you need your new platform to do for you and another list of features you're willing to compromise on
- Get some feedback from your sector colleagues
Join Facebook groups and online discussion boards to ask questions and get a sense of the general experience people have had with different system providers. Check out review sites and read customer testimonials and case studies.
- Consider all your different users
Choosing software that's user-friendly and helps parents to feel involved in their child's day can have a big impact on your reputation with current and prospective parents alike. However, if the platform you choose is impossible for your educators to use, your parents won't get any of that information anyway! Make sure you check out how the software works for you, your team, and the parents and carers.
- Check for any hidden costs
Some system providers may have extra costs such as set-up fees or expensive training, which you’ll need to front in order to get started.
- Consider your hardware as well as your software
Investing in an early childhood platform could revolutionise how you run your setting and save you hours... but you have to have the hardware and the internet connection to support it. Ask your potential new provider about the tablets or internet speed they recommend before you sign the contract.
- Above all, see it in action first
Make sure to get a proper demo and get all your questions answered before making any final decisions. Even better, see if you can try before you buy.
The early childhood platform essentials
Having a system in place should make things significantly faster and more straightforward than how you're doing things now. If you're tripping over unnecessary features, a clumsy interface, and slow loading, you might find that the system is actually eating up more time than ever, even once you’ve got used to it. It's time to look elsewhere and take it back to basics.
- Child development
Being able to quickly record observations, view learning journals, and perform any necessary checks and assessments is one of the key reasons you might choose to take your setting digital. Of course, it's useful to have the right reference material for your curriculum in-app too.
- Parent communication
Clear and correct digital communication is now the expectation of most parents and carers. Secure sharing of photos, videos and other live updates is also a great way to keep parents happy and engaged. Even better if you can offer that all-important communication in a parent's home language.
- Invoicing and public funding
Look for systems that can quickly generate batch invoices, manage payments, and allocate funding, based on the children's booking patterns. Bonus points for integrations with Xero, Funding Loop and Tax-free childcare accounts.
- Registers, ratios, and room planning
Getting staff-to-child ratios is a vital responsibility when working in the Early Years. Letting a digital system take care of the heavy lifting here can help you more easily plan staff rotas and save hours of your time to be better spent elsewhere.
- Accident reporting
Software can be really good for collecting, analysing and reflecting on accident and incident reports to get an overview of events happening within the setting and make the necessary changes. Safeguarding is a core duty of Early Years professionals, so make sure your software is supporting you as much as possible.
- Daily child logs
All the happenings in the life of a child at your setting, such as nappy changes, meals and snacks, and nap times, can be recorded much more quickly on a digital system. Parents get real-time updates about what their child is doing throughout their day.
- Customer support
Does the provider have quality training resources and on-demand customer support? Try to find out from existing customers how easy it is to get hold of the support team and how things are handled when things go wrong.
- Document storage
A place to save those important files, with different access based on staff role, can help you to work collaboratively and share policies, procedures, and training materials, as well as keep the right things confidential.
The nursery software ‘nice to haves’
Once you have the essentials locked down, it's time to consider what 'extras' could help you gain even further insight into your setting and continue to improve and grow.
- Customised reporting and analytics
Be it advanced debt and revenue forecasting, or occupancy analysis to predict and improve future capacity, this is the ‘big data’ that can help you to make more informed business decisions.
- Enquiries and waiting lists
When you have frequent interaction with new potential parents from the community, it’s great to have a centralised place to manage relationships, communicate, and plan ahead for the children that may soon come into your care.
- Parent-requested care
Ad-hoc additions, like requesting extra sessions and lunches, are a great way to increase revenue and fill up vacant sessions at your setting. Allowing parents to quickly and easily do this in-app is a sure way to boost that occupancy.
- Automation
Some of the more basic tasks you complete on a daily basis are also the ones that can be the most time-consuming. You can automate tasks like a child's room and sending debt collection reminders, saving you even more time.
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