Famly for forest schools: the outdoor Early Childhood Platform

I first interviewed the leadership team at Naturally Learning about two years ago, both about how they use Famly, and about how their unique ethos shapes everything they do. But Famly’s relationship with Naturally Learning goes back way before that.

Naturally Learning have been Famly customers for around a decade and have certainly seen the platform grow in that time. “When we first joined Famly, it didn't have the EYFS on it,” jokes Tom Richardson, Operations Director, “It was that long ago!”

Nowadays, Tom and some of the Naturally Learning team visit Famly's Copenhagen head office every year to visit some local Danish forest schools and sample the ambiance of the Famly canteen.

But none of us here at Famly had been to Cornwall to see the Naturally Learning settings. That is, until this year, when we finally got to spend the day with Tom and the team in the forest.

Let’s hear what they had to say…

Who are Naturally Learning?

Naturally Learning are a family-run group of seven nurseries in Cornwall, overseen by owner and director, Mandy Richardson. Mandy is supported by her son, Tom, and his partner, Sarah Hood, Naturally Learning’s Pedagogical Lead, as well as an incredible team of educators. They’re a forest and beach school with two forests of their own, where children are outdoors full-time.

Naturally Learning have recently created their own ‘Cornish Curriculum’ and run the first Cornish Early Childhood Conference.

“Naturally Learning started just shy of 15 years ago,” says Tom, “It was started by my mum, and it was born out of her going around to loads of different settings as an advisory teacher. She didn't quite find something that was exactly what she wanted to see in childcare in Cornwall. I got involved 18 months afterwards, got ‘hoiked’ in to help, as mothers tend to do with sons. I was told, ‘You used to be a scout, you'll be fine!’”

Famly for a forest school

The benefits for children of being outdoors are widely recognised in the Early Years, but the same cannot be said for your paperwork. There's nothing as heartbreaking as watching your hard work blown into a puddle or rained off your clipboard. Fortunately, Naturally Learning’s forest and beach schools no longer have to battle with outdoor observations - everything is done in Famly.

“Using software rather than paper is unbelievably important,” explains Tom, “When you're in an outdoor setting, you cannot have any paperwork whatsoever unless it is digitised on waterproof-rated mobile phones and tablets. We are in the woods, we are down on the beach. We travel around with children to loads of different locations. Having everything we need, accessible on a mobile phone, on a screen, is so important for children's safety, for documenting what we actually get up to and the learning that's happening with the children, and also as a means of contact with those families should we ever need it.”

How does Famly help with oversight of a nursery group?

As lovely as the Naturally Learning settings are, sadly, Tom can’t be in all of them all the time. So how does Famly help him oversee all the Naturally Learning sites?

“As an operations director, it's hugely important to be able to have access to all of the information across all of our sites, all at the same time,” says Tom, “Having that continuous provision, not just for the children, but for the adults -  being able to have all of the data. All the information on staffing, making sure that we've got the right bodies in the building in the right locations, making sure that actually the money and the finances are shaping up the way that we want them to, that families are receiving their bills on time and are paying their bills on time, keeping all of the wheels in motion.”

Famly for the future

Although Naturally Learning have been Famly customers for around a decade now, Tom’s already looking to the future. As part of his role as Operations Director, he uses Famly to stay ahead of what’s coming next.

“We are always planning and looking at what's happening over the next 12 months,” says Tom, “We need to have information that is up-to-date and relevant to make sure that we can afford all the projects and things that we want to do. All of our managers, all of our staff, are rota’d three months in advance, to the forecasted numbers that we have on Famly. Managers don't have to do rotas every single week, and staff know roughly where they're going to be for the next three months.” 

Is Famly worth the money?

The Early Years sector is not known for its lavish budget. With so many staff members and families relying on Naturally Learning, Tom and Mandy, like all nursery owners, have to budget carefully. So what makes Famly so worth the money?

“Famly is worth spending money on every year because of what it offers us as a business,” says Tom, “I think it's hugely important to have as few barriers as possible for people to access whatever it is that they need. The fact that it is all in one place on one platform, with one login or passcode, makes it so much easier. It is. You pay for the ability to have everything at your fingertips with the easiest customer experience. The interface is so seamless. It's wonderful. And everything costs in life, but I think it's worth its weight in gold.”

Who are Famly?

Famly is an Early Childhood Platform. More than nursery management software, Famly is the place for Early Years educators and families to collaborate, share the workload, and nurture children together.

“I think the honest truth is I'm not sure Naturally Learning would still be standing if we didn't have Famly. There have been times throughout the business where things did get close to the wire, ebbs and flows with funding and with different things going right or wrong. But if we didn't have Famly through those times when things were really tight, we would have been doing it blind. But we weren't doing it blind. We managed to see the challenges coming up ahead of time and we acted in a way that saved the company. This was years ago now but we did need the information; we needed the software to be there to help with the back end.  Without Famly, we wouldn't have been able to do it.”