Month: August 2019

Customer Success Stories

by Lizzy Jones

At LearningBook we often hear of customer success stories; how LearningBook has helped support early years settings’ practice, learning journeys, morale and children’s learning and development.

One particular LearningBook customer success stories is from Debbie at D-Dee’s Day Nursery. D-Dee’s Day Nursery was opened in Faversham, Kent by Debbie Gunn in September 1996. It is described as “a special place where early years children are nurtured and allowed the space and time to develop at their own pace”. D-Dee’s are proud to be constantly reflecting on their practice; enabling them and their children to be the very best that they can. Ofsted Outstanding and the longest established early years setting under the same ownership in the Kent area, D-Dee’s also have a number of awards under their belt including, Individual Nursery and Nursery Team awards at the NMT Nursery Awards 2017!

Debbie and her team have given insight into the experience and impression LearningBook has had in their nursery.

When was LearningBook first introduced to you?

Our first encounter with the LearningBook team was at the Nursery World Show a few years ago, they had an obvious passion for their product and showed a keen awareness to listen to the sector and provide what they really needed.

What problem(s) were you trying to solve when you became a customer of LearningBook?

We started to look at technological systems to support our recording of children’s observations with us due to time. The time that we have with our little people is so precious. We wanted to use as much of this as possible to engage and interact with them rather than writing, sticking and printing away from them.

What made LearningBook stand out from other digital learning journeys? Why did you choose us?

The locked-down tablets were a major advantage for us. The safety and security of the data alongside the tablets provided by LearningBook made them stand out from the rest.

What have you been able to achieve since using LearningBook?

We have always reflected on our provision, but LearningBook has enabled us to do this with much more accuracy. Our staff have used assessments and progress reports to support children needing additional support from outside agencies. We have also used them to support training needs for our team and environmental re-organisation within our setting. The time saved has been huge and parental engagement has been great, we have noticed more engagement again since the launch of the Parent App. It’s been a great success!

What’s the main reason why you recommend LearningBook?

It is simple, easy to use and gives the team the support that they need to add real value to their practice for each individual child.

What is your favourite feature of LearningBook?

We really like that our team’s professional judgment can override any learning journey assessment made of our children. Our team know the children so very well, but the system can only know the knowledge that we have entered. We have seen real progress made by all thanks to the fact our experienced team have the option to physically change things based our professional judgment combined with the auto-assessment.

I’d just like to say that the support team are great. We have not had to call them very often but when we have, mainly due to our own user error they have been brilliant. They never make us feel silly and are always so positive, happy and bright. Thank you ‘Team LearningBook’!

Read more of LearningBook Customer Success Stories, here.

 

How can your early years setting boost your parental engagement?

by Lizzy Jones

LearningBook can help empower staff to build partnerships with parents and improve early years parental engagement

One of LearningBook’s aims is to transform how parents engage and interact with their child’s early years education. We understand the importance of early years parental engagement and boosting parent partnerships within your setting. To do this to benefit children’s well-being and development, not only to appease Ofsted. Parent involvement in early years education can introduce new experiences. A child can have lots of influences varying from the classroom to home. A parent who recognises what their child does at school, pre-school or nursery has a better understanding of their child’s ability and which areas they need to work on to improve their development.

Some ideas to get parents engaged is to invite them to ‘stay and plays’ so they participate in activities and get an idea of activities to do at home. Parents bceome more engaged and motivated with LearningBook. Using different features to keep them updated on what’s going on at their child’s early years setting when they’re at work or out-and-about. We’ve spent considerable time on features that help early years settings target parents in a number of different ways.

1) Dedicated Parent Portal

MyLearningBook is a dedicated Parent Portal accessed through any web browser using a secure log in, parents can access their children’s learning journeys at any time. For example, when they’re at work or on the moce – they will never miss a moment. Parents can upload photos from home to be included in the learning journey, comment on individual observations and view and contribute to termly assessments.

2) iOS Parent App

A beautifully designed iOS app available on iPhones. Parents can download and log in for free whilst they’re out and about. Parents can do everything the Parent Portal does but it is designed to be more user-friendly for iPhones and easier to logon and keep informed. They will receive notifications when a setting shows an observation or assessment.

3) Keepsakes

LearningBook allows parents to cherish their child’s memories forever by printing their learning journey in beautiful hardback books and compact memory sticks. A permanent keepsake to show children, parents and families just how far they’ve come and what they can achieve.

4) Complete Control

LearningBook gives settings full control over their parent management. Staff can setup and manage parent details and logons, enable and disable accounts and share information at their discretion. Above all, staff are in complete control of what information they choose to share and when.

LearningBook gives parents the visibility they need to support their child’s education beyond the classroom. We have introduced multiple features to encourage the growth of early years parental engagement.  If parents can how their child learns and what they do day-to-day, as a result partnerships with parents will be made stronger.

Customer Success Stories

by Lizzy Jones

At LearningBook we often hear of customer success stories; how LearningBook has helped support early years settings’ practice, boosted parental engagement, improved learning journeys and children’s learning and development.

One of our LearningBook success stories is from one of our oldest customer, Footprints Day Nurseries; a two nursery group, based in Cheshire, North West England. Established in 2002 it has proved itself as a high quality group, with Ofsted Outstanding ratings at both nurseries. They also boast numerous awards for excellent childcare and commitment to early years from daynurseries.co.uk and NMT Nursery Awards. With upcoming plans for an expansion, Footprints use LearningBook as a unique selling point alongside their passionate staff and beautiful locations just outside the Peak District.

We sat down with Rachel, Nursery Manager at Footprints’ Bollington site to discuss her LearningBook success story. We got to to know her and discuss the impact LearningBook has had on her nursery.

How long have you been working in early years?

I’ve been an early years professional for around 20 years. I started with Footprints not long after receiving my Level 2 diploma. I was one of the first nursery nurses to be employed by the company. I’ve come through the company as a nursery nurse, to room leader to nursery manager.

When was LearningBook first introduced to you?

LearningBook came in to Footprints during its early stages of development. The nursery has seen how LearningBook was during its very beginnings, after that, it has grown from strength to strength with its rich number of features.

What problem(s) were you trying to solve when you started using LearningBook?

We needed something to save the staff time and to cut down on paper, ink etc. At Footprints we found that staff were spending more and more time completing observations and learning journeys rather than engaging with our children and planning their activities to aid development. LearningBook helped boost staff morale, give them more time to focus on the children and we were able to save money. The design of the system also meant we weren’t losing out on the engagement from parents which was a big part of why parents chose us over other nurseries in the local area – we have that family feel.

What have you been able to achieve since using LearningBook?

We were able to focus more on those children who needed the extra support and provision. LearningBook helped us identify where children needed one-to-one support or where staff needed extra training as well.

What is your favourite feature of LearningBook?

The parent portal and app! Having a child of my own in nursery means I can view his achievement and his well-being. As a manager this is ideal to keep parents engaged and to motivate them to contribute photos from home,. We also use the parent portal and app to encourage parents to make comments on assessments which we have discussed at Parents’ evenings.

What’s the main reason why you recommend LearningBook?

That’s a hard one! The quality of each aspect of LearningBook is great. When I used the system as a nursery nurse it was ideal for taking observations and planning – above all the safeguarding aspect is key. Similarly, now that I am a manager, I can track cohorts, children and groups in lots of different ways. This not only helps improve our practice it also ensures we give children the best outcomes. For the staff that use LearningBook everyday it feels like each part of the system has been thought out.

Read more of LearningBook Customer Success Stories, here.