It can seem a little counterintuitive, to focus your nursery management software search on a system you won’t use, but parent apps can make or break a nursery software system.
The most obvious reason is they’re the people the pay you, and great apps make happy customers, but often your nursery’s reviews are tied to what parents have seen on their companion apps. Baby and toddler emotions are temporary, so capturing the good ones between drop-off and pickup can really make parents feel they’ve made the right decision leaving their loved ones with you.
And with parents that feel like they’re involved in nursery, they’re more likely to stick around. Daily updates, activities to take home – all part and parcel of a great parent app and good companion nursery management software.
Blossom’s Parent App features
Children’s diary updates
The bread and butter of a good parent app – sending daily updates through to parents. This is going beyond your nappies, sleeps and meals, getting into photos and golden moments showing that children are happy with the staff that care for them.
As every parent knows, it’s silence that fills them with the most fear. They’ve spent 9+ months with a baby around 24/7, so they’re expecting some updates to know their children are alright. Don’t let parents think they’re leaving their kids in the void, and make sure your chosen parent app allows for these kinds of updates as Blossom does.
Involved learning journeys
Every child’s on a learning journey, whether their parents are following a framework or not. However, as a nursery manager you know that structures and frameworks add simplicity to reporting that benefits parents, children, Ofsted inspectors and you.
When a child’s showing an emerging ability, it’s great to both be able to share it with parents, and have the parents help the ability along. Social development, reading, clapping – whatever it is you’ve helped the child develop, you want to know your hard work is being carried on.
Bringing nursery home and home to nursery
Of course, it’s not all development at nursery that’s brought home. Children can be developing over weekends and evenings spent at home, and parents are usually over the moon if they can report to nursery a developmental leap they saw for themselves. Through Blossom’s Parent App, those moments (called Golden Moments at Blossom) and home observations can be reported to your nursery for your practitioners to continue work on.
There are also activities for parents to try at home that are tied to the frameworks you use, so everyone feels involved in the raising of the child. It takes a village after all! You can even plan activities and next steps from home observations to keep parents heavily involved in their child’s education.
Simple and paperless billing
No one likes doing it, so let’s make it as simple as possible. Chasing parents isn’t fun, being chased isn’t fun, so the more automated it is the less person-to-person friction you’re likely to encounter. Through Blossom and the Parent App, invoices can be sent digitally to parents – saving paper and the old excuse of ‘I lost it’. You can even send them again if that excuse crops up!
At a glance, parents can see if they’re in credit, debit or overdue, and you can automate payment reminders if the given parents tend not to look at their app (rare!). Add in something like mobile payments for you nursery (through Be Paid) and you can even see those payments made by mobile too. Without it, payments have to be made in the usual way through online/in-person BACS, direct debit or cheques.
Instant communication
Emergencies are never fun, but being able to solve them as quickly as possible means you can move straight onto the next thing that requires your attention. If it’s an emergency that means children can’t come to, or must leave, nursery, then instant communication is a much-needed tool. Quickly send the info, then get straight to solving the issue.
On the more fun side of comms, if an upcoming nursery trip requires special footwear, or a day of themed activities needs a costume, you can use newsletters to keep families up to date in your nursery’s tone. Send them individually, to every room, or groups of your choosing along with media and document attachments, to keep parents informed and avoid any disappointed children!
Making the most of nursery: Requesting extra sessions
This one is possibly the most valuable for nurseries, after invoicing and payments. With the ability to request extra sessions, you can maximise occupancy with minimal effort – all you have to do is create the sessions in Blossom to allow parents to book them. And they can’t be overbooked unless you let them – parents bookings are simply approved in your Blossom platform.
Parents can easily see through the Parent App when their child is already booked into the setting, so once you’ve created extra sessions parents can see them all in one place. Not only that, but they can instantly see the calculated cost of the extra session so there’s no hidden surprise. With no obligation, everyone wins!
Learn more
To find out more about Blossom, from our nursery management software platform to our Parent App, take a look at our parent communication pages or book a demo to get a hands-on look at the system.
