When choosing a nursery management software it’s important to select a platform that works for everyone; staff, children, parents, and your nursery business overall. Remember that you don’t have to go all in with the most expensive package right from the get-go. There are options for free trials, and tailored packages to suit your individual nursery business’s needs. So how do you choose? We’ve laid out the most valuable nursery software features in 2022 to look out for. Let’s get into it.
Occupancy planner in nursery software
Don’t spend hours on planning your occupancy, when someone else has spent hours developing a software that can do it for you in one click. One of the best advantages about using a nursery software for your childcare business, is in fact the planning features. More specifically, look out for a good occupancy planner.
You’ll know it’s a valuable feature when it enables you to instantly see what sessions are booked and where you have available spaces. Your occupancy planner should even go a few steps further and enable you to sort your view by Rooms, and see your planned occupancy months in advance in a visually consolidated report.
How is a digital occupancy planner useful for my nursery business?
- Empowers you to spot occupancy trends
- Helpful for planning staff rotas
- Enables access to vital information all on one screen
- Allows you to set custom ratios for Rooms so you’re always ratio-correct
Blossom offers insightful occupancy planning and reporting features. This allows you to fill up all your spaces – without the complicated files and folders.
Nursery management software and funding management features
Staying on top of your funding can be simplified by implementing a nursery software that offers funding management features. Managing our own nurseries, we know the work and organisation that goes into ensuring funding is managed swiftly and accurately. Choose a software that helps. Your software must be able to create funding types for your local authority. This customisable option ensures you remain ahead of all local requirements. This feature must also allow you to apply funding allocations manually, as well as allow you to set them automatically- in bulk.
On top of this, make sure that the funding management feature allows for automatic deductions on parents’ invoices. Being able to track funding eligibility online also helps you to keep your funding records accurate. And ensure that this feature allows you to set custom exclusion dates. The last thing you want to do is sift through all your invoices to make sure the funding is accurate!
How are funding management features useful for my childcare business?
- Rest assured that all funding has been allocated to specific invoices without fail
- Save enormous amounts of time bulk allocating funding instead of individually
- Ensure all funding eligibility is tracked under one roof safely in a cloud-based platform
- Enables you to create error-free invoices
Blossom enables you to create bespoke funding grants, notifies you when you have unallocated funding, plus much more.
Child profiles in apps for childcare
Ensuring that your childcare setting offers the highest quality of care for children undoubtedly makes the top of your list. This starts off by knowing your children inside and out- quite literally when it comes to meals and nappy updates! Being able to personalise and store a detailed child profile online is an excellent feature for beginning your relationship on a strong foundation.
This feature enables your staff to build a connection with the children as they can talk with them about what they like or don’t, their siblings, and maybe even in other languages they may speak. Not to mention the importance of keeping emergency contact information safe! Plus this feature helps you to build a routine in which the child thrives. This is easily managed through a digital solution, instead of in different files, or spreadsheets, or both. This gives your practitioners more availability to focus on having quality time with the children.
Ensure that this feature goes one step further by allowing parents to update their child’s profile while at home. As you know, children’s likes and dislikes change as they grow so it’s important that this information is kept up to date. A 1 year old who joined your setting loving fluffy toys may grow into a 5 year old obsessed with dinosaurs!
How are online child profiles useful for my childcare business?
- Access contacts instantly in the event of an emergency
- Settle in children quickly by knowing where their skills and likes lie
- Avoid sickness or medical emergencies by having allergies easily accessible
- Offer tailored care for your children by having all this information available
Curious to know whether nursery management software is a financially viable option for your business? Try our cost savings calculator to calculate how Blossom’s software can help bring down costs at your nursery setting.
Contactless staff register in nursery software
Having this online register and sign in feature may seem small, but rest assured that it is extremely valuable for your staff. Think of how you cringe if you need to touch a pin pad when making a purchase at a shop. Or if you have to pick up a pen to fill in a form somewhere. Making all these processes contactless is a small but effective way of preventing the spread of disease and speeding up the process overall. If the last 2 years of surviving the Covid-19 pandemic has shown anything, it’s that contactless in every way possible is the way to go.
How is a contactless staff register useful for my childcare business?
- Reduces staff stress around the spread of disease at work
- Makes signing in every morning quick and hassle-free
- Easily records which staff on duty that day
- Instantly assess whether you are under or overstaffed based on who’s signed in
Blossom offers more contactless options for all aspects of your business like:
- Online enquiry forms for potential parents
- Digital diaries sent to the Parent App
- Storing staff rota and reports online
Online learning journeys in nursery management software
What requires more attention: managing a child at your setting, or managing their parent? Managing our own settings, sometimes we’re not sure ourselves! And understandably so, parents are concerned when they have to entrust their child’s wellbeing to someone else. But there are ways in which you can put their mind at ease without putting additional pressure on your practitioners at the same time!
The online learning journey is an excellent feature to involve parents more, and build confidence in your setting. Ensure that this feature enables you to share a child’s progress and development with their parents. Also make sure that your nursery management software offers termly reports when it comes to learning journeys. This helps you and parents to understand a child’s progress and identify their next steps.
How are online learning journeys useful for my nursery business?
- Improves parental involvement in their child’s education journey
- Allows access to a child’s learning journey quickly during Ofsted inspections
- Builds trust between parents and your nursery through regular communication
- Enables parents to build on their child’s learning journey while at home
Parents love Blossom’s ‘Golden Moments’ on our learning journeys which highlight a special moment in a child’s education journey. Send an update with a picture or video of this milestone and strengthen your parent-nursery relationship!
Bonus feature in apps for childcare: industry articles, expert interviews and more
While this may not be an exact feature per se, a nursery management software that offers more than good features and provides valuable resources about the EYFS is something to look out for. The Early Years sector is forever evolving, as new policies and Government updates are released frequently.
It’s essential for childcare settings to remain in line with all requirements. Therefore you should choose a management software that helps you to do just that. Whether it’s the new EYFS 2021, or funding updates, or staffing qualification, and more, nursery management software needs to do much more than offering a great platform. Remember to consider the overall experience they provide.
