General Archives - Capture Education

27th September 2018

Stop! It’s time to say goodbye to endless Early Years admin

It may seem a little early to mention the C-word but, as the weather turns cool and crisp and the jumpers come out of the wardrobe, it can only mean that Christmas is slowly creeping up on us.

For many Early Years practitioners, now might be the time that you’re thinking of taking the children in your setting on a special Christmas outing. Maybe you’re thinking of taking them to see their first ever pantomime… oh no I’m not, oh yes you are!

But what about the admin side of trips? The endless back and forth with parents about where you’re going, whether their child will be attending, and how much it’ll cost - not to mention actually taking payment for it. It’s no surprise that many are put off planning such a trip before they even get started.

There is an easier way.

Gone are the days when you had to craft a letter, print it and send it home just to get the ball rolling. As a Capture customer, you can effortlessly send messages to individual or groups of parents to let them know about your upcoming panto plans.

Follow this up with message containing straightforward yes or no buttons and little Johnny’s parents will be able to send an instant response to let you know whether he’ll be joining you. In no time at all you’ll be able to book your tickets, wrap up the admin, and settle down in the reading corner to share your favourite fairytales with the children.

But wait, what about payment? How will parents know what to pay, and who’s going to take on the task of trying to collar little Johnny’s parents at drop off time to remind them payment is overdue when they’re dashing off to work?

It’s ok. Breathe. Capture has it covered.

With Capture, you simply send payment details to parents and they can then pay directly through the app. You don’t even need to get involved. Forget about rummaging around for change when little Johnny’s parents only have a £20 note on them. The days of handling cash in the office are behind you.

Not only will Capture tell you who has paid and who hasn’t, but the parent app will automatically send a reminder to parents to tell them what’s outstanding, leaving you free to roll out the dressing up box and teach the children all about panto costumes to get them in the mood.

But what if little Johnny’s parents are actually struggling to cover the cost of the panto trip? It’s definitely not in the festive spirit to leave anyone behind but breaking the cost down into instalments would be a lot of extra admin. Well, Capture can help you out there too. It couldn’t be easier to set up a recurring payment request to one - or many - parents, meaning you can establish a manageable payment plan for them, without any extra work for you. And little Johnny gets to watch Jack find his fortune up the beanstalk.

Now that’s a happy ending.

We’d love to show you how other nurseries and childminders are bringing parents into the observation process, from as little as £50. Book a free telephone demo with one of our UK based consultants today.

Discover Capture Education today

Encourage your children’s parents to submit their own observations using Capture Education - from just £50 per year.
Book a Demo

13th September 2018

Bringing parents into the observation process

More observations, less administration

The Early Years learning journey is an exciting and varied one for all involved.

But when every day brings a new experience or skill, how can you make sure nothing is missed and that you are documenting all the important milestones?

While Early Years practitioners are undoubtedly well versed in recording and tracking progress, can you always be certain that you’re seeing the truest version of the child and that they’re not holding anything back? Maybe shyness is stopping them from revealing their abilities, or perhaps the child focuses on tasks better when they’re not distracted by friends…

This is where parents and caregivers come in.

Observations from anywhere in the world

Capture Education believes everyone is a stakeholder in a child’s education and that learning doesn’t simply finish just because they’ve left the nursery or childminder setting for the day. To this end, Capture gives parents the unique opportunity for two-way reporting on their child’s progress.

This means that wherever the child is when they demonstrate a new skill or ability, details can be instantly added to their online learning journal, providing a more rounded view of the child’s abilities.

Whether the child is enjoying a family day out at the zoo and starts counting animals, or picks up chalks in the garden and starts writing their name on the paving stones, it can all be recorded and uploaded from any internet enabled device for the nursery teacher to view, and map to curriculum outcomes.

A more tailored learning environment

Not only does making parents part authors in documenting their child’s achievements mean the responsibility for tracking progress is shared, it also offers a jumping off point for more tailored activities in the nursery setting. For example, for the child counting animals at the zoo, this could mean using animals as a fun tool to further learning and expand on their new skills.

Spend less time on administrative tasks and more time with children

Making parents key players in documenting their child’s abilities means Early Years practitioners can enjoy a more engaged relationship with parents, ultimately benefiting the child’s overall learning journey.

Discover Capture Education today

Encourage your children’s parents to submit their own observations using Capture Education - from just £50 per year.
Book a Demo

31st August 2018

Say goodbye to first day tears - Reassuring parents & children on the first day of nursery

The first day of nursery can be both exciting and scary, here are some top tips to help make the transition easier…

Starting nursery is a major milestone as it marks the beginning of a child’s educational development and independence. However, ask most parents about their first day experience and many talk about the tearful goodbyes at the nursery entrance and constant worries throughout the day. Will they be ok? Will they get on with the other children? Will they get the individual attention they need? All of these are natural concerns for parents to have that first day of nursery, and can result in a lot of frantic phone calls from worried parents.

For many nursery staff, one of the first hurdles is to reassure parents that their child will be ok when they leave. In many cases, the start of nursery is essentially the first day a child has been left with someone other than family. So it’s understandable that it can be quite a traumatic experience for both children and parents alike as they say their final goodbyes before being left in the trusted hands of essentially a stranger.

With the number of nursery and pre-school places increasing by 9,000 last year alone, it is more important than ever to look at ways in which we can do this better to ensure children settle into nursery the right way.

Tips to help children better settle into nursery

1. Start with a smile

Something as simple as having staff ready at the door to welcome parents with a smile and greeting each parent and child individually can make a huge difference. It helps for parents to feel their children are going to be left in a warm and friendly environment, plus being on hand right from day one can help build a better line of communication and ongoing relationship with parents.

2. Get them excited!

Everyone gets excited when there’s something fun to look forward to. Promoting the nurseries’ exciting toys and activity programmes ahead of time, so that parents can help to get kids excited about all the fun things they have to look forward to on their first day at nursery. Plus, letting parents know what their children will be up to really helps to reassure parents about their educational development.

3. Plan for variety, Plan for success

When children first start at nursery, routines outside of the home is not something they’re able to understand yet, and it’s important to keep activities varied and exciting. Shorter activity sessions ensure better productivity and participation from children.

4. That individual touch

Each child is unique, with their own personalities and abilities which is why it is crucial to give them the individual attention they deserve. Children learn and develop at their own pace so it is important to give them that one to one time to ensure you are helping them reach success and be able to personally praise them for it.

5. Keep parents’ updated throughout the day

In this digital age, there are so many ways to keep parents updated with their children’s progress. Whether that’s via a private Facebook group for the setting, or an app like Capture which helps track children’s individual milestone progress, you can easily communicate what their children have been up to with parents, to help keep them at ease on that crucial first day.

Ultimately, it all boils down to one key thing…

Communication. When it comes to preventing tears at the door, the best thing any nursery can do is provide more effective communication with parents in a light touch way, to help keep parents at ease. Relaxed parents helps ensure children are just as calm. Children are incredibly receptive, and often mirror their parents’ anxiety in their own behaviour. With one of the main pain points being communicating children’s individual progress between nursery staff and parents, Capture Educations digital learning journal is a great way to ensure this is one fluid process.

Children’s individual milestones are clearly outlined, with easy photo, video and comment tracking abilities for nursery staff to update as an when this happens. Milestone checklists record each child’s individual milestones whilst also sending live updates to parents throughout the day of their progress.

Not only does this help promote children’s development, but also builds trust and better communication between parents and nursery staff.

Book a 20 minute telephone demo with one of our UK based consultants to see how Capture can help your nursery setting.

Book a demo!

5th March 2018

GDPR for Nurseries and Childminders : What is GDPR?

Four letters that should mean a great deal to every Childminder and Nursery!

Running a nursery means juggling a whole load of skills beyond helping children to grow. You have payroll, HMRC, Funding and Invoicing to deal with, so you would be forgiven for letting four very import letters pass you by.

GDPR

GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation. It’s a new law that will come into force on the 25^th May and replaces the Data Protection Act.

So why should I be worried?

Well the big press story is that for a breach, the maximum fine you can be hit with is 4% of revenue or £17million whichever is higher!

The ICO, The Information Commissioner’s Office are responsible for upholding the law in the UK and they have made it clear that as long as companies are making ‘best efforts’ to be compliant they won’t be hurting small business with massive fines. But if you have made no attempt to address them and you have a data loss be ready for a big fine!

So What do the new rules mean?

The key aspects are that it applies to any company that collects or processes data on individuals from the EU. As most companies hold data on individuals (their employees and customers) the law will apply to them.

You should not hold data on an individual without their knowledge & consent
An individual can request to see the information you hold on them
An individual can request you delete data you hold about them – and you must delete it unless legally you have a requirement to retain that information e.g. Invoices for accounting
Any data you hold on an individual must be secure and managed appropriately

Am I a Data Controller, or Processor? Or both?

As a nursery or childminder you are almost certainly a Data controller. This has some implications on the rules you must follow. You should also nominate a member of your team to be your data protection officer

It’s not just digital – But..

A lot of companies have misunderstood that GDPR only applies to digital data. But it actually applies to all data. So if for example you have parents names and phone numbers on a piece of paper. That is data that GDPR will apply to. Also your employees details, child data like their paper learning journals and any marketing information for prospective customers.

Most of us are already doing what you need to do for GDPR. Keeping confidential information in locked cabinets or using password protection on your computer. However the key thing for GDPR compliance is you write down your policy, so you can show you have made a considered attempt at compliance.

Get updates about GDPR by signing up NOW!

Get an ICO Registration

The very first thing you should do is register with the ICO at www.ico.org.uk You will need to do this as if you use anything digital to record data such as a PC, digital camera, CCTV, Tablet you should already be registered. It currently costs £35 per year and you will have to answer a few questions before you will be approved. They are all straightforward but in doing so you demonstrate the first hurdle in being GDPR compliant.

Ask your suppliers if they are ready

If you are using companies like iCapture then you should ask them if they are going to be compliant. We have additional duties as a data processor to keep the information you place on our systems safe and secure. We have been working on this for a long time and I am happy to say we are compliant.

But you should also ask your email provider, accounts software and any administration tools if they are GDPR compliant.

There is so much to do!

We have spent a lot of time on GDPR but for a childminder or nursery the task is a lot less stressful. So don’t panic. We are running a series of blog posts and Webinars to talk you through the basics so by the 25^th May you will have nothing to worry about.

Sign up to our mailing list to get all the updates on GDPR here!

29th January 2018

Raising Readers In A Digital World: 5 Tips For Parents - Bushra Manna

AUTHOR BIO
Bushra Manna is one of the founders and Principal of Leaps and Bounds Education Centre – Motorcity. She has 20 years’ experience teaching the British and American curricula internationally at primary level – early middle school level, ages 4-12. Bushra believes in imparting deep learning to a child and not just rote learning, which is why she recommends the Magikats programme at her centre, to promote a genuine understanding with its multisensory, differentiated and interactive approach within a small group setting.

Motivating the young ones to read in this digital age can be quite a challenge. Most children these days have made their standard of entertainment digital. They have gaming consoles, tablet PCs and smartphones that allow them to do everything from watching movies, to playing games, and even consuming all types of content.

Due to this preference, it’s quite difficult for parents to connect with their children. When the kids start using techie jargon, moms and dads can only go, “What?”

Likewise, instilling the value of elaborate processes in the young ones to completely understand concepts or ideas proves to be difficult. Children would rather Google definitions or go on Wikipedia to learn plots, so they miss the small yet important details that are essential for complete understanding.

How Do You Raise Readers in this Digital World?

Getting your children to enjoy reading requires creativity, according to trusted English and maths tutors in Dubai. You can’t just order them to do so because it’s important. It’s imperative to make the activity as appealing as possible.

Here are five tips to help you with this endeavor – but first, get the kids to “unplug.”

1. Inquire about their interests and purchase books that discuss these interests.

This is a no-brainer, but a lot of parents have the tendency to buy books that they want their children to read and not what their children want to read. Ask them what subjects or topics they’re fascinated with and do research online about the books that provide engaging information about those.

2. Have a book and movie comparison activity.

This is one of those activities that can really cultivate a love for reading. Purchase books that have been turned into movies, such as the Harry Potter series, The Chronicles of Narnia, Hunger Games, Percy Jackson and many others. Ask the young ones to read any of these books and then find the film counterpart for the family movie night.

Have them identify the differences between the book and the film. If your kids have an appreciation for a good story, they’re more likely to gravitate toward the book version than the film because movies rarely capture the entire essence of a story from a book.

3. Stage an outdoor read-in.

Use downtime from playing for reading. Gather all the kids in the shaded part of the garden or park and set out a picnic blanket, different snacks, and a bag of library books. Assign someone to read a book out loud.

Not only will the little ones enjoy the story time, they also will appreciate the fun yet relaxed camp-like feel of the reading time. This activity is a pleasant memory-maker for children.

4. Create reading challenges.

Reading challenges are perfect for really young kids who are still learning how to read. The challenges will develop not only their comprehension but also their ability to pronounce words clearly. Likewise, they will learn that reading is a great escape because it’s something they can entertain themselves with wherever they may be.

Some zany reading challenges to try are reading in the coat closet with a flashlight, reading to the dog, reading to grandma, and changing the ending of the story.

5. Grant Book Rewards

Assign a reward for the number of books read, or for certain books read. Think carefully about the rewards and make sure that they truly are valuable to the children. The young ones will start reading with the reward in mind, but you can bet that over time, they will come to love reading as an activity. They will read even if there’s no reward for it.

The best rewards for this program are the experiences. Ideal “experience” rewards can include a trip to the movies with a couple of their friends, a day at the museum, or even signing them up for children’s language classes if they’re really interested in learning a new language and culture.

Your children may not give up their digital gadgets completely, but their extreme reliance on these may be significantly reduced once you implement these tips and nurture a love for reading and learning.

28th September 2017

Mikayla’s TEFL trip to Thailand

Mikayla is our lovely business admin assistant. She is in charge of making sure everyone’s digital learning journals data is perfect and ready for our customers!

After spending months completing my TEFL qualification, it was finally time to embark on my new adventure to Thailand to be able to give something back to communities that are less fortunate than ours.

Over the month I spent away I was thrown into the deep end of Thai culture from the likes of walking with elephants and dodging snakes to eating bugs and every type of noodle known to man!

Visiting the elephant sanctuary was my favourite part as it gave insight to how cruel animal tourism is and why it’s important to spread the message that you shouldn’t put your money into elephant riding camps or tiger temples and petting zoos.

Spending every morning teaching Thai children English through songs and games was so fun and rewarding as they were so excited to see you, pencils and books out ready to learn. Sometimes I wasn’t sure if I was teaching children or monkeys as they’d be jumping all over you not wanting you to leave!

The topic I chose to teach was body parts and I did this by teaching the children ‘Head shoulders knees and toes’ as well as the ‘hokey cokey’ which they found hilarious. Was great hearing them sing it with their friends on the playground after we had left.

Also on my travels I spent the day at a disabled children’s orphanage in Cha Am giving them the presents Capture had kindly donated. Seeing kids with virtually nothing with huge smiles on their faces and so selfless in what they had been given melted my heart. No scuffles or snatching but instead they all shared and played together. Whilst I was there to teach and play with them they also taught me to be kinder and also to be grateful for the life I’ve been blessed with.

In conclusion, It’s safe to say I’ve got the travel bug and can’t wait to plan my next adventure!

31st August 2017

Mark’s Day at Paw Patrol - Review

Our amazing head of customer service Mark and his son Nathan take on Paw Patrol Liverpool! Take a read of his review and let us know your opinions!

Me and my son Nathan who recently turned 7,decided to get involved with the Paw Patrol Live Stage Show which had rolled into Liverpool for two days, and 6 shows!

Nathan loves paw patrol and with him recently turning 7 we decided it was the perfect time to watch them live.

Overall I would say that the tickets themselves were pretty expensive -but in fairness any family activity is these days. A meal out or even a trip to the cinema can cost around £100!I suppose for the quality and length of time;the price was acceptable in the current market.

What did hurt was seeing the tickets on Groupon for a half the price a few days before the show.(ouch)

Despite that me and my son made the day of it! We started our day popping into Capture Towers to say hello and then around lunch time we set off for lunch at What’s Cooking, which is a great place to eat for children right by the arena!

Now with our belly’s full, we went over for the 4.30pm showing.Inside there was fun for all ages, with beer and wine for the mums and dads.Then toys and hats for the kids (I find it is important not to get those mixed up).

One item did catch Nathans eye, and I suppose it is futile to try and get though any event like this and not have to buy some merchandise, but £15, for a spinning Chase which lights up was very hard to swallow. (Chase is a police dog, and leader, after their human Ryder, of the Paw Patrol pups)

They were very popular, almost every other child had one, and Nathan did seem very happy with his heavily branded and marked up merchandise, so in the long run, there was value added to the experience.

Now, for the show itself.I must say, the production value was very high.The best compliment I could give it, is that it was as good as the shows you may experience in one of the world’s top Theme Parks, such as Disney.

It was Disney level quality, which really is the gold standard for this kind of entertainment.The costumes where excellent, the story moved well, the length of time and brake in-between helped all the little ones stay focused.

I would say a child from 2 up to 11 would get a lot out of this show, and when weighing up the cost of a day out, not to be cheesy, but putting a smile on your child’s face - it’s worth it.

It was extremely enjoyable, and a great day out.

Helpful Links

http://lifeliketouring.com/pawpatroluk

http://www.albertdock.com/

Mark

16th August 2017

10 Amazing Sensory Bins Ideas

Using sensory play is a simple but effective method of learning.It is a good way for practitioners and parents to encourage the development of sensory elements within babies and toddlers

Using sensory boxes and tubs are a great way to tick off curriculum and also are a lot of fun for practitioners as well as the children!

We surfed the web to find some great sensory play ideas for you! Don’t forget to use Capture the online learning journal to make some great observations by taking videos and pictures!