Learning Journeys

At First Place we aim to ensure that your child is as safe as possible and that their development and interests are always the most important aspect of their early years’ experience.

Your child’s learning journey is a collection of different documents collected by us that provide a picture of their development under the seven areas of learning of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). It consists of photos, art-work and mark-making which are interspersed with observations made by us, including notes of relevant conversations or comments made by your child. While there is a statutory need to record and monitor progress, we also need to ensure that this process, and the time it takes to complete learning journeys, does not get in the way of actually interacting and playing with the children.

We are delighted to have introduced a system called Famly which allows our staff to capture a photo, a video clip or a voice recording as well as written notes using iPads. These observations from staff members are then uploaded to a secure web-based learning journey, to which you as a parent would also have access to – Welcome to the world of online learning journeys!

Famly is a smart platform that enables nurseries to improve and grow their childcare business with ease, bringing parents and nurseries closer together and creating more time for the children. Famly enables you to understand your child’s development on a more regular and real-time basis. We can share your child’s learning journey with you, increasing your involvement in the activities at First Place Nursery.

You will receive a notification to login on the system and you will notified automatically by e-mail as soon as a new observation is published to your child’s learning journey or when any reports are shared with you by the nursery.

Security
The iPads that we will use to record your child’s observations are supplied with a “firmware” in which all applications, except for Famly, have been removed. This ensures that the iPads cannot be misused – for example, it is not possible to access social media sites, websites or to send any e-mail messages from the iPads. No data is stored either on the iPads or on the nursery computer. As soon as an observation has been recorded and uploaded to Famly, it is automatically deleted from the iPads.

In our opinion, the application not only permits a richer learning journey than its paper equivalent, with a more varied body of evidence, while also offering a more secure way to record and share these learning journeys. Sharing learning journeys with you and with your input you will help us enhance our partnership with you while planning for your individual child’s development.

Further information
A handbook on how to use the system can be found on the Famly website (https://www.famly.co) which also has more information, including details of their security and privacy policy as well as a list of FAQs.