News in brief

• A change in the way we send our newsletters
• New Features
• Barnardos' The Big Toddle

Hi Weavers,

We hope you all had a lovely bank holiday weekend and for those of you lucky enough to have had May half term, enjoyed your break.

The observant of you will have noticed that you are reading this newsletter online and have not received it in your email inbox. This is because following the much talked about updated data protection regulation, known as the GDPR, we have decided to change the way we direct people to our newsletters. Rather than emailing them, we're going to put them online, where everyone is able to view them. This change will hopefully allow our newsletters to be accessible to more people and will allow us to add lots of great new content, so make sure to stay tuned!

New Features

Tagging

Last month we added the ability to ‘tag’ observations on Tapestry by putting a hastag (#) in front of any word in the notes or additional information sections of an observation. This means you can find observations with something in common. For example, you might want to look for ones that relate to #freddiesnextsteps or ones that are #childinitiated. 

For more information on how to use this feature you can read our tutorial all about it.

Changes to the Control Panel

If you are a manager on Tapestry you may have noticed that there have been a few changes to the Control Panel recently. Firstly, the ‘Events’ section has been renamed ‘History’. The reason behind this is we wanted to make clearer that this is where you can find a history of things done on your account. If you want to learn how to use this section within Tapestry, you can read this tutorial here.

The other change you may have noticed is the addition of a new section, ‘Contracts’. This section will show and link to, any previous and the current contract we hold with you. It will tell you any action that has been undertaken with that contract or if any action is required, for example if you need to sign the contract. Please do check out this section if you are a manager to ensure you have signed the current contract.

Keeping your account up-to-date

It is really important that you keep all of your setting’s details up-to-date within your Tapestry account as we may need to use these to verify people who contact us regarding your account. A manager can make sure these details are correct by going to the Control Panel -> Settings. We recommend checking both the ‘Your Setting’ and ‘Contact Details’ sections. It is especially important if your Ofsted URN has changed to update this in the section, ‘Your Setting’. 

Barnardos' The Big Toddle

The UK’s leading children’s charity, Barnados, is looking for nurseries, schools and families to put their best foot forward and take part in this year’s Big Toddle week from 18th – 24th June 2018 which is being run in partnership with the much-loved CBeebies TV show, Teletubbies.

Last year children across the UK toddled their way towards raising an incredible £265,350 to help Barnardo’s transform the lives of vulnerable youngsters.

This year’s theme is “Nature”, with lots of opportunities for creative dressing up as animals, insects, flowers or even jungle creatures.

For more information about upcoming events and how to sign up to the Big Toddle, you can visit their website here. When you sign up you will also gain access to exclusive nature-themed early years learning resources.