Nursery groups are embracing digital technology as a way of developing relationships with parents and boosting business.
The majority of nurseries now use social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, to provide parents with up-to-date information about what is happening at a setting and inform them about their child’s day. It is proving a powerful way of helping parents to feel they are staying close to their child.
At the seven-strong chain Snapdragons Nurseries, Twitter is used to engage with parents on a personal level. Manager of Snapdragons’ Grosvenor Nursery in Bath, Lyndsey Tanner, who won Manager of the Year at the Nursery World Awards 2013, sends individual tweets to parents and links to photos of their children on the group’s website.
‘Lots of our parents are following us on Twitter and some have created accounts especially,’ she says. ‘Sending a tweet to mothers and fathers can instantly help reassure them about their child. This morning, I had one child who was upset. When he was okay I tweeted mum and dad to tell them he was happy.’
The group also uses Twitter to promote its nurseries to a wider audience. One of its followers is @bathmums, which represents a local community website (www.bathmums.co.uk) used by thousands of parents living in Bath, where three of Snapdragons’ nurseries are based.
Happy Days Nurseries, a group of 15 settings, recently took advantage of social media to promote an event inspired by the BBC’s Great British Bake Off at its Falmouth nursery.
The group’s marketing manager Karen Hoyle explains, ‘To advertise the event and cakes for sale, we tweeted the BBC Great British Bake Off (@BritishBakeOff) with a picture of the children. We put the images on Facebook and our website as well for parents to enjoy.’
The nursery group also successfully used Twitter to recruit staff for its new setting at Derriford Business Park in Plymouth, which opened in July.
For Kids Allowed, Facebook and Twitter (@KidsAllowed) are useful for creating ‘genuine dialogue’ with parents. It also uses social media to communicate with staff and other providers.
The chain, which operates five nurseries, recently used its Facebook page to seek the opinions of parents when changing its policy on the use of children’s paracetamol.
Jennie Johnson, Kids Allowed’s chief executive, writes a topical weekly blog that is shared with mothers and fathers and the early years sector. Her blogs have covered a range of subjects, from ‘Ofsted’s new culture of fear’ to learning through play.
‘I like to be very hands on and it’s important that I am accessible to parents, as I can’t be at each of the settings every day,’ says Ms Johnson.
Another way the group uses technology to develop relationships with parents is by sending a monthly email updating them on their child’s progress based on the Early Years Outcomes.
The updates, sent by teachers using iPads, include activities parents can do at home with their children to continue their learning, and a mind map that shows how planning for a child’s interests has evolved.
Through the weekly emails, teachers also encourage mothers and fathers to ask any questions they might have about their child. ‘Teachers are able to comfort parents and this helps to develop a relationship of trust,’ says Ms Johnson.
A similar practice is followed by Snapdragons Nurseries. Every week the nurseries send an email to parents with information and a link to a five-minute video diary, showing what activities and events have taken place at their child’s setting over the past five days.
James Collard, a director of the nursery group who films and edits the diaries for the nurseries in Bath and Bristol, says that despite the process being quite time-consuming, parents think the videos are worthwhile.
USING WEBSITES AS A SELLING TOOL
As the first point of contact for most businesses, nursery groups recognise the importance of having a sophisticated website that makes them stand out from the crowd.
Snapdragons’ James Collard, who is responsible for developing the group’s online strategy, says that the advanced functionality of its site means it can post its video diaries online, opening them up to prospective parents and creating a unique selling point.
He explains that the group’s website, which won the Nursery World award for Website of the Year in 2011, has quickly evolved since 2004 when its site was just text on a page.
‘Our first website was very simple and just had our contact details on it,’ he says. ‘Times have changed a lot. Our website is now the main way we share updates with parents. We post videos, photos and the children’s artwork on our site.’
The nursery group’s website also hosts a Twitter feed and a quarterly magazine aimed at parents. The magazine, which can be downloaded, includes coverage of events that have taken place at the nurseries, articles on children’s development, upcoming activities and staff news.
Jennie Johnson says it is hard to believe that ten years ago her nurseries used to take a telephone call, then type a letter with information for parents and post it to them. Like Snapdragons, Kids Allowed started out with a very static website.
‘Now our website is interactive. Parents can order a copy of our brochure, arrange a tour of one of our nurseries, book a place and pay online. They can watch videos, view pictures and access our Twitter feeds,’ she says.
Kids Allowed’s website, which won the Nursery World website award in 2012, also includes parent testimonial video clips and a link to the group’s YouTube page. Ms Johnson says that using digital technology has made its reach a lot wider.
For Happy Days Nurseries, its website is central to marketing the business. ‘Our website is a vital tool for capturing data and means we can effectively respond to parents,’ says Karen Hoyle, who is responsible for the group’s online strategy. ‘Since we created our new website in January, we have seen a 1,200 per cent increase in enquiries and visits compared to our previous site.’
PAPERLESS WORKING
To help business run more smoothly, groups are also taking advantage of the latest software.
Kids Allowed is to invest £100,000 in a new room-based computer
system that Jennie Johnson says will greatly reduce the time staff spend on admin.
‘There are so many forms to complete, which results in practitioners being taken away from the children,’ she explains.
‘So rather than handwritten forms on children’s nappy changes, for example, staff can input the information straight onto the computer using the programme. The idea is that we will eventually move to paperless working.’
Another advantage of the new computer system is that managers and senior staff will be able to view real-time information, such as how many children turn up and how many staff are in each room, explains Ms Johnson.
‘Parents can sign up to the system and access the information about their child. When they log out at the end of the day, a report will automatically be produced about their child, based on the information inputted by staff.’
The computer package, which Ms Johnson believes will provide a competitive edge, will be rolled out across the group in the next 12 months.
TIME AND MONEY
While investing in the latest software and creating bespoke websites can prove costly, nursery groups believe it is worthwhile.
‘Cheaper websites can be built quickly, but they will become out of date overnight and are hard to update,’ says Happy Days Nurseries’ Karen Hoyle. ‘Real value comes in using websites as a business tool that works for all your business systems. For us, digital is important but we also fully interweave our traditional marketing methods to complement the entire mix.’
Happy Days Nurseries adds that another big cost is upgrading the nurseries’ IT systems so they can run the latest software.
Other forms of digital technology, such as social media, require committing time rather than money.
At Kids Allowed, the Early Years Professional at each setting has responsibility for updating Facebook for their own nursery every day. This is the same at Happy Days, where each nursery manager is required to upload pictures to their Twitter page.
Snapdragons Nurseries also keeps costs to a minimum when creating its weekly video diaries. Nursery director James Collard films and edits the videos during the working week, with heads of rooms acting as presenters.
In Snapdragons Nurseries’ recent parents questionnaire, it received great feedback on the quality of its overall communication. Online will continue to develop as an important part of this, and mirror the warmth and professionalism of staff in face-to-face contact.
CASE STUDY: KIDDI CARU
Kiddi Caru in Wellingborough says its digital talking pens are crucial for developing relationships with families where English isn’t their first language.
Manager Emma Whitworth says the pens, which scan words and phrases and translate them into speech in a number of different languages, were introduced to the nursery via Northamptonshire County Council.
The nursery has used the pens with new parents who have limited use of the English language to find out the key requirements of their children.
‘The talking pens are a great tool to ease the settling-in process,’ explains Ms Whitworth.
‘They have also helped practitioners feel more confident with children in their care who have English as an additional language.
‘Staff can use the pens to learn the foreign equivalent of words and spellings of key terms such as sleeptime, toilet and eat, while children can learn what the words are
in English.
‘We’ve had children at the setting that come from families where their first language is French, Polish, Latvian, Russian and Chinese. We feel that it is important for them to be able to embrace their backgrounds.’
