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Connect’s finance and nursery insight functionality, helps settings to keep a handle on their operations – streamlining finances and making staff management simple. What’s more, when the inspector calls, you can quickly drill down into key information such as how many children attend, the number of staff working at the setting, and details of government funding and support. 

With inspections recently adjusted to place an increased focus on nursery leadership, Connect helps managers and senior leadership to gain oversight in seconds – enhancing the ability to make informed decisions around crucial elements of nursery provision such as staff deployment. Easily accessible financial records such as information around invoices, outstanding payments, and grant funding helps to streamline finances and support the operation of a sustainable setting which meets the needs of all stakeholders. 

Nurseries are not only places of learning and development for children, but places of employment too – which means not only must they meet the needs of the children, but of practitioners and the interests of the business itself. To deliver the highest standards of care to children, financial and HR aspects must also be high on the agenda. Connect Childcare helps to bring each of these elements together to create a sustainable business. The system takes account of traditional parent payment and government funding, to support early years settings that can thrive into the future – delivering the exceptional outcomes that Ofsted seeks from the nursery environment.  

iConnect makes showcasing children’s achievements a doddle, with observations, learning journeys, and staff reflections displayed in an attractive and easy-to-follow paperless format. The option to share daily updates from the nursery, receive progress from home, and communicate learning milestones enhances parental partnerships – a huge plus for any Ofsted inspector. 

And when asked to demonstrate what children are learning, and how progression is recorded and communicated during the learning walk, practitioners can simply access pre-existing learning journeys to capture a snapshot of activity and progress over a defined period. The system also acts as a proactive planning tool, with practitioners able to record of-the-moment notes which can be edited and published at a later date. This enhances the ability of childcare providers to actively reflect upon their practice, suggesting next steps, and proactively planning for future activity.

The functionality within iConnect effectively supports the ‘Three I’s’ of the curriculum – intention, implementation, and impact. The software takes a reader through from the start of a child’s learning journey, documenting the different stages of progression as a result of the activities which are planned and implemented by practitioners. Impact can be showcased through their progress at every stage, as they grow in confidence and tackle new and exciting challenges.