Tapestry in EYFS
The primary purpose of Tapestry is to provide an ongoing communication with families about their child’s learning experiences and progress in Nursery and Reception. It is not meant to be used an assessment tool, as this would entail prolonged breaks from interaction with children and does not reflect what we believe is right for our children. However, it may be used as part of a holistic view of a child’s progress and attainment.
Statutory Framework 2023 “Assessment should not entail prolonged breaks from interaction with children, nor require excessive paperwork. Paperwork should be limited to that which is absolutely necessary to promote children’s successful learning and development, practitioners should draw on their knowledge of the child and their own expert professional judgement and should not be required to prove this through collection of physical evidence”
What is Tapestry?
Tapestry allows families to login with a secure username and password so they can view all of their child’s observations, photographs and videos. They can like and comment on observations that are added for their child and it’s also possible for families to add their own observations. Comments and observations from home enable us to find out about which activities their child really enjoyed and the learning they get up to at home.
How to access Tapestry
If your child attended our school Nursery they will already have the login details for their child so they will be able to continue to use it as before.
For parents new to our school, they will receive an activation email, within the first few weeks of school, from which they can set up your own password to login with. They will also be asked to set up a 4-digit PIN which they can use on the Tapestry app to quickly log back in once they’ve initially logged in. Do remember to keep an eye out on your spam/junk folders for this email.
If you have not received this activation email please tell your child’s class teacher, or contact us via the class email address. If you would like to add additional family members please contact the school office to request this.
You can login using any web browser from tapestryjournal.com or by downloading the Tapestry app from the Play or App store, depending on what type of device you are using. Remember, if you are going to use the App version of Tapestry to ensure auto updates are turned on for your device so you always have the most up to date version of the app.
It is also possible for you to adapt your settings so you can be notified via email either immediately, daily or weekly if there are new entries for you to view.
What you can expect to see on Tapestry
Memos:
- Reception- a summary (every Friday) about what your child has been learning about at school that week.
- Nursery- a summary of the learning (every Monday) that is planned for the week.
- A copy of the phonics homework sheet that has been sent home with your child every Friday (Reception only).
Observations:
- A weekly observation for your child about an adult led group activity. This will be maths in Reception and a range of subjects in Nursery.
- Individual observations of your child in play on a regular basis.
- Teachers will also put your child’s ‘next step’ onto Tapestry so you know what we are working on with them at school and so you can support them at home. This might be writing their name, being able to zip their coat up or waiting for their turn. This is so families feel better informed about where their child is working and what they need to do next.
We will also be using the ‘memos’ feature on Tapestry to upload key documents, such as the Little Wandle pronunciation guide and share these with you. We will also use it to give reminders about key dates and events as well as updates about the whole class.
How can families support this?
We actively encourage families to upload photos, certificates, observations and videos to Tapestry and teachers will regularly check and comment upon these.
Please make sure you have Tapestry notifications set up on your phone, or other device, so you don’t miss any of the information we send out.
As far as we are aware, all families now have access to Tapestry and have been sent an activation link. If this is not the case, please can you let your child’s class teacher know and we will resend it.
nursery@eldwick.bradford.sch.uk
All data that is entered to Tapestry is stored securely on their servers. If you are interested in finding out more information about this, you can go to https://tapestry.info/security.
We do hope you enjoy using Tapestry, do let us know if you have any questions about it.
Thank you for your continuing support
Caroline Annetts
EYFS Assistant Head Teacher