Whilst there is some concern nationally at the high cost of Childcare in the UK, we at ESP Projects know from several childcare providers we support that this is not because they are making huge profits! Indeed the margins in this vital area of the economy are often extremely tight and many are only just able to stay afloat.
All the more important then that these organisations can make use of IT to allow staff to focus on their jobs rather than on paperwork. To this end, ESP Projects has recently uncovered some interesting software solutions that can help manage early years childcare facilities. This is software designed and built purely for this purpose and helps in key areas such as:
- Staff, Child and Parent Database
- Staff Rotas and Ratios
- Child Attendance Patterns, Registers and Population Levels
- Storing details on dietary preferences, health & medication, nappy change etc.
- Development & Progress Reports
- Integration with Funding Regimes, Vouchers etc.
- Billing & Invoicing
- Mail Merges to Parents for emails and newsletters
Some of the systems listed below even have a ‘Parent Portal’ which allows parents to login to access and update their information!
Expect to pay £500-£3000 for these solutions. It may seem a high price at first, but thankfully none of the ones listed below require expensive infrastructure to run on, and many offer their software as a ‘pay monthly’ service so these costs don’t necessarily have to be found ‘upfront’.
ESP highly recommends a thorough review of the options before taking the plunge and of course, training and change management needs have to be considered with any large software implementation. If you are still interested, many of the systems we have listed below have online or downloadable ‘demo’ software and videos to help you get started.
Happy hunting!
