NEW technology which is redefining old-fashioned school diaries is set to impact on parents - and childcare providers - across the north thanks to a Co Antrim IT entrepreneur.
Eugene McLaughlin's tablet and cloud-based nursery management system 'My Nursery Pal' has just finished a pilot project at Rascals Day Nursery at the Upper Newtownards Road in Belfast, and has been given top marks by both staff and parents.
The innovative system is managed by nursery staff and allows them to record all aspects of each child's day, including photographs, messages and general activities which can then viewed by parents from their computer. tablet or smart phone at home or work.
With a background in IT and marketing - and, at that time, a parent of a nursery-age child - Eugene set about developing the programme two years ago, with the aim to modernise the conventional system of logging daily entries by hand.
"Nurseries rightly go to great lengths to ensure that diaries are kept daily for parents, so they can read at the end of the day what activities their child has been involved in," Eugene said.
"The idea for the programme was borne out of thinking about how we could harness new technology and allow parents instant access to the diaries, along with pictures, as well as helping speed up the task for nursery staff."
To that end, 'My Nursery Pal' has proved a real hit according to Stacey McAleese, manager of the Rascals Upper Newtownards Road branch.
"The system has been great for everyone," she said.
"It is efficient and easy to use and really reassures parents. They can see at a glance if their child looks settled and happy, what they have done that morning and if they have had a nap or eaten all their breakfast.
"We also upload a picture of each child every day so parents can see how they look and it gives them peace of mind. At the same time, 'My Nursery Pal' massively reduces the amount of time nursery staff have to spend on paperwork, meaning more quality time is spent with the children."
An app for download is currently in development and family-run Rascals, formed in 1988 by Lynne D’Arcy after discovering a lack of childcare places available for her own three children. will be rolling out the system to its other seven branches over the next few months.
