Starting With Tapestry

[JoeG]

Starting to use Tapestry is very straightforward but I've put a quick screenshot tutorial to get you kicked off. Please check out the other tutorials for some more in-depth descriptions of how to use the various functions.

Basically, setting Tapestry up consists of adding setting details, adding children, adding staff, and then adding observations. You can also add relatives if you like, but you might want to some time getting used to Tapestry before you do that.

Here's how to go about it:

When you first login to your Tapestry account you will be taken through some introductory screens where you can set up your manager’s name, your setting’s time zone, your assessment periods and which assessment frameworks you want enabled on your account.

The first steps you will need to take are to enter the name of the person you want to be the first manager on the account (1), remember this will be linked to the email address of the person who set up the account, and to set up your setting’s country and time zone (2). Once you have done completed these steps you can click ‘Continue’ (3).

 

 

Next you can enable the assessment frameworks and flag sets that you want to use on your account. Here you are presented with different collapsible options depending on the country your setting is based in. You can always change these later on, but to enable them now just click on the drop-down framework location or flag set to see the options available. I'm going to select a framework from United Kingdom, and an EYFS 2021 flag set. 

 

 

To enable them you just need to select the tick box for that framework or flag set (1). Once you do this you will then be presented with the option for relatives to see the framework or flag set (2). If you'll want relatives to see the assessments or flag sets in your observations then be sure to tick the relevant box.

Flag sets will also give the option to enable them within the Reflections feature (3). Again, if you change you mind you can always change these settings later on. Clicking on the '?' icon next to each framework or flag set will give you a description of it (4). After you have completed this page you just need to select ‘Continue’ (5). 

 

 

The final set up screen allows you to set up your assessment periods, we really recommend setting these up now as if you change them after you have started assessing children, this might mean assessments move into a different assessment period.

You can change the name of the periods in each box in the ‘Name’ column (1). To change the start date of a period you just need to select a new date from the month and day drop-downs (2) and to change the end date you just need to do the same thing from the ‘End Date’ column (3). If you want to remove an assessment period you just need to click on the ‘X’ button (4) at the end of the row of the period you want to delete. To add a new period you just need to click on the ‘Add Period’ button (5). If you click on the ‘Set Defaults’ button (6), this will talk you back to the default term dates on Tapestry, which are the ones shown in the screenshot. Once you have set up your term dates you just need to click ‘Continue’ (7).

 

 

Now that you have gone through all of these screens you will be taken to inside your Tapestry account. Of course there will be no information on it yet, because you haven't added anything, but where it says "There are currently no observations on this page", you will eventually see a list of the observations you have made in chronological order. You can't start off by clicking that tempting 'Add Observation' button because it will remind you that there are no children to add an observation for. 

Before you enter any data into to your Tapestry account, we strongly advise you take a look at our terms and conditions and sign them if you are happy with them. There will be a yellow banner at the top of the page prompting you to do so (1). Once you do this, the banner will disappear. 

Then at the top of the list of observations, you will see a short checklist for you to work through if you wish of further things to set up on your account. If you don’t want to see this section you can just click on the ‘Don’t show’ button (2) in the top right-hand corner. To learn how to do these things, you can click on the ‘Tutorial’ button (3) at the end of the row of each item. This will open a new tab in your internet browser, so you can follow the tutorial to complete each action. I'm also going to cover some of these things mentioned in the first steps list in the rest of this tutorial.

 

 

Now we're going to look at how to set up your Tapestry account now that you are inside it. To do this you will need to access the main setting management area, called the Control Panel, which you can do by clicking on your name in the top right-hand corner of the screen (1). Please note this is only available on the browser version of Tapestry and not the app.

A drop-down box will then appear with a number of options. You'll need to select 'Control Panel' (2).

 

 

You'll then find yourself at a different screen with a number of different options in a set of tabs down the left hand side. The first section I will direct your attention to is 'Features'. This is where you can enable and disable specific functions on Tapestry.

 

 

Here you will see all the features on Tapestry that can be enabled/disabled. If a feature is enabled on your account it will say 'Currently Enabled' (1). To turn one on for your account, you just need to click on the 'Enable' button (2). Below I've listed all the different features that are available on Tapestry:

• Accidents
• Activities
• Care Diary
• Child Login
• Documents
• Memos
• Page Links
• Reflections
• Reports

 

 

Another section on the Control Panel we would recommend you take a look at is 'Settings' (1). Clicking on this will cause that list to expand.

 

 

Those are for setting related options, for example which assessment pickers are active on Tapestry. Generally those options won't be changed regularly, but will be needed to set up and customised for your setting. If you followed the introductory set up screens then you will have already set up two of these options, your assessment periods and your term dates. If you do need to change these settings you can do this from the 'Assessments' and 'Summative Assessment' sections respectively. 

If you have time, I would recommend going through each of the tabs in turn to see what you can do and changing your preferences accordingly. If you're just trying to get the basics done though and then are either passing it over to someone else, or you just can't wait to start using Tapestry, you can leave most of these sections.

I'll leave you to discover the rest of the settings and I'm going to jump onto adding children and staff.

Adding children is really straightforward and hopefully you'll find it quite intuitive! As this is a management option, you do need to be in the control panel, but this time, rather than going to 'Settings', go to 'Manage Children' (1). From there you can either click on the blue '+ Add Child' button (2), or if you have a CSV with their data in, you can import them all at once by clicking on the 'choose file' button and then 'upload' (3).

If you would like to have a more detailed look at exactly how that is done, please see this tutorial: Adding a child or take a look at the other tutorials in the 'starting up' section of this tutorials list.

 

 

When you have added one (or several), you will be able to see that the children then appear in a list on that 'Manage Children' page, along with their date of birth and age, and whether they are Active or not.

 

 

Once you have added your children onto the account, we would also recommending set up groups for them. Tapestry automatically creates some based on the information you input for the children, such as whether they are male or female, but you can also set up your own for your classes or ability groups. 

To do this you just need to go to the 'Manage Groups' section (1) on the Control Panel and click on the 'Add Group' button (2).

 

 

Once you've done this you will be presented with the screen below, here you can add a title for the group (1), a description (2) and you can select the children you want to add to the group (3). 

 

 

Editing yourself and adding other new staff members is very similar. You simply need to go to the Manage Staff (1) section of the Control Panel. From there, if you click on 'Edit' (2) you will be able to change your details e.g. your name, email address, and password. You will also be able to edit others when they appear in the 'Manage Staff' list. You can also add new staff members by clicking on (3) '+ Add Staff Member' to add them one at a time, or 'Choose File' to upload several at once via CSV (4). Take a look at our 'Adding a staff member' tutorial for more details on that.

 

 

Once you have added staff to your account, you can look at setting up their permissions, so what they have permission to see and to do. You can set these up by selecting 'User Permissions' (1) from the left-hand menu. You'll see at the top there are three tabs (2), one for staff, one for relatives, and one for children. You will need to stay on the staff one. To change whether staff can see or do something you'll just need to click on the 'Edit' (3) button at the end of the row of a permission. There you will also be able to set the permissions for individual staff as well. For more information on how to do this, you can read this tutorial. 

 

 

So that's it - once you have you your term dates, children, and staff set up, you can get going with making observations!

To do that, click the 'Observations' tab along the top of the page (1) and then 'Add Observation' (2):

 

 

This will take you to the page used for adding and editing observations, shown below. You will be able to select a child by clicking on '+ Select Children' (1),  give the observation a title (2), and add notes if needed (3). If you have it enabled, you can also fill out the Additional Information box (4). Following that, simply move through the various fields on this page.
You will see a few options where you can change the created date, choose whether the observation should be added straight to journal, and select the author (5). 
Documents, or Photos or videos can be attached (media will need to be less than 5GB per file to meet our single upload allowance) (6).
And at the bottom you will see all the assessment frameworks (7) and flag sets (8) that you have enabled on your account. To make an assessment or add a flag set you just need to click on the framework/flag set you want to assess in, then you will get an extra box where you can make your assessment. 
You can also link this observation with another observation, or with a reflection or activity (9). You can read more about linking here. 

 

 

Take some time to play with this.

Once you are happy with your observation press the 'Save' button (10) which you can find at the top or bottom of the observation.

You can then return to the front screen to admire your first observation, or go to the children's tab where you will be able to see it in your child's journal.

 

 

 

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