Famly Reviews

The fresh layout and ease of use. Having everything in one place and the fact it is live and updated for everyone. The support is great, being able to use an online chat service to get any answers you need. Suggestions can be made and some are taken on board and implemented really quickly.

There are a few things we would like to change about the software that aren' t so easy for example the lists you can get are limited, the viewing is sometimes a bit awkward (not filling the page etc), it doesn't print very well. We'd also love to make it so if someone is trying tpo sign in and enter a pick up time later than their planned bookings, it throws up an error message.

Hi Georgia, thank you for leaving a review for us. We love getting feedback from our customers and it's great to hear that you've had a great experience with Famly overall. I've passed on your comments to our Customer Success team regarding your suggestions for improvement and one of the team will be in touch soon. - Marcus

Saves me so much time Everything all in one place such as invoices, learning journeys, reports, safeguarding info, forms, sleepcharts, accident and incident forms, register etc Customer service is great take on board any recommendations we have

Cost could be a bit better and would like to do staff rotas

Hi Harvey, thanks for your review! Great to hear how much time Famly is saving you and your team. Staff rotas have recently been released as an add-on within Famly. Feel free to reach out to our team by email (support@famly.co) or phone (+44 20 3514 4069) to discuss this. - Marcus

This has replaced slips of paper and cumbersome folders of work and photos. I love that I get regular updates on what my child is doing at nursery and I can look at these on-the-go or wait til later to spend a bit more time. It has also provided a valuable connection staff-2-parents and parents-2-parents during a time where normal face-to-face contact has changed because of COVID.

Sometimes I don't get notifications but I think this is my phone rather than the software.

Hi Kirstin, thanks for leaving your review! That's great to hear how helpful Famly has been for you, particularly during COVID! - Marcus :)

We love the way you can see at a glance where individual children need more help or are excelling, I also like that I can read the observations before they are sent out and I am able to edit some of the staffs grammar.

We have some questions about how to make it work better for us but due to people working from home we haven't really had our questions answered adequately however we are happy with the overall use and our parents love it.

Hi Sally, thank you for your feedback. We're pleased to hear that you're happy with Famly overall. Sorry to hear you feel that your questions haven't been answered adequately, the fact we're working from home shouldn't impact that and you're more than welcome to write to us here: support@famly.co.uk and we can schedule a call to go over any questions you might have.

Very easy to use, for both staff and parents/carers. has saved loads of time with paperwork and is very interactive

i think they should look at when switching staff from different rooms to move the picture icon from the room their leaving this is a minor but as you have asked for what doesn't work well for me i would say this is the only thing

Hi Marie, thanks for your feedback! Really great to hear how much you enjoy using Famly.

Easy to use - staff are all very happy with famly, much better than paper observations! Parent friendly - parents all love the system and being able to see their little ones and what they are up to.

Being able to edit one child in a group ob would be helpful.

Hi Billie, thanks for your review! Great to hear what an impact Famly has had and that our support is helpful! - Marcus :)

We are still quite new to the software but are learning many new features each day. We have already seen a much increased dialogue with parents through the newsfeed and messages.

There is nothing I do not like but if had to choose then possibly the bill payer set-up, I think payments would be easier to just be attached to the childs account not individual parent accounts.

The basic functions we need are free. As a charity we are always strapped for cash so being free it’s a huge bonus!

The interface has limited compatibility with older devices and the dynamic content doesn’t always resize or refresh well on these older devices.

Hi Clare, thanks for your great review. I'm glad to hear that you're able to utilise a lot of our free features to help out in your charity setting. We're glad it works so well for you! - Marcus :)

We bought the full package at the time. We use the majority of the features and will hopefully eventually use them all. Because we were already an established business, it has taken a bit longer to move some things over. I feel this is due to my time management. I find the software very easy to use it has saved myself and my team lots of time, anything I need support with there is either a video or information or I just ping a message over. Engagement with parents is at around 95% which is approximately 50% higher than the previous platform I used, everything is in one place for them and they love the updates throughout the day. It has led to a reduction in phone calls to the nursery to ask how their little ones are doing.

One for me is that we also use a programme called CPOMS this is a platform for safeguarding and SEND. It would be great if it talked to Famly (no idea how this works but know it does with SIMS) I would then have the attendance data etc at hand more easily. I would love an out of office kind of button so parents know when I am not available to answer their messages. This would be useful for staff too.

Hi Jackie, thanks for leaving your feedback. We're really pleased to hear things are going well, especially that boost to parent engagement! Those are good suggestions for features too, you're able to submit them here: roadmap.famly.co Thanks, Marcus :)

The software is comprehensive and easy to use and includes a lot of extra features such as accident reports and mealtimes

The financial package is over complicated and it logs out too quickly

Hi Pamela, thanks for your review, great to hear that Famly works well for you and your team! If you need a hand with the finance features, please write to our team here: support@famly.co.uk Also, in terms of being logged out, that's a GDPR requirement to ensure someone else doesn't gain access to the account. Thanks, Marcus

Famly is very user friendly Services users have nothing but positive things to say about this software. Communication has massively improved between all who use this service. Great to have everything under one umbrella, not more than one app. Overview of staffing, children and profiles. If we have something we want added to the app, this is taken on board. We are all very happy with it.

There is no 'out of office' for staff (messaging) Documents section only accessible to staff. We would require a separate documents section for parents to see documents we upload and choose to share, for example Policies and Procedures. If a child hasn't started but register and you make a mistake on the room moves this can be hard to amend without seeking help. Can this be made the same as children...

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Hi Lizzie, thanks for leaving such a positive review, it's great to hear how Famly's been able to improve your overview and communication at Woodlands. Thanks as well for leaving some feedback on features you'd like us to include in the platform, we're always very keen to get input from our customers so we can continue to improve. I've passed on your comments to a member of our Customer Success team and they'll soon be in touch. - Marcus :)

Famly is so easy to set up and use, very intuitive and so quick to work on. With the added bonus of the app I can now get access to all the information I need whenever and wherever I am. The settings allow for the staff to have the relevant access for their job role, this is great as there are so many functions other than invoicing which Famly can be used for, it really is a one stop shop for everything...

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No cons were added to this review

So easy to use! Parents all love the app and how they can feel involved in their child's learning, they take a comfort from finding out what their child is doing throughout their day

Find the tracking system a little bit confusing - however now it has been explained I understand but can be difficult to show group children's progress to other people who don't use the app

Hi Claire, thanks for your feedback! We're so pleased that Famly's working well for you and that the parents are happy! We're always working to improve our platform so I've passed on your comments to our team about tracking. If you ever have any questions, please don't hesitate to email us at support@famly.co.uk - Marcus

Inform parents quickly parents are able to respond quickly we can capture every day moments We are able to log in food, handwashing, nappy changes and bottles of milk We are able to leave notes on the system and hide what may be sensitive Different access controls can be set for different users We can showcase daily activities to parents with a click of a button Track children's development We are able to log accidents and incidents into the system Keep track of children's sensitive and safeguarding information eg reoccurring accidents happening in the home

Would be good if there was a safeguarding section for logging really sensitive information to keep track sometimes there could glitches with meal information but very rarely

Hi Cheyenne, thanks for leaving your review! Great to hear how Famly helps you and the team - Marcus :)

The daily attendance, the class planning (so easy for admissions season), the newsfeed (Facebook style area where we post photos, updates, videos, etc.), the calendar/RSVP...so much to love!

The way the billing is handled in FAMLY is confusing to our parents. Our families register for a certain schedule (e.g. M/W/F) for the entire semester or year and then pay either monthly or by semester. The invoices are not straight-forward. And if we add a random adhoc charge (e.g. for a shirt, for a drop in day, for after care, etc.) we have to generate an entirely new invoice instead of just...

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The sliders to show much food the children have eaten at meal/snack times is very useful. It is great that you can add things to the menu to tailor it and make things quicker. Easy to use.

Some parents have said that food amounts (e.g all, most, some) do not appear on iphones. I find it hard to write group observations when the children have different assessments in EYFS and COEL (various ages). It would be useful if there was a way to 'copy' an observation so that you can keep the pictures and some content but leave the child and EYFS/COEL blank in order to tailor those to each child...

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Hi Rachel, thank you for your great review! It's wonderful to hear how well Famly is going overall in your setting. I've passed on your feedback to our Customer Success team and Ruby will be in touch with you soon to discuss your comments. - Marcus :)

We use the daily news feed to share their children's day with parents. This is a great tool to use and a conversation starter during collection with our older children and parents. Parents find it easy to share their children's interest and achievements with the parent observations and help with our in the moment planning.

Difficult to answer this as the things I don't like is the forecast. However I have not explored this and how it works so not sure I am set up correctly. It is on my to do list to ask for support on this.

Hi Rachel, thanks for your great review! It's so good to hear that Famly is going well for you at Leo's Den. Whenever you'd like a hand with forecasting, please get in touch with our friendly team. The different ways to contact them can be found here: https://famly.co/support/ - Marcus :)

Immediate communication with families At a glance overview of the nursery Apps to plan ahead for occupancy Accident recording Invoicing All of it.

I honestly can not think of anything I like least - the Famly team are always trying to update and respond to the users requests.

Hi Christopher, that's really great to hear, thank you for letting us know what an impact Famly has had in your Montessori Nursery! - Marcus :)

Famly allows us to interact with our parents and share information with them about their children's time at nursery. This is especially important in the present pandemic as parents are not allowed in to the buildings. The newsfeed feature is great.

The messaging could be improved so that when you click to send a new message your previous conversation appears before you send the new message. With 1000s of messages , it can take a long time to find previous conversations and the search option tens to bring up team messages rather than private ones.

Hi Denise, thanks for your review! It's great to hear that Famly works well in your nursery group, particularly with the logistical challenges that COVID has brought this year. I've passed on your feedback to our team, an update of the messaging feature is something we're planning at the moment and if you ever have other feature ideas/improvements you can submit them here: roadmap.famly.co - Marcus :)

Famly provides an easy-to-use nursery (preschool) management and parent contact system. From managing child records and data, to session management and learning journeys, to sharing activities with individual parents or the whole setting. It also handles payments seamlessly and effectively and provides a full automated system handling invoice payments. Famly is kept up-to-date with EYFS, ECAT, CoEL and SEN framework links that can be added to journeys, full cohort tracking, and observations with next steps.

Famly is still a developing system, however they do seem to enjoy feedback from nurseries. At present there is no easy way to manage 30-hour extended entitlement codes or NI numbers, nor can you do any kind of planning. At present we have to do our plans in Word and then attach/post screenshots to the child's/nursery news feed.

Hi Craig, thanks for your review, it's great to hear Famly's going well for you at Downview. I've passed on your comments to our Customer Success team and they will be in touch! - Marcus

Everything! I literally couldn't do without it now that it has been implemented within our company. Since using the app I have noticed much more parent interaction - I can see which parents use the app and access the information that I share. It is easy enough for staff to use within a busy Nursery environment. We are just starting to use the Child Development section, however I know that this will eventually save lots of time when analysing cohort data and evaluating support for the children. I manage 2 Nurseries so this provides me with the same information for both, which means I can analyse both/either no matter where I am.

At the moment there isn't anything I don't like!

Hi Carole, thanks for your great review! It's brilliant to see what a difference Famly has made for you, the staff and parents at Action for Children. I hope this continues into the future! - Marcus :)

Communication between parents is very good and immediate. Staff can reply straight away. Great way to keep general communication with parents and staff and for good team communication too.

That it logs out very quickly after being logged in but in the end this is good as it is secure. Observations on children - when the observation has been created then needs reviewed, the person who has reviewed the observation comments to let the creator know what needs to be changed, this comment is not saved and therefore we can not keep a recall of what has been asked in the review. When in observations and creating the comment to put on the review, it logs out and loses the comment so the person has to log in and create the comment again. I hope this makes sense. Different in news feed when you create a news feed and it logs out, it saves it in draft. Would be very beneficial for reviews on observations are saved in draft too.

Hi Debbie, thanks for your review! It's great to hear how well Famly is working in your nursery, particularly in terms of communication. Thanks for the feedback on drafting and reviewing observations, my colleague Evelin will get in touch to go over this with you. - Marcus :)

All my information about children and staff is one place and easy to find. The staff team are able to find information about children easily and no longer have to keep asking me! The staff team have had to become confident with using the technology and have benefitted. I like being able to create lists so easily. During the Covid pandemic the team at Famly have provided us with some lovely articles and interviews that have fed some of our decision making. So, so helpful. My admin team have found it time saving creating bookings that feed into invoicing and all the administration that support the preschool in being in financial good health.

There is one feature that I can print but am unable to download as a csv and then manipulate for my own purposes but it is a small difficulty.

The software is very easy to use and intuitive. We like the easy sign in options, quick and easy method to log meals, nappies and sleeps and the news feed is a quick efficient way of communicating to parents. The activity library, blogs and articles are great too.

Integration to our business was easy and straight forward with plenty of on hand support from FAMLY. There are a few things we would like, for example total nursery count on the occupancy planner, a body map on the safeguarding function and a start date as well as registration date on child's profile, however they are really responsive to ideas and requests so hopefully these things will come in time.

Hi Kelly, thanks for letting us know what an impact Famly has had in your nursery! We're also pleased to hear you find the team responsive overall - Marcus :)

Its intuitive. You can easy see how to do things. It's great at increasing parent partnership and definitely makes admin much easier. Parents can update their own records enabling you to jeep up to date quickly and easily with changes of contact details. Parents can see exactly how much they owe, when they paid, and with what. Staff are able to register children quickly and easily with a touch of a...

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The only downside is that parents need an email address to register. We only have one parent this affects.