In order to start a new observation on Tapestry, select Observations from the left-hand side navigation menu and then click on the Add Observation button.
You’ll then see a form that looks like the below screen. Remember, you can come back and edit your observation at any time if you need to add further information.
Click on the icons on the image to find out about each section.
Adding a Title and Children
At the top of the page you can add a title and you’ll need to attach a child or children to the observation in order to save it a draft or full observation.
Once you click on the Select Children button, this will bring up a pop-up box from which you can choose which child/ren you would like included in your observation.
At the top of the pop-up box you can search for a specific child, as well as filter the children by your custom groups or cohort years.
You can select individual children or whole groups of children using the select all option.
Once you’re finished, just click Done in the top right-hand corner.
After you’ve done this, you’ll see the selected children within the observation.
You can remove any that have been added by accident by clicking on the X button by their name.
Notes, Additional Information & Uploading Media
In the body of the observation you can write up your actual observation, so what you observed the child or children doing, in the Notes section.
A manager on the account can choose whether to have the Additional Information section enabled and if so, whether it’s visible to relatives. You may want to use this field to add things such as next steps for children.
You can then upload photos, videos and documents to the observation.
Selecting this option will open a pop-up where you can select any images, videos or documents that you want to attach.
To enable/disable the Additional Information field, a manager will need to navigate to Configuration on the left-hand side menu. From there they will need to select Features, then scroll down to Observations and click on Observation Settings. Here they will just need to tick/untick ‘Show Additional Information field’ and save.
To set whether relatives can see this field, stay on Configuration and select Relatives and then Relatives’ User Permissions. The permission ‘View Additional Information‘ is in the ‘Observations’ section. You can learn more about the User Permissions on Tapestry here.
Managing Media
Once media or documents have been uploaded you’ll them appear in the Media section.
Click on Manage Media if you want to view, edit photos, re-order or delete any of the media items. You can also edit photos by clicking on the photo you want to edit in the Media section.
In the Edit section you can: rotate, flip, crop, adjust, annotate, blur certain areas, or apply stickers. When you’re finished, click Done in the top right-hand corner.
Assessments, Flags & Links
Next you will see buttons to add assessments, flags and links to your observation.
Add Assessments will display a pop-up where you’ll firstly need to select a framework from the column furthest to the left. You can then expand the framework to select specific elements within it.
Remember you can add assessments from multiple frameworks within an observation
When you’re finished, click done.
Add Flags will also show a pop-up box with a list of enabled flags sets that you can select on the left.
Click on the arrow to the right of the flag set to expand each flag set to show further elements which can also be selected.
Again, when you’re finished, click Done.
Lastly, Add Link will allow you to link your observation to other observations or different post types (reflections, activities or activities in your collection).
You will firstly need to choose what other post type you would like to link your observation to.
Once you’ve done that, you’ll then be presented with a list of the post type you’ve selected e.g. observations, to choose from. You can use the filters at the top to help you narrow this list down.
After you’ve found the post you want to link, simply select the tick-box for it and then click Done.
Observation and Save options
At the bottom of the page you’ll see there are a few different observation and save options.
Firstly, you can see the status of the observation. If you are a manager or have permission to approve observations, you’ll be able to select one of the statuses from the status drop-down. Take a look at the Observation Status tab for more information about these.
If you are a manager on the account you will be able to change the author of the observation.
All staff can change the time and/or date of the observation.
In the bottom right-hand corner you then have the following save options:
- Save & Add Another: Allows you to save this observation and immediately takes you into creating another new observation.
- Save as Draft: Draft observations are tied to individual users, so only they are able to go back to edit the draft to save it as a full observation. Managers are able to view and delete drafts created by other members of staff.
- Save Observation: The observation will be saved and you will then see your saved observation.
Draft observations can be accessed by the user that created them by clicking on Your Drafts at the top of the Observations page.
Observations on Tapestry can be saved as one of four statuses: not in journal, in journal (visible to staff only), in journal (visible to all) and scheduled.
Managers on Tapestry can save an observation as any of the four statuses.
Staff will always be able to save observations as not in journal. Whether they can save observations as in journal (either option) or schedule them is dependent on your Staff User Permissions.
The ability for relatives to add observations is enabled by default but it can be disabled by a manager through the Relative User Permissions.
If enabled, a manager can also choose whether their observations are saved as not in journal or in journal also through the Relative User Permissions.
Not in Journal
This is the default status for newly added observations. Staff members and relatives who don’t have permission to approve observations will only be able to add observations as not in journal.
Observations that haven’t been added to the journal won’t be included in a child’s exported learning journal.
Not in journal observations also won’t be visible to relatives, but they will be visible to staff members. This will give you a chance to make any adjustments or have a quick proof read before you make the observations visible to relatives. The exception to this is observations made by relatives, as these will be visible to both staff and the child’s relatives before they are added to the journal.
In Journal (Visible to staff only)
These observations are similar to not in journal ones in that they are only visible to staff members and not relatives. However, there are a couple of differences. Firstly, marking an observation as ‘staff only’ will indicate to the other staff members that it is not a work in progress or waiting to be published, but that it is complete and only intended for staff.
Secondly, when exporting a child’s journal to PDF for staff, there will also be an option to include staff only observations, but not ones that aren’t in the journal.
In Journal (Visible to all)
These observations have been published to a child’s learning journal and will be visible to the child’s relatives when they log into Tapestry.
If a child’s learning journal is exported, observations in their journal will be included.
Only managers and staff members or relatives with permission to approve observations can publish observations to be in journal.
Scheduled
These are observations that are currently not in the journal, but are scheduled to be added to a child’s journal at a specific date and time. This can be helpful if you have completed an observation, but would like it to be made visible to relatives at a later date or a certain time.
This can be done from the date/time picker within an observation.
To edit an observation you will need to navigate to the Observations page and click on the three dot icon for an individual observation.
To edit any drafts, click Your Drafts and follow the same steps.
Doing so will bring up the options available to each observation. From this list, select Edit.
You will then be presented with the edit observation page where you can add to, or remove, any of the information within the observation.
Just remember to save your observation when you’re done!
