Printed Journals for Parents and Carers

You can order a Tapestry printed journal from the Group Hugs website or from within your Tapestry account. You’ll need a PDF copy of your child’s journal first, which you can get in one of two ways:

1. Staff members on Tapestry can export PDF copies of your child’s journal. When they create that file they can set it to be downloadable by you.
2. You export a PDF copy of your child’s journal yourself and download it once it’s been processed.
   This is the PDF you need access to to buy a printed version.

If one is available for you, you can see it by logging into the browser version of Tapestry, clicking on your name, and going to ‘My downloads’.

If you can see a PDF there, you will also see a button next to it saying ‘Buy Printed Journal’ – just click on that to start the process.

If you have downloaded a copy of that PDF but it’s no longer available on Tapestry or your account has been deactivated, you can upload it to the Group Hugs website directly and order from there.

The cost will be determined by the length of the journal and whether you want it to be hardback or softback.

Softback:

• Up to 150 pages: £14.95
• 151 – 300 pages: £17.95
• 301 – 450 pages: £19.95
• 451 – 600 pages: £22.95
• 601 – 800 pages: £27.95
• 801 – 1000 pages: £32.95
• 1001 – 1600 pages: £39.95

Hardback:

• Up to 150 pages: £24.95
• 151 – 300 pages: £27.95
• 301 – 450 pages: £29.95
• 451 – 600 pages: £32.95
• 601 – 800 pages: £37.95
• 801 – 1000 pages: £52.95
• 1001 – 1600 pages: £59.95

Please note that:

• Printed journals have a minimum requirement of 20 pages and can be no longer than 1600 pages.
• After 801 pages the journal will be split into two printed journals.
• Postage is not included in the above pricing.
• Printed journals will be 4 pages per book longer than your PDF version.

Printed journals have a minimum requirement of 20 pages and can be no longer than 1600 pages.

Please note that after 801 pages the journal will be split into two printed journals.

Both the hardback and softback have matt covers and are somewhere between A4 and A5.

• The paperback is: 174 x 248mm
• The hardback is: 180 x 254mm

The depth is, of course, dependent on how many pages you have.

Schools, nurseries and childminders usually export PDF journals for parents and carers at the end of the year or when the child leaves.

If you’re set up to receive notifications from Tapestry, you will be notified when it’s ready. A teacher might also let you know when to expect it.

If the end of term/leaving date is approaching and you haven’t heard anything about it, have a chat with your child’s teacher, they will be able to tell you when they’re planning on doing it.

However, note that you can always export a PDF copy of your child’s journal whenever you want to.

If/When your child’s childminder/setting/school has exported your child’s journal into a PDF and let you know this is ready, you’ll be able to find a copy by:

1. Logging into your Tapestry account on a browser by going to tapestryjournal.com.
2. Selecting your name in the top right hand corner.
3. Going to ‘Your Downloads’.
   You will need to do this from a browser, such as Microsoft Edge, Chrome, Safari, Silk etc. Journals cannot be downloaded from the app.

This tutorial walks you through the process of downloading your child’s PDF journal.

Yes! Simply follow the steps in the ‘How to export your child’s journal‘ tutorial.

This is up to the teacher.

By deafult, it will include your child’s individual observations and pictures.

Teachers can choose to include group observations, observations made by you, assessments, and reports.

The content of the book is based purely on the PDF you or your child’s teacher, key person, or childminder export.

Please note that what is included will be determined by what you already have access to:

• Observations created by staff that have been published, i.e. ‘in journal’ observations.
• Observations created by you or other linked parents that have been published, i.e. ‘in journal’ parent observations. NB: Parent observations that haven’t been approved will not be included, even if the you can see them in their account.
• ‘In journal’ group observations. NB: Group observation media will only be included if you do not have permission to see this.

We recommend that you carefully check what’s included in the PDF before you send it off for a book, as it won’t be possible for you to be refunded if you realise later that there is a mistake/something missing within the PDF.

It’s unlikely that your school or setting will be able to change your child’s journal, but if you notice something wrong it’s worth speaking to them about it.

How much you can change the content is limited to the type of observations you choose to include if you decide to export the journal yourself.

If you decide to export your child’s journal yourself, then you can pick and choose the date range and the type of observations to include, but you cannot make any actual changes on the observations themselves.

Please note that we strongly advise against using a PDF editor to amend the exported version – the system Group Hugs uses to convert the PDF to a book looks at hidden technical information that is lost when you edit the PDF downloaded from Tapestry.

If a PDF has been amended, edited or manipulated in any way, the order will fail.

You can see what it’ll look like in this tutorial: How to purchase a printed book of your child’s journal.

Not yet. Profiles pictures are set by the staff on the Tapestry account.

Absolutely!

Please note that you can only order multiple copies of the same journal. If you’re buying different journals (i.e. for different children), then you will need to create separate orders.

You can order multiple copies directly from your Tapestry account when you download your child’s journal, or from the Group Hugs website.

Currently, it is not possible to purchase printed journals for different children in the same order. You’d need to place multiple orders, one for each child. Within each order, you can request as many copies as you want, though!

You’ll be able to do this from your Tapestry account if your children’s PDF journals are still available there, or directly from the Group Hugs website.

If your child had a Tapestry account and you have a PDF copy of their journal, then yes!

You can upload old Tapestry journals directly to the Group Hugs website – you’ll just need to make sure that the journal is in PDF format.

If you do not have a PDF copy of their journal, but your child left recently, then it might be possible. You’ll need to ask their former teacher/setting/school so they can check whether they can still export a PDF copy of your child’s journal.

If your child left a long time ago (i.e. they haven’t been on Tapestry for more than a few months) then it’s unlikely there will still be a copy. Child profiles, and all their data, are completely deleted from Tapestry accounts and our backups 180 days after the teacher removes the profile.

Group Hugs aim to dispatch all journals within 6 weeks from the date the order was placed but in quieter times it will likely be much sooner than that.

If you are ordering to an address outside the UK, delivery times will vary.

A confirmation email will be sent when an order is dispatched.

You can track the status of your order from the Group Hugs website using their virtual assistant (found in the bottom right-hand corner). You will need your order number.

Yes, simply download the PDF journal from Tapestry and keep it safe. You can order it later via the Group Hugs website.

Not once the books have been printed- these are custom orders and so cannot be restocked.

If you have realised a mistake quickly after ordering, contact Group Hugs at customerservice@grouphugs.co.uk ASAP – if the printing hasn’t started yet they may be able to cancel the order.

Yes, but the delivery fee is likely to be a bit higher. You may also have to pay import taxes. Those will be your responsibility.

Having said that, we are excited to let you know that we are working on a new ordering process just for international schools and settings outside of the UK.

This will help families abroad save significantly on delivery fees. If you’re based outside the UK, it may be worth waiting to place your order until this is ready. More information coming soon!

Contact us at customer.service@eyfs.info or Group Hugs at customerservice@grouphugs.co.uk describing exactly what is happening and at what stage in the process – if you can include the wording for any error messages you see, or even better, screenshots, that would be very helpful.

In the unlikely scenario that you have issues with the ordering process or print quality, you should email Group Hugs directly at customerservice@grouphugs.co.uk. They’ll be able to assist!

See their privacy policy here.

The process is automated so the content of journal is unlikely to be seen by a human.

If your question/idea is about layout, or features within Tapestry, then get in touch with us at customer.service@eyfs.info.

If it’s about the printed version (i.e. something that isn’t also relevant to the PDF version of the journal), then get in touch with Group Hugs at customerservice@grouphugs.co.uk.

If it’s about the specific content of a journal e.g. the text/images that have been included, then you’ll probably need to speak to your child’s teacher, key person, or childminder.

If in doubt, contact us and we’ll direct you to the correct place if we can’t help!