In this tutorial we’re going to cover how to add children to your Tapestry account either individually or in bulk via a CSV file. The second tab will walk you through how to do this individually, the third tab will explain how to create a CSV file to upload children in bulk, and the fourth tab will talk you through how to then upload your CSV file to Tapestry.
It’s also possible to add children directly from your MIS via Wonde. Please take a look at this tutorial to find our how.
Please note, only managers on Tapestry can add, edit or delete children from an account.
We’re firstly going to cover how you can add children individually to your account. This may be helpful for if you only have a few children to add to your account or you need to add an extra or children during the year.
Managers can add children to an account via the Configuration menu on Tapestry. Start by selecting Configuration at the bottom of the navigation menu on the left-hand side of the screen. This will open up a further menu, from which you need to select Children.
In the Children drop-down menu, click on Manage Children.
Once on the Manage Children page, click the Add Child button.
On the Add Child page, you can optionally upload a profile photo for the child.
In order to save the child, you will need to add a first and last name for them.
You don’t have to add a profile photo for a child if you don’t have one yet. Remember, you can go back and edit the child at any point to then upload a photo for them.
You can then add further information for the child in the Details and Special Education Needs sections.
In the Details section, the only piece of information you need to enter in order to save the child is their DOB. Everything else is optional.
In the Status section you will need to choose whether to add the child as active or enrolling.
Children that are added as Active will contribute towards the number of children in your package. You will also be able to use the full functionality of Tapestry with them, such as adding observations, memos and activities.
The Enrolling child status was designed so you can add new children to your package who haven’t started with you yet. Children that are enrolling will not contribute to your number of active children.
You can complete the following actions with enrolling children:
- Add them to groups
- Link them to relatives and link them as a key child for staff
- Complete their About Me
- Add name labels for them, but most features are not available for them until they become active.
You can only add the same number of enrolling children to your account as you have spaces for active children. So if you have an up to 60 child package, you can only add up to 60 enrolling children.
In the Permissions section you can choose whether you will allow the child’s relatives to view and edit their About Me page.
The Password section is only relevant if you are using the Child Login feature and want to set up a password manually for the child.
Once you are happy with all the information you’ve added for the child, just click Save at the bottom!
Children can be uploaded in bulk to Tapestry by uploading a CSV file (this is just a type of Excel spreadsheet).
If you already have children’s details saved in another system, it may be possible to export a CSV file from there to upload to Tapestry. If you need to start with a new file, feel free to use our blank children bulk upload template.
To create a CSV file yourself, open up a new Excel spreadsheet.
You will then need to put your field titles along the first row like so:
The only headings you need to include in your CSV in order to upload children’s details are: first name, last name and DOB.
Other headings you can include are: Gender, UPN, EAL, Free School Meals, SEN, Postcode and Pupil Premium
Once you’re happy with the headings, you then just need to enter the data for all the children you want to add to your account.
All you need to do after you’ve entered all the data is save your Excel spreadsheet as a CSV file.
If you select Save As in the document, you’ll then need to select the Save as type drop-down, and choose CSV from the list.
Now your document is ready, go to the last tab in this tutorial to see how to upload it to Tapestry.
Once you have your CSV file ready (see the Creating a CSV file tab), you can then upload this to your account.
Uploading your CSV file
Just like with adding an individual child, you will need to navigate to the Configuration section at the bottom of the menu on the left-hand side of your screen. Then select Children, and then Manage Children from the final drop-down menu.
On the Manage Children page, click on the Import CSV button.
This will take you to the bottom of the page where you will see a section called Import Children.
Firstly you will need to click on the Choose File button to select your CSV file. Then, click on the Upload button to proceed.
Import Stages
You will then be taken through the upload process in stages.
The first step is for you to ensure the headings in your CSV file will match the ones in Tapestry.
You can change any if needs be by clicking on the drop-downs. If it all looks good, click Next Step.
In stage 2 you’ll need to check the input values for the headings with binary data answers e.g. yes/no match what will be entered into Tapestry.
Again, if you’re happy with all the fields, click Next Step.
On the final stage of the import process you can see a list of all the children included in the CSV file. To add them all, click Select all.
You can then add them as Active or Enrolling.
Children that are added as Active will contribute towards the number of children in your package. You will also be able to use the full functionality of Tapestry with them, such as adding observations, memos and activities.
The Enrolling child status was designed so you can add new children to your package who haven’t started with you yet. Children that are enrolling will not contribute to your number of active children.
You can complete the following actions with enrolling children:
- Add them to groups
- Link them to relatives and link them as a key child for staff
- Complete their About Me
- Add name labels for them, but most features are not available for them until they become active.
After selecting to import the children as active or enrolling, you’ll be taken back to the Manage Children page, the children will then be added to your account and you’ll see a message confirming this at the top of the page.
And that’s it! You can now add relatives to Tapestry if you haven’t already, or if you already have relatives on your account, you can link them and their children together.