All about Famly
Famly is the new system we have chosen to run most aspects of Teatimers. It replaces our current system (connect), the preschool Band app as well as lots of behind the scenes processes. Famly is going to make a lot of our admin more transparent, and let you see a lot more for yourself.
However, that’s not all Famly is about. In time we plan to use it to do far more than we can at the moment – communicate and share better about the important things in your child’s life.
This is especially true for our preschool families as Famly will help our activity planning, record keeping and progress sharing.
Introduction for Preschool families
Introduction for out of school families
Moving to Famly – what parents need to do
Update your family data (re-register)
You will receive a sign-up mail from Famly.
Once you are signed, you need to re-register with us. Here’s how it works:
- Update your child(ren)s profile in Famly. We have provided a help guide and video to show the information we require.
- We manually check your information for completeness.
- Once all the information is on Famly, we will complete your re-registration.
You need to have added your information by 2nd April.
After Easter, we cant accept your child into any of our sessions until this (re)registration process is complete. Our old system will be decommissioned and Famly will be the only place we can access your information.
What parents need to add to Famly.
We have produced a short video to take you through what needs to be set up.
Alternatively, we have a brief downloadable guide.
Already a Famly user at another setting?
Famly plays really nicely with other settings – it gives you a profile at each setting which you can easily switch between.
It is also smart enough to avoid sharing your information between Teatimers and the other setting. There could be old personal information on there that you previously shared with a nursery that you aren’t ready to share with us!
So you do still need to complete all the instructions – adding all your details to the Teatimers version of your family as described above. Click on your picture in the top right corner and you should be able to switch to your Teatimers profile.
A note of caution
Famly is impressive and has great online help. It does use these to self promote its wide ranging capabilities.
If we did everything it says we might, we wouldn’t have time to spend with your child. We are cherry picking the bits we think will give you the best service.
Help using Famly
Famly has extensive online help which is directly available to you when you are logged in. You can also browse their help and support for Parents.
Feel free to ask us any questions as well.
Q&A
General questions about the change
Why are you switching from Connect to Famly?
The ‘why’ is because it has fallen behind and doesnt do nearly as much as its newer rivals. Famly has a lot more to offer once we’ve got it up and running.
The ‘Why now’ is because Connect have plans of their own, which look too risky to tie Teatimers future to.
When will Famly go live?
In Stages.
Famly is already running the basic admin of preschool. During February it will take over the safeguarding and basic communication roles.
In March it will begin to take over the running of our Out of School clubs.
From 21st April, it will be fully live and Connect will be switched off
Will there be any disruption to bookings or payments during the transition?
For preschool famliles, not really. We’ve already done it. We ran the bookings and bills in parallel for the first half of term and everything matches up. You can see the Famly version of the bill we sent from Connect when you log on, so you can compare the two if you wish.
For out of school families, it will feel completely different. We are offering new ways of booking, you can see your account balance online and everyone will will receive an invoice each month.
How will this change affect my child's experience at Teatimers
Famly isnt something we use with the children, so they wont see any direct changes. Indirectly, it reminds us of all the little details we need to keep your child safe, and provides your phone number if they get sick.
In time the children will benefit as we start to share more or our plans and activities with you.
A lot of my original registration details are missing - why?
Its partly deliberate and partly becuase we couldnt transfer them.
Keeping everyone’s information up to date is a real headache as we have to rely on parents to remember us when something changes.
So this is an ideal opportunity for families to get familiar with the app and enter their information afresh so that everything is up to date.
Why is my child on the system twice?
Most likely, your child has the letters BC, ASC or HC after their name.
Famly isnt perfect in every respect and this is a workaround. We will book the BC child into Breakfast club and so on.
This is a workaround that allows us to tell exactly who is supposed to be where and when.
Please dont remove these letters.
Why have you added your child BC, ASC or HC to my child's surname
Most likely, you will find your child appears in Famly twice as well.
BC, ASC (and possibly HC) is an easy way to tell us which sessions – Breakfast or After School Club, that this child record is for.
This is a workaround that allows us to tell exactly who is supposed to be where and when.
Using the Famly App
How do I register for the new system?
Famly will send you email titled “Welcome to Famly”. This has the link to setup your password.
Where can I download the Famly app?
In the Apple app store or Google play, just search for Famly.
It also works on a web browser – www.famly.co
Can both parents/guardians access the account?
Yes. Every a parent with an email address on file has been sent a registration mail.
When you set up your emergency contacts, you can choose to give them a login as a family member (meaning they dont see things like bills)
My Email address is already registered for Famly at another setting?
Not a problem. When you log on to Famly, you will have a profile for Teatimers and a profile for the other setting. Switch between them by clicking on your picture in the top right hand corner.
Out of school bookings
Can I have regular, repeating weekly sessions?
Yes. We’ve written to everyone we think was effecitvely doing this already to help get these setup.
If you want to arrange this, get in touch
Can I change my regular booking pattern in the new system?
Not through the app. Please call / mail / message us.
How do I make irregular / ad hoc bookings?
Just call or message us and we will arrange it. You can book these in further in advance as there is no ‘monthly’ booking any more.
What happened to the booking forms?
Monthly booking is no more.
We think most families will setup the weekly pattern of sessions they have always booked and stick with them until circumstances change.
For other families, you can think about less sessions as it suits – perhaps when shifts are known or just half a term at a time.
You can request ad hoc sessions as needed, and our cancellations policy works as before.
Where can I see my bookings in the app?
Famly doesnt show you your regular bookings. It should be able to show your ad hoc bookings in future. However that requries us to switch on the online booking capability, which is too much for us to handle in the first few months.
Your bookings arent invisible though.
- Your itemised bill will come out before the start of the month.
- Any sessions you have cancelled will show as absences or holidays on your childs profile.
People have asked why their bookings dont show on their Famly calender. We also think this is a great idea but…. We’ve raised it as a suggestion to Famly. If you add a review on your app store, it would be noted and counted as a vote in favour.
Preschool sessions and scheduling
Do I need to rebook my child’s sessions in Famly?
No. We have transferred your regular sessions across already, along with any extras and changes that we already knew about.
Can I change my regular booking pattern in the new system?
Not through the app. As now, please use the form on our website or call / mail us.
How do I make additional one-off bookings?
As you would now. In time, we hope the app will allow you to request these directly as well.
Billing & Payments
How is billing changing?
Everybody will get a calendar monthly bill, sent out in advance.
If you have children in preschool and out of school, you will now have one billing account instead of two.
How will I receive my monthly bill?
Famly will send you an email and a notification via the app. You can change which notifications you get.
You can also set Famly to show the bill to both parents.
The Famly app says I can pay by card and Direct Debit?
We cant stop it from telling you that, but I’m afraid we dont.
Ideally almost everyone should be using Tax Free childcare (or vouchers) to pay, so we shouldnt need card payments. Bank transfer remains the alternative.
Card payments and Direct debits arent cheap. We may look at this again when we review our prices for Septemner.
Can I still pay using Tax-Free Childcare?
Yes. No change to payments for now.
Famly is trialling the option to make tax free childcare payments from within the app itself. We’ll be able to update you further when the trial is complete.
Will my current account balance transfer over?
Yes. If you are a preschool parent, we’ve already done this.
If you are an out of school parent, we’d really appreciate you getting it down to £0.
What happens if I have an outstanding balance before the switch?
Your balance will transfer across so you can see it when you log on. In time, Famly will start to send out reminders.