How to keep your ParentZone observations and notes

To keep your child's ParentZone observations, save two things: the Learning Journal report, which you can download from Reports when your nursery shares it, and the written notes on the posts in your child's Timeline, which NurseryDownloader saves as a dated text file beside each post's photos. Download the Learning Journal as soon as it arrives, because ParentZone's own guide says the report only stays in the app for 30 days.

The photos get most of the attention, but the nursery's notes are what tell you what was happening in them: who your child played with, what they tried for the first time, how they settled in. Here's how to keep both.

Where observations live in ParentZone

ParentZone (often written Parent Zone) is the parent app from Connect Childcare. Its user guide for parents says the nursery publishes different types of events to your child's Timeline, including:

• Observations, also called snapshots
• Assessments, also called learning stories
• Day-to-day records such as meals, sleep times and nappy changes

Observations and assessments are linked to the child development framework, and many come with photos and videos. The guide also says your nursery controls what you can see, so your menu may not match another parent's.

ParentZone's own options

The Learning Journal report. ParentZone describes it as a collection of practitioners' observations showing your child's learning over a period of time, usually 12 months. Your nursery shares it at their discretion. When they do, you'll get an email or a notification; open Reports from the menu to view and download it. The guide is clear that the report stays in ParentZone for 30 days, so save it straight away and keep a copy somewhere other than your downloads folder.

Saving photos. If your nursery has turned the option on, you'll see a download icon on each image, which saves that one photo to your device.

ParentZone's guide doesn't describe a way to export the text of every post in one go. That's the gap NurseryDownloader fills.

Saving every note, with the photos, in one run

NurseryDownloader is a Chrome extension that saves your child's ParentZone photos and videos to your computer at full quality. As it reads your child's Timeline, it also keeps the nursery's written note on each post:

• One text file per post, with the post's date at the start of the filename, so the notes sort in date order.
• Saved beside the photos, in the same month-by-month folders.
• Easy to read. Each file opens in any text editor and starts with your child's name and the date, followed by what the nursery wrote.

To run it:

1. On a laptop or desktop, add NurseryDownloader to Chrome or Edge.
2. Sign in at parentzone.me as you normally would.
3. Click Go to Gallery in the panel, or open the Gallery from ParentZone's menu.
4. Click Download images in the panel. Keep the tab open while it works: you'll see the progress, and the notes are saved in the same run.

Run it again next term and it only saves what's new. Notes it has already saved aren't written a second time, so you won't end up with duplicates.

Your first 20 downloads are free, so you can see the results before you buy a licence. Your photos and notes go straight from ParentZone to your computer and never pass through our servers, and NurseryDownloader never asks for your ParentZone password: it works in your own browser, where you're already signed in.

What it doesn't save

• The Learning Journal report. Download that from Reports while it's there.
• Framework links and gradings, assessment acknowledgements and comments.
• Attached files. It saves the written note on each post and its photos and videos, not files such as PDFs attached to a post.

The two together cover it: the Learning Journal for the nursery's summary of the year, and the note files and photos for the day-by-day story.

Questions

How long does the ParentZone Learning Journal stay available?

ParentZone's user guide says the report stays in ParentZone for 30 days once it's shared with you. Download it from Reports as soon as you get the notification.

Can I get my child's observations after we leave the nursery?

That's down to your nursery, which controls what you can see in ParentZone. Saving copies while your child is still there means you don't need to ask.

Does it save videos too?

Yes. Videos in your ParentZone gallery are saved alongside the photos, at full quality.

Can I do this on my phone?

No. Chrome extensions only run on a computer, so use Chrome or Edge on a laptop or desktop. It's the same ParentZone account you use on your phone.

Read the full guide to downloading your ParentZone photos and videos.