Starting school next year? Save your daycare photos before December

For most Australian families, December is the end of daycare. School starts in late January or early February, and the last few weeks of the year disappear in a blur of concerts, cards and goodbyes.

It's also the moment to make sure years of photos are safe. Depending on the app, what you can see may change once your child leaves, and the centre isn't keeping a copy for you.

Here's a short checklist to work through before December.

1. Find out which app your centre uses

Many Australian centres share photos through Storypark or Xplor Home, and some use Famly. If you're not sure, check the app you open to see your child's day, or ask the centre.

2. Save every photo and video, not just the favourites

Saving one photo at a time is fine for a handful. For a couple of years of daycare it's hundreds of clicks.

NurseryDownloader is a Chrome extension that saves everything in one go: every photo and video, at full quality, sorted into a folder for each child and month, with the date at the start of each filename.

• How to download your Storypark photos
• How to download your Xplor photos
• How to download your Famly photos

3. Back them up somewhere else

Once the files are on your computer, copy them to a second place: an external drive, or a cloud photo service. One copy is a start. Two is safe.

4. Ask about anything that isn't a photo

Learning journals, reports and portfolios sometimes live in a different part of the app. Ask the centre what they'll give you, and save anything you want to keep while you still have access.

5. Do it before the last week

The last week is busy. Saving everything a few weeks early means there's nothing to worry about when the time comes.

The free trial saves your first 20 photos with no card and no sign-up, so you can check the results first.