A FORWARD thinking Nursery is the first in Scotland to embrace innovative technology which will revolutionise the way its staff record observations about the daily activities and achievements of the children in its care and leader of the Liberal Democrats in the Scottish Parliament, Willie Rennie, is hoping that more nurseries will be able use similar equipment. Lauriston Nursery, which looks after 172 children up to the age of five years-old at its purpose built eco friendly building in Dunfermline, has become the first in Scotland to sign up to iConnect, a new nursery management software system which is fully compliant with the Curriculum for Excellence.

Using the very latest technologies such as tablet PC, touchscreen PC and interactive whiteboards, iConnect, a product from Burnely based software specialists Connect Childcare, provides a gateway for busy nursery staff to view key room and child profile information on handy touchscreens in each room. As well as enabling staff to record information for Personal Learning Plans and other Curriculum for Excellence documents, with ease, the touchscreens can also give staff an overview of upcoming events, child attendance, new starters, staff absence and much more.

Keltybridge based Willie Rennie MSP has visited Lauriston Nursery to see the new technology in action, taking the opportunity to record some daily activities himself using the iConnect software.

He said, “I think it is fantastic that Lauriston has become the first nursery in Scotland to embrace this innovative technology and recognise that by cutting down on the time they spend on administration tasks, they can spend more time helping children to develop and learn.”