Introduction

The Parent Childcare App allows parents to view their child/rens:

  • Invoices and statements

  • CCS statement of entitlements

  • Current and upcoming bookings

  • Emergency contacts

  • Immunisation status (if recorded)

  • Allergy / dietary requirements

  • Correspondence and messaging

and

  • For Services who choose the online booking option, parents are able to book and / or cancel bookings

Getting your Service ready

Update account holder information

There are a few things that need to be completed in Spike to ensure the smooth operation of our Parent Childcare App.

  1. Each Account holder in Spike must have an email address under person and have the 'Can access the parent’s childcare app' ticked.

  2. Go to Reports → Person → Parent Childcare App Login Details. This reports shows all Account holders and whether they have an email address under Person and if the 'Can access the parent’s childcare app' is ticked.

  3. The email address entered into Spike is the person’s username when logging into the Parent App

  4. Initially the password will be the persons pin number. If the pin number has been changed the parent will need to click on 'Forgot Password?' to reset their password. The email will come from Economic Outlook with subject 'Reset Password'.

Important
 Please note that once you have added / updated email addresses in Spike it will take approximately 24 hours for the Parent Childcare App to be updated allowing parents to log in.

Promoting the Parent App

  • The link for the Parent Childcare App can be added to your Tax Invoices. Go to Select → Service → Select your Service. In the Details screen, right click edit → Next → Next. Put a tick in the box 'Promote parent’s childcare app in the tax invoice'.

  • Alternatively, you can invite a Person. Go to Select → Person → Select the Person. In the Details screen right click 'Email childcare app invite'. This will bring up your mail client with a prepared message explaining how to access to the app.

Tip
 If you do not have these options you will need to download a new version of the Spike Viewer

Online bookings

The Group screen has two new tabs - Preferred Utilisation and Booking Request Policies. These tabs are where you set the parameters for online bookings.

Preferred Utilisation

  • This is where you enter the preferred number of children for each session. This is a combined total of bookings created in the Spike Viewer and bookings requested online.

TO CREATE YOUR PREFERRED UTILISATION:

  • Go to Select → Group → Select a Group > Preferred Utilisation → Right Click → Create

  • Select From date (if you are creating the template for your Service leave to date blank), Group is pre-selected and select the Increment, Next

  • This can be set up in increments of 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour and 1 day. If, for example, your ASC session starts at 3.05pm begin your preferred utilisation at 3.00 -3.15pm. As your session does not start until 3.05pm parents will not be able to book before that time.

  • Depending on the increment selected you will see a list of from and to times. Don’t worry it looks quite time consuming but it’s really easy! Select the from time and day your session time starts, or the time you have the first available booking for the day. Enter your preferred utilisation (the preferred number of children that can be booked in for the session), enter. All times after that time prefill with that number. To end the session, go to the relevant time and day and enter 0. Repeat for the remaining days.

  • Leave days as 0 if you are closed → Finish.

Preferred Utilisation Screen

  • For OSHC’s we have automatically entered group closures for school holidays for your ASC and BSC preferred utilisation, and school terms for Vac Care. Please Note that these terms dates are for Public Schools in your State and can be varied so suit your service.

  • This means that bookings can be copied and repeated in the Spike Viewer for the whole year. ASC & BSC will not be booked during vac care and vice versa - this is a real time saver!

TO EDIT AN EXISTING PREFERRED UTILISATION

  • Go to Select → Group → Select a Group > Preferred Utilisation → and either right click → edit or double click on the existing preferred utiisation.

  • Make the necessary changes

  • Finish

Tip
 If you enter a Group Closure in the Group Attendance tab this will be reflected in the Preferred utilisation – each Group Closure day will have a preferred utilisation of 0 for each group.

Booking Request Policies

This is where you set up the parameters that govern parents’ online bookings.

Important
 Have your Service’s policies at hand when entering your Booking Request Policies.

  • Go to Select → Group → Select a Group → Booking Request Policies

  • Right click Create.

BOOKING

  • Group is pre-selected

  • Enter Starting date and select the Charge

REQUEST POLICY

  • Bookings: Enter the time frame for accepting bookings

  • Cancellations: Enter the time frame for accepting cancellations

  • Over Utilisation: Once you have reached your preferred utilisation limit you can request that the system reject the booking or the parent can contact the Service.

APPLIES TO:

  • For OSHC’s we recommend 'Children attending the Service in the last 3 months' OR 'Children registered at the Service'

  • For Centre Based Care we recommend 'Children attending the group'. This is so parents who have a child in the baby room, for example, cannot book their child into the toddler room.

Important
 The second page of the booking request policy is for advanced settings. Please contact the helpdesk BEFORE changing these settings

The example below shows that an OSHC Service has an ASC policy with bookings accepted until 1 hour before the start of the session, cancellations can be made up until 1 day (24 hours) before the start of the session and if the preferred utilisation has been reached all booking requests will be rejected.

Preferred Utilisation Screen

You can view all online bookings and cancellations by going to the 'Bookings Request' tab under Service.

Correspondence / Messaging

Messages can be created, viewed and edited via your Spike Viewer or your iPad / Tablet.

For more information see our Spike messaging manual

Installing the Parent App

Parent’s can install the app on both IOS and Android devices.

They simply click on the link to the Parent Childcare App from their invoice or email.

Select Install App and follow the prompts

Their username is the email address that has been provided to you and entered under Person in Spike.

Their password is their pin number. If your Service does not use the electronic attendance system or if they have forgotten their pin number / password, select 'forgot password' and an email will be sent to them. The subject will be “reset password”.

What your parents will see

Parent App Bookings Screen

  • The Parent Childcare App can be displayed in both light and dark mode.

  • Dates that appear in blue indicate that there is a current booking.

  • Dates that appear in green indicate that there are available bookings.

  • To Cancel and / or Accept a booking, parent’s simply select the desired action and confirm. (They must select CONFIRM or the action will not be completed)

  • If there are multiple children and not enough available bookings, no bookings will be made and an error message will display.

  • The number of available bookings will display above the Accept button.

Notes

  • Changes to an Individual’s email address will not be updated in the Parent App until 24 hours later, meaning the parent will not be able to log in until the next day.

  • Setting your Preferred Utilisation in Spike prevents over utilisation in the Parent Childcare App, but if you need to add a booking over your preferred utilisaiton limit you can override it by adding the booking in the Spike Viewer.

  • We recommend setting your preferred utilisation below your maximum capacity so emergency care can be accomodated.

  • Ensure that your preferred utilisation covers the entire session time - if it doesn’t parents will not be able to book the session online.

  • Changing the password for the Parent App does not change the person’s pin for the electronic attendance system.

FAQ’s

Why can’t parent’s log into the Parent App?

There are a number of reasons why a parent is not able to log into the Parent App.

  • The log in information for the parent app was imported 6 months ago. If the parent has changed their pin number since then they will have to select 'Forgot Password' and reset their password (this will not change their pin number).

  • If you have changed the person’s email address on Spike it will take 24 hours to be updated in the Parent App.

  • The parent is not using the email address that is recorded in Spike.

  • 'Can access the parent’s childcare app' is not ticked.

Why can’t parent’s see the option to book online?

  • Check that your preferred utilisation covers the entire timeframe for the charge, and check that your booking request policy is set up correctly.

  • Check that both the account and the child are current.

I have added or changed a booking request policy but the app does not show the changes?

  • Changes take effect immediately in the parent app but visually the changes can take up to 2 hours to be reflected

Can more than one parent access the app?

  • Only account holders have the abilty to view and / or manage bookings as they are fiancially responsible for the payment of the childcare fees. The account holder can choose to share their log in details with someone else.

Can more than one person receive messages / correspondence?

Only the account holder can receive messages. The account holder can choose to share their log in details with someone else.