What to write when you write an observation

You tap 🔍 Observation on the log screen and get an empty box that says What did you notice? This page is about what goes in it.

Not the theory of why observing children matters — you already know that, it is why you noticed the thing. This is about the two minutes between noticing it and the box being saved, and about why some observations are worth re-reading in six months and some are not.

The one test

Could someone who was not in the room picture it?

That is the whole test. A guardian reading it at 8pm did not see the water table. A colleague covering your room next week was not there. You, in March, will not remember. If the sentence works for all three, it is a good observation.

Six pairs

Each pair is the same moment written twice. The first version is not wrong — it is just not worth anything a week later.

1. A verdict, or the thing you saw

Had a great day!

Spent nearly all of free play at the water table, filling the big jug and tipping it into the small one until it overflowed. Did it over and over, maybe fifteen times, and laughed at the overflow every time.

The first one is a feeling about the day. The second one is the day.

2. A conclusion, or the evidence for it

Very advanced with her numbers.

Counted the cars in the basket by pointing at each one — got to seven, then started again and got to seven a second time.

Write the evidence and let the conclusion follow. "Advanced" is an opinion that cannot be checked; "got to seven twice" is a fact anyone can build on. It also ages better: in three months the count tells you something, and the word "advanced" tells you nothing.

3. A label, or a sequence

Being shy today.

Stood at the edge of the block corner for a few minutes watching, then sat down nearby and started passing blocks over without being asked.

Labels stick to children and sequences do not. The second version describes somebody working out how to join in, which is a different child from the one the word "shy" describes.

4. The whole morning, or one moment

Lots of lovely play this morning.

Took the lid off the playdough tub by himself after trying the edges, then held it up to show me before he started.

An observation with a beginning and an end can be re-read. A summary of three hours cannot. If two things happened, that is two observations — they are quick to write and the box is always there.

5. Something to nod at, or something to carry on with

Enjoyed story time.

Asked for The Snowy Day twice, then went and got it off the shelf himself and turned the pages telling the story back to me in his own words.

The second one hands a guardian something to do that evening. That is not the reason to write it, but it is why it will be the one they mention at pickup.

6. What the room did, or what the child did

We did an autumn leaves activity with the whole room today.

Sorted the leaves into two piles he called "crunchy" and "not crunchy", and tested each new one by pressing it with a finger before deciding which pile.

The second one is about one child. That is the distinction the whole feature rests on: the other things you log — a nappy change, a bottle, a nap — are records of something you did for a child. An observation is a record about the child. It is the only entry type where the child is the subject rather than the recipient.

Practical bits

Name only the child whose record it is. A guardian can read their own child's observations, so another child's name in the text is another family's information in the wrong place. "Another child" or "a friend" says everything you need.

Two or three sentences is plenty. The box takes as much as you want and nobody is scoring length. A specific paragraph beats a vague one; a specific sentence also beats a vague paragraph.

Write it the same day. Not because of a rule — there is no deadline on this — but because the detail that makes an observation worth keeping is the first thing to go. "He tested each leaf by pressing it" is gone by tomorrow; "he liked the leaves" survives, and is the version nobody needs.

The photo is optional and not always offered. If the family has consented to photos, the tile offers Add a photo (optional). If they have not, the screen tells you so and no photo can be attached — that is the consent doing its job, not something to work around. The observation is worth saving either way. Most of the best ones are text.

The dictation tip is your own keyboard. The box suggests your keyboard's mic key, which is your phone or tablet doing the work. We have not built dictation into this screen and the tip is not a promise that we have. If your keyboard has it, use it — a spoken observation at 10am beats a typed one that never happens.

Who reads it

The child's guardians, in their own app, labelled Observation, the same day. That is the default and it is deliberate — an observation nobody can read has no point.

The Staff only toggle on the log screen applies to an observation like it does to any other entry, so if something genuinely needs to stay with the team you have that. Use it as the exception. Write for the guardian and you will almost never need it.

It is not a report card and we do not generate one from these. Nothing here is scored, summarised, or turned into an assessment of the child. It is a record of something you noticed, kept where the people who care about that child can read it.

Not sure whether something is an observation at all?

If what you have is "nappy change, 10:40" or "please send more spare socks", that is a different entry type, and picking the right one takes about one question. See Observation or daily log — which is this?.