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If your nursery shares its care diary, the Diary page shows how your child’s day has gone (when they ate, slept, had a nappy change and any medication they were given) alongside the sessions they’re booked in for.

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Finding the Diary

Click Diary in the main menu.
If your nursery doesn’t share its care diary, the same page is called Calendar and shows your child’s sessions, closures and absences.
The Diary page on a computer, with Diary highlighted in the menu, Ben chosen, a month calendar on the left and Ben's day on the right: Complete, his session, a summary of meals, sleep, nappies and mood, and a timeline of the day
You can also go straight to a child’s diary from My Children: click the diary icon at the top right of their card.
The My Children page with the diary icon highlighted on Ben Apple's card

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The days coming up

The page opens on the days coming up, a week at a time, with each day’s session times and room. Closures and absences show in the list too. Click Show 4 more weeks at the bottom to look further ahead.
The Diary page on a phone, listing this week's and next week's sessions, with the Report an absence button highlighted

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Reading a day

If you have more than one child at the nursery, choose a child from the buttons at the top. Then pick a day:
  • On a computer, click a day on the month calendar beside the list.
  • On a phone or in the app, tap a day in the list. The week strip at the top lets you move between days, and the arrows move a week at a time. Click Upcoming to go back to the list.
The Diary page on a phone, showing the week strip with Friday selected and Ben's completed day below it
For each day you see:
  • Complete at the top once the nursery has finished the diary for the day.
  • The session your child was booked for, with the room and any funded hours.
  • A summary of meals, sleep, nappies and mood.
  • The timeline: each entry with its time and detail, such as how much of lunch was eaten, how long a nap lasted, or what medicine was given and the dose.

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The calendar markers

Small markers under each date show what that day holds:

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The month view on a phone

Tap Month to see the whole month. The day you’ve picked, or today, shows underneath the calendar, so you can tap from day to day without leaving the month. Tap Week to go back to the week strip.
The month view on a phone, with the Week button highlighted, Friday 9 October selected on the calendar and Ben's day shown underneath
Choose a day your child is due in to see the session times. Their diary appears on the day.
A future Monday on a phone, showing the booked session marked Due in, the message that Elian's diary will appear on the day, and the Report an absence this day button highlighted

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Reporting an absence

If your nursery lets parents report absences, every day has a Report an absence button underneath it. You don’t need to go back to today first:
  • On today, the button reads Report an absence today.
  • On a day still to come, it reads Report an absence this day and starts the form on that day.
  • On a day that has passed, the form starts on today.
The list of days coming up also has a Report an absence button at the top. Choose the dates, the type of absence and add a note for the nursery, then click Save. You can change the dates in the form to cover more than one day.
The Report an absence form opened from the Diary, with the dates filled in, Holiday chosen and a note for the nursery
See Recording an Absence for more on absence types.

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When entries appear

Your nursery chooses one of:
  • As it happens: entries appear as staff record them through the day.
  • Once marked complete: you see the day once the nursery has finished it and marked it complete.
  • The next day: you see a full day once it’s over, rather than a half-finished one.
  • Not shared: the nursery keeps the care diary as a staff record only, and nothing appears here.
If you can’t see a diary for your child, your nursery either doesn’t use it, doesn’t keep one for your child’s room, or doesn’t share it. They’ll tell you about your child’s day at pick-up instead.

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Downloading your child’s sessions

Click the download icon at the top right of the day, choose a date range and download your child’s sessions as a PDF, ready to print or keep.

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End-of-day emails

Some nurseries email you a copy of your child’s day when they mark it complete. The email shows the full diary if the nursery includes it, with a link to see the latest in Pigeonhole. Anything the nursery adds afterwards appears in Pigeonhole but isn’t emailed again. To stop these emails, set Daily diary to Off, in My Account on the website or Me → Notifications & settings in the app, or use the link at the bottom of the email. You can get an app notification instead: see Notifications and Emails.
The Notifications card on My Account with the Daily diary row highlighted

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Frequently Asked Questions

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Why is there a gap between two entries?

Staff record care as they go, and a busy room means an entry sometimes gets logged a little after it happened. A gap usually means staff had their hands full, not that your child was waiting.

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Why can’t I see any notes?

Notes are staff shorthand written for handover between the team, so they’re not shared. Anything your nursery wants you to know they’ll tell you directly, or send as an announcement.

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Nothing shows for today

If your nursery shares the diary once it’s marked complete, or the next day, today’s entries appear later. Otherwise, nothing may have been recorded yet.

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Can I comment on an entry?

Not at the moment. Speak to your child’s key person at pick-up if you have a question about something you’ve seen.