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A progress report sums up how a child has been getting on over a stretch of time — a term, a half-term, or whatever suits your setting. Where an observation captures one moment, a report draws the child’s published observations together into one considered summary for their family.
Open in app: Development → Progress reports. You can also start a report from the Reports tab on a child’s Journal.

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The Progress reports page

Go to Development → Progress reports. Each row shows the child, the report’s title, the period it covers, who wrote it and its status.
The Progress reports page listing published reports for several children, each with its reporting period and author, with the New progress report button highlighted
Use Mine and All, the status chips and Select child… to find a report.

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Step 1: Create the report

  1. Click New progress report.
  2. Pick the Child. You won’t be asked if you started from the child’s Journal.
  3. Set the reporting period — the stretch of the child’s journal the report covers. It starts as the last three months.
  4. Click Create. The report opens as a draft.
The New progress report dialog with Maya Okonkwo chosen and a reporting period from 09/07/2026 to 09/10/2026
Only published observations inside the period are used. Drafts and observations waiting for approval aren’t included.

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Step 2: Check the reporting period

The Reporting period box at the top shows how many published observations the report is drawing on. If the number is low, widen the dates and click Save to bring in more of the journal. You can change the period at any time while the report is still a draft.
The Reporting period box showing 09/07/2026 to 09/10/2026, currently drawing on 6 published observations, with the Draft from observations button highlighted below
If you change the dates, save before drafting. Drafting uses the period the report was last saved with. Until you save, the button reads Save the new period first.

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Step 3: Draft and edit

If your setting uses AI drafting, click Draft from observations. In a few seconds you’ll have a first draft built from the child’s published observations in the period, using their write-ups, next steps and learning links.
A progress report for Maya Okonkwo with an AI-drafted report covering building, books and stories, physical play, water play and next steps, above the Save, Publish and Delete buttons
  • If your setting uses learning frameworks, the draft is organised around your areas of learning. That works even for observations that weren’t tagged.
  • The draft only uses what’s in the observations. Where there’s little evidence for an area, it leaves that area out or says so plainly. That’s a prompt to look at what’s been recorded, not something to fill in.
  • The draft replaces the report text, so draft first and add your own touches afterwards.
  • Nothing is saved until you click Save.
Read the draft carefully and make it your own. Use the toolbar to add headings, lists, bold or italics — a report is one piece of writing, so headings are the way to break it up. If AI drafting is off, write the report yourself in the Report box.

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Step 4: Submit for approval

When you’re happy with it, click Save, then Submit for approval. Approvers are emailed and will either publish it or return it to you with a comment. If you have the Publisher role or you’re a manager, you’ll see Publish instead, and you’re asked to confirm before it goes to the family. Before it’s submitted, the report is checked against your setting’s report writing rules. These are separate from the observation rules. If something is flagged, click Replace with ”…” for a single suggestion, Fix all for all of them, or Proceed anyway to keep your wording.

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Withdrawing or changing a report

  • While a report is Pending approval, click Withdraw to take it back to your drafts.
  • If it comes back as Changes requested, the approver’s comment is shown at the top. Make the changes and click Resubmit for approval.
  • Once it’s published, the family can see it on the Reports page of their parent portal. Only managers and staff with the Publisher role can change it after that.

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Frequently Asked Questions

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Why does the draft say “limited recorded evidence”?

The AI only writes from observations that exist in the period. That line means there wasn’t much recorded for that area. Widen the period and save, or write that part from what you know.

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”No observations in this period to draft from” — what now?

The child has no published observations between the dates you’ve chosen. Widen the reporting period and save. Observations still waiting for approval don’t count until they’re published.

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Can I add my own sections?

Yes — use the heading buttons in the toolbar to break the report into sections. A drafted report is already organised around your setting’s areas of learning.

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Does the report include photos?

No. A report is a written summary. The child’s photos stay in their journal, which the family can see alongside the report.

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Can I delete a report?

You can delete your own report until it’s published. After that, only a manager can.