The staff app is the quickest way to capture a moment while it’s happening.
Capturing a moment
- Tap + on the Observations tab.
- Take a photo or short video — capture is photo-led.
- Tag the children involved.
- Add a few words about what happened, plus optional next steps and learning links.
- Save, then Submit for approval — or Publish if you have the Publisher role.
Tapping publish asks you to confirm, since that shares the moment with the tagged children’s families straight away.
You need a connection
Saving sends the observation straight to Pigeonhole, so you need signal or Wi-Fi. Photos and videos start uploading as soon as you add them, while you write, and Save waits until they’ve all arrived.
If a save fails you’ll see Could not save and the observation stays on screen — try again once you’re back online.
Nothing is kept on the phone. If you close the observation or the app before it has saved, it’s lost — so on outings with poor signal, jot notes down and write the observation up once you’re back.
The AI assistant
The ✨ Assist panel turns rough notes into a written-up observation — type them or tap the microphone and dictate. Tap Draft and you get a title and a written observation back, plus suggested learning links you can accept or dismiss individually.
Nothing is applied without your say-so, and your photos are never sent to the AI. Always read the draft before submitting — it’s your observation.
Writing reminders
When you submit or publish, your writing is quietly checked against your setting’s rules — like referring to other children as “a friend”. You’ll see the phrase, the rule, and a one-tap fix. It never blocks you: Proceed anyway is always there.
Approvals and changes
If an approver returns your observation you’ll get an email with their comment, and it appears at the top of the edit screen. Make the changes and resubmit.
Colleagues’ drafts
If your setting shares drafts with staff, colleagues’ drafts appear under All with the author’s name on each row. When editing is allowed, tap Edit to work on one — a note at the top shows whose draft it is, and you can only Save draft. Submitting and deleting stay with the author.
If someone else saved it while you were editing, you’ll see Could not save with “Someone else changed this observation while you were editing it”. Reopen the observation to see the latest version and add your changes again.
Published observations appear on each child’s Journal tab and in their family’s app. 