> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://pigeonholeapp.co.uk/docs/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Termly Reviews > Review your key children each term from the staff app, even if you only sign in with a PIN, and send the family their term summary. You can do your key children's termly reviews in the staff app, including on a shared device where you only have a PIN. The app shows the same review as the web. Your changes save as you go. > [!NOTE] > > Prefer a bigger screen? The [termly reviews guide for the web](https://pigeonholeapp.co.uk/docs/staff/development/termly-reviews.md) covers the same steps. Reviews in the app need the latest version of the staff app. ## Opening your reviews Termly reviews live on the **Development** tab, next to observations. The tab opens on observations. The buttons at the top right open **Home Moments**, **Termly reviews** and a new observation. ![The Development tab in the app, with the Home Moments, Termly reviews and new observation buttons at the top right](https://mintcdn.com/pigeonholeearlyyearsltd/0iAp9ehr6Gpe17ae/images/app-development-header.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=0iAp9ehr6Gpe17ae\&q=85\&s=7f889bdd008029d79d33e97015893198) 1. Tap the **Termly reviews** button (the checklist icon). 2. Pick your name and enter your PIN. Reviews hold notes about children's development, so the app checks who you are before opening them. 3. Your key children for the current term appear. Tap the eye button at the top right to go back to observations. ![The Termly reviews list in the app on Autumn 2026, showing My key children with Maya Okonkwo's review complete and her term summary published](https://mintcdn.com/pigeonholeearlyyearsltd/0iAp9ehr6Gpe17ae/images/app-termly-reviews-list.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=0iAp9ehr6Gpe17ae\&q=85\&s=7b4b07d13f0bcfcbd985cfaf78896fba) Once you're in, opening or starting a review doesn't ask for your PIN again. Leave the Development tab for another tab and reviews close, so whoever picks the device up next has to enter their own PIN. Use the chips to pick an earlier term, switch from **My key children** to **Everyone**, or choose a room. Each row shows how far the review has got, the child's key person, how many observations they have this term, and their open next steps. ## Who can do a review Only a child's **key person** or a **manager** can start or change their review. Everyone else can open a review and read it, including the notes for the team, but can't change it. * Tap **Start** on one of your key children to begin their review. * A child with no key person can only be reviewed by a manager. Ask your manager to assign a key person if one of your children is missing from **My key children**. ## Doing the review The review screen shows where the review stands and what's left to do. Come back to it whenever you're interrupted. ![Maya Okonkwo's review in the app: Autumn 2026, 3 observations, complete, with each area's level as a coloured badge: Progressing well in green and Needs more support in amber](https://mintcdn.com/pigeonholeearlyyearsltd/0iAp9ehr6Gpe17ae/images/app-termly-review.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=0iAp9ehr6Gpe17ae\&q=85\&s=5a5468dcdae23d84afa3b79d9e0c0ff6) 1. Tap **Prepare with AI** to have the term's observations read for you. It suggests a level for each area, what happened to each open next step, and some new next steps. You decide everything. If there isn't enough in this term's observations to go on, the review tells you, and you can add more observations or complete the review yourself. 2. Under **Next steps from before**, tap **Achieved** or **Drop** for each next step. Anything you leave carries on into next term. 3. Tap an area to open it. Each area's level shows as a coloured badge, so you can see at a glance where a child is: amber for **Needs more support**, green for **Progressing well** and blue for **Exceeding** (or whatever your setting calls them). A flagged area also gets an amber **Flagged for support** badge. Tapping **Prepare again** asks what should change, for example "Look again at Physical Development, she's been climbing a lot". Your note steers the AI, but it isn't evidence: every suggestion still has to come from an observation, and levels you chose yourself stay as they are. The note is used once and not saved. ### One area at a time Each area opens on its own screen with the AI's summary and the observations it's based on. Tap an observation to read it. ![Communication and Language for Ava: the AI's summary and the observations it cites, the levels as a row of choices with Progressing well selected with a sparkle, and Flag for support with a note explaining what it does](https://mintcdn.com/pigeonholeearlyyearsltd/0iAp9ehr6Gpe17ae/images/app-termly-review-area.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=0iAp9ehr6Gpe17ae\&q=85\&s=4e17f63d61ee9071422247215c914f3b) * The suggested level is already selected, marked with a sparkle. Tap a different level if it doesn't fit. * Tap **Flag for support** if something worries you, and add a note if it helps. A flag adds a reminder to the review to talk with the family and agree how you'll support the child together. It's for staff only: families never see it, and it isn't mentioned in the term summary. * Tap **Next area** to move on, or **Previous** to go back. Everything saves as you go. Each area shows **Saving…** and then **Saved**. If a save fails you'll see **Not saved. Tap to try again**. You need signal or Wi-Fi for this, as nothing is stored on the phone. ### New next steps and notes Back on the review screen, **Accept**, **Edit** or **Remove** each suggested next step, or tap **Add a next step** to write your own. Two to four in total is plenty. Switch off **Share with the family** to keep a next step for the team only. Add anything colleagues should know under **Notes for the team**. Families never see these. ### Completing the review Tap **Complete review**. Suggested next steps you haven't accepted are discarded. Depending on your setting, completing it also drafts the family's term summary. Need to change something afterwards? A key person or a manager can tap **Reopen**. ## The term summary From a completed review, open the term summary to check it before it reaches the family. You can edit each section, **Draft again from the review** (adding a note on what to change, such as "mention she's started toilet training"), and fix anything flagged by your setting's writing rules. * Tap **Submit for approval** to send it to a manager or publisher. Tap **Withdraw** to take it back. * Managers and publishers can **Publish** it straight away, or **Return with comment** to send it back to the author. The **Summaries** switch at the top of the reviews list shows your own term summaries. Managers and publishers also see the ones **Awaiting approval**. If a summary is sent back to you, you'll get a notification in the app, and a card on **Home** links straight to it. ## Reminders on Home In the last four weeks of each term, **Home** shows how many of your key children's reviews are done, such as "3 of 8 key children done". Tap it to go straight to your reviews. ## On a child's profile A child's profile in the app has a **Next steps & reviews** section, showing their open next steps and their reviews, with links to open each one. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Why does the app ask for my PIN when I open reviews? Shared devices stay signed in, so the PIN makes sure the person reviewing is the person signed in. You only enter it once when you open reviews, not for every child. ### I can open a review but can't change anything. Why? Only the child's key person or a manager can change a review. The review tells you who that is. If you should be the key person, ask your manager to update the child's profile. ### Can I do part of a review on the app and finish it on the web? Yes. It's the same review, and everything you've saved shows up on the web straight away. This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.