Play school software for admissions, daily updates and safe pickup
Enquiries, admissions, daily photo updates, attendance, authorised pickup, fees and staff cover in one system, with a parent view on the phone.
Play school and daycare software handles enquiries and admissions, posts daily updates and photographs to each child's own parents, records attendance and who may collect each child, and manages fees and staff ratios. It suits play schools, preschools and daycares where parental trust matters more than the syllabus.
Where the day goes wrong
- 01
Enquiries that go cold
Walk-ins and Instagram messages are noted on paper, and a parent who was ready to visit is never called back.
- 02
Pickup by unknown adults
Authorised names sit in a register, and the teacher at the gate has to trust a phone call.
- 03
Updates in a shared group
Photos and notes go to a class WhatsApp group where every parent sees every child, and nothing is recorded.
- 04
Late and part-paid fees
Monthly fees, extended-hours charges and late-pickup fines are tracked on separate sheets.
- 05
Staff cover below the ratio
A teacher on leave leaves a room short of staff, and the shortfall is noticed only at noon.
What we build for you
- 01
Enquiry and admission funnel
Every enquiry logged with a follow-up date, a visit booking and a waiting list until admission.
- 02
Daily report and photo feed
Meals, naps, activities and photographs posted by the teacher and seen only by that child's parents.
- 03
Attendance and safe pickup
Arrival and departure times, authorised adults with photographs, and a log of who collected each child.
- 04
Fees and receipts
Monthly or term fees, extended-hours add-ons and late-pickup charges, with reminders to parents.
- 05
Staff roster and ratio alerts
Teachers present against the child-to-staff ratio you set for each room.
- 06
Parent view
A web link or Android app for updates, fee dues and notices.
What parents are actually buying
A parent who leaves a two-year-old at a play school is not buying a curriculum. They are buying the sense that someone competent is watching their child, and the proof that arrives at noon: a photograph at lunch, a note that the child slept for an hour. For many parents that daily message is the product.
Most small play schools deliver it through a WhatsApp group, which works until the first parent asks why every family can see every child, or why a photograph went to the wrong group.
Four-thirty: the pickup problem
Pickup is the riskiest quarter hour of the day. The adult at the gate may be a grandmother, a driver, a neighbour, or someone a parent mentioned on a call last week. The teacher at the door has a register, a phone and her own judgement.
The system keeps a list for each child of the adults authorised to collect, each with a photograph and a phone number. At pickup the teacher sees the face on screen. If someone new arrives, the parent approves them in the app or by a one-time code, and the log records who took the child and when.
The front door: enquiries that never become admissions
Admission season starts months before the first day, and enquiries arrive from Instagram, Google, a neighbour's recommendation and walk-ins. Each needs a call back, a visit and a nudge. A funnel with a follow-up date against every enquiry, a visit booking and a waiting list turns scattered messages into admissions the principal can count.
Photographs of other people's children
Children's photographs and records are among the most sensitive data a school holds, and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act sets stricter conditions for children's data, including parental consent. Our glossary entry on the DPDP Act explains the basics.
In practice we design so that a photograph is visible only to the parents of the children in it, no public links exist, consent is recorded at admission, and staff see only their own room. Take your lawyer's advice on the exact consent wording; we build the controls.
Fees, ratios and the rest
Fees in a daycare are more varied than in a school: monthly or term fees, extended-hours add-ons, late-pickup charges, meal charges. The fee module treats each as its own line and reminds parents. A roster compares the teachers present with the child-to-staff ratio you set for each room, and warns when a room falls short. We do not decide what the ratio should be; your own policy or regulator does.
Budget, and when WhatsApp is still enough
A play school management system typically starts around ₹85,000. A parent web app that opens from a WhatsApp link is quicker to build and easier to roll out than a native Android app, so we usually start there. A website with an enquiry form, from ₹13,999, is often the better first purchase.
A playgroup with a couple of dozen children and two teachers can stay on WhatsApp, provided each family gets its own thread. You need software when you can no longer answer, without a phone call, who is allowed to collect this child today.
VS Tech Builders built the school management system for Cambridge School Madurai; a play school needs far less of that and more of the update and pickup flow above. Larger schools should read about school management software, and our school website design guide applies to play-school sites too.
Frequently asked questions
Can parents see only their own child's photographs and updates?
Yes. Each parent logs in with their registered phone number and sees only their own child's feed. A group photograph is shown to the parents of the children in it, and only where consent was recorded at admission. There are no public links, and staff see only the children in their own room. Parents can be limited to one or two logins per child.
How does pickup authorisation work in practice?
Parents register the adults allowed to collect their child, each with a photograph and phone number. At pickup the teacher sees that person's face and name on the screen. If someone new arrives, the parent approves them through the app or a one-time code. Every handover is logged with the name, the time and the teacher who released the child.
Can it warn us when a room has too few staff for the children present?
Yes. You set the child-to-staff ratio for each room or age group, and the roster compares it with the teachers marked present and the children checked in. A warning appears on the principal's screen when a room falls short. The system does not decide what the ratio should be, so use the figure your own policy or regulator requires.
Do we need a parent app from the start?
Usually not. A parent web app that opens from a link on WhatsApp and sits on the phone's home screen covers updates, fee dues and notices, and it launches sooner. A native Android app, which typically starts around ₹65,000, becomes worthwhile later if you want push notifications and a presence on the Play Store.
Further reading
Software built for play schools and daycares.
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