Aussie Childcare Network Forum

Please bear in mind as you read this that I have been in child care since the beginning of October (after 17 years as a primary teacher) so this is a bit new still! I'm also only experienced at what goes on in one centre.
How much "stuff" goes into each portfolio?
I've been told that we must have one learning story per child per month regardless of whether the child attends 1 day or 5. I have really struggled to get one done with the children I am only seeing one day a week because I haven't even built up much of a relationship with them yet. This means I need to do 10 learning stories a week to cover 40 children over the course of a month. I'm doing all the programming and learning stories at present because my assistant is doing portfolios in any spare moment she has. Some of the portfolios had nothing stuck in at all since the start of the year. It was all there stacked up inside the cover but not stuck in as they couldn't get glue sticks.
I was also told that everything on the walls needs to go into the books when it is taken down and that the books have to be "filled up". Is it just me or would anyone else question the "educational" value of this? Surely if something has been on the wall since March the parent has already seen it? And if it is a tracing sheet or something similar do they really need to have it in a portfolio?
I'm just trying to make sense of this. We certainly did portfolios in primary school but everything was in there as evidence that an outcome had been achieved so it was much more focused.
I'm very interested in how people are managing this as I plan for next year.

I also have plenty to say about these types of portfolios, I see artwork being done with no purpose other than to "fill" portfolios ... there is no write up about why the artwork was done and what the purpose was etc
At my last centre artwork was put in portfolios but there was a clear purpose to it which was clear to the parents... random scribblings and general art stuff was taken home by the kids on a weekly basis as you just cannot put EVERY piece of work they do in a portfolio...(well in my opinion)
I just found out that my current work place only expects 1 learning story/term (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and again I just see learning stories being made up from some random thing that has just happened ....there is no setting up of activties that the children are interested in and going from there.... everything seems very "staged" to look like a lot is being done, when in actual fact not much is really happening on a daily basis in most rooms.
Anyway personally I think things of educational value should be included in portfolios and general art & craft just taken home on a regular basis....perhaps then we would see more effort and thought being put into things that go into a portfolio.

If I had my way.
Instead of a scrapbook it would be a ring binder with plastic sleeves and this may scare some people but what about trying to cover the five main areas of the ELYF in five different sections. That way if Little Johnny is only coming to day care on Tuesdays he may only have 1-2 things in each section but has the sections covered and if little Susie comes every day (and probably does more art work anyway because she is a girl!) there could be 5-6 things in each section for her. In that way there are an appropriate number of work samples per child and the parents can see that the learning framework is being covered.
Of course many learning stories cover multiple parts of the five part framework but even if a professional decision was made as to what area was "most" suited it would still work. It would also have an accountability component because people could see if they were not collecting work samples for 1-2 areas.
I don't mean to frighten anyone, just thinking aloud.

While were busy putting together the portfolio who's getting the paint for
johnny cos its run out, who changing bobs nappy, whos putting on the music for steph so she can dance, who is stopping jane from biting anothony and who is reading a storey to charlie, melissa and tina, all this can happen in one minute and Im supposed to be doing paper work.
The parents who do look at their kids books say they dont know how I do it, neither do I.

This is a great thread. Thought I would add what we do- My Director ( and the Centre owner) have decided to do away completely with paper/book/folder compiled portfolios. We do all of our obs and learning stories and anecdotes in Microsoft Powerpoint. This includes photos and analysis of artworks and other projects. This is then to be compiled and collated at end of year , to be burnt onto a CD and presented to parents as a digital portfolio. As for original artworks they are kept in folders near lockers for parents to take home progressively over the year. So ...This system seems more efficient and time friendly. Also more eco-friendly?? But it feels really weird as I am used to the folders/scrapbooks also. Any one else using this method? What do you think of it?

I would seriously love to do it that way but we've only had a computer for our room (and our room only - not shared with the other six rooms) for the last 2 days! My own children are 11 and 8 and I am dealing with another influx of end of year stuff. I would have loved to get just 2 CDs!
Definitely something to ponder for next year. Think of the money we would save on glue sticks! They've estimated where I am that you use up an entire glue stick on each portfolio. You would have to keep on top of things with taking photos, uploading them and organising them throughout the year and then on a Windows computer you can just drop the folder of photos into a powerpoint album all in one go!

I love the cd idea,However I saw a portfolio once that a lot of important items in it only, event days and child's birthday and what looks like a yearly report card on the child. I thought that was a great idea. Short and simple and can be done over time as you will know when the events happened and also check lists from the year can help you put it all together

so basically we are still sitting on computers putting portfolio together for the end of the year isnt the most important job interacting with children and being able to tell their parents at the end of the day that their children were nurtured and cared for giving them a detailed description of how their day was. By the time Ive done my 4 or five obs for the day Ive missed the rest of the day and havn't even evaluated the days experiences that have been set out for focus children.
Look the more I try and cut down the paperwork it still feels never ending, if I spend time with the children Im taking paper work home.
And the more and more I try to make things better the more incompatant I feel.
Am I really the only one who feels like this?

Sending cyber (((hugs))) Justathought,
I am sure you are not incompetent! I have an advantage in this area because I was documenting everything for years and I'm familiar with working in a range of different frameworks. What I found in my current position (which is my first in child care) was that I had to tweak the system they had in place to make it work for me. I changed the computer format of the learning stories not so any content was changed but so I didn't have to deal with text boxes that went off over the place.
Then I found to keep everything straight in my head I had to have folders for notes to be written up, learning stories that were to be included in the program, learning stories needing to be assessed/evaluated and finally those that are completed and ready to be copied and put into portfolios. This is what has worked for me and it might or might not work for someone else.
The way I have approached it is that when I'm getting stressed because something seems to be taking a long time I take a few deep breaths and ask myself how I can work "smarter" rather than "harder". Another advantage is that because I am new to this, it is expected that I will be tweaking things all the time until I get myself into a workable system.
Keep your chin up and don't under-estimate yourself.

In the new centre we are opening in town we are installing programming and portfolio software which means its quicker and easier to input obs and do portfolios so GLs can spend more time doing what they are meant to rather than sitting at a computer all day trying to get paperwork done or having to take it home.

Portfolios… Well I’m happy to see that I’m not the only one who finds it difficult to complete them while supervising the children. The Portfolios that I have done have been easy and thankfully I’ve completed them for this year… In the Portfolios we have added children individual observations, photos of special events and of course artwork which has all been linked with the EYLF. I do get 2 hours of programming time now each week so during this time I focus on completing them and I can mostly finish what I have to do during the programming time. I’m surprised to read that you all have to do these while supervising children which I think isn’t fair at all… Even though the EYLF is linked throughout the obs, artwork etc in the Portfolios I still don’t think the parents really understand it at all! would love to change the Portfolios to something more meaningful. I will probably discuss it with my director and see what she says. Anyways, it’s good to see that we are kinda all in this together.

"In the new centre we are opening in town we are installing programming and portfolio software which means its quicker and easier to input obs and do portfolios so GLs can spend more time doing what they are meant to rather than sitting at a computer all day trying to get paperwork done or having to take it home."

Dont even get me started about softwares..lol...Lucky for you..Not all centres can afford to spend 1000s of dollars in softwares and computers for their staffs to make their paperwork easier. As much as I would love that idea, I really cant think of my centre being able to provide this when they are already genuinely finding it hard to buy various resources for the centre itself. I just cant believe the massive price tags on these softwares and it looks like they can charge whatever since there are some people who are ready to spend any amount as long as it cuts down on paperwork.

I did see some software previews and for sure it does make managing portfolios, etc a lot easier but the pricetag is insane!! I can buy a genuine Microsoft Windows 7 operating system or all the Microsoft Office package for 1/4 the price than these softwares and that does a lot more functions than these (unfortunately it doesnt help in managing paperworks in childcare..lol..But I am just saying). Above that, there are so many terms in order to purchase some softwares that only businesses and centres can buy them and there are virtually no solution for individual staffs who wish to get something for their personal use to manage these paperworks (as far as I know). Basically my translation to these softwares is "Rip-offs"!

I still totally agree that the amount of paperwork that needs to be done is soooo much that there are so many staffs even considering a change in career due to this problem. But I would rather learn this the "Old school" way cuz I know if I do get spoiled by using these softwares in one centre and later change my job to a centre without a software, then I would all of a sudden find it even more harder to cope with it. So, I dont think software is always a solution since it also has a lot of cons to it. The only pros to it is, it makes it a bit easier to complete and manage these documentations. Nothing more, nothing less..No offence to those who disagree. These are just my thoughts.

By The way I don't want to go off topic here talking about softwares but I just wanted to quickly add my thoughts! If you want to continue this discussion on software then start a new topic.

I'm so happy that I've finished my portfolios for this year... I can finally breathe a sign of relief... Good Luck with all of Yours...

I do agree about most centres not being able to afford software to help with programming and portfolios etc and yes for sure centres need to put the money into better resources for the children... we are just lucky as we are a mining town and the mining company is building the brand new centre and are paying top dollar for state of the art resources for the staff & children.
There just has to be a better more steamlined way for GLs to get through the paperwork and make life easier ... paperwork is insane and I just see to many GLs not doing things the way they should which is upsetting.
Anyway

Hi Tess,

Instead of a scrapbook it would be a ring binder with plastic sleeves and this may scare some people but what about trying to cover the five main areas of the ELYF in five different sections.

I really like this idea you have come up with! I think it may be possible to split up work samples, obs, photos etc into different sections. Even if you do a photo observation you could add it into the relevant section. I'm going to see how I can incorporate it into a "portfolio idea" LOl...

Hi Dulciean,

We do all of our obs and learning stories and anecdotes in Microsoft Powerpoint. This includes photos and analysis of artworks and other projects

It's definietly alot more efficient if you do it all on computer. But then again if you only have 1 computer it's a little hard to figure out, even worse if you dont get allocated programming time... I just want to try and figure out something simple where you dont need to worry about all the unnecessary stuff so to speak!

Hi Florry,

However I saw a portfolio once that a lot of important items in it only, event days and child's birthday and what looks like a yearly report card on the child

I also like the idea of just adding event days, birthdays, reports etc, because honestly speaking I think thats what the parents really want to see! It would be good if you can create like a child album which incoporated learning stories, photos etc along with the EYLF Learning Outcomes achieved. For example, if you had a photo of Nikki dressing up you could just insert a card or something which gives a quick idea of what is happening and the learning outcomes. Like a checkbox or something! Sorry I kinda blubba on where I'm getting a lot of ideas

About the software, at some point I'm sure that most centres would have looked at getting it, if only it was cheaper...LOL...

I'll let you know if I come up with something

Cheers ,
L.A

No you certainly are not the only one!

hi- just to point out yes unfortunately the digital option is less-than-perfect! we get one hour 'programming' time weekly to compile slides/folders. the rest is jammed in during our lunch breaks/rest times. I have taken the lap-top home several times to get on top of things. Documentation in any form is overwhelming- it seems that like our counterparts in the primary school system, much of our work is unpaid and done in our own time. Seems to be across the board in Education as a profession!it ceratinly feels like we are several professions packed into one- there is so much behind the scene to consider/analyse/reflect on. it definately feels like it takes us away from the most essential part-and the reason we chose our jobs- forming genuine relationships with the children in our care and fostering their unique individuality.

why is careing for children involving so much paper work, what happend to good old talking as a means of communication, what is everyone trying to prove?

I find it hard that "programming time" is being used for portfolio preparation when surely it would be better used in preparing meaningful learning experiences.

everything would be more meaningful and in the moment if we didnt have to stop what we were doing with the children to write about it or take the work home everyday because we didnt get to do it while at work.