Portfolios In Childcare - Open Discussion

[Lorina]

Hi All,

Finally the Portfolio templates are available for a sneak peek before they are released in the next version of Online Tools.

Check them out by clicking on the link: Online EYLF Tools 0.0.4 - Support Forum!

Cheers,

,
L.A

[mihira]

Maintain the portfolios in childcare is not a easy job. We have to write 2 entries for each child monthly. In my experience planning time is not enough as English is our second language. Of course we need to take some paper work home to complete this task. I have found doing group experience is one thing we able to write more entries at once. Is anyone has another solution?
By Mihira

[Lorina]

We have just released new Portfolio templates. These templates are premium templates and you will need to make a donation of AUD $25/- or more to be able to download the Portfolio templates.

The Portfolio templates have been designed with simplicity in mind. We understand that Portfolio’s are special and provide a keepsake to each family of the learning journey their child has been on throughout the year. The Portfolio templates are bright and colourful, attractively designed, professional looking, links to the EYLF and curriculum and all you need to use to create a complete Portfolio. There are a total of 12 Portfolio templates that are easy and simple to use and are available in both Online Tools Fillable Version and a Print Only Version.

For more information on how to download the portfolio templates, read the following:
How To Download Premium Templates

Cheers,

,
L.A

[Miss T]

Love reading everyone's opinions!

[linsaa fdc]

Hi All,
I wish I had read all of this before I spent two whole days putting portfolios together.
Thanks for all the information it is extremely helpful and it will change the way I will be putting my portfolios together from here on.
After gluing for so many hours I have decided to go to a folder and at the end of the year bind it into a little book, the
hours it will save will help me keep up to date with other requirements.
Cheers
Linsaa

[Barbie]

Our portfolios are in a white binder with clear pockets on the outside for the childs name in the spine and cover photo and filled with plastic sleeves inside.
They consist of:
First day photo & story
Birthdays
Theme days
Artwork
Mostly individual learning stories one per month per child which are all made up rubbish, sometimes we use a group learning story and photocopy for all children in the photo

It sounds to me like room leaders arent managing staff properly if they are taking work home and not distrubuting learning stories evenly between assistants. I had one co-worker who got through the whole year only completing 3 learning stories and even that was like pulling teeth. I was one of few assistants doing the majority of them with my room leader. Yes i pump them out as i am good at english but why so many people with supposed dislexia and writing problems are in a 'teaching' profession if they have no education themselves is beyond me. Anyway its simple if you have 40 children to do a month and 4 in the room you do 10 each a month and if they are not done a meeting should be held as to why one is not pulling their weight in the room.

As for doing it on the computer that all sounds like it would take even more time and take staff out of the room as not all centres have a computer in the room we have to go to the office.

I am seeing a new trend though in high tech new age expensive centres that have webcams and upload about their childs day on a personal twitter feed to the parents including daily reflections which is all done on ipads that are in each room - oh to work at one of these centres rather than battle for glue sticks!!

[Lorina]

Hi Barbie,

You're right sometimes "time management" is not used sufficiently and Portfolios can become a huge hassle, especially if you don't get on top of it from the beginning. Yes, it's the room leaders responsibility to make sure Portfolios are complete and up to standard however it's important they they are given sufficient time to do so. If a room leader is working in the room all week with no time off the floor to complete documentation such as obs, programming, portfolios etc then how is it supposed to get done? It's a good idea to distribute Learning Stories amongst assistants to complete but sometimes room leaders are hesitant to do so because they are not confident in their assistants. I guess it's important for room leaders to sit down and discuss how they want the documentation written so everybody is on the same page.

As for doing them on the computer, even if it means taking a room leader out of the room, I think it's way faster and room leaders should be given time "off the floor" to complete Portfolio's. You know it's way easier to type then to handwrite! Also, it's neater and if you're writing a group learning story for individual children's portfolio's all you have to do is copy and paste! A few clicks here and there and a Portfolio page can be complete on a computer.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

Nice to read other people's perspectives...

,
L.A

[teddybear]

hi all I am new to being a family daycare educator
I must write stories for the boys , and am worried may not be up to the expected standards. their mum a kinder assistant. so unsure what to do.this my second week just completed. the director said i must do portfolios /stories to give each parent.Im busy with the children,i have written all we do and covers all the outcomes.hope some one with experience can help.thanks

[LindyT]

Teddy Bear,
Welcome to the forums and Aussie Childcare Network.

Firstly don't try and do everything it is only your second week in. There is so much to do and learn. Your number 1 priority is the children and their relationship with you. I use the observations and what we did today to form the portfolios. (That way I am not making extra work for myself).I have 4 teachers as FDC parents and they are amazed that I get done what I do with the children. The constant message I get is as long as my child is happy I am happy.
Just aim for the minimum standard for now. Learn, grow and develop with the children. Ask your Director exactly what the minimum standard is for your service. (In mine the minimum is one observation of every child a month. any more is a bonus.

You can make this job as hard or as easy as you want it to be. Took me 10 years to discover that.

Big hugs to you as a new Educator.

[lumamelzemm]

Hi all
It's end of the year and i need some ideas on how to summarise children's portfolio (like what do you include on last page) any ideas thanks heaps

[linsaa fdc]

Hi,
Good question, I haven't thought of it yet. It will be interesting to see what ideas everyone has.
Bye

[catchmeifucan]

We have the end of year reports on the last couple of pages. That usually summarises the childs year. It takes a couple of weeks to get this complete because they are really long and tedious. Would love to get these changed! L.A any thoughts?

On the very last page we add a class photo that says class of (year).

@Lorina - Would you be able to create some end of year portfolio templates in online tools here? Would love to use them since I already use the other portfolio templates you have now and your designs are way much better!

[Lorina]

Hey Ladies,

@Lorina - Would you be able to create some end of year portfolio templates in online tools here? Would love to use them since I already use the other portfolio templates you have now and your designs are way much better!

No problem! Since your suggestion on creating end of year templates I've spent the night designing a few templates based on a few ideas I have. So far the templates I have in mind are:

Moments to Remember
Thank you For The Memories
Goodbye My Friend
My Yearly Achievements (based on EYLF)

I will work on these over the next few days and see what I come up with... We are planning to release an Online Tools update by end of this month and I will try to include these new templates in that release. I welcome your input.

,
L.A

[linsaa fdc]

WOW, Thanks so much LA that would be fantastic.
Looking forward to it.
Linsaa

[catchmeifucan]

Thank you so much for considering my request. I am really looking forward to these new templates. Can't wait.... Thanks again Lorina.

[Lorina]

Hi Everyone,

I have just posted a sneak peek of the 4 new end of year Portfolio Templates that I have designed for the next version of Online Tools release. Check it out.. Here is the link: Online Tools 0.1.1 - Support Forum!

Cheers ,
L.A

[dustymoon]

As an early childhood educator I like the idea of the digital portfolio in terms of environmental impact, HOWEVER as a parent I thought it was awful. My sons kindy class tried this last year and it didnt work. All the learning stories and obs were not done all the time because there was no urgency for them to be printed or displayed, and so it got left until the end of the year. Who on earth can pump out a years worth of meaningful obs and stories months after the events happened??? PLUS, there was no access for us as parents to see the progression of our childrens learning progress. We were told we had to wait until the end of the year to recieve our digital portfolio. That doesnt meet with the EYLF and NQF in my eyes. What about parent input and feedback? I think its a great idea but has to be VERY carefully put together and organised and maintained and accessable to all to be sucessful.

[linsaa fdc]

Hi dustymoon,
I completely agree. I do all of mine digitally but I also print a copy of the reflections to put at the door and email a copy each day to the families so they can look if they choose, especially for the parents who don't pick up......I have a lot of dad's working in the mines and they look forward to seeing it each day. Same with other things we would like feedback on. Some of the other stuff is a surprise for the end of the year, but it does have to be available for parents to view to be able to monitor their child's learning.
Linsaa

[Cor26]

Hey all!

I personally love portfolios as both an educator and mother.

I use display folders for the children's portfolios as this saves me time from having to glue everything in, so I can print things and slip them in along with any relevant photos or art work. I also print copies for my child profiles folder.

As a parent I love viewing these throughout the year to be able to see my sons progress and experiences he gets involved in on!

[Lorina]

As an early childhood educator I like the idea of the digital portfolio in terms of environmental impact, HOWEVER as a parent I thought it was awful. My sons kindy class tried this last year and it didnt work. All the learning stories and obs were not done all the time because there was no urgency for them to be printed or displayed, and so it got left until the end of the year. Who on earth can pump out a years worth of meaningful obs and stories months after the events happened??? PLUS, there was no access for us as parents to see the progression of our childrens learning progress. We were told we had to wait until the end of the year to recieve our digital portfolio. That doesnt meet with the EYLF and NQF in my eyes. What about parent input and feedback? I think its a great idea but has to be VERY carefully put together and organised and maintained and accessable to all to be sucessful.

Hi Dustymoon,

You make a valid point.... Whether portfolios are done digitally or in folders/scrapbooks they should be made available to parents at all times throughout the year. As a parent it is your legal right to look at what information and documentation is being collected and stored (portfolios) about your child. Observations, learning stories, art samples these are the types of documentation that makes up a portfolio. Within childcare these are at least done monthly per child which then should directly be added into each portfolio... Even when done digitally, they can be emailed to you monthly or every 3 months so you can see your child's progress... Can't believe you had to wait so long! Was it worth the wait? Did they use some kind of software? Interesting to find out why they took so long?!

,
L.A