Storypark in practice at an International Baccalaureate School
An interview with Robert Hutton, Junior School Assistant Principal, Kristin School, Auckland, New Zealand. Before Storypark, what were your previous methods of keeping parents up-to-date with their children’s daily activities and progress? We used written portfolios, (brief) end-of-day conversations with parents, showing parents work samples, newsletters and parent-teacher interviews. What were the challenges and barriers you faced using these methods? If we’re able...
A many-hat-wearing Grandmother’s perspective on Storypark
This blog post focuses on Kath Cooper’s experience of Storypark as a Nani and is the second part of her two part series. Check out last week’s post to hear more about her perspectives as a Lecturer and Educator. Hi, I’m Kath Cooper. I wear a lot of hats – I’m an educator, I am a lecturer at Early Childhood NZ...
A commentary from Kath Cooper – Educator, Lecturer, Mother and Nani
This blog post is the first of two, and focuses on Kath’s perspectives as an Educator and Lecturer. Stay tuned for the second post next week. Kia ora koutou, nga mihi maioha ki a koutou katoa. Ko Kath Cooper ahau, No Pirongia me Kent ahau. Hello, warm greetings to everyone, my name is Kath Cooper and my family come from...
The financial and practical impacts of Storypark
Hi I’m Natasha and I own and manage Small Poppies. We are an early learning service based in Ruakaka in Northland, New Zealand, with 6 teachers and 50 children. We adopted Storypark in January 2014 and the results have been significant for our business both in terms of impact and for our bottom line. Using the centre’s existing technology and purchasing a few additional...
NZ government recommendations support the use of Storypark
Wellington Kindergarten teacher Sonya McIntyre and Peter Dixon (Storypark’s CEO) made a submission as part of a NZ Parliamentary Inquiry into engaging parents in the education of their children. This blog post is an extract from the recently released report following the conclusion of the Inquiry. We were very pleased that our submission was recognised and supported within the Inquiry. A crucial part of parental...
Long Day Care Professional Development Programme Opportunities
The Long Day Care Professional Development Programme (LDCPDP) is the single biggest investment ever in Australian professional development for child care and early learning educators in long day care (LDC) services. There are a lot of opportunities to invest your LDCPDP funds, including covering the cost of Storypark. To quote the Department of Education Website: “The LDCPDP will fund LDC services to...
Introducing Learning Trends!
Educators are phenomenal people. They’re scientists, musicians, paramedics, counsellors, negotiators, leaders and strategists, all at any one given moment. Based on your guidance and the guidance of our partners and expert advisors, Storypark is excited to release our latest development, Learning Trends. Having this information at your fingertips will empower you to provide even greater support for children’s learning within your...
Supporting families in Melbourne
This story has been written by Michelle Pagel, an educator at Vista Way Kindergarten in Melbourne, Australia. It offers a practitioners perspective of the impact Storypark has had for families in a low socio-economic area. Our kindergarten educates and cares for a diverse range of children and families. Our community is quite complex, with many kinds of diversity and disadvantage....
Criteria, standards, planning and technology
Courtney Caligiore is a senior teacher who is part of a large early learning centre in Melbourne. In this blog post she describes their centre’s journey in delivering quality education and documenting their work within Australia’s National Quality Framework. I am the educational leader in a large LDC centre in the inner suburbs of Melbourne. We support highly professional families, situated...
Open-door learning in Japan
Writing from Japan, Storypark’s partners talk about local education and how the innovative practices of Tokyo Community School are supporting their educators and children. The Tokyo Community School is an internationally-minded Elementary School with a “doors-wide-open” policy that encourages people to visit and observe the school freely, and for students to get outdoors to experience learning first-hand. Students explore the...