What it does
The portfolio is where you keep evidence — the things that show what a child actually did, as opposed to what was planned for them. Each item is a short record: a title, what kind of thing it was, the date it happened, optionally a subject, a description and a link to a file.
It exists because "we covered volcanoes in the spring" is much less convincing than a dated photo of the model, and because nobody remembers March in October. The education record pulls the period's evidence in automatically, and the readiness check counts it.
Where to find it
- Navigation: Learning → Portfolio
- URL:
/dashboard/portfolio
Step by step
Add a piece of evidence
- Go to Portfolio.
- Select Add evidence.
- Fill in:
- Title — what it was, e.g. Volcano model and write-up
- Kind — see the list below
- Date it happened — the date of the activity, not the date you're typing it up
- Subject (optional) — e.g. Science
- Description (optional) — a sentence on what they did or what you noticed
- Link (optional) — a URL to a photo or document you host elsewhere
- Save.
Find something later
Use the student and period pickers at the top, and the kind filter to narrow to one sort of evidence. Everything clears the kind filter.
Change or remove something
Each item has Edit evidence and Remove evidence. Removing asks you to confirm, because evidence is the hardest thing to recreate.
The kinds of evidence
| Kind | Use it for | | --- | --- | | Work sample | A piece of the learner's own work | | Photo | An activity, model, experiment or trip | | Observation | Something you noticed and wrote down | | Achievement | An award, certificate or formal result | | Reading | Something they read |
The kinds exist so a year's evidence can be described at a glance — "twelve work samples, eight photos, six observations" reads far better than "twenty-six items".
Tips and good to know
- Date it when it happened. The record covers a period, so an item dated today won't appear in last term's record however long ago you did it.
- A little and often beats a burst. Two or three items a week is plenty and takes a minute.
- Observations count. A written note about a child explaining fractions to their sibling is real evidence, and often better than a worksheet.
- Subjects here are free text — they don't have to match a curriculum. Being roughly consistent makes the record read better.
- AltEd doesn't host files. Put photos wherever you already keep them and paste the link.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | What to try | | --- | --- | | Evidence isn't in the record | Check its date falls inside the record's period. | | I can't see a learner | Only their guardian and connected providers can — see Connections. | | I removed something by mistake | It can't be undone; add it again. | | The readiness check says no evidence | It counts items dated inside the chosen period — see Local authority readiness. |