Your Porfolio will be the container in which you keep all the evidence of the activities you are taking part in that will contribute to your Award. Keeping this evidence is a process not only of recording but also of review and reflection about the valuable learning and achievements you are gaining through these experiences. You may wish to think of it as a journal or diary in which you will regularly gather together your thoughts and evidence.
Your portfolio could be created as:
- An online, virtual blog or webfolio
- A physical paper, sketchbook/ scrapbook or shoebox style portfolio
- A combination of the two - for example a blog and Paper folder
Your portfolio might contain writing, drawings, photos, videos or a video diary, digital stories or concept maps. You can be as creative as you wish in the presentation of your reflection within the portfolio. All we ask is that you can easily gather together this information, as we will be regularly checking your progress and you will therefore need to be able to direct us to all the information easily and clearly.
Your portfolio should be added to regularly, perhaps once a week and could have different sections for the different activities you are choosing to record, or could be in a simple journal format. We would like to see you revealing how you are managing your personal development through these experiences, how you are developing the key capabilities promoted by the Award (please see click here to view the key capabilities) and how you are making your own education more complete through these activities.
In the portfolio you will also be able to keep:
- The materials created in your introductory workshop / online tutorials - the life map and personal development plan (which you can add to and update as you go through the Award)
- Examples of any other external qualifications (completed during your time involved in the Award or recently before) - for example a national certificate in volunteering or first aid course
Your final written reflective account at the end of the Award process
Please click here for a detailed version of the example Life Map
For an example of a complete portfolio submission including final reflective account, personal development plan and life map please click here
To see some examples of portfolios click here
Once you are happy that you have completed all elements of the Award and recorded all of this within your porfolio we will ask you to submit your portfolio to the Award Board to decide whether you have completed all the requirements and achieved the Award. As you can see it will be important to evidence all of the activities well, so that the Award Board have as much information as possible about your learning and development to support your submission.
There are a number of tools to help you develop your portfolio and record your experiences, learning and achievements while you are registered for the award.
