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Contributing to your Child’s Assessment

27 October 2026

If you were to simply watch a child building with blocks, mixing mud in the sandpit, or chatting with friends, it might look like they're simply having fun... and they are! But they're also learning and developing incredibly important skills that will support them throughout their lives.

Assessment is used as a tool to help kaiako (teachers) capture and understand these important moments of learning so they can create individual learning plans to support each and every child to continue growing and thriving.

As a parent, caregiver, or whānau member, you have a unique insight into your child that no one else can provide. Your knowledge, perspectives, and aspirations are an important part of the assessment process but what actually is assessment, and why does your contribution matter so much?

What is assessment?

In early childhood education, assessment is about making children's learning visible. It helps kaiako recognise what children know, understand what they are interested in, and identify how they are learning and developing over time.

As described in Te Whāriki, assessment is used to support curriculum planning and enhance children's learning.

"Kaiako use assessment to find out about what children know and can do, what interests them, how they are progressing, what new learning opportunities are suggested, and where additional support may be required."

-Te Whāriki

Rather than being something that is done to children, assessment is a collaborative process. It is a partnership between kaiako, children, and whānau, with each bringing valuable knowledge and perspectives about the child's learning journey.

In most Evolve centres, assessment is shared with whānau through learning stories, observations, photographs, and video recordings via Storypark or centre profile books.

These assessments help make learning visible, celebrate progress, and build a richer picture of who your child is as a learner.

This is where your contribution becomes so important. While kaiako see your child's learning within the centre environment, you see the learning that happens everywhere else. When these perspectives are brought together, a more complete picture of your child's strengths, interests, and development can emerge.

There are many ways that you can contribute meaningfully to your child’s assessment, the ideas below are just a few of them.

Share the aspirations you have for your child

Aspirations are your hopes, dreams, and goals for your child. They help us understand what is important to your whānau and what you would like your child to learn, experience, and achieve during their time with us.

Centres will seek your aspirations for your child in many different ways, some may send out a whānau aspiration form which will ask a range of questions, some may talk informally with you to gather these and each centre will also offer more formal opportunities through events such as whānau evenings or whānau/teacher interviews.

Your aspirations help kaiako plan learning experiences and set meaningful learning outcomes for your child. Learning outcomes describe the skills, knowledge, confidence, and dispositions children develop as they learn and grow. By connecting these outcomes with what matters most to your whānau, we can support your child's learning in a way that reflects your hopes and goals for them and that are responsive to their unique stage of learning.

A simplified poster of the learning outcomes from our national early childhood curriculum Te Whāriki can be found here.

Sharing your language, culture and identity

“Learner identity is enhanced when children’s home languages and cultures are valued in educational settings and when kaiako are responsive to their cultural ways of knowing and being.”

-Te Whāriki

Perhaps one of the most powerful ways that you can contribute to your child’s assessment is by sharing your language, culture and identity with your child’s early learning centre.

Some practical ways you can do this include:

Sharing the correct pronunciation of your child's name and the meaning or story behind it.
Teaching kaiako words, phrases, songs, or greetings from your home language.
Sharing family traditions, celebrations, cultural practices, or significant events that are important to your whānau.
Sharing stories about your child's interests, strengths, and passions at home.
Contributing ideas for cultural resources such as books, music, clothing, artworks, or traditional objects.
Attending centre events, excursions, cultural celebrations, or whānau evenings when possible.
Sharing favourite family recipes, foods, songs, games, or activities.
Providing information about important milestones, achievements, or learning that occurs outside of the centre.
Sending photos or short stories of meaningful experiences from home, holidays, community events, or visits with extended whānau.

When you share your language, culture and identity, you help kaiako develop a richer understanding of who your child is as a learner.

This information can then be woven into assessment documentation, helping create a more complete picture of your child's strengths, dispositions, and learning across different settings.

It also ensures that assessment reflects what is meaningful to your child and you as their whānau, rather than focusing only on what is observed within the early learning centre.

A previous blog with more practical ideas around sharing your culture can be found here.

Revisit your child’s learning with them

Because every Evolve centre uses Storypark to document children's learning, your child's assessment is available to view at any time.

Spending time looking through learning stories with your child, talking about the photos, and encouraging them to share their perspective is a fantastic way to contribute to their assessment. Not only does it provide valuable insight into what is being planned and provided to support your child's learning, but it can also spark conversations that reveal new interests, ideas, and learning that may not have been visible at the centre.

Don’t forget that you can also write your own stories about your child on Storypark as well! We highly encourage you to share any photos, stories or to comment on any stories written from kaiako.

Ask any questions

We really value your input to your child’s assessment and learning and encourage you to ask any questions, share any feedback and offer any suggestions!

Whether you're curious about a learning story you've read, wondering how your child is progressing in a particular area, or simply wanting a better understanding of how assessment works, your questions are always welcome!

These conversations help build a strong partnership between home and centre and ensure that everyone is working together to support your child's learning journey.

The Evolve Promise

Evolve Education’s purpose is to nurture the next generation of lifelong learners. We know that you are your child’s first and most important teacher and have a vital role to play in helping them learn. You know your child better than anyone - what they like and don’t like; the ways they approach new and different things; and how they learn. That is why we promise to partner with you, combining our knowledge and yours, to ensure that your child receives the best possible education and care, as well as a strong connection and consistency between all aspects of your child’s world.

The ideas we've explored throughout this blog are just some of the many ways you can be involved in your child's assessment at their early learning centre.

Whether you're sharing your aspirations, contributing photos and stories from home, revisiting learning stories together, or simply having regular conversations with your child's kaiako, every contribution helps build a richer picture of who your child is as a learner.

Even small contributions and conversations can really make a valuable difference in helping to create an assessment process that truly reflects and celebrates your child!

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