Educator guide · Term 4
A summative assessment looks back over a set period, usually a term or a year, and says what a child can do now compared with where they started. The EYLF V2.0 calls it assessment of learning. This guide gives three worked examples, for a toddler, a three year old and a four year old, each built from four dated observations. It also gives a structure you can copy and a way to draft yours from your own notes in a couple of minutes.
Start with what actually happened: one action, quote, attempt, change, or question. A polished observation is never required.
StoryLoop drafts and checks. The educator reviews, edits, decides what is true, and chooses whether anything is shared.
Reviewed 27 October 2026 · Written by Leo, who builds StoryLoop, in Ōtautahi Christchurch
No signup · first name only · not saved to an account
Paste three or four dated moments you documented about one child this term. StoryLoop drafts what they show for each outcome and a next step, from your notes. It is told to write only from what you give it and to leave an outcome for you when your notes show nothing.
No signup. Use a first name only. Your notes and the draft are not saved to any account and are never used to train AI. Check your service's policy on children's information.
Your summary, outcome by outcome
For each outcome: what your notes show, and a next step. It is told to write only from your notes and to leave an outcome for you when they show nothing. Quotes it can't find in your notes are flagged.
What StoryLoop does with a note
A real note an educator typed, and the start of the draft StoryLoop wrote from it, unedited, with the EYLF V2.0 links, learning and next steps to follow.
Jack sorted the bear counters by colour into the cups. Then lined up the red ones and counted 8. Put 2 blue ones on the end and said 'now it's ten'.
Sorting and making ten
Jack sorted the bear counters by colour into the cups. After sorting, he lined up the red bears and counted them. Jack counted 8 red bears, then added 2 blue bears to the end of the line and said, “now it's ten”.
What learning we noticed
Jack used sorting, counting and adding in one clear sequence. He noticed the colours, organised the bears into groups, counted the red bears, and then changed the set by adding two more. When Jack said, “now it's ten”, he showed that he was thinking about the total, not just naming the colours or counting by rote.
Type what you saw today. StoryLoop writes the draft here, with EYLF V2.0 links, and shows you exactly what it is built on. Use first names only: demo notes are not saved to any account and are never used to train AI.
No signup for your first try. Use a first name or initial only.
Your draft appears here, with EYLF V2.0 links that only claim what your note shows, usually in under a minute.
Tip: what the child did, one thing they said, and what happened next. Three lines is plenty.
Want to keep it? Start free: 3 stories a month, no card. You check every word before anything is shared.
Formative assessment (assessment for learning) is the everyday noticing that shapes tomorrow's plan. Summative assessment (assessment of learning) steps back at a set point and judges progress over time. The summative one is built from the formative ones.
Every sentence should point to something you documented: a dated observation, a learning story, the child's own words or what the family told you. If you cannot say where you saw it, leave it out.
Use the five EYLF V2.0 outcomes as points of reference. Say what you saw, what it shows and one next step. A short, honest outcome is better than a long one stretched from thin evidence.
Families read a summative assessment to find out how their child has grown. The next educator reads it to know where to start. An assessor reads it to see the planning cycle working: what you noticed, what you made of it and what you did next. All three want the same thing, which is progress shown with evidence and a clear next step.
ACECQA's guidance for Element 1.3.1 puts it plainly: analyse each child's learning in relation to the learning outcomes, identify progress that can be shared with families, and use it to set goals for further learning. A summative assessment is where that analysis is written down.
Child's first name, age and the period covered, for example Term 3, 14 July to 19 September.
Evidence used: how many observations and learning stories, plus anything the family or the child told you.
Who they are now: two sentences a family will recognise straight away.
Outcome by outcome: what you saw, with dates; what it shows; one next step. Use the five EYLF V2.0 outcomes as points of reference, and say honestly when an outcome was not documented this period.
The child's voice: what they said about their own learning, in their exact words.
Goals for next term: two or three, each one an action an educator can take tomorrow.
An imagined child, to show the shape. The four observations it is built from: 22 July, Isla cried at the gate when Dad left and settled after ten minutes on an educator's lap with a lift-the-flap book. 6 August, she carried her bag to her hook and hung it up herself: "my bag". 27 August, at the sandpit she filled a bucket, tipped it out and said "again!" each time. 16 September, she waved to Dad at the gate and walked to the sandpit with Mia: "bye Dad, sand".
Outcome 1, identity: In July Isla needed an educator and a familiar book to settle after drop-off. By September she waved goodbye at the gate and walked off to play (16 September). She is building a secure sense of belonging and takes pride in doing things for herself ("my bag", 6 August).
Outcome 3, wellbeing: Isla manages more of her own arrival routine each week, from carrying her bag to choosing where to play.
Outcome 4, learning: Isla repeats an action to see what happens again, filling and tipping a bucket and asking for "again!" (27 August).
Outcome 5, communication: Isla is putting two words together: "my bag" and "bye Dad, sand".
Outcome 2, community: Not documented enough this term. Next term, watch how Isla plays alongside others at the sandpit, which began with Mia on 16 September.
Next steps: keep the same goodbye routine at the gate. Offer buckets, sieves and scoops of different sizes so she can keep testing full and empty. Say short phrases back to her, such as "full bucket" and "tip it out", so she hears the next words to try.
Built from four observations: 15 July, Kai built a tall tower alone in the block area, knocked it down and laughed. 5 August, he asked Noah "you want the red one?" and passed him a block. 26 August, at group time he told everyone about his nana's chickens: "they lay eggs every day". 9 September, Kai and Noah built a chicken house together, and Kai said "we need a door so they don't get out".
Outcome 2, community: Kai's block play has moved from building alone (15 July) to building with a friend (9 September). He offers materials to others (5 August) and shares the plan for what they are making.
Outcome 1, identity: His family is part of his play. Nana's chickens went from a story at group time (26 August) to a building project two weeks later.
Outcome 4, learning: Kai plans with a purpose. "We need a door so they don't get out" shows him thinking ahead about what his building has to do.
Outcome 5, communication: Kai speaks confidently to the whole group and asks a friend questions during play.
Outcome 3, wellbeing: Not documented this term. Add an observation of Kai's outdoor and physical play next term.
Next steps: invite the family to send a photo of Nana's chickens for the block area. Add animal figures and loose parts for fences and gates. Ask "What else will the chickens need?" and notice whether Kai invites more children into the project.
Built from four observations across the year: 3 February, Amara watched at the drawing table and asked an educator to draw a cat for her. 12 May, she drew a cat herself and wrote an A beside it: "That's me, A for Amara". 18 August, she made a menu for the home corner café with drawings and letters, and took her friends' orders. 14 October, she wrote AMARA and MUM on a card, sounding out "mmm, Mum".
Outcome 5, communication: Across the year Amara has moved from asking an adult to draw for her (February) to writing her name and sounding out a word (October). She uses writing for real reasons, like the café menu in August.
Outcome 4, learning: Amara has grown into a confident learner who has a go. She tried drawing for herself, then letters, then whole words.
Outcome 1, identity: She connects writing with who she is: "That's me, A for Amara".
Outcome 2, community: Her café play brings other children in, with Amara taking orders and serving.
Outcome 3, wellbeing: Only one documented moment this year, so it is left short here rather than stretched.
Next steps for school: give Amara real reasons to write, such as lists, labels, cards and signs. Point out the letters of her name in words around the room, and let her lead play that uses writing, such as a café or a shop.
"Has had a great term." "Enjoys all areas of the program." "Is a pleasure to have in the room." These could be written about any child, so they tell the reader nothing. Replace each with a dated moment only this child had.
Leave out comparisons with other children, scores and ages-and-stages labels you cannot back with evidence, and deficit words such as "can't" or "struggles" without what helps. Describe what the child does and what supports them.
Start with the evidence, not the template. For each child, pull this term's stories and observations, their recorded words and any family comments, and pick the two or three moments that best show change. Write around those. A summative assessment built that way takes about fifteen minutes, and it is truer than one written from memory in the last week of term.
Paste those moments into the draft box on this page and StoryLoop drafts each outcome and a next step from them, leaving an outcome for you when your notes show nothing. If your stories are already in StoryLoop, each child's history keeps dated stories, quotes and family comments in one place, and Educator Pro's Term report turns a term of saved stories into one printable page.
Try it on a real note from your week. StoryLoop writes the learning story, usually in under a minute, with the child's words kept exactly. No signup.
Try a noteOfficial references
These sources inform this guide. StoryLoop is independent and does not claim endorsement.
FAQ
It is assessment of learning. ACECQA's EYLF V2.0 information sheet describes educators reviewing children's achievements and capabilities at specified or selected timepoints, such as the end of a term or the move to school, and making professional judgements about their learning progress over time to show the "distance travelled". It sits alongside formative assessment (assessment for learning) and assessment as learning.
Not as a document with that name. Element 1.3.1 asks that each child's learning and development is assessed or evaluated as part of an ongoing cycle, and ACECQA says assessors may sight documented assessment and analysis of each child's learning, development and wellbeing, using the learning outcomes as points of reference. Regulation 74 covers documenting child assessments or evaluations. ACECQA also says there is no one way to meet documentation requirements, so many services write a summative assessment each term or twice a year to show this.
The NQF does not set a frequency. Many services write one each term, or one mid-year and one at the end of the year, plus a transition statement for children starting school. ACECQA's guidance for Element 1.3.1 says the information collected should be appropriate to the age and capabilities of the child and the time and frequency the child attends, so a child who comes one day a week needs a shorter summary than a child who comes five.
A learning story captures one moment and what it shows. A summative assessment draws on many of them to describe progress across a term or a year. Good learning stories make the summative assessment quick, because the evidence is already written, dated and linked to the outcomes.
Do not paste a child's details into a general chatbot; the Australian privacy regulator advises caution with personal information in public AI tools. The draft box on this page is told to write only from the notes you paste, to leave an outcome for you when your notes show nothing, and to flag anything you need to check. Use a first name only; notes and drafts are not saved to any account. You write the final assessment. If your stories are in StoryLoop, Educator Pro's Term report builds one printable page for each child from the stories you saved that term, with no scores and no comparisons with other children.
No. StoryLoop supports drafting and structure, while educators remain responsible for observation, interpretation, reflection, final editing, and sign-off.
Yes. Stories are editable after generation and saved in history, so educators can add context, adjust wording, copy, export, or regenerate from the original observation.
StoryLoop is designed to avoid generic, poetic AI wording. It asks for real observations, keeps claims evidence-based, and links curriculum only when the observation supports it.
The free plan includes 3 learning stories per month. Upgrade prompts are dismissible, and existing history remains available even if the free limit is reached.