Case Study: Saint Elmo's Childcare Jurong West
About Saint Elmo's Childcare
Saint Elmo's Childcare has two branches in Singapore, both of which are using the Qoqolo Preschool Management System. Saint Elmo’s
Childcare Jurong West started using Qoqolo in November 2013. They are currently
using the older user interface (UI) of Qoqolo, and will be switching to Qoqolo’s
new UI in 2016.
Solutions
Consistency in Portfolios
Before
using Qoqolo, the centre’s teachers did not have a consistent format for
creating each child’s portfolio. With Qoqolo, there is now more consistency for
creating portfolios, because there are specific templates, and assessment
parameters can be set. In addition, there is also a domain-specific checklist,
which helps the teachers to create portfolios based on the various
developmental domains.
Saving Paper and Resources
Qoqolo
has also helped the centre to save paper and resources. In the past, portfolios
were all created in hard copy. For Saint Elmo’s Childcare, teachers would
compile the artworks of each child, and place them in an A3-sized folder. The
observations would then be printed out and pasted below the corresponding
artwork. This method of creating portfolios for Parent-Teacher Meetings twice a
year was very resource-heavy, and it was also difficult to store all the files.
Also, attendance-taking and temperature-taking were all done on paper.
By using
Qoqolo, the centre has been able to cut down on their use of paper and
resources greatly.
Attendance-taking and
temperature-taking is now done on the
Qoqolo system via smartphones or laptops, so teachers no longer need to print
out sheets of paper to take attendance daily. A lot of resources are also saved
by using Qoqolo’s
portfolio, removing the need for bulky A3-sized files and for
printing out each observation. The teachers can now simply snap a photo of the
child’s artwork, and upload it onto Qoqolo to create a foliette for the child. Multiple
foliettes are then compiled into a portfolio, which parents can easily
access online on their smartphones or computers.
Convenient and MobileQoqolo has
helped to increase convenience for the centre’s teachers. Using Qoqolo,
teachers can work on portfolios in school, at home, or even on the go, without having
to carry at least 20 large files around. For the principal, it is also easier
to vet the observations and foliettes, as it will all be in a centralized
system, so there is no need to pass around hard copies of observations or
thumbdrives. This saves a lot of time for both the teachers and the principal.
Qoqolo has
helped Saint Elmo’s Childcare to save time and resources, reducing the hassle
involved in printing and filing hardcopy portfolios for each child in
preparation for Parent-Teacher Meetings.