TCHR5003 Principles and Practices in Early Childhood Education Assessment 2 Portfolio 2025 | SCU

TCHR5003 Unit Learning Outcomes

You will demonstrate the following Unit Learning Outcomes on the successful completion of this task:

• ULO 3: Develop the knowledge and skills regarding setting up learning environments for children that are flexible and sustainable both indoors and outdoors.
• ULO 4: Reflect upon and critique the holistic approaches of principles and practices.

TCHR5003 Task Description

This task requires you to reflect upon the Early Years Learning Framework [EYLF] (Australian Government Department of Education [AGDE], 2022) principles and practices and create a portfolio demonstrating your ability to identify and critique high-quality early childhood pedagogy. Engage with Modules 1-6 to support you in developing your assessment.

TCHR5003 Rationale

Early childhood educators are required to understand the importance of high-quality practice and be able to identify what high-quality practice looks like. In this assessment, you will be asked to identify high-quality practice and determine the principles, theory and research that underpin such practice. This assessment aims to develop your understanding of how to align practice, principles, theory and research.

TCHR5003 Task Instructions

Section 1: Introduction (150 words)

Write a short introduction explaining the significance of the Early Years Learning Framework in guiding high-quality early childhood pedagogy.

Section 2: Principles and Practices Creative Tasks

Develop a portfolio showcasing your understanding of three principles and three practices of the Early Years Learning Framework (AGDE, 2022) using your choice of creative tasks.

The three principles and three practices of the EYLF (ADGE, 2022) must include two (2) compulsory principles and one (1) of your choice, and 2 compulsory practices and 1 practice of your choice listed below.

EYLF Principles:

• Respect for diversity (compulsory)
• Sustainability (compulsory) 

And add another principle of your choice:

• Secure, respectful and reciprocal relationships
• Partnerships
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives
• Equity, inclusion and high expectations
• Critical reflection and ongoing professional learning
• Collaborative leadership and teamwork

EYLF Practices:

• Responsiveness to children (compulsory)
• Learning environments (compulsory) 

Add another practice of your choice:

• Holistic, integrated and interconnected approaches
• Play-based learning and intentionality
• Cultural responsiveness
• Continuity of learning and transitions
• Assessment and evaluation for learning, development and wellbeing

Once your principles and practices are selected, decide how you will present each principle and practice from the creative choice tasks in the table below. Use a range of creative tasks to develop your portfolio.

The Creative Task Choices include:

For each creative task, you must:

• identify and explain the principle or practice - using the Early Years Learning Framework V2.0 as your supporting resource;
• Provide concrete examples of how the principle or practice is applied in practice in early childhood education and care settings; and
• Critically analyse how the principle or practice supports children’s learning, development,
  and wellbeing – making links to professional and academic sources to support your analysis.

Follow the steps below to complete this task:

• Download the TCHR5003 Assessment 2 Template and save it with your surname and initial and the assessment task’s name. E.g: LastnameA_TCHR5003_assessment2_portfolio
• Complete Section 1: Introduction
• Complete Section 2: Principles and Practices Creative Task
• Complete one reference list for the entire assessment task
• Once complete, submit the task via the Turnitin link in the Assessment and Submission section of the unit site.
• Adhere to APA7 formatting guidelines

Referencing

APA 7th referencing format is required. The number of references needed is guided by the creative tasks you have chosen. Sources should include relevant early childhood policy and peer-reviewed literature. Link to SCU Libguide here: APA 7 Referencing.

Task Submission

Assessments should be submitted using the Turnitin activity titled “Assessment 2: Portfolio” in the Assessments Tasks & Submission section on the Blackboard site. Only Microsoft Word documents submitted via the Turnitin portal on Blackboard will be accepted.

Special Consideration

Students wishing to request special consideration to extend the due date of an assessment task must submit a Request for Special Consideration form via their MyEnrolment page as early as possible and before the original due date for that assessment task, along with any accompanying documents, such as medical certificates.

Late Submissions & Penalties

Except when special consideration is awarded, late submission of assessment tasks will lead automatically to the imposition of a penalty. Penalties will be incurred as soon as the deadline is reached.

• A penalty of 5% of the available marks will be deducted from the actual mark at one minute after the time listed in the due date
• A further penalty of 5% of the available mark will be deducted from the actual mark
  achieved on each subsequent calendar day until the mark reaches zero.”

Grades & Feedback

Assignments that have been submitted by the due date will receive an SCU grade and written feedback. Grades and feedback will be posted to the “Grades & Feedback” section on the Blackboard unit site. Please allow 7-10 days for marks to be posted.

Academic Integrity

At Southern Cross University, academic integrity means behaving with the values of honesty, fairness, trustworthiness, courage, responsibility and respect about academic work. The Southern Cross University Academic Integrity Framework aims to develop a holistic, systematic and consistent approach to addressing academic integrity across the entire University. For more information, see the SCU Academic Integrity Framework

In this assessment task, students are permitted to use GenAI only for specific assessment tasks and purposes as identified in the table below. There are no restrictions on using grammar, spelling and referencing GenAI tools. Students must uphold the principles of the Student Academic and Non-Academic Misconduct Rules, Section 3. You are responsible for ensuring that any content generated with the assistance of these tools is accurate, properly referenced where appropriate, and demonstrably your work. Misrepresentation of GenAI-generated work as entirely your own without appropriate oversight, editing, or critical engagement may constitute a breach of academic integrity.

Remember, just as if you Googled something, you still need to evaluate the information to determine its accuracy and relevance. GenAI can produce biased and false information. You must find scholarly sources to support any of the ideas generated. This is a requirement for this assessment.

You cannot include any text content generated by AI in your assessment (even if you have paraphrased, summarised or quoted the output). You are permitted to use GenAI to create images wherever stated in the task.

You are also permitted to use Grammarly Premium to help edit and improve the quality of your written work. If you opt to use GenAI as defined as acceptable for this assessment, you must keep evidence of how it was used and acknowledge how you used it in the process of completing your assessment appropriately. To help understand what to do, consult the Learning Zone’s resources.

• Quick Guide: Acknowledging and Referencing GenAI Use
• Build your skills using the GenAI-PAIR Framework
• The SCU Library Guide- GenAI can also help you develop your AI literacy skills. 

If you use GenAI tools in your assessment task beyond the acceptable limits, it may result in an academic integrity breach against you as described in the Student Academic and Non-Academic Misconduct Rules. 

Section 3.

Under the Rules - Student Academic and Non-Academic Misconduct Rules (Section 3), students have the right to Appeal against the Academic Integrity Officers' academic misconduct Determination to the Executive Dean, with that determination being final and conclusive, and not subject to further Appeal within the University. Students are not able to appeal against academic misconduct via the Unit Assessor or unit staff.

TCHR5003 Description of SCU Grades

High Distinction:

The student’s performance, in addition to satisfying all of the basic learning requirements, demonstrates distinctive insight and ability in researching, analysing and applying relevant skills and concepts, and shows exceptional ability to synthesise, integrate and evaluate knowledge. The student’s performance could be described as outstanding about the learning requirements specified.

Distinction:

The student’s performance, in addition to satisfying all of the basic learning requirements, demonstrates distinctive insight and ability in researching, analysing and applying relevant skills and concepts, and shows a well-developed ability to synthesise, integrate and evaluate knowledge. The student’s performance could be described as distinguished about the learning requirements specified.

Credit:

The student’s performance, in addition to satisfying all of the basic learning requirements specified, demonstrates insight and ability in researching, analysing and applying relevant skills and concepts. The student’s performance could be described as competent about the learning requirements specified.

Pass:

The student’s performance satisfies all of the basic learning requirements specified and provides a sound basis for proceeding to higher-level studies in the subject area. The student’s performance could be described as satisfactory about the learning requirements specified.

Fail:

The student’s performance fails to satisfy the learning requirements specified

TCHR5003 Assessment Rubric