🔒 Site Admins only – Only users with site admin access can configure these settings. If you don’t see these options, ask someone with site admin access at your centre to help.
Educa lets you personalise your learning story template to fit your centre's documentation approach. Whether you follow a specific pedagogy, need to prompt reflection, or want to streamline your team's workflow, these settings help ensure consistency while giving teachers the flexibility they need.
You can customise these settings through Settings > Site Settings > Stories.
Story Template (First Text Box)
The Story Template lets you add default instructional text to the first text box of new individual Learning Stories. By default, this field is blank. You can add prompts or guidance to support a consistent documentation approach across your centre.
When to Use This
Remind teachers of your centre's learning framework (e.g., Noticing, Recognising, and Responding)
Reinforce your documentation approach
Provide a gentle prompt without being prescriptive
Note: Story Template text appears on individual Learning Stories only. It does not appear on Group Stories. Teachers can edit or delete the template text while writing their story.
To update the template, add or edit your text in the Story Template field, then select Submit. Your changes will apply to new individual Learning Stories.
Reflection Questions (Extra Text Boxes)
In addition to the main story text box, you can add up to three additional reflection questions to encourage deeper thinking about children's learning. These prompts help educators reflect on what happened, how the learning developed and why the learning moment matters.
Understanding the Boxes
By default, 2 reflection boxes are enabled:
Box 1: "What learning is happening here?"
Box 2: "Opportunities and possibilities. What's next?"
Box 3 is available but not activated by default. Many centres use this for private educator reflection.
Customising Each Box
For each reflection question, you can:
Activate it to show the box on each story
Toggle visibility – Make it visible to families or keep it private (teachers only)
Change the label to fit your centre's language and approach
Private reflection boxes can be useful for documenting educator reflections, developmental progress, next steps or other information that should remain visible to teachers only.
If an activated box is left empty when writing a story, it simply won't appear when published. This allows teachers to simply capture a quick learning moment using just the first box.
☝️ Updating labels and settings for extra text boxes will also change the setup on any existing stories.