Family stories let families share a child’s life and learning outside your setting, in their own words. They sit alongside teacher stories to show the “whole child” – home, centre, and community.
Share the help article below with families if they need guidance on creating Family stories: Create a Family Story.
What are Family Stories?
Created and written by families
Appear in the child’s story stream
Can’t be edited by teachers or linked to frameworks/plans
This protects the family voice and keeps their words unchanged.
Why Family Stories Matter
Family stories can:
Highlight interests and strengths (e.g. baking, building, caring for pets)
Show family culture, language, and traditions
Give clues for next steps in your planning
Strengthen partnership by showing families their voice is valued
Share photos from special moments
How Teachers Can Use Family Stories
Even though you can't link to them directly, you can:
Comment to notice and name the learning you see
Use themes from family stories when planning experiences
Refer to family stories in team reflections or goal-setting
Turning a Family Story into a Teacher Learning Story
If you want to be able to link too a Family Story directly, you can Save it as a PDF and create a learning story for it:
Open the family story, click Print / Save PDF, and save it.
Create a New Story and upload the PDF so families can see the original.
Use the text and reflection boxes to:
explain that this is based on a family story
add your analysis, links to frameworks, and next steps
Publish as a teacher learning story.
You may want to let the family know you’ve used their story this way to show that their contribution is shaping your teaching.