The Portfolio Award explained
The Portfolio Award is designed to expand your experience at school by recording the extra curricular activities that you do. It offers you tasks and challenges beyond the classroom to expand your learning and horizons. You have to earn badges to complete your Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum Award, depending on what school year you are in.
How to earn your Platinum Award
To earn your Platinum Award, you must complete all 6 sections of the Portfolio.
You need to carry out a number of challenges in each section to earn your Section Badge.
If you got Bronze, Silver and Gold during Fast-Track, you do 3 challenges.
If you got Bronze and Silver, you do 4 challenges.
If you got Bronze only, you do 4 challenges.
If you did not get Bronze, Silver or Gold, you do 5 challenges.
Some challenges you can complete at school, some you can complete at home. There are also two spaces for you to write in your own challenges if you wish, but you can only do two per section and please run the idea past Mrs Sitford first.
Once a section is completed you will earn a badge for that section that you can wear on your blazer.
When you have earned all 6 sections, you will trade in your badges for your Gold Award!
Can I do a challenge more than once?
No. Once you have a challenge ticked off, you must choose something else. As you move through the Awards, try to choose something different to what you have chosen before in a previous award.
Is there anything that doesn’t count?
Yes. Anything that is part of the school curriculum or school-wide events do not count. What evidence is needed?
The best evidence is the physical or digital copy of your work. If not, a photo, a video or a statement from an instructor, teacher or parent. A copy of a certificate is also fine.
How to submit evidence
Email any evidence to portfolio@claremont.surrey.sch.uk
You can also put evidence in the yellow Portfolio Box outside the Clocktower Room. You must NAME your work!
If you can label your work ‘Academic - 4’ that will help record your work.
What badges do I keep and what do I have to hand back?
Once you have achieved the Award Badge (circle badge) you return the Section Badges (bar badges) back. At the end of the year, you had all your Section Badges back so you can start again with the new level in September.
Your Record
Academic Challenges
Choose 3 challenges for Platinum ...and 1 more if you have Bronze or Bronze and Silver ...and 1 more if you do not have Bronze, Silver or Gold
1 Write 5 book reviews. Please submit these all together. 2 Complete the summer reading challenge.
3 Become a double word millionaire in AR this academic year. 4 Make maths card game.
5 Find out about a famous historian.
6 Choose a King or Queen from another country and create a timeline of their life.
7 Enter BBC Radio 2’s 500 words competition.
8 Write a letter to a teacher of your choice on a subject of your choice.
9 Write a poem about a topic of your choice. 10 Offer to hear some Year 3 children read. 11 Attend two different clubs from the Learn and Improve section of the Co-curricular guide.
Create a TV advert for your favourite book.
Arts Challenges
Choose 3 challenges for Platinum
1 more if you have Bronze or Bronze and Silver
1 more if you do not have Bronze, Silver or Gold
Choose a band or composer and research them, their work and how well (or badly) their work was received. 2 Write a script for 8 people. 3 Take 10 photos of a topic of your choice using different effects with the camera. 4
See a play or a concert at a theatre and write about it. If you did this last year, it must be a different theatre trip to Bronze, Silver and Gold.
5 Perform on an instrument, read a poem or a short story in assembly or concert either in school, or externally. Wholeclass assemblies do not count. 6 Achieve the next grade in your music, drama or dance exam. This must be dated from the start of September 2025. 7 Make a Christmas tree decoration in your House colour for the school’s Christmas tree.
Attend two different clubs from either the Drama & Music or Creative Arts sections of the Co-curricular guide.
Citizenship Challenges
Choose 3 challenges for Platinum ...and 1 more if you have Bronze or Bronze and Silver ...and 1 more if you do not have Bronze, Silver or Gold
Earn a Character Quality Award
Go to a Remembrance service outside of School and create a piece of art for Remembrance Day.
5 Learn about your local council. Who are they, and what do they do? Create a PowerPoint of your findings. 6 Help around the house for 4 weeks. Submit a diary of your 4 weeks.
7 Learn what to do if someone is choking.
Take part in Operation Christmas Child.
Research some aids that can assist a disabled person in the home.
Outdoor and Active Challenges
1 Attend four different clubs from the Sport section of the Cocurricular guide. 2 Look after the wildlife in your garden for four weeks. Keep a diary.
3 Complete 10 park runs (junior or senior)
Take part in Rookie Lifeguard training in the Summer Term. (This won’t count towards No 1)
5 Cook a meal in, or over a fire. (toasting marshmallows do not count).
6 Learn to put up a tent and camp in the garden for two nights.
7 Take part in an external outdoor club of your choice (e.g. dancing/football/scouts/guides).
8 Go on a family bike ride of 6 miles or more. 9
Achieve the next level in gymnastics of swimming lessons or similar sport activity (not dance – see Arts). This must be dated from the start of September 2025.
Take part in some activities on the water.
Explain the countryside code to your family while abiding by it in the countryside.
Science and Technology Challenges
Choose
challenges for Platinum ...and 1 more if you have Bronze or Bronze and Silver ...and 1 more if you do not have Bronze, Silver or Gold
1 Grow some vegetables and & document their progress. 2 Pick an activity from here: https://www.npl.co.uk/measurementat-home.
Enter the coding competition.
Can you extract DNA from a strawberry?
5 Take part in the Big Bird Watch in January.
6 Visit a science-based museum. If you did this in Year 3, 4 and 5, it must be a different museum.
7 Make a simple buzz wire game
8 Choose an activity from here: https://www.stem.org.uk/home-learning/family-activities If you did this in Year 3, 4 & 5, it must be a different activity. 9 Attend one club from the STEM section of the Co-curricular guide.
Spend some time star gazing. What did you see?
World and Culture Challenges
Choose 3 challenges for Platinum ...and 1 more if you have Bronze or Bronze and Silver ...and 1 more if you do not have Bronze, Silver or Gold
Choose a country - find out about its flag and if it has a national costume and other facts of interest.
2 Research some countries that have extreme weather conditions.
3 Learn about an extinct animal and present your work anyway you want. 4 Design and build a sculpture of a landmark from an African country.
5 Learn how to count to 40 in a language you are not learning at school or speak at home.
6 Find out about a city that is now underwater.
7 Cook a 3-course meal from another country.
8 Attend one club from the World and Culture section of the Cocurricular guide.
9 Learn all the capital cities in Europe and be tested!
10 Find out about the traditions of a Scandinavian country.
Do a mini project on the topic of rainforest deforestation.
Research a recent natural disaster.