Our Portage Worker used to visit us at home once a week and play with my son to help his development. He had targets to work towards and the activities were aimed at helping him to achieve these. As his motor skills were greatly delayed, we also went to group soft play sessions weekly where again he was given targets and the activities were tailored to these. At the end of each soft play session, the children would wind down in the sensory room at the back of the soft play area. Next to the soft play room, there was a small pool which I noticed some of the Portage Workers were using with some of the children and their parents.
They also ran courses to teach parents to sign to their children (Makaton?).
They arranged reduced rate day trips and had a Christmas party every year for all of the children and their families.
She helped us to choose a good pre-school/nursery and visited him there regularly, giving the staff advice if needed. Then when it was time to move to school, she helped with the application and was involved in the hand over to school, making sure that they were fully aware of my son's needs before he started.
She was a font of knowledge and a great source of support. A number of times she was able to get processes moved along by speaking to her boss and giving the necessary person a nudge (they seemed to know absolutely everyone from social workers to therapists).
What a shame she had to leave us once my son turned 5!
Hopefully your experience of portage will be as amazing as ours was.