One of the most difficult decisions parents make is choosing which school their children will attend.
We all want the best for our little ones. We all want to know they’re learning in a safe, productive environment that will help cultivate their development and, ultimately, give them the right skills to build a successful future.
Researching any school your child may be able to attend is a crucial step, and the first port of call for the majority of parents is the school’s website — which is why it’s so important to get it right.
A website is a school’s chance to essentially shake the parent’s hand and prove why it’s the perfect option. Building a responsive school website is essential to deliver the best browsing experience and demonstrate everything that makes your school special.
But what does that mean and how can it be achieved?
In this guide, we’ll explore the power of responsive school website design, beginning with the basics.
 

What is Responsive Design?

Responsive Web Design (RWD) is an approach to crafting websites that provide a high-quality experience across multiple devices. We live in a world of 24/7 connectivity now: we’re not just browsing the internet at our desks anymore — our smartphones and tablets allow us to go online at any time, any place.
As the number of searches performed on handsets has overtaken those through desktops, websites have to perform to a high standard on any screen a visitor may use. Responsive Web Design focuses on running a single site incorporating elements which respond in a different way to suit the device in question.
An old-fashioned website might be made primarily to fit large monitors but is totally unaccommodating for mobile users. For example, if a page displays a table containing multiple blocks of data, this would have to be adapted to suit a smaller screen to prevent a cumbersome layout. Anyone trying to scroll across the page to read the table’s contents could become frustrated and look for the same information elsewhere.
Responsive Web Design ensures websites present visitors with the most user-friendly experience every time. Responsive design is vital to give parents the most accessible gateway to your school, offering an effective way to discover everything they need to know without a single moment of irritation.
The more you embrace this approach, the less reason you give parents to leave the site.
 

Key Features of a Responsive School Website

Responsive school websites tend to share certain elements. These combine to create a browsing experience that suits parents and prospective students alike, catering to the mother who’s researching your school at her office computer just as well as the child doing the same on her tablet.
So, what are these features and why do they matter?

Lots of whitespace

Whitespace is not just the empty parts of a website — it’s actually a major aspect of great design. Whitespace helps to make your text and images appear less cluttered, allows visitors to understand what they’re reading better and makes scanning for relevant information much easier.
Responsive school website design ensures your whitespace will remain proportionate and content will appear formatted just as well on tiny screens as bigger ones. This makes browsing far more comfortable.

Optimized visual content

Images must be optimized to display properly on all devices and load as quickly as possible. Loading times can make or break your browsing experience: if parents or children are searching for information but can’t access text because your images are slowing the site right down, they’re unlikely to keep waiting. If they do, they’ll become frustrated and be reluctant to return in future.
Image sizes must be reduced to facilitate fast load times.

An intuitive approach to navigation

Good navigation matters. Users will never appreciate having to constantly click back and forth through slow-loading pages because they tapped the wrong button or were misdirected.
Your visitors want to find exactly that they’re looking for with the bare minimum of hassle. Your school website should be built to allow for smooth, simple, intuitive navigation on all devices. Clear menus are a must, with obvious category titles and page layouts.
These key elements should guide you in building or overhauling your school website. Always keep the parents or children visiting your site, and their journey, in mind. Put yourself in their shoes and consider what would help you get the most out of the experience.
 

Helpful Pages your Responsive School Website Must Have

Your website should look and feel unique to your school. It should reflect your school’s values and goals as much as possible.
The tone of voice, images and colour scheme all need to capture the character of your school. Providing all the information parents and students require throughout the year is crucial, and there are certain staple pages you should incorporate to do so.

Calendar

Always keep your school calendar updated with relevant events, such as holidays and special occasions. Give parents at-a-glance information they can find within seconds.
Letting your calendar go out of date may indicate to visitors that your school is unprofessional and disorganized.

Teacher profiles

Parents want to know who’s teaching their children. Include a brief bio and pictures of your teaching staff to help build a closer bond and cultivate a sense of community.

Contacts

Who should parents call if their child is too sick to attend school one day? Who is in charge of organizing field trips or a school event? How can parents reach the head teacher?
Make sure you always carry up-to-date contact details on your school website, to give parents exactly what they need to reach your team. This is vital in emergencies.
 
School Jotter is an innovative platform allowing schools just like yours to build custom websites. More than 3,000 schools across the UK work with School Jotter, creating and maintaining their own domains with simple, user-friendly tools. Upload images and videos, reach out to parents with emails, host quizzes and more to engage with your community.
Please don’t hesitate to contact Webanywhere if you wish to learn more about how School Jotter can help you create the perfect website for your school.

Website design is a constantly evolving entity, meaning that any industry engaging with the Internet needs to constantly evolve as well. Keeping abreast with the top web design trends for websites is vital for any school that wishes to engage with parents and pupils alike. And there are a variety of disruptive technologies available that make it possible for any school website to be truly inspiring.

Drone Technology

One of the innovations that is particularly impacting on school website design is that of drone technology. This enables some spectacular videos to be produced, and at a pretty affordable price point. With commercial drones now able to carry HD, and even 4K, cameras, the ability to fly over inaccessible areas and capture spectacular photographs and videos has become entirely viable.

There are now millions of drone aircraft in circulation, and footage captured from them is becoming extremely popular. By embracing the drone revolution, schools are able to tap into the technology zeitgeist, making their websites far more attractive to young people in particular. Drone footage really can be an excellent way of grabbing attention, and firing visitors’ imaginations.

Customisation

Customising websites in order to deliver individual experiences can also be an effective way of standing out from the crowd. It is always worth bearing in mind that there is a potentially wide range of users of all educational websites, with teachers, students, parents and administrators all interested parties.
As each of these groups will require completely different information from your website, the argument for customisation becomes more compelling. Personalising content to satisfy the needs of a particular group is an effective way of making people feel valued when they access your webpage. Extracting user profile data, and personalising content within sections, are both valid ways of achieving this goal.

Video Engagement

Speaking of engagement, using videos is also to be recommended. So much can be done with online video sharing nowadays, and it is even possible for schools to generate a significant presence on sites such as YouTube. Videos can help to deliver such content as the headmaster or headmistress introducing the school, various key teachers providing information on their departments, alumni giving testimonials, and current students providing their views on learning as well.
Providing video material can be a highly effective way of reaching people, and establishing a video platform can also help to make use of the drone footage suggested previously.

Virtual Reality

And you capture attention and imagination further still by embracing the disruptive trend of virtual reality. VR is establishing itself via video games platforms such as Oculus Rift and the PlayStation VR project, and will soon be widely available for other businesses as well. Virtual reality will be able to provide a unique insight into facilities across any educational establishment, placing people at home right in the midst of the school.

This form of technology will particularly resonate with young people, especially as it becomes more widely available. Although virtual reality has yet to truly land in the mainstream, this is expected to occur over the next few years. And it would be advisable for schools to embrace this innovation now, in order to get ahead of the curve.

Photographs and Images

Quality photography should also be an absolute priority for all school websites. This is arguably the most important part of any site, as delivering striking images will really have an impact on the initial impression of parents and potential pupils. While video material and text both has its place, it is really imagery that will create that all important first impression, and this is why it should be produced diligently.
Thus, most schools will benefit from having a professional photographer create the imagery to appear on their website. While it is certainly possible to create high quality photography with commercially available cameras, a professional photographer will have a better quality of equipment, and, of course, much more experience with producing photographs.
Photography can be used to showcase the exterior of a school, along with the interior settings as well. Pictures really have an impact on how people feel or think about a particular subject, and photography really represents an opportunity to influence your potential audience. You can also create a pleasing video impression by using techniques such as slideshows and carousels, in order to really grab the attention of visitors.

Content Management

It is also important to use a suitable content management framework when designing and maintaining your website. Drupal has become a popular choice, being used by Harvard University, University of Yale, Stanford Law School, and Oxford University. However, this system isn’t ubiquitous, and there are plenty of others available that may better suit your particular institution.
But content management systems certainly shouldn’t be ignored, as they enable responsive school website designs and multi-site functionality to be implemented more easily. They also enable schools to control and manage the publication of workflow more easily, while exceptional content and user access control is also a requisite feature. Such systems can also make it easier to launch email and social media campaigns.

Progressive Mobile Applications

Finally, it is advisable for schools to embrace the mobile revolution. Combining your website with progressive mobile applications can really help garner attention, and particularly capture the imagination of young people. All schools should be looking at a multi-faceted approach when engaging with their potential audience, as this will allow them to cover the most bases possible.
The possibilities with school website design are always growing broader and more impressive, and it is important for schools to keep up with the latest trends, in order to ensure that they are not left behind. Standing still is simply not an option in this highly technological age, so keeping your finger on the pulse is absolutely essential if you wish to ensure that your school website creates a favourable impression with your audience.

It is important to acknowledge that schools in Britain struggle to afford fancy, futuristic school websites with impressive web design because of restraint budgets. However, some schools have gone the extra mile and have built websites that not only look impressive but also attract parents to choose their school over the competition. Here are the top six school websites that excite their visitors.

1. Hawksworth CofE Primary School

Hawksworth CofE Primary have used drone footage on their homepage to impress visitors with panoramic shots of their establishment. The website was rated high for its design and development, as it demonstrates its school facilities in the most modern way – using a drone. Through a creative blend of animation and video, the site immerses the user into a very engaging experience.

2. Great Barr Primary School Academy

From music and Google translate to drone footage, this website has it all! Brilliant sound web design, navigation mechanics, and visuals mixed with great tools like Google search, school calendar and school news. All help draw visitors in to this well-made school website.
This site was built using School Jotter, which is the leading school website builder in the UK. More than 4,000 schools use the platform globally.

3. Brill Church Of England School

The school uses a minimalistic theme on their website with big, compelling visuals of their pupils and headteacher. Simple, flat, white backgrounds accompanied by beautiful typography help users to find the information they look for on the website. Brill CofE Primary does a great job of visually telling the story of their school.

4. Queens Park Academy

The website for Queens Park Academy has incredible imagery, storytelling, visual design and responsiveness. No matter what device you use, the website looks amazing without losing any of its quality. We’ve tested it on desktop, iOS and Android.
Pages are easy to navigate and there aren’t any annoying objects that get in the way of browsing, such as banners, pop-up windows, or other unnecessary elements.

5. Hoyle Court Primary School

The homepage gives off a secure vibe, which is paramount for a school website. It is the ultimate example of simplicity and embaces whitespace. There are several pathways users can take when they navigate on the homepage, but the information is positioned well and worded simply for even the least educated parents.

6. Cranborne Primary School

With its cool simple web design, Cranborne Primary provides parents with all the information they need about their offsprings school. Their high resolution images tell stories that connect with pupils and school staff. It is visually powerful and unforgettable. The bold colours produce contrast, making the words and images stand out on the homepage.
For outstanding school web design solutions, visit the Webanywhere website. We have helped over 4,000 schools worldwide with our School Jotter platform.

As a school, your school web design is your first impression. That means it’s also where your conversion opportunity lies – if you want to attract new parents/guardians and increase enrollment, having a remarkable website is the best place to start.
There’s nothing wrong with having a school website that looks similar to others, but you need to stand out among your competitors in some way. This is why in this article we’ll be discussing the 2018 trends of school web design.
 

The key components of a school website

To make your school website complete and perfect in 2018, you need the following key components.

• Unique and eye catching design
• Ofsted requirements (Download a checklist here.)
• GDPR compliance
• Responsive mobile friendly web pages
• Search engine optimisation (SEO)
• Contact page with an email form
• Map showing your location
• Availability and Booking system
• High quality hosting

Each website is unique, but the successful ones generally follow a winning formula that contains the above elements.
 

Directing visitors towards the most important bits

Understanding influential visual cues will allow you to come up with a persuasive design that guides parents’ eye flow for maximum conversions.
Start with prioritising your website goals for a good visual hierarchy. List key points that visitors want to see on the school website. Then, prioritise and arrange them according to their visual importance.
You can use two types of directional cues to help you direct visitors towards the most important bits. Explicit cues take the form of arrows or lines while implicit cues use imagery to subtly direct your prospect’s gaze.
 

The principle of contrast

Contrast is defined as the difference between two or more elements. It creates visual interest and directs the attention of the user. Here’s an example of a school website that uses contrast.
If all of the elements on a school web page were the same in style and appearance there would be no organisation or hierarchy and the content would be nearly impossible to digest.
This makes contrast an essential part of effective school web design. It takes practice to learn and create the right amount of contrast in your designs but you can start by studying the work of talented designers to see how they use contrast.
 

Use User Stories to Build Your Website

A user story is a very short story – usually, about one sentence long, that describes something that the user wants to accomplish by using a service.
A good user story should be simple, engaging and accessible to a range of audiences, for example, young parents to old parents.
Stories can be written, drawn, spoken, or recorded. They are a powerful tool throughout multiple stages of the design process and can help persuade your audience.

Less can sometimes be more

Minimal web design doesn’t compromise your creative cutting edge. Your website doesn’t have to be too cluttered or glossy.
Visitors value a minimalist interface when navigating your school website as well as your social media pages.
Apply minimalist principles to make your school web design attractive and effective with fewer elements, simplifying and improving users’ online interactions. Check out examples here.
 

Implementing psychological motivators

Having a complete understanding of your audience will help you trigger the desired behaviour and increase enrollment.
There are some motivating factors that drive behaviour or key interactions on your school website. For example, the motivation analysis of your audience might reveal that parents in your area are curious, young and intelligent.
Be smart and create relevant content for your audience on your website. This is how you will convince them to choose your school over other schools in the area.
 

Responsiveness is key to a conversion centered design

Responsive school web design is the approach that suggests that design and development should respond to the user’s behaviour and environment based on screen size, platform and orientation.
As the spectrum of screen sizes and resolutions is widening every day, creating a different version of a school website that targets each individual device is not practical. The solution is a responsive web design for your school.
The number of users web browsing on mobile devices increases by 25% every year and mobile is the number one choice of device for accessing the Internet and social media.
With a responsive school web design, you will enable people using multiple devices (smartphones, tablets, desktops) to view your website properly.
 

Try before you buy

There are many school web design providers that allow schools to test out websites for free before deciding whether they want to pay for them. With School Jotter, you can start a free trial for 15 days!
Buying a website before trying it can be a big mistake that will affect your budget and the school community.
 
If you are after an outstanding school website, Webanywhere can help you using our School Jotter website builder. Join over 4,000 schools in the UK that use School Jotter websites, mobile apps and educational software.

The world of videography is changing rapidly with the introduction of affordable drones in the market. Their ability to carry HD cameras and fly over inaccessible areas makes them ideal for capturing amazing photos and videos. Total drone unit sales climbed to 2.2 million worldwide in 2017, and revenue surged 36% to $4.5 billion, according to research firm Gartner.
You have probably seen websites that already use drone footage on their homepage. This is becoming a trend now with more and more website owners being able to afford such unique and stunning graphics.
The most obvious advantage of a homepage with drone footage is that it grabs people’s attention. If you are a school looking to attract parents with your website there’s nothing you could add to your page that is more attractive than showing video footage of your school facilities and students playing, exercising or studying.
 

Adding Drone Footage to your Homepage

Drone footage is extremely customizable. If you use a school website provider that has their own drone, you have the opportunity to incorporate exactly the kind of footage you need for your school. You can tailor the material you get to your school’s brand, or your school website provider can do this for you.
If you are planning to purchase a drone for your school to create videos, you will need to get a drone licence from a CAA approved provider.
 

How to tell a story with your drone footage

Using drone footage is an ideal way to tell a unique story about your school. As you probably know stories usually follow the simple structure of: beginning – middle – end. Try and think of this structure in terms of daily school life. What do parents look for in a primary school? You should use this insight and respond to them with the right video shots. This will help you tell a story that parents can empathise with. It is the emotion within these stories that will resonate with the school community.
 

Examples of school websites using drone footage

St Margaret Ward Catholic Primary and Hawksworth Primary School are two of the first schools in the UK to use drone footage for their homepages. Webanywhere created the two websites using the leading school website builder, School Jotter.

As a result, the two websites attract more visitors and make the school community proud.
With a School Jotter website, it is easy to embed drone footage to your homepage without knowing how to code. School Jotter is known to be one of the easiest website builders to use and this is why more than 4,000 schools in the UK have School Jotter websites and mobile apps.
 
Webanywhere can help you create quality aerial footage of your school in the UK. We are known for our creativity, technical skills, and experience. Check out an example of a school website we recently created using drone footage and please feel free to contact us to discuss your next project. We look forward to hearing from you!

A recent study has found that the vast majority of school and education websites do a poor job of protecting their browsers security and privacy.
Whether it’s tracking tools used by advertising partners and companies, with little disclosure of such usage…Or lack of support in secure browsing for site visitors.
Put simply, all school websites must ensure that they invest in optimum security for the safety of their traffic, their staff, and their students.
But how do you ensure the safety of data, students, staff and potential parents of new students as they visit and share sensitive information on your website?
 

School websites must use HTTPS protocol as default

Simply put, HTTPS stands for ‘Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure’. The ‘S’ in this is very important as it guarantees the encryption of any data that is shared on your website.
If your website just uses the inferior HTTP protocol, third parties can track pages that your school website user views and the information sent online. These third parties can then inject malware and revise the content of the website pages being viewed. This could be particularly dangerous in the hands of a hacker or an internet troll.
 

School websites must keep software up to date

Ensuring that you keep all software up to date is crucial in keeping your school website secure. This software includes the server operating system and also any CMS or forum software that is used on your site. Hackers can work their way into your website and cause trouble through outdated software.
Your web hosting company should take care of your operating system security updates.
 

Don’t divulge too much in error messages

When you display an error message on your website, be very careful how much actual information that you give away. Don’t provide full exception details as they can make complex attacks on your website easier for the wrong people. Keep detailed errors in your server logs, giving website users just the information that they need.
 

Don’t underestimate passwords

It’s very important to use strong passwords for both your server and website admin areas. It’s equally as important to ask your web users to ensure that their passwords are strong. This will help them to protect the security of their accounts.
All strong passwords should use a minimum of eight characters, including an uppercase letter and a number or symbol.
If somebody hacks into the school website and attempts to steal your passwords, the use of hashed passwords could help to limit any damage, as these are impossible to decrypt.
 

Be cautious of file uploads

If you allow users to upload files to your website, it can be a big website security risk, even if it’s simply to change their avatar. The risk is that any file uploaded however innocent it may look, could contain a script that when executed on your server completely opens up your website.
If you have a file upload form then you need to treat all files with a great level of suspicion. If you are allowing users to upload images, you cannot rely on the file extension or the mime type to verify that the file is an image as these can easily be faked.
Even opening the file and reading the header, or using functions to check the image size are not full proof. Most images formats allow storing a comment section which could contain PHP code that could be executed by the server.
 

Choose the appropriate storage environment for your school website

This can make a huge difference in keeping your information secure and private. Many companies use cloud or web-based hosting to keep data physically safe when it’s off their website. Make sure that you choose a storage provider that has a valid SSL certificate. Also, check their terms of service so that you know exactly what security measures they take when storing your data.
 

Consider purchasing access to a reputable Virtual Private Network (VPN)

VPN’s can prevent snooping-based attacks along with other transmission-related intrusions and theft of valuable data. VPNs work by encrypting the channel through which your data is sent and received, and can offer protection towards your identity and credentials from others with access to the network that you are using.
With data security challenges growing in 2018, choosing trustworthy storage companies, strengthening passwords, and implementing security policies for all end users and machines in your school or home, will keep your data safe from most attacks.
Definitely consider investing in a VPN for added security, and make use of encrypted storage and transmission protocols such as SSL (Secure Socket Layer)
 
Make sure your school website is password protected and manage your information with care and attention to encourage the safety of all shared data available.

When designing or redesigning a school website, there are a myriad of things to consider. One of which is how accessible and user friendly the site will be on mobile and tablet devices.
Put simply, with over 55% of websites loaded on mobile devices rather than desktops, all school websites really must be responsive.
These figures will only start to rise as mobile and tablet devices become cheaper and more accessible across the world. This, coupled with a decline in laptop and desktop sales in comparison to smaller devices, means responsive design isn’t really a choice, it’s a given.
 

What is Responsive Design?

Responsive Web Design (RWD) is the industry leading, optimal approach to web design in the modern world. Responsive websites are designed to give users the best possible experience across all modern computers, tablets, smartphones, and internet ready devices. Websites designed responsively should scroll, read, and navigate without resizing or panning. The websites are designed and built to fit and function effectively, offering the same user experience across all devices.
You need your school website to be simple, easy to update, and amazing across all devices. It would be a mistake to take mobile and tablet usage statistics for granted. Your prospective pupils and their parents are searching for schools on their phones… Right Now!
 

Why is Responsive Design a Must?

Mobile Usage is on the Rise…
In the last decade, mobile data traffic has increased 3000%, this is expected to increase by over 400% by 2021.
Think of the amount of times that you check your phone each day… How often do you use your phone to Google something or check on social media?
80% of internet user own a smartphone. There are more mobile users than desktop users. People have much shorter attention spans and will not give a website a second chance if it has a slow load time or will not display properly on their mobile device. Why should they? We live in a consumer savvy society in which people are used to online instant gratification thanks to technology.
On average, we spend three hours a day glued to our smartphones. A recent Huffington Post study showed that responsive websites saw a 37% increase in unique visitors and a 50% increase in time people spend on pages.
 

Responsive Design Creates a Positive User Experience

In an ideal world, you want your school website to be well designed, well received, and easy to navigate. You want people to remember your website and to return to it or recommend it to a friend.
Responsive design helps with your website functionality across devices, leaving users feeling refreshed, and happy with their experience.
Think about the last time you viewed a sub-standard website and the way that this made you feel about the business that it was representing almost instantly.
 

Responsive Design Improves SEO

Sure, it’s great to have a functional website that looks great and displays all the information relevant to your school.
However, it’s not so great if nobody can find your website!
Ranking highly across search engines is an important part of any schools marketing plan as they always want to be seen ahead of competitors within their catchment area.
As of 2015, Google decided to favour responsive design for their mobile search results. Which makes sense if you think about it… Why would they favour unresponsive websites that won’t resize and display the correct information on mobiles and tablets?
Families near your school will be using their mobile phones to search for terms such as:
‘Best private schools near me’
‘Best school in my area’
‘Local primary schools’
So, you want to be listed in the top searches for these terms, therefore, it’s crucial that your school has a responsive website.
It’s not just Google that are reprimanding non-responsive sites in their search results, Facebook also favour responsive sites when displaying search results.
You don’t want to make it hard for your target audience to find your school. It’s in every school’s best interest to do what they can to make their website excellent, responsive, and SEO optimized.
 

Have Your Website Prepared for the Future

One of the best things about investing in responsive design for your website is that it will fully adapt to devices of the future.
As more and more people purchase smart watches and access the internet through large televisions and interfaces, your website will fit to their screens.
RWD doesn’t adapt by the type of device that you are using, it adapts to resolution and screen size, think of it like water pouring into different vessels.
 

Social Media Increases Mobile Traffic

Social media contributes to over 33% of website traffic and more than 55% of social media consumption happens on mobile devices.
The majority of this traffic comes from apps or social media advertising… Therefore, if you are using social media to drive traffic to your website… The website must be responsive… Otherwise you’re sending people to a site that won’t work properly on their mobile devices.
What a waste of advertising revenue! What a way to make your school look backwards!
All of this must be considered seriously when you make the commitment to your school and your team by investing in a design or redesign of your existing school website.

A 2012 report published that there were over 24,000 schools educating 8.2 million pupils across the UK.
These schools were a mix of nursery schools, state-funded primary schools, state-funded secondary schools, special schools, pupil referral units and independent schools.
Of the thousands of state-funded and independent primary schools, there are only a select percentage that fall in the category of ‘outstanding websites’ as far as we’re concerned.
Web design creation and implementation is an art form, and educational institutions such as primary schools need to follow a set of distinct guidelines, when creating and maintaining a website for both parents and pupils to access and navigate.
There are several things that all of the top primary school websites in the UK must have in common.
 

A Personal and Welcoming Homepage

The homepage is the first thing that a parent or pupil will view as they are navigated from a search engine onto your school website.
It’s a shop window for prospective new parents to peruse as they weigh up what your primary school has to offer their child.
It’s got to entice, engage, invite, and inform viewers as they aim to get a feel for your school’s personality and what the school has to offer.
The homepage sets the tone for the entire school and acts as a doorway into the corridors and syllabus of your institution.
All homepages should include:
 

A personal introduction

This introduction should include a brief summary of the school, an overview of the schools’ location, and a friendly explanation of what to expect from the school website. All of this writing should be warm and inviting in tone. It’s not just children that have fear around going to school. Parents face the task of deciding their children’s future, so warmth and compassion can go a long way.
 

A message from the headteacher

Keep this message warm and consistent in tone with the rest of the homepage copy. This paragraph or two really sets the bar for the schools’ tone and personality so make sure it reflects it well, and makes people feel safe and welcome.
 

A guiding purpose

Visitors go to a school website with a purpose in mind. Therefore, it’s important for them to be able to access and find information with ease. Clear navigation and an uncluttered website, combined with instructional and educational copy, will ensure ease of access to all information.
83% of search query paths begin with an unbranded term, (such as best schools near me), your school’s homepage needs to easily answer five key questions right away to help searchers realise they are in the right place.
What does your school do?
What makes your school unique?>
How can I learn more?
Where can I find you?
Will I fit in?
 

Clear Cut Navigation

As mentioned above, clear navigation is paramount on all websites, especially school websites as they can hold a wealth of information on a wide range of topics.
Most school websites use an intuitive navigational system. This means that most visitors will find the information that they need, exactly where they expect to find it.
Intuitive navigation uses the following principles.
 

Simple/Concise Navigation Tabs

Try and keep the number of tabs available on the main navigation bar between five and seven. Visitors can become overwhelmed and confused when there appear to be too many options available. Crowded menus can also create confusion.
 

Sub Menus for Related Content

Grouping options together in drop-down menus beneath or alongside the navigation tabs is a great way of displaying information without overloading website users’ brains and causing confusion.
 

Internal Links

Hyperlinking text so that users can happily hop from one page to another to follow related content is a fantastic way to streamline the user journey and display relevant information easily.
 

Sensible Headings and Labels

Straightforward titles and headings make life a lot easier for people when trying to navigate through a website. If the link is to a lunch menu… Label it ‘Lunch Menu’… Make sure important information is easy to locate and access for all people.
 

Clearly Defined Links and Buttons

If something is clickable on your primary school website. Make sure that it stands out and that the link works. This is incredibly useful and really helps users find their way through your website with ease.
 

Content

Keep the content engaging and informative throughout the website.
 

Tone/Personality

Make sure your tone and personality are similar throughout your website and really reflect that of your staff and school in general.
Keep it upbeat and positive so that your visitors stick around. Use a conversational tone in order to entice further communication with the reader.
 

Documents and Valid Information

Make sure that you upload all documents and information that will help parents, governors, pupils, and prospective parents as they get involved with your school.
Think about all of your frequently asked questions and address these concerns directly in the appropriate areas of your website.
 

Additional Content

Try and include relevant blogs that highlight the excellent standards, work, and achievements of your school. You may also consider providing links to community initiatives that the school is involved in, or relevant news stories.
Make sure you include clear calls to action right across the board on your website.
 

Clear Layout and Design

Utilise Necessary Blank Space

A seasoned web designer recognises the effectiveness of blank space. Websites need to breathe…, Ample blank space helps with the flow of reading and de-clutters the screen leaving the design nice and easy on the eye, without disrupting the clarity of information available.
 

Good Quality Images and Responsive Design

The images that you include on your school website are going to sell your school, your staff, the learning environment, and the facilities available.
Make sure they are clear, high quality, and enticing for all website viewers. Make sure that they are streamlined with the overall design and colour scheme of the school. Above all, make sure they truly represent your school and the values that you hold as a melting pot of creativity and education.
Over 52% of website traffic comes from mobile phone and tablets. Your website has to be designed to load clearly and responsively across all devices. Failure to do this can be embarrassing for schools, and disappointing for users!

It is now a legal requirement for all Multi-Academy Trust schools in the UK to provide training providers access to pupils in years eight to thirteen.
In a push for awareness of non-academic routes of education, the ‘Baker Clause’ requires all schools to publish a policy statement on their website setting out their arrangements for provider access.
Introduced by former education secretary Lord Baker in May 2017, this law is an amendment to the ‘Technical and Further Education Act’.
The actual legal obligation for all trusts to publish a provider access statement came into action on January 2nd of this year, but has proven to be adopted slowly across the education industry.
Certain Multi Academy Trusts have been accused of resisting the promotion of non-vocational courses to their pupils, often preferring the promotion of more traditional educational subjects and academic courses.
However, Lord Baker has stressed the importance of fair access for all pupils as they reach important ‘transition points’ in their educational journeys. This is particularly relevant at the ages of 14, 16, and 18 years old when important academic decisions are being made, carving the pathways to further education or vocational careers.
 

What the statement should include:

The policy statement has to include procedures for accommodating access requests as well as details of the premises and facilities that will be provided.
Pupils and their parents need clear access to an online platform that will list all of the options available for pursuing vocational training courses and the providers of such courses. It should also list the facilities, transportation, and requirements needed for successful attendance and completion of such courses.
 

Multi-academy trusts fail to implement Baker clause

In a January article, Further Education Week published an article providing evidence that just two of the 10 largest multi-academy trusts in the UK had complied with the legal duty outlined in the Baker Clause.
By the end of January, of ten trusts investigated, only The Kennel Academies Trust and Delta Academies Trust had responded with a copy of their statements and proof that they had published them on their school websites.
Some Academies admitted to FEW that they had prepared a document to upload onto their websites, blaming time constraints and busy periods over Christmas for lack of publication. Others declined to comment when questioned as part of the FEW investigations.
 

Vocational qualifications to come under greater scrutiny

In 2014, Ofqual announced that it would remove accreditation and change the way vocational courses were regulated in order to improve quality across England and Northern Ireland.
This move was decided so that more openings would become available for a number of potential school leavers across the UK. With vocational courses focusing on design, delivery and awarding as opposed to entry requirements and accreditation.
Ongoing studies have claimed that future generations of school leavers should turn their backs on university education and opt for a more vocational pathway, preparing them for a trade as opposed to an academic degree.
In the UK, there has been a sharp rise in the projected number of medium and low skilled jobs, whilst across some industries there has been a decline in demand for university graduates across the board.
Another 2014 study claimed that two thirds of jobs created by 2022 will be in low or medium skilled occupations that do not demand a degree as a requirement.
This equates to more than 9 million school leavers, therefore the demand for vocational courses and access to such courses is expected to increase rapidly.
However, the most ‘in-demand’ occupation of the future will be linked to health and social care as rising numbers of school leavers are needed to care for the aging population in the UK.
 

DofE Statutory Guidelines

The Department of Education has stated that the reason the ‘Baker Clause’ has been pushed into UK law is that all pupil should have a clear idea of the range of routes into the workplace. This is so that each individual has the opportunity to make educated and informed decisions about their future, with confidence.
To enforce the ‘Baker Clause’ The DofE published statutory guidelines for schools across the UK on January 2nd 2018. These guidelines clearly stated that schools have to provide opportunities for technical education and apprenticeship providers to talk to pupils, and to publish a statement on their website.
In 2017 the Telegraph Education published the findings of a new report which claims that the number of degree apprentices in the UK is to increase by 650%.
 

Degree apprenticeships

Degree apprenticeships were introduced UK wide in 2015 and enable applicants to split their time between their universities to study, and the workplaces in industries in which they will eventually be employed. The cost of course fees are split between the Government and employers.
A range of employers of varying sizes are already partnering with universities across the UK to work with these degree apprenticeships.
Some of the brands involved include Mercedes-Benz, Nestle, IBM, Airbus, and Transport for London.
A Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) is a single entity established to undertake a strategic collaboration to improve and maintain high educational standards across a number of schools. A group of schools form a single MAT which has overarching responsibility for their governance.
It’s unclear how long it will take for all UK Multi-Academy trusts to obey the educational laws and publish a policy statement on their websites. However, it is a legal requirement and trusts could face penalties if they fail to comply with government set standards.
 
Our school e-learning specialists can help you create your policy fast. Get in touch with us today for further information.

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