Some of the best school websites are those that present the school clearly and simply. All Saints Church of England Infant School, based in Hessle, near Hull, have gone for such a school website.
Their School Jotter 2 design echoes their location perfectly – with the iconic Humber Bridge forming part of the header – as well as being the image for the menu on the left-hand side of the website.
As well as the website’s design being simple yet fun, the way the school have arranged the information on the website is clear and easy to find. With only four menu links on the left-hand side bar, it doesn’t take long to find all those section essential to keep Ofsted happy – policies, their prospectus and recent reports about the school.
Aside from the essential content, also included is a section called Wow Moments – which illustrates how fun the school is for pupils with pictures of lesson and play time. It’s the kind of addition to the school website content that makes it ideal for engaging more with parents.
Take a look at All Saints Church of England Infant School’s website by clicking here.
King’s Rise Academy looks like a fun place to learn. We can tell that by the content and the colourful, attractive design of their school website – which recently went live.
As school websites go, much of the content on this School Jotter 2 website is what you’d expect – and, of course, what Ofsted expects. But there’s other information included that is perfect for parents considering the school for their child. The homepage contains a rotating gallery of the school’s children at work and at play – dressed up as pirates, reading and writing. The Celebration section includes pupil achievements, from Lego models they’ve created to attendance winners.
The Pupil Zone, yet to be completed, gives an insight into the work done by each class. Over in the Parents section, a useful inclusion for parents of both pupils and potential pupils are the results of a recent survey. Apparently, 78% of parents strongly agreed that their child enjoys going to the Birmingham-based school – and 81% strongly agreed that the teaching was good. A fun place to learn indeed!
You can view the King’s Rise Academy’s School Jotter 2 website by clicking here.
At Webanywhere we’re seeing more and more schools opt for exciting, engaging website designs that are a little different to your typical school website.
One such school is Watton-At-Stone, based in Hertfordshire. Their new school website benefits from an animated header, with cartoon children waving at the visitor. Fantastic! Delve further into the website, however, and there’s a wealth of information already uploaded, despite this School Jotter 2 website being only a couple of weeks old.
For example, the Friends of Watton School section has details of funds raised for the school through events and activities, with pictures of some of the things the Friends of Watton School have been able to provide the pupils with.
The Virtual Office section also contains some useful information – in particular the results of a parents’ survey conducted in 2012 – one of the many aspects of this school website that makes it great for engaging with the pupils’ parents.
Take a look at Watton-At-Stone’s school website here. Find out more about having your own animated School Jotter 2 website by filling in the contact form here.
Horsted School’s website is another example of a really simple, yet effective School Jotter website. Colourful and eye catching, the homepage – with images of the children – proudly announces ‘welcome to our new website!’
The Kent-based school’s website is as much for the pupils as it is for the parents, with fun, child-themed menu bars on the left hand side of the page. There’s a Horsted Kids’ Club too – with details of the club available from the appropriate menu bar.
Horsted School have an international school partner – and in the International section you can learn more and watch a video about Mtiya Primary School in Malawi.
School websites should echo the beliefs and ethos of the school – both in the website design and in the content. Horsted School’s School Jotter website does this perfectly – and you can see for yourself by clicking here.
A picture tells a thousand words – and on Birchfields Primary School’s new School Jotter 2 school website, a slideshow of creative photographs bring the school to life.
Each photograph on their homepage includes a line that sums up the school’s ethos and aims, with colourful images showing the school, pupils and the work they have done.
The Manchester school’s website is full of great content, too: rather than just populate every page with as much text as they possibly can, there’s just enough for potential parents and casual visitors to take in, and get an understanding of what Birchfields is all about. Our favourite bit is the B-Force section – a page dedicated to the pupils’ school council, made up of children from each year group between 2 and 6.
This colourful, welcoming website is completed by great images of children created on the footer of each page – all part of the school website design that includes their wonderful strapline: ‘enjoying the opportunities to achieve.’
You can view Birchfields Primary School’s website by clicking here.
If you wanted an example of a school website that gets across information simply but effectively, look no further than Westfield Primary School’s School Jotter website. With a clean, attractive design and with just five menu options, getting around it isn’t a problem at all.
This is is great if you’re a parent who doesn’t want to be bamboozled by content or baffled by a complicated website layout. It makes the Cottingham, Hull school look welcoming too – especially as the school building itself forms part of the bespoke design.
For those who do want a bit more in-depth information about the school – parents, Ofsted inspectors – they can find all they need in the Office section. Here, there’s the latest Ofsted report, the school’s prospectus and information regarding school dinners, term dates and school policies.
One of the best features – which you don’t see very often – is the ability to search the website, with the search bar at the top right of every page. It’s no wonder Westfield Primary School got an Outstanding by Ofsted – with such an outstanding website!
You can view Westfield Primary School’s website by clicking here.
The Westborough School’s website represents their location perfectly: with a beautiful design showing a beach and gentle waves, backed by blue skies.
Having a bespoke design for your School Jotter website allows you to be a little more creative with how the website looks – but of course the content is just as important. The Essex school have plenty of content uploaded for children and parents – here are our favourite bits.
The Our Classes section breaks down what’s being studied, accompanied by photographs and, for some classes, information regarding the teacher and teaching assistants. This is a great area for parents to go to find out what their child will be doing – and catch up on recent activities via photographs.
The best feature is Virtual Office: here, parents can find out everything they need to know, without having to ask the school or their child’s teacher. From school uniform details and reporting absences, to newsletters and school meal information, it’s all here. There’s even a question and answer section, in case a parent’s query isn’t answered in the other areas of this section.
Take a look at The Westborough School’s website by clicking here.
Montagu Primary School’s website is a fantastic example of one of our new Schoool Jotter 2 websites. A slick, simple landing page leads you through to a cleanly-designed website for the Mexborough, Doncaster school that looks professional, stylish and interesting.
The menu bar at the top leads to a series of pages covering a simple breakdown of their curriculum, the school noticeboard detailing upcoming events and the work being done in each class.
What we particularly like is the Reading Corner: In this you can find the Reading Blog, where pupils and teachers talk about the books they’ve just read, and others can add comments. The site is still quite new so there currently aren’t many comments – but we’d love to see this section grow and really encourage engagement between pupil, parent and school.
To view Montagu Primary School’s website, click here.
Bright Futures Day Nursery’s website is still under construction. However, there is still plenty of content on the site for visitors.
It’s the design of this website, however, that really makes it stand out. Created to show the nursery itself and the countryside around it (Bright Futures it set within rural Cheshire), it’s one of the best School Jotter designs yet.
In terms of the website’s layout, there’s enough for parents without the content being over-facing: with information about the nursery’s awards, the curriculum and the play areas available to the children. All content can be found in neat, drop-down boxes from the menu across the top.
For parents with children at the nursery, as well as the nursery’s staff, there are user-only areas where they can find extra content – which is great for creating interaction between nursery and parent. It adds another dimension to what is a well-thought-out, attractive and engaging website.
We look forward to seeing the website when it’s fully-populated with content – for now, take a look at the Bright Futures Day Nursery website for yourself here.
One the best features of Much Wenlock Primary School’s website is their Mail on Monday section. The downloadable PDF newsletter has an update of activities that have happened within the school, useful diary dates and after-school club information.
Many schools update their website regularly with news – but with Much Wenlock, parents know the website will get updated the same day every week. Brilliant for parent/school engagement!
The Shropshire school have really put a lot of effort into its clubs – and this is reflected through their website. The Club Sites section includes details of every club that pupils can get involved with (13 – quite a large number for a primary school!) Each one has its own page, with the days and times you can attend, and the kind of activities that take place.
The Kids’ Zone, too, includes plenty of content for children, from links to fun websites to help with spelling (using our Spellanywhere program) and a log-in section for Student Jotter (our pupil e-portfolio platform).
Much Wenlock Primary School’s website also has an attractive, welcoming design – and ticks all the boxes for keeping parents involved with their children, and pupils engaged with learning!
You can view Much Wenlock Primary School’s website here.
