School website template suggestions..?

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stevewestern

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Our local primary school has a very dull and boring website and the Headmaster wants to update it, but the he has even less knowledge about such things than me...
I have been busy taking pictures for it, but from what the Headmaster is saying it looks like he is planning on getting a friend who 'knows a little about these things' in to set it all up.
Having looked at other local schools websites they all seem to be fairly basic, uninviting and 'clunky' so it would be wonderful if (with a lot of help from you clever folks) I could present him with a few possible options that might make it stand out as the school is expanding and so needs to attract new pupils.

What I would like to know is are there any easy to use, ideally free (though there may be a small budget but I don't know) templates or can you suggest where I can look to make a start.
I have no idea what I am looking for but if you want to try to help you could google primary schools in St Austell you will see what the standard is.
I guess I should add that I have been looking at some of the offerings a quick google comes up with but personal recommendation is always the best way to go..!

I'm sorry to be so vague and ignorant but any help will be much appreciated !
 
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Hi Steve, web sites can be a tricky one. Web designer or Wordpress Theme forest has lots of ideas and is easy ish to set up. http://themeforest.net/category/wordpress

I shoot school prospectus and web/brochures shots. I could send you a ''To do'' list that we give the schools to prep for everything and set up. Also school has inform you of what kids can not be in shots.
 
Hi Daryl, and thanks for the reply.
I would love you to send me a 'To Do' list as I really have no idea what I am doing here.
I won't be selecting the shots used but yes, I know which kids cannot be included - I got around most by using them as assistants which seemed to go down well without singling them out too much.
The headmaster will be choosing the pictures but going on what he has just done with the newsletter I feel that a few tips from me might not be a bad idea....
 
I'd look at what some of the school website design agencies are doing for primary schools and get some ideas from there. One thing though, there are now legal requirements for school websites and believe it or not, failure to adhere to them can result in a failed Ofsted inspection. Here's a link to the government's website and the list of legal requirements https://www.gov.uk/what-maintained-schools-must-publish-online
 
..and thanks to you both too - I appreciate the link to the legal requirements more than you can imagine..!
 
Beside the information, don't forget about accessibility standards. I'd aim as a minimum for w3c-aa compliance and Bobby compliance. I would also seriously ensure that whatever theme you end up using is a responsive theme such that it scales nicely on mobile devices and mobile phones and not just works on desktop computers. It is no more effort but makes all the difference.
 
Hi Steve,

A lot of schools are now implementing portals into the website for parents or students to logon to, this includes primary schools. I would make sure that this requirement is not being put towards the school as this could put a potential spanner in the works.

WordPress is good, SharePoint is being embraced by some schools for a public-facing website as a school that is utilising 365 will get this functionality FoC, however the development work is a different matter entirely. There is another website system they use but the name eludes me at the mo, if I remember it I'll post up another reply.

From a parents perspective, the syllabus and term dates/events should be front and centre, content for e-safety guidelines should also be a focus-point.

I'm more than happy to go through this further if you need as I liase with quite a few schools in the SW, including Cape Cornwall secondary, Roskear primary and more.

Hope this helps

Neil
 
Neilc28 said:
Hi Steve,

A lot of schools are now implementing portals into the website for parents or students to logon to, this includes primary schools. I would make sure that this requirement is not being put towards the school as this could put a potential spanner in the works.

WordPress is good, SharePoint is being embraced by some schools for a public-facing website as a school that is utilising 365 will get this functionality FoC, however the development work is a different matter entirely. There is another website system they use but the name eludes me at the mo, if I remember it I'll post up another reply.

From a parents perspective, the syllabus and term dates/events should be front and centre, content for e-safety guidelines should also be a focus-point.

I'm more than happy to go through this further if you need as I liase with quite a few schools in the SW, including Cape Cornwall secondary, Roskear primary and more.

Hope this helps

Neil
Click to expand...

Very many thanks Neil - I'll talk to the head to see what and how he wants to do things.
I really appreciate your offer !
 
Most primaries I know used a VLE (pupil portal affair) and most have dropped them. A lot of primaries are moving on to having class blogs as a way to communicate to pupils/parents.

I did our school website in Joomla (I understand Joomal better than Wordpress) and I used this template...

http://joomlatemplates.me/education-school-design/
 
Well, it seems the school has gone ahead and launched its new site - my input ended up being purely photographic, and so far my pictures are the ones without a name check, so I'll be making a fuss about this, as the local newspaper guy has been named on his few contributions...
Thanks again for all the help and advice.
 
It seems as if they have done you a favour! Websites are wonderful things but when you want added functionality or someone has a sporadic idea then it can get a bit of a headache. As said, most schools are now looking for a basic CMS system which will allow pupils to login from home and access some services. My Local Authority has a vision for all parents, governors, pupils, teachers and staff to have access to a portal however this has been in the pipeline for the last few years and not a lot has come from it. Stick with something prebuilt like word press for now - you can get a nice template for it too and it will save you a tonne of time.
 
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