Everything that must be on your website

There are a large number of mandatory issues, essential facts and highly desirable details that should be on every school website.

In 2012 the government laid down details through legislation, which have to be on every school website, from admission arrangements to details regarding the pupil premium.

Beyond that there are a few issues which evidence shows are the key facts that parents will look for on the site, beyond the basic issues the government lays down. These range from copies of letters to parents (in case they never arrive!) to term dates for the next two years.

And then there are further issues that are so highly desirable that if any were to be omitted parents (and those considering applying for admission for their children), might well wonder what was going on.

Which means there are a large number of different points which each school ought to include.

 

And yet a quick review of school websites selected at random, suggests that something like half of all schools either don’t cover all these issues, or, if they do, make it so hard to find some of them that the average parent is likely to give up the search.

Which really takes us on to the key point: if parents can’t find an answer that they are looking for on your website, they will do one of two things. They will either stop looking and (if a prospective parent) go elsewhere, or they will telephone the school.

Of course the phoning solution might seem perfectly acceptable – except that each phone call which is asking for information that is (or should be) on the website takes up the time of school administrators.

Now given that a survey by the School of Education Administration and Management last year found that over two thirds of school administrators said that they regularly had to undertake unpaid overtime to complete their work each week, any reduction in the phone calls they handle, will be welcomed in the office.

So it really does make sense to have these topics, issues and details not only covered on your website, but also set out in such a way that everyone can find them.

If you would like to discuss the list of topics together with a brief overview of your website (free of charge) and its effectiveness in leading to these topics, then email us at info@inco-eduction.co.uk

Alternatively if you woul d like to talk to us first, please call us on 01902 784 800.

You can also find out more about how we work with schools on our website at www.inco-education.co.uk

Now with free added extras

SAM Learning has always provided a complete on line structured learning package that takes students up a grade. Now there is more.

SAM Learning’s ability to take students up one or more grades at GCSE after just ten hours independent study has been well known and well documented for years. 

Each year the programming and content has been upgraded and refined to improve the service and generate even greater improvement for students that use it. 

But now we’ve gone a stage further, not only is SAM Learning now compatible for tablets, it is also possible for you and your colleagues in your school to customise test questions and exam papers to your own specific requirements.

As a result you can set questions on recently covered topics, upload your own images, choose your own marking criteria and yet still save time via the self marking system. 

Equally you can now also receive results of these custom-made tests in an easy-to-access report format. 

And all of this is achieved without any compromise to the fundamentals of SAM Learning – the ability to take students up a grade after just ten hours study.

You can find more information on Activity Builder, along with free sample activities by clicking here. 

Alternatively click here to request a free, no obligation, on line demonstration.

Finally, as you would expect we will be at Bett as usual on stand B294. However if you are not able to get to Bett never fear, for we have created a video of last year’s event including commentaries by teachers on the new features and benefits recently added to SAM Learning. The video is available at… 

https://www.samlearning.com/#popupvideo=2014/01/Bett-Finalv2-1-mobilNEW.m4v

Electrolysis: free GCSE Additional Science resources

To kick off the new year, we’ve made available a free presentation on Electrolysis for you to download and use in your teaching.

Taken from our GCSE Additional Science product, this latest addition to our Science free stuff page includes:

  • An introduction to ionic compounds and electrolysis;
  • Virtual experiments demonstrating the conduction of molten ionic compounds and dissolved ionic compounds;
  • A summary quiz testing which substances conduct electricity.

Download the presentation from our Free Stuff page, where you’ll also find a free virtual experiment on testing antibiotics and resources on thermal energy!

Regards,
The Boardworks Science team

P.S. Boardworks offers complete coverage from KS3 to A-Level. If you would like to try a more extensive sample from one of our products you can request a free presentation of your choice.