The first two sites that came into my mind were Seven Kings High School and ChristChurch Primary School, my secondary school and my primary school. Both sites are examples of well-designed sites, this is clearly evident. I used to regularly use my secondary school school to site to access my work during my GCSE’s and A levels and I would easily be able to navigate and use the site without any problems. Both sites have a clear and structured format allowing people to easily navigate around the site. The colour scheme of both sites represent the branding and logo of the school, this is vital.
Downsend Primary school is a private school I came across which is an example of a poorly designed site in my opinion. The structure of the site is not very clear and the lack of colour does not reflect the values of a Primary school, but instead a business site of some sort. There is no evidence of children’s work, celebration of children’s work, or even a positive learning environment evident on their site. To me, this is an example of a poorly designed site.
What makes a good school website:
- Good structure: this is important and should allow parents and students to easily navigate around the website without any problems.
- Modern design: ensuring the image of the website reflects the values of a primary school and the primary school itself. It should be eye catching and aesthetically pleasing.
- VLE: this is slowly becoming more popular within schools to allow children and parents to access work from home and consolidate learning that is being taught in lessons.
- Updated information: this includes timetables, term dates, school dinner menus, exam timetables etc. all which should be updated regularly.
After comparing both websites and highlighting what makes a good website, I now understand why it is important for school websites to be well designed. This quote by Paula Hundley “School websites supports community outreach and help families establish home environments to support their children as students” (http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ989780.pdf) highlights how a school website can help build strong relationships with home communities. Parents often access their child’s school site for various reasons and it is vital that they feel part of a school community just by browsing. This can be done through well designed sites which show a sense of community, celebration of pupil’s work and structure.