My Vision for better
School Web Sites

after working in support roles for four years in three secondary schools I have become aware of missed opportunities to exploit the power of professional DTP/Graphic software and a failure to apply the basic principles of good design and typography in support of the curriculum, displaying student work, stretching the most able students, and providing pathways to draw the reluctant into learning. I believe this is due to a combination of three principle causes: a general skills shortage in this broad field, a lack of time available to the staff involved, and the undervaluing of the potential rewards.

current school web sites are by and large a hugely untapped resource for motivating students, and for promoting a good image of the school to the wider school community. All too often web sites are given such a low priority that they spend years in construction, with content that is both unchanging and presented in a manner that fails to take advantage of the media.

"Many school web sites still fall short in the key areas of imaginative content, graphic design, and information presentation"

many web pages do not attempt to reflect the design skills that we see all around us in printed media such as magazines, books, leaflets, and posters, or upon our television screens. Attractive web design is no longer primarily held back by technical limitations, but rather by skill deficits and a lack of creative input.

to produce a vibrant web site with interesting and regularly changing content, requires not only web page coding knowledge and a large time commitment, but also high skill levels in the production of graphics, digital art, type setting, text editing and a flair for presentation. In short it needs a combination of excellent web and print design skills allied with the creativity and imagination necessary to originate an electronic magazine.

"I see the web site being a high quality, attractive, virtual magazine displaying the life of the school and the talents of the students"

school web pages must also function as a primary information centre giving students and parents 24 hour access to details about school activities, after school clubs, support services, the organisation of the school, management and departmental structures and opportunities for parental involvement.

the internal intranet side of the web site should be of the same high quality as the external web site and similarly provide staff and student access to content that is informative, interesting, challenging, fun and full of pathways to learning and curriculum links.

the presentation must emulate the best commercial sites so it carries weight with the high expectations of web surfers and thus inspires a belief in the competence and direction of the school.

"It must give encouragement to as many students as possible by celebrating their achievements in all fields; academic, sports, hobbies, social and personal development"

the web site must be a lively interactive e-magazine posting student contributions and comments. There should be fun elements, puzzles, quizzes and subtle nudges towards learning through interesting gateways to the world wide web. It must be updated daily to reflect the life of the school, and keep current with new ideas in science, technology and in the understanding of the natural world. It should draw attention to the big issues likely to challenge students in their adult life, such as climate change, energy resources, and health.

i believe a school web site can provide an ideal setting to introduce modern foreign language vocabulary and phrases in an almost sub conscious way by tacking them on to fun features.

"Topics in each subject area could act as resource guides to direct students to useful web sites and library books, thus eliminating much of the lesson time wasted on internet searches"

each department should have web pages that provide additional learning resources. Departmental pages also need to foster an interest in their subject by showing relevance to the wider world and drawing attention to aspects students might find curious, or fun.

the intranet should be a highly motivating force by displaying commendations, awards, samples of good work in the classroom and at home. Subject areas could act as inspiration for ideas through examples of imaginative work.

my vision is a tough challenge, but I believe the potential rewards for the schools are enormous. Above all, a first class web\intranet should reinforce the school ethos and develop a sense of community between students, staff and parents.

i will be pleased to discuss with you how this might be taken forward, and how I could help train students and staff in the use of professional web/dtp/graphic software.

Roger Sibley October 2005