How your school website can be Ofsted compliant
Published: June 2018
With so many issues to deal with when an Ofsted visit is imminent, the last thing you want to be worrying about is whether your website is compliant or not. Your website will be the first thing the inspectors check, even before they arrive on site. So you need to be confident that it is up to date and compliant.
From school contact details, to its behaviour policy, to Special Education Needs and Disability information. Even a statement outlining your school’s ethos and values, there is a comprehensive list of demands.
What are the key things you need to know and how do you go about ensuring that your website does not let you down come inspection day?
Local authority-maintained school versus academies and free schools
Understand the difference in requirements for local-authority-maintained schools and academies and free schools.
The requirements are similar. However it is your responsibility to ensure you are following the correct guidelines.
Updatable details
Whilst the address and phone number of your school are unlikely to change. The details of the member of staff who deals with queries from parents and other members of the public could change at any time.
Governor’s records including attendance records and business interests also need to be updated regularly. As well as performance tables and results for various key stages.
Ensure that your website is easily updatable and that your staff know how to perform the updates, so you don’t need to waste time and money contacting your website provider.
Values and Ethos
Do you know what your school’s values and ethos are? Not only should a statement of your values and ethos be prominent for Ofsted compliance. It should be front and centre so any visitor to your website knows what you stand for.
Ease of use
Your website should be easy to navigate, and key policy documents should be clearly signposted. Parents and pupils should be able to see at a glance how to access the calendar to keep abreast of upcoming events. Also any photos or media should not have any impact on performance and loading times.
Maintain your school’s personality
Whilst your website needs to be Ofsted compliant. It is important to remember that Ofsted is not the key purpose of your website. The personality of the school and its branding should be evident throughout the website and a well thought out design will have a positive impact on inspectors before they have set foot through the door.
At Newcastle Web Design company, Urban River, we are vastly experienced in providing school websites that are both Ofsted compliant and easy to use.
That is one of the many reasons why Epinay School came to us to design their new website.
They needed to display a lot of key information whilst maintaining the personality of the school throughout the website. We created a structured web design and an intuitive content management system so that it was easily updatable.
Let us take away some of the pain and worry from Ofsted visits.
Contact Urban River today to discover how we can design an Ofsted compliant website for your school without losing any of your school’s personality.
