Ofsted inspectors not only look at how your school and facilities run generally, they will check a key area like your website to ensure it is fit for purpose. As all heads know, communication is an important factor in the running of any school. Keeping parents informed is vital and the school website is a primary method of delivering on this.
It pays, therefore, to make sure that your website remains up to date and delivers on those expectations. All too often, this can be the last thing that schools focus on even though it can impact on the results of the Ofsted report.
Here’s are five tips for ensuring you remain current and fully Ofsted compliant at all times:
1. Keep Policies Up to Date
Most schools have policies and procedures on their website which parents and other interested parties can easily access if they need to. It’s simple to upload documentation and takes just a few seconds. This kind of information can get out of date quickly, however, and needs to up dated regularly. In fact, this is one of the most common mistakes that schools make.
It’s a good idea to check through all documentation and policies that are available online and ensure they are current and fit for purpose.
2. Check Links
On any website, links can stop working for a variety of reasons. Either the target no longer exists or the address has been changed. This is the case for internal links as well as external ones. Most sites have quite a lot of links and it’s vital to check through them every so often to make sure they all work. That includes links to non-web page documents such as PDFs that are on your site.
3. Are Your Policies Fit for Purpose?
Ofsted doesn’t just look at how your website is performing but the kind of information that you provide. For example:
• Does your Pupil Premium Policy state measurable quantities and include an impact statement for your spending?
• Are clearly listing children’s barriers to learning?
• Is your Safeguarding Policy relevant to your children, school and area?
• Are you informing parents and Ofsted about all training for staff and governors?
Ensuring these policies and informational pages are clearly available and current is as important as anything else on your website.
4. Easy Navigation
Unfortunately, over time as you add different pages and other content, your website can become difficult to navigate. It’s all very well having up to date information but, if parents can’t find it, there’s a problem. Tidying up or refurbishing your website every so often ensures that it remains fit for purpose from an Ofsted point of view.
5. Have an Ofsted Check
It can be hard to find the time to sit down and take a good, hard look at your school website, especially if you don’t have that much technical experience. Parentapps also offer a website package to include an annual Ofsted features and content check makes sense and removes all the hassle of doing it yourself.
Contact our friendly team today to find out more and see how we can help.