Working in partnership with schools & academies Ofsted Website Requirements: A simple checklist for your school s website
Does your school s website meet the new DfE standards? In September 2016 the Department for Education updated its list of information that maintained schools must publish online. We ve put together this quick, easy list to help you check if everything is up to date. If you are an academy or free school, please check your own funding agreement although it would be recommended that many of the items detailed within this document also be published on your websites. 1. School contact details 2. Admission arrangements 3. Ofsted reports 4. Exam and assessment results 5. Performance tables 6. Curriculum 7. Policies and Procedures 8. Pupil Premium 9. PE and sport premium for primary schools 10. Charging and remissions policies 11. Values and ethos 12. Governors information and duties 13. Academy Specific Requirements 14. Requests for copies 15. Desirable Information
1. School contact details Your school s website must include the following contact information: Your school s name Your school s postal address Your school s telephone number The name of the member of staff who deals with queries from parents and other members of the public 2. Admission arrangements Foundation schools and voluntary-controlled schools: If the school s governing body decides your admissions, you must publish your school s admission arrangements each year and keep them up for the whole school year. You must explain: How you ll consider applications for every age group What parents should do if they want to apply for their child to attend your school Your arrangements for selecting the pupils who apply Your over-subscription criteria (how you offer places if there are more applicants than places) How parents can find out about your school s admission arrangements through your local authority Community schools and voluntary-controlled schools: If the local authority decides your admissions, write that parents should contact the local authority to find out about your admission arrangements.
3. Ofsted reports You must do one of the following: Publish a copy of your school s most recent Ofsted report OR Publish a link to the webpage where users can find your school s most recent Ofsted report 4. Exam and assessment results Key stage 2 (KS2) results You must publish the percentage of key stage 2 pupils who achieved: The expected standard or above in reading, writing and maths Average progress in reading, writing and maths An average scaled score in reading and maths A high level of attainment in reading, writing and maths Key stage 4 (KS4) results You must publish the following details from your school s most recent key stage 4 results: Progress 8 score Attainment 8 score Percentage of pupils who got a good pass in English and maths Percentage of pupils achieving the English Baccalaureate combination of subjects (this means pupils who got a GCSE grade C or above in English, maths, 2 sciences, a language, and history or geography) Student destinations (the percentage of students who continue in education or training, or move on to employment at the end of 16 to 19 study)
Key Stage 5 (16 to 19 KS5) results Academies, free schools and colleges From March 2017, you must publish: The progress students have made in English and maths The progress students have made compared with students across England The average grade that students in your college get at 16 to 19 study (key stage 5) Student retention (the percentage of students who get to the end of their study programme) Student destinations (the percentage of students who continue in education or training, or move on to employment at the end of 16 to 19 study) 5. Performance tables You must include a link to the school and college performance tables service 6. Curriculum You must publish the following information about your school s curriculum: Content of curriculum for each academic year for each subject Details of how to obtain extra detail on curriculum your school is following The names of any phonics or reading schemes you are using in KS1 A list of courses available to pupils at KS4, including GCSEs
7. Policies and Procedures You should publish details of your school s policies & procedures: You should publish details of your school s behaviour policy and this must comply with section 89 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 You must publish details of your school s complaints procedure, which must comply with Section 29 of the Education Act 2002 8. Pupil Premium You must publish a strategy for the school s use of the pupil premium. You no longer have to publish a pupil premium statement Pupil premium funding is allocated for each financial year, but the information you publish online should refer to the academic year, as this is how parents understand the school system. As you won t know allocations for the end of the academic year (April to July), you should report on the funding up to the end of the financial year and update it when you have all the figures. For the current academic year, you must include: Your school s pupil premium grant allocation amount A summary of the main barriers to educational achievement faced by eligible pupils at the school How you ll spend the pupil premium to address those barriers and the reasons for that approach How you ll measure the impact of the pupil premium The date of the next review of the school s pupil premium strategy For the previous academic year, you must include: How you spent the pupil premium allocation The impact of the expenditure on eligible and other pupils
9. PE and sport premium for primary schools If you school receives this funding you must publish: How much funding you received A full breakdown of how you ve spent or will spend the funding this ear The effect of the premium on pupils PE and sport participation and attainment How you will make sure these improvements are sustainable 10. Charging and remissions policies You must publish your school s charging and remissions policies. The policies must include details of: The activities or cases for which your school will charge pupils parents The circumstances where your school will make an exception on a payment you would normally expect to receive under your charging policy 11. Values and ethos Your website should include a statement of your school s ethos and values 12. Governors information and duties The structure and remit of the governing body and any committees, and the full names of the chair of each: For each governor who has served at any point over the past 12 months: Their full names Date of appointment Term of office Date they stepped down (where applicable)
Who appointed them Additionally, the following information is required in the interests of disclosure: Business interests Pecuniary/financial interests Governance roles in other schools Relationship with any members of the school staff including spouses, partners and relative Record of attendance at governing body and relevant committee meetings over the last academic year. The same information should be published for any associate members plus details of any committees they have voting rights on. 13. Academy Specific Requirements Taken from the DfE template funding agreement: Annual reports and accounts Current memorandum of understanding Articles of Association Funding Agreement Names of its Charity Trustees and members 14. Requests for copies If a parent requests a paper copy of the information on your school s website, you must provide this free of charge
15. Desirable Information These aren t required by Ofsted, but they help make your site easier to use and can tip the balance in your site being rated as Outstanding: A domain name that makes sense to visitors (eg stjohnsschool.sch.uk) Headteachers name with first name or initial Name of person most likely to answer the phone Names of staff with responsibilities Google maps link. Directions, especially if parking or access is problematic/complicated Information about disabled access Events calendar (eg sporting fixtures, concerts, PD days) Term dates for the next few years Times of school day, lessons & assemblies After school clubs and extra-curricular activities A link to your VLE, with instructions on how to get a parent s password Newsletter and copies of letters to parents Link to Parent View The published information that demonstrates the school s compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty, and the equality objectives that have been set Your Twitter feed, and links to any other social media sites the school uses Uniform list with contact details for suppliers Downloadable permission slips for school trips A homework timetable, with handing in dates A pen portrait of each governor and photographs Contact details for the GB via the school? Information about the role of the GB, how to become a governor, forthcoming meeting dates and non-confidential minutes Information about the PTA or Parents Forum Gallery of children s work Link to useful websites (Local Authority, DfE, Edubase, Ofsted, School comparison tool, TES Resources, feeder schools)
The weeks lunch menu Snow and bad weather policy Other school policies: anti-bullying Secure governors area A feedback page, explaining how questions & suggestions have been acted on A translate button or key pages in languages that your parents use An FAQ page and/or Ask Us page News feeds Icons for awards the school has gained Jargon buster and list of acronyms and abbreviations Some web design principles to consider Consistent design (text, font, colours, imagery, branding) Compliant with accessibility guidelines (POUR Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust) All links work Pages download in a reasonable time Easy navigation Correct grammar, spelling and appropriate language Avoid having under construction pages or old/incorrect information Don t use blue underlined text, except for hyperlinks We offer a full range of support, advice and guidance for all schools and academies across the UK. If you would like more information about our range of services, please visit our website or contact us, we ll be happy to help
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