WyEd :: education & communication consultancy

Have you recognised the potential value of a first class site, or is yours often out of date and little used? Perhaps getting a site is something you haven't quite got round to yet. If you are an excellent school, does your site give that impression?

An attractive and up to date school website can play a central role in: -

• Attracting new pupils - nowadays many parents will use the internet to find a school
• Communicating with parents and the wider community - 'always on' information source, email newsletters, blogs and RSS feeds, school calendars and general whole school and class information
• Providing a real and larger audience for your children's work and a great cross-curricular opportunity
• Developing a sense of pride in the school and it's activities

Unlike larger companies who set up a website and then leave you to get on with it, WyEd offers a genuinely personal service. We know from our own experience that it is often impossible for staff to find the time to keep such sites up to date. So we offer a full management service, using our teaching, school leadership and ICT co-ordination experience . Unlike non-educational web developers, we usually know what you want without you telling us, providing you keep sending us material!

When you add up the time you would spend on doing this yourself, it is money well spent. And if your site attracts even just one new pupil it makes financial sense too.

Simply email to us the information you wish to be included on your site, and we will do the rest. If you have material which needs scanning, such as children's artwork or a school logo, you can send this to us and we will return it to you. If you need a new domain name we can register this for you at a small extra cost, or forward your standard www.yourschool.yourlea.sch.uk address to your actual site location, if your LEA allows this.

When we have a draft site ready we will contact you. We won't charge you for set up until you are happy with the look and feel of your site.

We design and set up your site and can host it on our servers or on your own webspace if preferred. We can purchase a new domain name for you or use your existing .sch.uk address. Each site is customised for your school, but to give you an idea, a standard site setup could include:

• Blogs and galleries for whole school news and events
• Blogs and work galleries for each class
• Contact form (can have different ones for Head, Office and another staff member if required)
• Calendar
• Ethos / Intro to your school
• Staff gallery - very popular!
• Prospectus
• Policy documents
• Links (different pages for children, staff, parents and governors)

All the above is flexible - if you have different requirements or any questions please do contact us to discuss this with no obligation. If there is something else you have thought of, just ask us and we will do our best for you.

Our sites all look different, but here are two to give you some ideas and hopefully to enthuse you!

St James CE Primary School, Hereford

Mordiford CE Primary School, Hereford

Visiting an out of date site is worse that not having one at all. This is why with our service we not only set your site up but we update it as soon as we can when you have sent us new material.

We can update your site with news, diary dates, photos, reports and children's work every week during term time. All you have to do is email us your school newsletter, plus any new items for your site, and we will do the rest. We will usually have your news and dates online within 24 hours during term time, although bigger updates - for example photo galleries and children's work may take a little longer.

Your site includes the option for parents to sign up for school news by email, so no more excuses about children having lost their newsletter between school and home! The site will be RSS enabled - offering another way in which parents and others can stay in touch.

Setting up your primary school website will cost £500 and we are not VAT registered. Maintaining it will cost £150 for each half term (or each term if you are on a 6 term year). If you calculate the supply costs of doing the same thing 'in house' this is very competitive and saves your staff a lot of time and hassle. We ask schools to set up standing orders for payments, assuming that they are happy after the first term, which we are sure they will be. Schools can cancel the service at any time.

Let us know if you would like a website, or just want to talk about it, by contacting us here. We'll give you a ring for a free, no obligation discussion at a convenient time.

Important Legal Notes:

1. The content of the site is the responsibility of the school. Whilst WyEd will correct any errors we notice, and offer guidance on content, it is up to the school to ensure that information provided is correct and that it is appropriate for public viewing.

2. We wish to protect children. WyEd staff will always be CRB checked. Rob Hattersley is a fully qualified teacher and member of the General Teaching Council of England and Wales. He regularly teaches supply cover in Herefordshire LEA schools.

3. Photographs of children are provided by and published by the school who do so acting in 'loco parentis'. It is the school's responsibility to obtain parental permission for photographs to be published on the school website and to decide whether this is an 'opt-in' or 'opt out' system. WyEd will not publish children's surnames and will attempt to avoid linking first names with specific children in photographs. Government guidance also suggest that schools provide photographs of groups of children rather than individuals, but this is again up to the school. Do give us a call for further guidance.

4. Each payment forms an agreement to supply the service for that period only and there is no long term contract on either side. WyEd therefore reserves the right to increase prices in future years, although we will consult with schools over affordability and do our best to keep prices down - we wish to keep our clients! In the unlikely event that we are unable to continue for any reason, whether temporarily or permanently, we also reserve the right to suspend or terminate the service (if this is a temporary problem the site will still be available but not updated). The school will clearly not be charged any further until and unless the service resumes and the school wishes to continue.