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Ofsted Website Requirements: A simple checklist for your school’s website

Working in partnership with schools & academies

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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

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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.

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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)

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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

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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

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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)

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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

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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)

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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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