The website is comprised of two main areas that serve two separate functions:
- The Home page and public pages of the site
A repository of information and promotional material for the school for those who are coming to you afresh - The Parents’ Area
Regular news and updates providing daily communications for those who are part of your school community.
As a teacher, your main task is to keep the parents regularly updated and engaged in the good work that you are doing with their children. This involves making regular updates in the Parents’ Area
The Parents’ Area features school news a diary dates calendar and a clubs calendar which are usually updated by office admin staff, so you don’t need to worry about these.
Your Areas to Update
Depending on the size of your school The Parents’ Area will have dedicated areas for each Key Stage OR Class OR Year group. Classes are the most common choice so, I’ll write as if you have classes.
For each class there are FOUR areas you can update
- Class News & Activity Posts
Where you share with parents quick little posts showing classroom experiences. Use words and/or pictures. It’s just like writing a post on Facebook, but parents can’t write comments, so you don’t have to worry about taking time to respond. You can also write reminders here as it’s possible to convert your post to an email to your class parents too. - Class Spellings Posts
Most schools have regular spelling test. Post your words to learn here. There are lots of different ways to use this area here are some suggestions. - Class Homework Posts
Most schools have regular homework. Post their homework tasks here. There are lots of different ways to use this area here are some suggestions. - Class Information Page
This area is very different to the others as it’s not intended to be regularly updated. At the start of each year (or term if you prefer) you should edit this page and make sure it holds all the basic information about your class that won’t change much over the year. Teacher name, class rules, online learning links, weekly lesson timetable, termly planning etc.
Read more about creating a useful information page here.
Is it worth the time and effort to keep the website updated?
A good teacher plans great lessons, engages the children with the subject and drives their desire to learn.
A great teacher does all that, then shows the child’s parents what they are doing so that they can understand the learning journey the child is taking at school and then join in at home.
Children rarely tell their parents about lesson experiences. They are more likely to sum the school day up by relaying one negative playground experience or by reviewing their school dinner! By showing parents the work you are doing, it allows us, adult to adult, to support the children’s learning on an on going basis.
Teachers who have actively used this system have reported a much better response from parents at Parents’ Evenings too, as parents’ feel that they have seen the hard work the teachers have been doing with the pupils on a regular basis over the term.