How a radical change to the school’s website can make a radical change to the school

Every school is different, of course. But when a school finds that a change made to its procedure has a significant effect on its work, then it is worth taking note.

A testimonial from a school that has made a significant change in the way that it works, falls into this category for it does give a real insight into how a product or service can actually affect a school in real life.

In the example below we look at a school’s desire to re-build a website in order to meet the needs of everyone in the school – and to attract those contemplating choosing that school for their child.

The website in question is that of Hornsey School for Girls, London www.hsg.haringey.sch.uk here is what they said:

‘INCO have been able to provide us with a website that is both dynamic and unique to our school. When we approached them with our long list of requirements along with our design brief we were pleased with how quickly they were able to produce our new site.

As well as this, INCO have been exemplary at making lots of changes to our late requests, as well as developing the site to meet our needs further.

We have been extremely happy with our new site and have received lots of compliments from parents and outside agencies who have been able to easily navigate and find the information that they need.

I would happily recommend INCO to any other school or business that is looking for a new website and I look forward to working with them and building a long term partnership with them.’

All of which is good news – but there is more, because we also worked on the school’s prospectus. Here’s what they said in relation to this:

‘INCO designed our new school prospectus based on our ideas and in line with our school ethos and new logo. From the design stage to the photography and then onto to publication. INCO helped us step by step and kept us up to date with progress, delivering our fantastic new prospectus in time for our Open Events for prospective parents.’

You can find out more about INCO on our website: www.inco-education.co.uk

Alternatively email us at info@inco-education.co.uk or call us on 01902 784 800.

How schools become efficient and how they maintain efficiency

According to the government document “Improving Efficiency in Schools,” the average secondary school ought to be able to save around £100,000 a year in efficiency savings, while the average primary school should be able to save around £25,000 a year.

And to be clear, those are not one-off savings. The report stressed that these savings ought to be achievable this year, next year and every year.

To achieve these terrific savings, the report said, all the schools have to do is take a look at how other, more efficient, schools are handling matters, and copy their practices.

Yet if it were as easy as that, surely by now, most schools should be feeling extremely well off, as inefficiencies are removed and the savings mount up in school bank accounts, simply waiting to be used on other educational ventures.

Sadly, as we know, this is not true. And it is not true for one very simple reason: efficiencies arise not just by copying other schools (although this can help somewhat) but mostly through the introduction and maintenance of what might be a called “an efficiency mindset” throughout the school.

The process of achieving an “efficiency mindset” has been explored and examined in detail by school managers and administrators over the past five years in a number of schools – schools which as part of this exploration really have made incredible efficiency savings.

Now for the first time the way in which schools are making savings is described in one volume: “The Efficient School.”

This volume reveals not only many of the projects that schools have introduced in recent years in order to achieve efficiencies, but also the vital processes which these schools introduce to ensure that objections to change are overcome and that changes, once implemented, are maintained and developed.

As such report explores not only areas in which savings can be made, but also the way in which the whole issue of changing well-established processes and habits can be handled in a school.

The Efficient School is available in copiable form (as a printed volume or on CD) so that it can be distributed to all interested members of staff.

ISBN: 978 1 86083 811 8 Order code: T1803emn – please quote with order.

Sample pages can be viewed at http://www.pdf.firstandbest.co.uk/education/T1803.pdf

  • Photocopiable report in a ring binder, £24.95 plus £3.95 delivery
  • CD with school-wide rights: £24.95 plus £3.95 delivery
  • Both the Ring Binder and the CD £31.94 plus £3.95 delivery
  • Prices include VAT.

You can purchase the report…