Webanywhere’s School Jotter mobile app offers your school a versatile and bespoke digital gateway that enables engagement with stakeholders and the local community, promotes your school’s ethos and serves as a fantastic way to stay connected.
Linked to our School Jotter system, the mobile app now means access to all your tools on the move. Compatible with a range of devices such as phones and tablets (both iOS and Android) users are no longer tethered and can take everything they need with them. With customisable options and an unbeatable level of customer support, a school can truly make the app their own, giving it a unique identity and setting it apart.
Whether it be creating links to the local community by making content available, streamlining work processes by using organisational tools, or sending alerts about important school events, Webanywhere’s school mobile app makes these tasks effortless and mobile, all in a digital environment that is as unique as your educational establishment.

Why your school needs its own app

• Send free instant messages (no more buying text credits)
• No character limit, unlimited messages
• Add multiple contacts
• Read receipts show the school when parents have read messages
• Deliver the latest school news, events and updates to parents
• Go paperless by sending letters and newsletters home
• Send surveys for parents to complete
• Parents can synchronise school calendar to their own device
• A secure and reliable platform
• DfE/Ofsted Compliant
• Cheaper than 90% of current text message platforms

With the School Jotter mobile app, you can extend your school brand into the hands of your parents’ and send school messages and updates instantly to their mobile phone for free! We have found that for every hit on a school website a school gets around 6 hits on our mobile app.
The app is free for all end users (parents, students etc) to download from either the iOS App Store or Google Play.
Join over 4,000 schools in the UK that use School Jotter websites, mobile apps and school software.

The Department for Education updated the Ofsted requirements on the 24th May 2018.
To help you check if everything is up to date and get an outstanding rating, we have compiled a quick, easy checklist with all the information schools much publish on their website.

If you are a maintained school please download this guide:

If you are a free school, college or an academy please download this file:

Increasing parental engagement can bring a wide range of benefits to any nursery or school. Studies have shown that it can improve the home learning environment, help with behaviour management and develop a real partnership between school and stakeholder. With this in mind, here are some straightforward steps that a school can take to attempt to ensure that parents don’t disengage from their child’s education.

Create learning for everyone

Offering workshops and courses based around subjects that your parents may find useful such as key developmental issues, behaviour, literacy or innovative play ideas can go a long way to increasing parental engagement.
These workshops are added value, and for a small investment in time and effort, a primary school can show that it wants to reach out to parents, involve them with some of the issues that they might be facing at home and go beyond the usual parents evening system or a quick chat whilst filling in an incident report at the end of the day.
Workshops and courses don’t have to be massively detailed, but if they include practical advice, a warm and welcoming atmosphere and something for parents to take home and consider, they can be a great way to build bridges. For maximum effect, make sure that these workshops occur at times where the most parents are available and if possible, try to change up the location – they don’t necessarily have to be held at school – to ensure as many people have the chance to access them as possible.

Make positive moments of contact

It’s often the case that negative contact can lead to parental disengagement. If the only time a parent hears from their children’s school is when something is going wrong, it’s understandable that the parent may withdraw.
To combat this, going out of your way to make sure that there are moments during the day where there is positive contact from school to parent is a simple and effective way to promote parental engagement. Showing a parent that it’s not just the negative things that get noticed and communicating with them some of the successes their child has experienced is a great way to bring them back into the partnership.
These can be planned into the daily routine (drop-off and pick-up points are obvious times) and support staff can also be utilised to make sure that there is always a point where the good things that are going on in your school are conveyed and a parent never feels as though communication with the school is undesirable. This is a simple, cheap and effective technique that can be broadened and embedded into a school’s ethos.

Use mobile apps

With the development of digital technology, making sure there is an open channel of communication and therefore enabling greater parental engagement has never been easier. A bespoke mobile app that allows a parent to easily access things such as school calendars, upcoming events like trips, and gives them a window into what is going on in a nursery goes a long way to closing the distance they may feel. Other barriers to communication such as time or geography are also overcome as parents can access this information wherever they are and at a time that is suitable for them.
Using a smart school website or mobile technology as a way to increase parental engagement means making use of tools that a vast majority of parents already own and are comfortable with. More details of Webanywhere’s own Mobile Jotter can be found here where you can explore some of its features.

These suggestions are simply the tip of the iceberg. They can act as a jumping-off point for a more in-depth consideration as to how a school can consider the best way to ensure that parental engagement is at the forefront of their practice. With these suggestions, a primary school can start to think about the best way to increase parental engagement, leading to stronger ties and better outcomes for all involved.

In another record year for growth and adoption of our school websites and mobile apps, our clients will be presented with monthly awards in recognition for their contribution to the ongoing success of their school.
This will be our first year running the Webanywhere School Awards!
As we work with more than 4,000 schools, we know that winning a prestigious Webanywhere School Award is not easy.

How should I enter?

New clients are automatically nominated for an award.
If you are with Webanywhere for more than a month, please nominate your school by sending us an email at info@webanywhere.co.uk
Through our range of online channels, we publicise the winners providing you with invaluable publicity throughout the year.
Winning a Webanywhere School Award sets you apart from other schools and proves your school credentials. It can help you attract new parents, pupils and teachers.
All winners will receive digital badges to help you promote your win.

Awards categories

1. School Website of the Month

2. School Mobile App of the Month

Your mobile app is your school’s chance to boost parental engagement.
It’s a sad fact that teachers are finding it increasingly difficult to keep parents engaged with what’s going on at school.
Parents’ ‘go-go’ lifestyles mean they don’t have time to visit the school’s website for the latest news and announcements.
Hard copies of newsletters often get lost or thrown out.

What does this mean?

• Meetings with parents are missed
• Permission slips never get signed
• Children are dropped off when school is shut for training

Fortunately, the School Jotter mobile app is now bridging the gap between parents and schools and this is why it’s considered the best school mobile in the UK.
Free for parents to download via the App Store and Google Play, Jotter Mobile transformed the way schools communicate with parents.

The app features:

• Latest news and newsletters
• Contact (and be contacted by) individuals and groups of parents for free.
• Push notifications for urgent messages such as snow days
• Calendar for semester dates, meetings and events
• Hot Link – browse an external URL without leaving the app
• Contacts – useful numbers at your fingertips
• Maps – locate a campus or sports field

Even the so-called ‘hard-to-reach’ parent, who has low self-esteem and lacks the confidence to get involved, can at least know what’s going on.
This may eventually entice some to become more involved with their children’s education and school life.
Relying on parents to visit a school’s website for information is optimistic, as this can be time consuming and requires visiting several different pages, whereas with Jotter Mobile, everything can be accessed in moments.
Although Jotter Mobile is a stand-alone product, it works in synergy with our School Jotter website.
Not only does the app refresh automatically when the website is updated, parents can access photo galleries.
As lives get busier, the need for schools to have an app to act as a communications hub is greater than ever. It’s a great way to foster support and keep parents willingly engaged.
With hundreds on order, Webanywhere have already delivered over 1,000 School Jotter mobile apps – all beautifully designed to match a school’s brand and ethos. To date, our app has been used over 1,000,000 times.
Here’s what schools are saying:

“I think it’s great! Easy to use, can be accessed from everywhere. I have it on my phone and tablet. We’ve very happy with it. – St Joseph’s CPS Bradford
“Over a third of our parents use the app, and it is perfect for us because it’s so easy to use and manage.” – Old Sarum Primary School
“Thank goodness About time we have an app for holy family. It will make my life so much easier.well done!!”? – Holy Family CPS
“What a lovely app. Very informative and easy to navigate.” – Grange Park Primary School
“Great app.” – Drighlington Primary School

We were excited to interview our newest Marketing Intern, Wiktoria from Keighley’s Holy Family Catholic School. Although she has been with us for a short amount of time, we have had a blast getting to know her!
Wiktoria is an incredibly fast learner and has impressed us with her ability in completing tasks quickly and efficiently. She helped us publish content on our blog and organise an event that some of the biggest companies in Leeds will attend tomorrow. She is also learning how to build school websites with School Jotter.
We got a chance to interview Wiktoria, and are excited to introduce her to our readers!

Tell us something fun about you.
Hi, my name is Wiktoria Plata, I am 14 years old and I come from Poland. I live in Keighley with my younger sister and my parents. I am in Year 10 and go to Holy Family Catholic School.

What do you hope to learn by the end of the internship?

By the end of this internship, I hope to learn how Webanywhere works with and helps schools through education websites and apps.

What is your favourite thing to do outside of school?

Outside of school, I like to meet up with friends and do something interesting.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

In 5 years, I see myself at university studying a degree that will help me get a well-paid and helpful job.

What would be your ideal job?

My ideal job would be to do something that hopefully helps people.

What is your favourite book and why?

My favourite books are written by Michael Morpurgo, because his books are always adventurous and usually have a meaning behind them.

What kind of music do you like and who is your favourite artist and why?

I like listening to pop and sometimes some country music. My favourite artist is Sia because of the way she sings and writes her songs.

What a beautiful, honest lady. I had the pleasure of meeting Sophie a couple of months ago at our anti-bullying conference. Sophie was joined by her good friend Zara Holland, Tom Riodon the CEO of Leeds CC, Emma Kenny and Rob Faulkner, an e-safety expert.
I contacted Sophie via her Instagram account in January and asked her if she wanted to take part in a conference discussing the “impact of social media on young children, what can schools do?’’ She responded straight away stating that this was something she felt extremely passionate about.

To stand up in front of a room full of Headteachers must of been incredibly hard but she did it and was inspirational. I had no idea she was struggling so much. A smile can disguise anything and hers was magical.

Schools are facing a poisoned problem with social media and both Sophie and Zara had some answers. No one else is better informed, educated and knowledgable about social media. They spoke about going into schools and talking to the children. The room and everyone in it had a respect for these girls and it was then them who became the teachers.
Watch Sophie’s speech at the Elland Road event:

The full video of the event can be found here.
Cyber bullying is just bullying, plain and simple. Emma Kenny said “the only thing we have to offer is compassion, kindness and love”, Sophie had all three.
The seminar felt special at the time but it’s only now that I realise how much Sophie wanted to make a difference. Sophie, Thank-you so much for helping and making a difference in this battle with social media bullying. You will not be forgotten. The world wasn’t made for one as beautiful as you. X

You will not be forgotten, and neither will be your work to help others, we will continue in your memory until bullying stops.

Sophies slide on Types of Troll:

Talk to Samaritans:
Call 116 123 (this number is free to call)

Cyberbullying Resources

• Multimedia resources from Bullying UK
• A free ebook download
• Lesson plans, roadshows and resources from The Anti-Bullying Alliance
• Cyberbullying Views

Worried about a child?
Contact NSPCC’s trained helpline counsellors for 24/7 help, advice and support.
help@nspcc.org.uk
0808 800 5000

Webanywhere’s school mobile app, School Jotter, is trending on the Apple App Store as one of the best Education apps in the market.
School Jotter, a UK school mobile app has been trending at #16 for Education on the Apple app store. The app is increasingly gaining popularity thanks to its ability to connect primary school teachers with parents. School Jotter as the most downloaded school mobile app in the UK is also available in multiple markets including the USA, New Zealand, Australia and more.
The user friendly School Jotter mobile app became a hit with schools as they use it to contact parents and share their latest news, events and updates. Cool features such as push notifications, school calendars and instant communication with parents to name a few are included in this app.
Schools can contact and be contacted by individuals and groups of parents for free, reducing the amount spent on reprographics as school communications like Headteachers’ newsletters can be accessed via the app. With school budgets being reduced, the app helps schools to be more efficient and save time and money.

Currently, there are over 100,000 people using it in the UK making it the most popular school website and communications mobile app in the country. On top of that, School Jotter has received over 100 of 5-star reviews from parents on Google Play describing it as the best method of communication between school and parent.
“Best form of communication when you don’t always get letter on time from the kids, the calendar is fab!” a user wrote.
“Much easier than trying to keep on top of letter that teachers stick in the kids school bags.” said another user.
The School Jotter mobile app has the ability to automatically sync with a school website, meaning this is quick, easy to implement and can transform parental engagement. Using the app is so simple that even the least tech-savvy teachers can update it.
As Ofsted is becoming more and more focused on parental communication and engagement, the School Jotter app makes sure schools effectively meet the requirements that helps them get an outstanding rating.
This application is built by Webanywhere and is part of the School Jotter suite of products. To find out more visit https://www.schooljotter.com/ or call them on 0113 320 0750.

With the introduction of Amazon’s Alexa cloud based voice service, a whole world of interactivity between voice and technology has been opened. The key question for me however is; can we use the Amazon Alexa skills kit within schools.
With Alexa, you can build natural voice experiences that offer users a more interactive way to interact with the technology they use everyday. Using the Alexa skills kit you can add a usable skill to the Amazon Alexa device, for example, you could ask it to recite a school calendar date, or a parent could use it to monitor a child’s homework.
So how could Alexa be used within your school?

Head Teachers Blog

A Headteacher could use Alexa to create and curate a headteachers blog. From this, they would be able to do weekly updates or even daily updates on the progress of the school giving praise to children and inviting parents into the school making them far more involved.
We all know how busy parents are and we all know how busy headteachers are within a school. Using Alexa would be a quick and easy way to interact with parents without intruding on their already very busy lifestyles. Parents will be able to listen to the weekly or daily update from your school, while carrying out their other daily chores, not hindering they’re already very busy schedule. Headteachers or school Communications Officers will be able to use voice messenger apps like Sound Branch to leave brief audio notes on what is happening that day. Parents will be far more engaged with the goings on within the school and a lot less questions would be asked relating to a child’s daily activity.

School Calendar

In the future, a schools calendar will have the ability to be accessed via voice communication. Once the schools calendar has been synced with the audio technology any parent will have the ability to ask there smart speaker about upcoming events at the school. This can save the parents lots of time having to check an online web based calendar. Imaging asking a smart speaker when the next school football game was and getting an accurate response? This would dramatically reduce the time searching online calendars and ensure events are not missed.
iSAMS calendar integration with Alexa means parents can get audio notes from the school about what is going on, without any members of staff having to even get their phones or laptops out to record a single thing.
This service would be free of charge to any parent once that have a smart speaker at home at the school and would interface with any smart speaker on the market. As this technology becomes more prominent in society, more parents will rely on this form of communication. Some devices start from as cheap as £20 so it won’t exclude any demographic. The school would be charged a licensing fee based on the number of users which will allow even the smallest of schools to get this service.
Various providers of learning platforms in schools are working on integrating with smart speakers which will be used in class to help teachers workload and improve pupil performance. Webanywhere CEO, Sean Gilligan said: “We are reaching an inflection point where are Alexa echo and Google assistant are becoming quite prevalent both of mobile phones and smart speakers.”
He added “This new voice technology brings a multitude of possibilities to schools parents and children in terms of teaching and learning and communication.”

Listen to Sean Gilligan’s podcasts on this topic:

1. Alexa Skills for Schools
2. 10 Reasons to use Sound Branch and Voice Technology

Here at Webanywhere, we offer bespoke school web design and development services that provide schools with unique and highly functional websites, which are scalable, tailored to their needs, and are intended to offer the best user experience possible.
If your target is to generate a strong and unforgettable online brand image for your school, there is a plethora of benefits that come from investing in a bespoke school website.
In this article, we’ll discuss why a bespoke web design offers a more sustainable, professional advantage to your school in the long term.

Superiority Of Custom School Web Design

Your school website needs a personality, and designers will help you come up with a personalised solution, from start to finish. Important factors to consider include navigation, ease of use, layout, graphics and a color scheme.
Since a custom design site is built specifically for your needs, you gain more independence and control. You won’t have to worry about trying to adapt it to suit your purposes as you would with a standard school web design. As long as you are working with a good design team, they will be around to provide ongoing support.

Responsive Design

Responsive websites are designed to give users the best possible experience across all modern computers, tablets, smartphones, and internet ready devices.
In the last decade, mobile data traffic has increased 3000%, this is expected to increase by over 400% by 2021.
Think of the amount of times that you check your phone each day… How often do you use your phone to Google something or check on social media?
80% of internet user own a smartphone and there are more mobile users than desktop users. People have much shorter attention spans and will not give a website a second chance if it has a slow load time or will not display properly on their mobile device. Why should they? We live in a consumer savvy society in which people are used to online instant gratification thanks to technology.
On average, we spend three hours a day glued to our smartphones. A recent Huffington Post study showed that responsive websites saw a 37% increase in unique visitors and a 50% increase in time people spend on pages.

SSL Certificates are a Must

Whenever you use the internet, you are sharing packets of information. This might be something seemingly small, like a request for the contents of a website to be sent to your browser. It might be something more important, like details of a bank card. Every time you click on a link or fill in a form, you share a little bit of information and you get a bit back.
For websites without SSL certification, this information is not encoded. If someone intercepts it then they can read the information you have sent. The growth of wireless networks and mobile browsing has created more possibilities for interception than ever before.
SSL is important because it lets people use your website more safely. Those packets of information, however big or small, can’t be read if they are intercepted.
This has a lot of implications for a school website.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Search engine optimization or SEO in short, is a set of rules that can be followed by website owners to optimize their websites for search engines and thus improve their search engine rankings. For example, if a parent searches for your school on Google you want your website to appear first in search results.

1. To make sure this happens, just follow these steps:
2. Check your site’s health on Google Search Console.
3. Submit your sitemap to Google.
4. Take a good look at your title tags.
5. Make sure your meta descriptions are snappy and engaging.
6. Check for keyword cannibalisation.
7. Claim your Google My Business listing.
8. Link to high-authority websites.
9. Share your knowledge in blog posts.
10. Add alt tags to your images. Above all, focus on search intent and user experience.

Support and Security

Ensuring that you keep all software up to date is crucial in keeping your school website secure. This software includes the server operating system and also any CMS or forum software that is used on your site. Hackers can work their way into your website and cause trouble through outdated software.
Your web hosting company should take care of your operating system security updates.
It’s very important to use strong passwords for both your server and website admin areas. It’s equally as important to ask your web users to ensure that their passwords are strong. This will help them to protect the security of their accounts.
If you allow users to upload files to your website, it can be a big website security risk, even if it’s simply to change their avatar. The risk is that any file uploaded however innocent it may look, could contain a script that when executed on your server completely opens up your website.

The Bottom Line

So a bespoke school website should have a unique and true responsive design – not emulated. You will need an expert development and design team, such as Webanywhere, to support and assist you with this.
True scalability and the ability to integrate any online technology (as it becomes available) are a must as well as security from common vulnerabilities.
Most importantly, you need an optimised solution that is light, fast and responsive, and of course good value for money.