A 2012 report published that there were over 24,000 schools educating 8.2 million pupils across the UK.
These schools were a mix of nursery schools, state-funded primary schools, state-funded secondary schools, special schools, pupil referral units and independent schools.
Of the thousands of state-funded and independent primary schools, there are only a select percentage that fall in the category of ‘outstanding websites’ as far as we’re concerned.
Web design creation and implementation is an art form, and educational institutions such as primary schools need to follow a set of distinct guidelines, when creating and maintaining a website for both parents and pupils to access and navigate.
There are several things that all of the top primary school websites in the UK must have in common.

A Personal and Welcoming Homepage

The homepage is the first thing that a parent or pupil will view as they are navigated from a search engine onto your school website.
It’s a shop window for prospective new parents to peruse as they weigh up what your primary school has to offer their child.
It’s got to entice, engage, invite, and inform viewers as they aim to get a feel for your school’s personality and what the school has to offer.
The homepage sets the tone for the entire school and acts as a doorway into the corridors and syllabus of your institution.
All homepages should include:

A personal introduction

This introduction should include a brief summary of the school, an overview of the schools’ location, and a friendly explanation of what to expect from the school website. All of this writing should be warm and inviting in tone. It’s not just children that have fear around going to school. Parents face the task of deciding their children’s future, so warmth and compassion can go a long way.

A message from the headteacher

Keep this message warm and consistent in tone with the rest of the homepage copy. This paragraph or two really sets the bar for the schools’ tone and personality so make sure it reflects it well, and makes people feel safe and welcome.

A guiding purpose

Visitors go to a school website with a purpose in mind. Therefore, it’s important for them to be able to access and find information with ease. Clear navigation and an uncluttered website, combined with instructional and educational copy, will ensure ease of access to all information.
83% of search query paths begin with an unbranded term, (such as best schools near me), your school’s homepage needs to easily answer five key questions right away to help searchers realise they are in the right place.
What does your school do?
What makes your school unique?>
How can I learn more?
Where can I find you?
Will I fit in?

Clear Cut Navigation

As mentioned above, clear navigation is paramount on all websites, especially school websites as they can hold a wealth of information on a wide range of topics.
Most school websites use an intuitive navigational system. This means that most visitors will find the information that they need, exactly where they expect to find it.
Intuitive navigation uses the following principles.

Simple/Concise Navigation Tabs

Try and keep the number of tabs available on the main navigation bar between five and seven. Visitors can become overwhelmed and confused when there appear to be too many options available. Crowded menus can also create confusion.

Sub Menus for Related Content

Grouping options together in drop-down menus beneath or alongside the navigation tabs is a great way of displaying information without overloading website users’ brains and causing confusion.

Internal Links

Hyperlinking text so that users can happily hop from one page to another to follow related content is a fantastic way to streamline the user journey and display relevant information easily.

Sensible Headings and Labels

Straightforward titles and headings make life a lot easier for people when trying to navigate through a website. If the link is to a lunch menu… Label it ‘Lunch Menu’… Make sure important information is easy to locate and access for all people.

Clearly Defined Links and Buttons

If something is clickable on your primary school website. Make sure that it stands out and that the link works. This is incredibly useful and really helps users find their way through your website with ease.

Content

Keep the content engaging and informative throughout the website.

Tone/Personality

Make sure your tone and personality are similar throughout your website and really reflect that of your staff and school in general.
Keep it upbeat and positive so that your visitors stick around. Use a conversational tone in order to entice further communication with the reader.

Documents and Valid Information

Make sure that you upload all documents and information that will help parents, governors, pupils, and prospective parents as they get involved with your school.
Think about all of your frequently asked questions and address these concerns directly in the appropriate areas of your website.

Additional Content

Try and include relevant blogs that highlight the excellent standards, work, and achievements of your school. You may also consider providing links to community initiatives that the school is involved in, or relevant news stories.
Make sure you include clear calls to action right across the board on your website.

Clear Layout and Design

Utilise Necessary Blank Space

A seasoned web designer recognises the effectiveness of blank space. Websites need to breathe…, Ample blank space helps with the flow of reading and de-clutters the screen leaving the design nice and easy on the eye, without disrupting the clarity of information available.

Good Quality Images and Responsive Design

The images that you include on your school website are going to sell your school, your staff, the learning environment, and the facilities available.
Make sure they are clear, high quality, and enticing for all website viewers. Make sure that they are streamlined with the overall design and colour scheme of the school. Above all, make sure they truly represent your school and the values that you hold as a melting pot of creativity and education.
Over 52% of website traffic comes from mobile phone and tablets. Your website has to be designed to load clearly and responsively across all devices. Failure to do this can be embarrassing for schools, and disappointing for users!

It is now a legal requirement for all Multi-Academy Trust schools in the UK to provide training providers access to pupils in years eight to thirteen.
In a push for awareness of non-academic routes of education, the ‘Baker Clause’ requires all schools to publish a policy statement on their website setting out their arrangements for provider access.
Introduced by former education secretary Lord Baker in May 2017, this law is an amendment to the ‘Technical and Further Education Act’.
The actual legal obligation for all trusts to publish a provider access statement came into action on January 2nd of this year, but has proven to be adopted slowly across the education industry.
Certain Multi Academy Trusts have been accused of resisting the promotion of non-vocational courses to their pupils, often preferring the promotion of more traditional educational subjects and academic courses.
However, Lord Baker has stressed the importance of fair access for all pupils as they reach important ‘transition points’ in their educational journeys. This is particularly relevant at the ages of 14, 16, and 18 years old when important academic decisions are being made, carving the pathways to further education or vocational careers.

What the statement should include:

The policy statement has to include procedures for accommodating access requests as well as details of the premises and facilities that will be provided.
Pupils and their parents need clear access to an online platform that will list all of the options available for pursuing vocational training courses and the providers of such courses. It should also list the facilities, transportation, and requirements needed for successful attendance and completion of such courses.

Multi-academy trusts fail to implement Baker clause

In a January article, Further Education Week published an article providing evidence that just two of the 10 largest multi-academy trusts in the UK had complied with the legal duty outlined in the Baker Clause.
By the end of January, of ten trusts investigated, only The Kennel Academies Trust and Delta Academies Trust had responded with a copy of their statements and proof that they had published them on their school websites.
Some Academies admitted to FEW that they had prepared a document to upload onto their websites, blaming time constraints and busy periods over Christmas for lack of publication. Others declined to comment when questioned as part of the FEW investigations.

Vocational qualifications to come under greater scrutiny

In 2014, Ofqual announced that it would remove accreditation and change the way vocational courses were regulated in order to improve quality across England and Northern Ireland.
This move was decided so that more openings would become available for a number of potential school leavers across the UK. With vocational courses focusing on design, delivery and awarding as opposed to entry requirements and accreditation.
Ongoing studies have claimed that future generations of school leavers should turn their backs on university education and opt for a more vocational pathway, preparing them for a trade as opposed to an academic degree.
In the UK, there has been a sharp rise in the projected number of medium and low skilled jobs, whilst across some industries there has been a decline in demand for university graduates across the board.
Another 2014 study claimed that two thirds of jobs created by 2022 will be in low or medium skilled occupations that do not demand a degree as a requirement.
This equates to more than 9 million school leavers, therefore the demand for vocational courses and access to such courses is expected to increase rapidly.
However, the most ‘in-demand’ occupation of the future will be linked to health and social care as rising numbers of school leavers are needed to care for the aging population in the UK.

DofE Statutory Guidelines

The Department of Education has stated that the reason the ‘Baker Clause’ has been pushed into UK law is that all pupil should have a clear idea of the range of routes into the workplace. This is so that each individual has the opportunity to make educated and informed decisions about their future, with confidence.
To enforce the ‘Baker Clause’ The DofE published statutory guidelines for schools across the UK on January 2nd 2018. These guidelines clearly stated that schools have to provide opportunities for technical education and apprenticeship providers to talk to pupils, and to publish a statement on their website.
In 2017 the Telegraph Education published the findings of a new report which claims that the number of degree apprentices in the UK is to increase by 650%.

Degree apprenticeships

Degree apprenticeships were introduced UK wide in 2015 and enable applicants to split their time between their universities to study, and the workplaces in industries in which they will eventually be employed. The cost of course fees are split between the Government and employers.
A range of employers of varying sizes are already partnering with universities across the UK to work with these degree apprenticeships.
Some of the brands involved include Mercedes-Benz, Nestle, IBM, Airbus, and Transport for London.
A Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) is a single entity established to undertake a strategic collaboration to improve and maintain high educational standards across a number of schools. A group of schools form a single MAT which has overarching responsibility for their governance.
It’s unclear how long it will take for all UK Multi-Academy trusts to obey the educational laws and publish a policy statement on their websites. However, it is a legal requirement and trusts could face penalties if they fail to comply with government set standards.

Our school e-learning specialists can help you create your policy fast. Get in touch with us today for further information.

Listen to our podcast on Bett Show’s survey of 1,000 teachers.

 

Listen to our short podcast explaining how schools should approach GDPR:

To someone running a school website, it’s not always clear which developments in the web you need to follow. Many websites are commercial projects and so what matters to them may not matter to you.
One of the most important developments in recent years is the growth of SSL certification. This raises two important questions for anyone running a school website:

• what is SSL? and
• do I need it for my school?

What is SSL Certification?

SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer. It’s the name for the predecessor of Transport Layer Security (TLS), a system that lets computers communicate safely with each other. Though SSL is now redundant, the phrase “SSL certificate” still refers to a public key certificate, an important part of the TLS system.
An SSL certificate is a digital file associated with your website. It has two important effects.
Firstly, it provides evidence that this is the real version of your website and not an imposter using your name to gain people’s information.
Secondly, it is used to encrypt information your users put into the website. This means that, if someone intercepts the information, they will not be able to read it. Only you can decrypt the data and read the message. This is very important when making financial transactions or sharing private information.
You can tell if a website has an SSL certificate in three ways:

• Its address starts with https instead of http.
• Your browser may show a padlock next to the site’s address.
• Depending upon your browser, the browser bar may change colour to draw attention to the certification.

Why Does SSL Matter?

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.

Peace of Mind

One important thing that SSL provides is peace of mind. Not everybody understands SSL or the importance of internet security, but most people have noticed the padlock symbol in the browsing bar. They know that it shows that a site is safer to use.
SSL certification gives reassurance to your site’s users. Internet savvy parents will recognise that you are security conscious and that your site is safe to use. Even those less informed about technology will recognise that familiar padlock logo.
Importantly, browsers sometimes flag up sites that don’t have SSL certification, with a glaring red symbol to show that the site is not secure. This can be alarming for users, whether or not they understand what SSL is. It may not be something you want associated with a school site.

Sharing Information

SSL lets you securely share information through your website. This lets you turn the site into an interactive experience, a valuable hub for communication and work.
With SSL certification, you can provide secure webforms for parents to send messages to the school, book events, and keep up on their children’s activities. You can provide online spaces such as e-portfolios for pupils to upload their work and network with their peers. Your website can become a central hub for learning.
You can also use a secure website to communicate with staff. Information and resources can be shared through a secure site.

Visibility

One of the reasons for a school to have a website is to increase its visibility, both in the local community and in the wider world.
Visibility on the web is increasingly dependent upon SSL certification. Google, the most popular search engine, gives higher search rankings to sites with SSL certification than to those without, as it steers its users towards safer sites. If you have SSL certification, your site will show up higher in the rankings and so be more visible to people surfing the web.

Setting an Example

Schools have to consider a factor that most other websites don’t – their role in educating both pupils and parents.
Schools set examples, whether good or bad. If pupils and parents regularly see a school website without SSL certification then they will get used to it. They are more likely to view unsecured websites as safe to use. After all, teachers are expected to know what they are doing, even in areas outside their expertise.
On the other hand, if the school website is certified then parents and pupils are more likely to treat this as the norm. They will ask questions if they see a website without signs of certification. This will make them safer in their use of the internet.

Does My School Website Need SSL?

SSL certification isn’t essential for a school website. It’s not yet the universal standard for legitimate websites.
But certification brings a lot of advantages. It lets you make your website more interactive for pupils, parents, and staff. It provides a sense of security for people using the site. And it supports the school’s role as an educator, setting an example in the safe use of information technology.
You might not need SSL certification to get your website up and running, but to create a modern site and set your school up for future success, it’s almost certainly worth the extra effort.

Your school website design is an important part of your school’s presence in the world. It’s a line of communication with parents, a way of celebrating your achievements, and a tool in attracting both pupils and staff. So how can you make the most out of the design?

Clear Navigation

It may not be glamorous, but the first thing you should think about is making your website easy to navigate. It affects the structure of the website, and so is fundamental to its design.
To do this, group pages together in a logical hierarchy that fits what people are used to seeing on the internet. Address, phone numbers, email, and a map to find the school should all come under “contact us”. Information about subjects can go together under “curriculum” or “what we teach”. Information about events should start with what’s coming next. A calendar with links to individual event pages can be a great way to tell people what’s going on.
Minimise how much effort it takes to find information. Whenever possible, visitors should be able to find the information they want within three clicks.

Accessibility

A few simple measures can make your website more accessible for a variety of users.
Use font colours that stand out well against the background. Black text on a background that’s white or pale is usually best. When making text stand out through different colours, avoid those that might be indistinguishable to the colour blind.
Use alt text for images. Make it describe what you want the picture to convey, as blind or partially sighted users will rely on this text.
Use clear, descriptive text for links, to help those using screen readers.
Some website providers, like School Jotter, include a translate option. If your school serves a diverse community then this can be a huge help by communicating with parents in their first language.

Use the Layout

Use the layout of each page to make it clearer and more accessible. For a page with lots of content, include jump links to each part at the top of the page, so that users with limited mobility can get down the page without much mouse use. Include drop down menus and links to break up text and provide extra options.
Because of the way people read, more information is absorbed from what’s at the top and left of each page. Focus the most important information here, to make sure that people see it.

Pick Your Font

The font you use can make a huge difference in how easy your website is to read. Avoid quirky choices like Comic Sans or old-fashioned ones like Times New Roman. The best fonts for online reading are sans serif fonts like Arial and Verdana, which are easy to read while looking elegant and modern.
Size matters. The best font size for online reading is 16px. You’ll also want to use other sizes for headers. With these, keep to the same font and to no more than three different sizes, to avoid mess and clutter.

Get Visual

Images are great for getting people’s attention and creating variety. You can use them to make pages more attractive and to draw readers to important parts of the page.
When using photos, take care in your choices. To keep them safe, children should not be identifiable from photos, so be careful with faces and don’t match them with names. Photos of eye-catching work can provide an interesting alternative.
Slideshows are another way of making the site more interesting. The movement they provide draws the eye, and they can show visitors a variety of images and text without taking up lots of screen space.
Bright colours create an emotional response and so can be good for drawing attention to important information. Use them sparingly so that they have more impact when they appear.

Use White Space

As you try to make the website more eye-catching, it can be tempting to fill it full of images and text. But too much can be overwhelming. Don’t be afraid to leave plenty of empty background space. Then, the text and images you provide will stand out better, and it will be easy to see what’s important.

Clear Writing

The content of your website is as important as the way it is presented, so think carefully about what you’re saying and how you say it.
Wherever possible, use plain English to make your message understandable. If you can choose between two words with the same meaning, pick the simpler one.
Break the text up into small paragraphs. It might feel odd as you write it, but simpler, shorter blocks of text are easier for a reader to take in. Where possible, limit paragraphs to around three sentences and don’t let those sentences run on.

Break it Down

Divide the writing up with headings and subheadings. Like small paragraphs, this makes the text less intimidating and easier to take in. It also makes it easier for users to navigate the page, skipping to the relevant heading to find what they want.

Keep it Relevant

It can be tempting to cram in a lot of information, just like it’s tempting to go overboard on the visuals. This might seem like a good way to tell people more, but in reality it’s often overwhelming.
To avoid this, think carefully about what the important part of your message is and how you can get it across. What do you want people to know after each page? How much extra is going to be interesting or useful?
If you want visitors to do something after reading a page, make this clear through a call to action. For example, a page about an upcoming school trip might end by suggesting that parents fill in the booking form, and then provide a link to the form.

Learn by Example

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Check out other schools’ websites and learn from what works for them. For some examples, check out our School Jotter website. There, you can also find out how School Jotter can help you make your own great website.

Today, there’s an app for almost everything.
Just by downloading an app, you can make certain aspects of your everyday life easier: it may help you plan your schedule, track your fitness, do your weekly shopping, keep up to date with your social media profiles, or countless other tasks.
The explosion of apps is just part of the ongoing reign of the mobile device. Smartphones and tablets (though primarily the former) are essential companions for millions of us, helping us get through our professional and personal lives. Businesses and organisations are consistently recommended to invest in mobile advertising, and to ensure their websites are optimised to be mobile-friendly.
Your school can benefit from embracing the mobile market too, across both your website and an app – but why do you need both?

The Benefits of a Mobile Website

Mobile websites are basically similar to any other site: they revolve around connected HTML pages, incorporating numerous features and media.
However, what makes a mobile website different from those we tend to explore on our computers is that they are designed for smaller screens and touch-screen interaction. Google’s search algorithm now gives greater prominence to websites which are mobile-friendly, and this is only going to increase in years to come.
Mobile websites can present any form of media, just as standard domains do: images, video, text, animations, and submission forms can all be incorporated into your mobile website. Whereas accessing websites on mobile phones may have led to clumsy, monochromatic visuals once upon a time, you can now expect the same performance as you would on a high-end PC.
Mobile websites are immediately available, unlike apps which need to be downloaded. Why does this matter? Well, for example, let’s say you send an email to parents inviting them to check important resources on your site, and include a link to the relevant pages.
Parents will then be able to click the link and go directly to the information they need to see; if they do this on their mobile phone or tablet (as many of them will, especially if on the move or if they have no desktop computer at home), your mobile website will present the key information in a clear, accessible way.
If the same resources were available only via your app, parents would then either have to go to the effort of downloading it before they could access it. Alternatively, they may prefer to contact your school to get the details – taking more time out of their busy day.
Another reason your mobile website is an essential complement to an app is that they are compatible across multiple devices. Your app may only be available on, say, Android and iOS, meaning parents with a Windows phone would be unable to use it, but they would be able to reach your mobile website with no trouble.
Mobile websites have broader reach, too, as not every parent, grandparent, or guardian will feel comfortable downloading an app; they may even not understand how to. You need to ensure your online presence is as accessible to everyone as possible.
With all this in mind, it’s easy to think a mobile website alone is enough, but apps are equally important.

The Benefits of a Mobile App

Your school should invest in setting up an app for various reasons. First and foremost, mobile apps enable you to send push notifications or alerts to parents and other key users; these allow you to keep them informed of details either instead of, or alongside, emails and letters.

These notifications can be used for less-important information or to remind them of upcoming events. Notifications can either be clicked on to go to the relevant page of the app, or cleared from the screen if they are irrelevant. These are much less hassle for the recipient than a letter or phone call.
Another key difference between apps and mobile websites is that the former can be used offline. Not all functions of the app may be accessible without an internet connection, but others will be: parents and guardians can check on school calendars, reports, and more whilst offline.
A school app may also include maps of your grounds, the location of upcoming sports events, and destinations for field trips. Parents can even explore what homework has been set, take part in surveys, and more. Mobile apps do consume storage space on users’ mobile devices, so it’s vital to keep them down to a manageable size; if your school app demands too much storage space, parents may be reluctant to download it.
Your app typically requires more time and attention to manage than a mobile website, but giving your students’ parents a portal to your school they can carry with them at all times is an effective way to build bonds.
Mobile apps typically require access to certain functions in a user’s phone, such as finding their location, accessing contacts, and others. You need to make them aware of this before they download the app.
Offering an app also demonstrates that your school is on the cutting edge and able to meet the demands of modern life. If you want to give parents and guardians access to complex data on your school – such as Ofsted reports, visual information through graphs and charts – an app can process this a little more efficiently than a mobile website.
You can include certain features across both mobile sites and apps, of course. Communication options, such as email submission forms and click-to-call buttons, may be integrated into both with minimal effort; these provide users with a choice of contact methods in the palm of their hand, without having to dial a number, drop into the school, or even worry about typing email addresses properly.

The Bottom Line

Optimising your website for mobile devices and releasing an app will empower your school to build stronger relationships with parents and guardians, catering to all types of mobile device and preferences. Those who would rather download an app than navigate their phone’s browser will be satisfied, while anyone reluctant to add your school’s app to their device can just hop online instead.
Both school mobile websites and mobile apps allow you to customise their look and feel, reinforcing your institution’s ‘brand’ with your school’s colours and logo. Putting your school at the forefront of mobile technology is key to to maximize engagement and build strong bonds for years to come.

We bet you love your new multi-function school website, with it’s attractive theme to match your branding and its ability to act as a VLE. (PS. If it’s not multi-function, it’s not School Jotter.) All the content has been installed and you’ve uploaded the data to comply with  statutory requirements. Have you forgotten something? Apart from the more obvious information to have on your site such as the school’s contact details and a link to your most recent OFSTED report, there are a few more obscure items that you shouldn’t forget.
Bats and Balls
If your school receives the PE and Sport Premium Funding, you must show how you have or intend to use the money, as well as stating how this has affected your pupils’ involvement and attainment. Providing a larger and more varied range of equipment can help inspire children to become more active, which is a plus point for your school.

Governors Laid Bare
Not literally of course but it’s important to include details of governors’ financial and business interests on the school website. If they get a kick out of being part of a governing body and are on multiple boards, this must also be declared.
Attention or Detention?
Whatever strategies you’ve implemented to deal with challenging and unruly behaviour, these need to be outlined in detail. Parents will want to know how the school approaches bullying and any form of bigotry, which is in the news on a daily basis. This of course should be in keeping with your school ethos.
Levelling the Playing Field
Pupil Premium Funding may seem inadequate but at least it goes some way to helping schools provide extra support for disadvantaged pupils, in the hope they can reach similar attainment to their peers. Details of how and why this is spent, together with evidence of how it has helped disadvantaged pupils’ attainment must be on your school
website.
Touchy Feely
While you might think it’s obvious to prospective parents what your school is all about, it may not be. In any case, it’s imperative that you spell it out on your website. What values do you promote? Do you place most emphasis on academic attainment or pastoral care? As parents and carers browse school sites, most seek out a school’s ethos and values first, rather than the latest SATs results. Don’t just tell them what they want to hear; make it personal and relevant to your school, and your way of doing things.
Regardless of whether you think anyone will ever read the statutory requirements, they’re not an option. To see exactly what should be included, visit the Government website.

As a retired primary teacher I find it unsurprising that numerous studies show a gender gap where girls are significantly outperforming boys in literacy. One of the latest studies, commissioned by Save the Children, has found that the female advantage is established even before they step foot in the classroom. Understanding the Gender Gap in Literacy and Language Development was undertaken by researchers from Bristol University’s Graduate School of Education. Apparently in the 2014/15 school year, one in four boys were behind in language at age five and started Reception without being able to follow simple instructions or speak a full sentence. The report also states that for those children who start school behind, few will catch up.

Factors
While the gap appears to exist for all socio-economic groups, it was wider for those children eligible for free school lunches. Whereas the overall ratio was 25% of boy starters unable to answer simple “how” and “why” questions compared to 14% of girls, this escalated to 35% and 23% for lower income families. Several of the schools where I taught had ‘breakfast clubs’ before school, run by volunteers. It was a sad fact that this club was bursting at the seams. Whether this was simply due to poor time management by parents or because of economic factors, cereal and toast were gobbled up greedily. Once the children’s blood sugar levels rose, behaviour improved and they stayed on task longer. But where gender difference is concerned, evidence from the Save the Children study couldn’t definitively point to biological, developmental or social causes. An earlier study in 2008 by the Institute of Education (part of the Millennium Cohort Study) found that for both sexes attainment was better for children with two working parents, particularly if they held qualifications. Pupils in stepfamilies or with one parent had lower achievement.
Department for Education
The DfE produced a report in 2009 entitled Gender and Education – Mythbusters Addressing Gender and Achievement: Myths and Realities where they tended to refute most of the gender gap findings, however the evidence spoke for itself when it came to girls attaining higher in English. At key stage two, the gap is considerably wider for writing than reading but this is hardly news to me, as I repeatedly felt like I was hitting my head against a brick wall trying to get boys to write. The DfE say that increased provision has been made for Early Years practitioners to try and redress the gender gap but is it too little, too late?
Solutions
I recall an old study that maintained girls were better communicators because female babies tended to be carried facing inwards, whereas boys faced outwards. Facing inwards allowed babies to see their parents’ faces and be spoken to directly. They would learn to read facial expressions and understand nuance more quickly than if carried outwards. Somewhat controversially, the Save the Children study advocates treating boys more like girls. Girls tend to be sung to and have nursery rhymes recited to them. The researchers want to boys to experience this in equal measures, as well as having storybooks read to them and being given rewards for good performance. More creative activities such as painting and drawing are also seen as a way to help with cognitive development. But is it fair to lay all the blame at parents’ feet for the gender gap in attainment? Schools need to build a trusting relationship with parents and carers, working with them to promote the importance of one-on-one activities at home. Pupils need to be taught the value of being self-reliant and independent learners, which will raise self-esteem.
Role Models
There are relatively few male Early Years practitioners in UK schools. It’s more typical for men to teach at secondary level, with a view to obtaining headships. With so many single parent families where dad is seldom seen, a positive male role model is vital. In my last primary school they had no less than four male teachers out of 12, one of whom was in Early Years. This state school had some of the best behaviour I’d experienced and the male teachers certainly contributed to that. They provided a different caring style and allowed children to see a more natural gender mix, representative of society. Surely the DfE should do more to recruit male teachers into primary and particularly Early Years.
Methods of Delivery
There is little doubt that even the youngest pupils relate to technology, as it can be exciting and varied. In my KS1 class, while girls would often grab a book and sit in the reading corner, the boys competed for the two computers where they could play games, albeit with an educational objective. More provision should be made at Foundation Stage for pupils to have access to a virtual learning environment. Lower achievers could work through specially designed modules to help them catch up with language skills. As many schools may not have the funds to provide sufficient portable devices to use, a BYOD (bring your own device) policy could be introduced, so that pupils could bring in a tablet or smartphone from home. If boys are more reluctant to read and write, interactive storyboards and gamification could provide the catalyst needed to spark their interest. The beauty of BOYD is that any elearning content can be easily accessed at home as well as at school, hopefully encouraging parents to get more invested in their children’s education.

Captology is the study of computers as persuasive technologies. The term was coined by scientist B J Fogg, whose Persuasive Technology Lab is at Stanford University. He specialises in creating systems to ‘change people’s behaviour’ and while you might be thinking he works for a covert government agency, nothing could be further from the truth. In 2007, Fogg taught a course on the ‘Psychology of Facebook’ and his students designed apps that saw 16 million users in ten weeks, making a number of the app developers quite wealthy in the process. Persuasive technology is anything that encourages the user to modify their behaviour. This can be information or incentives delivered via websites, apps, mobile phones, games, etc. The question is whether persuasive technology is actually coercion or simply a way to encourage or motivate someone to act in a certain way?

Consumerism

Even something as seemingly benign as a website allowing you to stay logged in could mean you visit that site more often and even spend money. Amazon’s famous one-click ordering and same-day delivery make shopping fast and uncomplicated. Yes, you could shop around and find the same item for less, but this would mean logging in, adding the item to the basket, checking out and filling in your payment details. Amazon has made it mind-bendingly simple, which is why its shares perform so well. Getting points or cash back for using a credit card is another example of persuasive technology, as the consumer might otherwise pay cash for the item or not buy it.

Pressure and Guilt

How often have you acted under pressure? When you watch the horrific and tear-jerking ads for dying children in third world countries, what makes you pick up your phone and text a donation?

Even something as overtly positive as a fitness app can motivate out of guilt. They want you to believe you should be: lighter, thinner, stronger, fitter, more flexible. By using social media to compare results (similar to what weight-loss classes do) this motivates users to stick to diets or face embarrassment. It’s quite amazing how peer pressure alters behaviour. Opower’s home energy management software lets you compete with the energy consumption of similar homes but for the pinnacle in throw downs, you can now upload your utility bill to Facebook and compete with your friends. Baby Think It Over, an infant simulator, is aimed at stopping teenage pregnancies by taking the user through the sleepless nights and inconveniences of having an infant to care for.

Incentives

Many apps use incentives to change patterns of behaviour. Get Rich or Die Smoking is a clever little app that shows you what you could buy with the money you’re saving by not smoking. Kwit also tries to get users not to smoke but they use gaming and achieving levels as their rewards. Others give you daily words of wisdom or support from the community of addiction-breakers. How well they manipulate choices depends on what motivates the individual user.

Macrosuasion and Microsuasion

While an entire piece of software aimed at altering behaviour is seen as macrosuasion, smaller design elements within larger programs are classed as microsuasion. An example of this would be a school learning management system with a facility to offer praise or rewards for completing tasks. The function of the LMS is to educate and the incentive is designed to persuade. Webanywhere’s school web design, School Jotter, is no exception and with the Merits app pupils can create their own avatar with points earned. The more merits, the more they can customise their avatar or donate to charity. It’s behaviour modification but through positive motivation.

We cannot escape persuasive technology, as it permeates everything we do and experience, in one form or another. Whether it’s a form of coercion or free will is difficult to determine. Perhaps we all need to take a step back and ask who is pulling our strings?