Jotter Mobile just got even better with the release of v1.8, which will roll out across all apps by May 5th.
After lots of market research our developers have created the features you most requested, and we hope you will benefit from this free update.                     
Here are some of the changes you can expect to see:

Custom apps:

• Custom sections in the navigation structure. Each custom link consists of a name, icon and an URL. You can define up to three custom sections.
• Reordering and disabling of sections in the drawer menu and the dashboard tray. These are edited from the Mobile Centre module.

All apps:

• Notification badges on sections within the app. These show that new content has been added but not read by the user.
• New expanding dashboard tray option. This can be configured at the delivery stage or can be added with PCR.

If you would like more information about v1.8 or Jotter Mobile please call 0800 862 0492 or fill out our short contact form.

Another great website of the week. This week we are looking at the website created by the Colebrook Junior School based in Swindon, Wiltshire.

The website design looks professional and the colourful logos make it look child-friendly. The homepage features a slideshow with nice pictures of students. What makes this website unique is that there is very little information on the homepage. I guess we are used to seeing schools trying to add all the information related to school on the homepage. It’s nice to see that this school is trying something different.

I like how the school made their website really easy to navigate and easy to find all the relevant information. There are five links to the main pages, including ‘School Information’, ‘Curriculum’, ‘Gallery’, ‘Parents’ and ‘Class Information’. I believe that’s all the information that students, school staff and parents need. Main contact details can be found at the top right corner. Again, very easy to find for anyone who requires more information about the school.

Overall, a unique and great looking website created by the Colebrook Junior School. Well done!

What a great looking website! Bright colours, beautiful images and the overall theme that definitely goes well with the school name “Guardian Angels”. That’s why this school website has been selected as the website of the week. Guardian Angels Catholic Primary School is based in Birmingham, West Midlands and it seems to be really focused on striving for educational excellence through high expectations, quality teaching and stimulating environment.

Yellow colour seems to be dominating throughout the website which makes sense because this colour represents the school uniforms. The layout of the website is clear and it is easy to navigate. The homepage features some nice pictures of children alongside the links to the main pages. The menu bar includes links to other pages where you can find all the information regarding students, learning materials and the school life in general.

I really like how the school website includes links to useful websites and other online learning materials for pupils. They can be found under ‘Pupil Page’. It’s great to see that the school is using our Spellings app! ‘School events’ page  features pictures from previous school events and trips. This is a great way for engaging with pupils, parents and the wider community.

I’m very impressed with this website of the week that has been created by Guardian Angels Catholic Primary School. Well done!

Webanywhere’s Corporate division has been working with the British Safety Council for some time. We have provided them with their learning platform for delivering health and safety training – and now, we’re working with them to help keep secondary school students safe on work placements.

Off the back of recently published Health and Safety Executive (HSE) statistics – 148 people were killed and 21,000 seriously injured at work in the UK last year; a young worker is 50% more likely to have an accident – we’re helping them to provide safety training courses to schools.

British Safety Council’s Entry Level Qualification in Workplace Hazard Awareness is designed for 14-19 year olds, and is an ideal way of preparing them for work experience, or leaving school and entering employment.

You can purchase qualifications for your students now – and, if you’re a Webanywhere customer, you’ll have received an email this week offering you an exclusive discount on bulk ordering of assessments!

If you want to find out more about the Entry Level in Workplace Hazard Awareness, click here.

This week’s Head Teacher of the Week is Azita Zohhadi, of Nelson Mandela School, Birmingham. As we discovered, becoming a highly-regarded school in your area starts with having a great leader…

Why did you get into teaching?
I loved going to school when I was younger and my favourite game as a child was being a teacher. I used to make my own register and plan lessons for my toys, teddy bears and younger sister! My mum was a teacher and my grandparents were Heads of schools in Iran so I think it must be in my blood too!
What do you think  makes a good leader?
A good leader to me is someone who can empower others and move people forward without needing to be the person at the front. A good leader needs to see things from many perspectives and needs to recognise that you need to work with others as you do not have all of the answers.

How important is technology in improving learning outcomes?
Technology is incredibly important as it can support children in so many ways and it can bring the outside world and the knowledge of the world into the classroom.
What are your tips for preparing for Ofsted?
Make sure your website is welcoming and up to date as this is the first place Ofsted look prior to a visit. Then all of the obvious – know your school and sell it!
What tips would you give to other senior leaders who aspire to becoming a head teacher?
Get involved in all aspects of school life, do as many whole school projects as you can to drive forward school improvement and making sure that you are well read and up to date with local and national educational issues.
How do you motivate and manage your staff?
You’ll need to ask them that! Hopefully by continuing to value them and caring for their well-being. Also by providing a stimulating place to work and giving them the opportunities to develop their roles within the school.
What do you think makes a great teacher?
A great teacher is someone who feels passionately about improving children’s life chances and a person who thinks carefully about all interactions with children so that they get the best from them. A great teacher needs to be caring, approachable and fair.
How do you feel education is changing?
I think schools have to make more links with each other and share things more. We feel far more of a collective responsibility to support children no matter which school they may be attending. This is a good thing.
What is your biggest challenge at the moment?
My biggest challenge at the moment is the economy and the knock on effects on our budget. Cost are going up and there are far more services that we have to buy into which used to be provided for us.
Think you or your Head Teacher deserve to be our Head Teacher of the Week? Email us – info@webanywhere.co.uk – and tell us why!

This week’s chosen school website comes all the way from Northern Ireland – Craigavon to be precise. It’s a School Jotter website that represents a very useful website design choice.

As you can see from our image above, Portadown Integrated Nursery & Primary School have gone for an attractive background design that gives them plenty of white space in the centre of the page. This allows for any kind of content to be added in, yet the design keeps the website looking attractive and professional, whatever page you’re on.
This is another school that have chosen the Google Translate option: On the Homepage, site visitors are given the option to change the language of the website. This helps non English-speaking parents stay engaged with what’s happening within the school.

From an admin point of view, Portadown Integrated Nursery & Primary School will also see their dashboard change later this month, as we revamp the look and usability of School Jotter websites. If you’re a School Jotter user, look out for a guide to the new layout coming soon; if you’re not a School Jotter user, get in touch and find out how your school website could soon be integrated with all your e-learning.
You can see Portadown Integrated Nursery & Primary School’s website here. You can request a School Jotter demo here.

Having worked with schools for almost ten years now, we here at Webanywhere are experts at creating website designs that schools love.

Take Pye Bank CE Primary School for example. The website for this Sheffield school is full of colour, with fun graphics making it stand out amongst their fellow Steel City schools. A fantastic selection of photographs throughout the site (they clearly have a member of staff very adept at using a camera!) help to promote Pye Bank as a school any parent should consider for their child.

As attracting parents of would-be pupils is as important as engaging with existing pupils’ parents, there is plenty of content that builds up a ‘story’ of Pye Bank. There’s a History Of Pye Bank section, and there’s information about a recent meeting regarding progress and attainment.
Plus, with all Ofsted/DfE-required content included too, this is a highly useful – and effective – website!
Take a look at Pye Bank CE Primary School’s School Jotter 2 website by clicking here.

From their school website, it looks like being a pupil at Mereside CE Primary School is lots of fun! A key feature of this School Jotter 2 website is the News and Latest School Events boxes on the right hand side of the homepage: Here, visitors can see that the school is winding down to the end of term in fine style, with Back To Front Day (everything’s backwards!) on July 23rd, and a report on the recent Summer Fair!

Professional photographs depict children learning and having fun, and throughout the website visitors can find all the information they need about this Shrewsbury-based school – Ofsted/DfE requirements for school websites have clearly been met.
Mereside CE Primary School is an example of a School Jotter 2 website that is stylish and fun yet is very functional and informative. You can find out more about how School Jotter 2 can bring your school to life online by getting in touch here.
To take a look at Mereside CE Primary School’s website click here.

Last week, Webanywhere’s Managing Director, Sean Gilligan, shared his story and experiences with Year 9 students at Holy Family Catholic School, Bradford, for their Enterprise Day. Sean inspired the school by explaining how starting up your own business can be an exciting and rewarding career choice for school leavers.

After his presentation Sean set an Apprentice style task, where pupils were split into groups of eight. Each group had to pick a name for themselves and assign a Project Manager, who then led their team in completing the task, which was to identify a problem in the school and solve it.

After a brainstorming session, each team presented to the rest of the Year 9 students and teachers, with innovative and inspired ideas. These included a salad bar for the school and a student support service. The teachers then scored them out of ten in the style of the Strictly Come Dancing judging panel.

The winning idea was thought up by the group ‘8 Minds’. They came up with the idea of having an ‘Electro-card’, a swipe card that could be used to pay for things in school, for example dinners or trips. This card could then be topped up by parents, avoiding the need for cash in school.

The teams who presented the top three ideas were all given Webanywhere goodie bags.

Sean Gilligan said: “Enterprise Day was a great exercise for Year 9 students to generate creative business ideas. Starting your own company can be within anyone’s grasp ­ and I hope some of these young people at Holy Family Catholic School will be business leaders for Bradford and West Yorkshire in years to come.”

For more information about what Webanywhere do for schools, or to learn more about our work with the community, email me at lucy.smith@webanywhere.co.uk.

Here at Webanywhere we’ve had a busy few months, packed full of events. The season kicked off with Getting I.T Right in Hull at the end of April. Since then we’ve attended over 16 others, including COBIS, E2BN, Imoot, as well as hosting our own Nurturing Online Learning series.

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