School inspections are not running as normal in 2021. But, in the early stages of the year, we have had a number of conversations about the actions schools should be taking, even at this time. Schools are thinking more and more about what they can do to be ahead of the game. Inspections will pick up again. So, what is the state of school website compliance in 2021? What can you do to ensure you are meeting all school website requirements? Even when things are incredibly hard all round?

In this article, we're going to look at the actions you can take right now to get ahead of the game.

School Website Compliance 2021 - New Requirements

In November 2020, a round of changes was released by DfE.

The changes included updates to nearly half of all requirements and new requirements thrown in for good measure. Our processes mean that we update all our resources faster and in more depth than any other school website provider. The starting point for any school website manager or school leader is the School Website Requirements Guide.

Our guide is free, has been downloaded by over 6,000 schools and includes ALL the latest requirements and information about how to implement them.

If you haven't checked your website against the new requirements, this is where you should start.

Watch out for the new requirements around financial information and major updates to curriculum and exam information.

School Website Compliance 2021 - Priorities for School Leaders

Inspectors and research teams are always looking for very specific information. They follow a range of mantras to guide them as they look at your website.

Where should your priorities be?

Let's be very clear, despite all that is going on and all the pressures. And, despite the fact that routine inspections are now happening, at least at the time of writing. Despite both these big influencers, nothing has changed in terms of your school website compliance priorities.

You should be doing all you can to meet the requirements in full but, as always seeking ways to go beyond the checklist. Inspectors are looking for a website that "reflects who you are as a school" and a rich picture of life in school, even before they visit.

That means that when you are confident that you have met the statutory requirements, you should focus on your wider website content.

In a nutshell ...

If you focus on celebrating life in school, whatever that looks like right now, you will take a huge step towards meeting the needs of all your school website audiences, including inspectors

So, what are your students achieving in lockdown? Tell your school community through news articles on your website. The TAs that are going above and beyond to support the children with additional needs that can't be in school, shout about it on your website. Anything you are doing in school or through online learning that is part of the curriculum? Explain what you're doing and how you're doing it on your curriculum pages. Then, write it up on your class page.

We can all work through any checklist on any website and make sure all the policies are in place. That is a given, it is the minimum expectation. But, if you want to go further and do the very best job you can. This is how you do it.

Want to know how to get people to read this content? Check out this post on why parental engagement is not good enough.

School Website Compliance 2021 - Key Resources & Actions

So, what should you be doing?

First things first. Check your website.

Download the School Website Requirements Guide and enrol on The School Website Compliance Course. These two resources will provide you with everything you need to check your website and make sure you're up to date.

Still stuck? Ask our team to carry out a professional school website audit on your behalf. We'll provide a full, actionable report having robustly checked your website against the very latest requirements.

By signing up for any of these free or paid services you will then automatically receive updates on how you can keep your website up to date all year round.