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HGfL Web Site of the Month

There are hundreds of Hertfordshire schools with web sites - some have been around for years, others are much closer to being 'newborn'. The HGfL Web Site of the Month (WSOTM) highlights some of those sites which exhibit good practice in some area of school web site design and production.

September 2008 - We have reviewed the Web Site of the Month and will not be making any more awards for the present. We will be launching a new award for Hertfordshire school web sites in Spring 2009.

Questions are often asked about the sites nominated for WSOTM and what the award means - some of those questions are answered below.

• Why is there such as thing as WSOTM?
• Our school web site is better than some of the previous WSOTM winners. Why didn't we win?
• So who chooses what sites are WSOTM?
• Can our school be WSOTM more than once?
• Our school has been WSOTM in the past. Can we take it easy now?

Why is there such as thing as WSOTM?

It encourages schools to take pride in their web sites and learn from other sites that do things well. Many things you will see on web sites (including this one!) were inspired by other web sites - highlighting and giving credit for good practice will hopefully encourage other schools to make their web sites the best they can.
• List of Questions

Our school web site is better than some of the previous WSOTM winners. Why didn't we win?

"Better" is a tricky term and means different things to different people. Show a classroom of children (or adults) six school web sites and it is guaranteed that they won't all agree on which ones are good, which ones are bad, and which ones are ugly. It should be pointed out that if your school hasn't yet won web site of the month then it doesn't necessarily mean that you have a 'bad' web site. There are over 560 schools in Hertfordshire and only 12 months in a year when we can award a WSOTM, so there will always be sites which don't win which might merit a mention.

• List of Questions

So who chooses what sites are WSOTM?

The HGfL team look at school web sites from the list of sites that we are currently aware of. There are a few criteria which must be met before a site can be WSOTM:

1. The site should be hosted on its www.schoolname.herts.sch.uk domain.
2. Sites bought from external companies will not be considered, however sites prepared by parents, friends of the school, HGfL team in conjunction with the school can be considered as long as the site is maintained by staff within the school without constantly requiring help from the person who created it!
3. The site should be 'complete' - i.e. a nice home page and 20 other pages with "Under Construction" or "Information to follow" on them will not qualify.
4. Ideally the site should be updated regularly and the pages should contain relevant, up to date information.
5. The site should be accessible - any Flash elements which are essential to using the site (like navigation) should have non-Flash alternatives and images should always have alternative text specified.
• What is alternative text?
6. The site should not contain any copyrighted material that is being used without permission.

Sites nominated using the WSOTM Nomination Form will also be considered - but filling in the Nomination Form is not a guarantee that a site will end up as WSOTW!

Can our school be WSOTM more than once?

Yes! However, any subsequent awards will be on the basis of new content or a new design, layout or structure rather than a "still looks as nice as it did last term" judgement.

Our school has been WSOTM in the past. Can we take it easy now?

If you want to... however, ultimately whether or not your school is WSOTM makes no difference as to how effective or useful it is. If it meets the needs of your school community, whether that means your parents, governors, pupils, ex-pupils, staff, then that is far more important than winning a trophy from HGfL. Sites that have been WSOTM in the past and have not moved on are probably less useful than others which 'tick over' providing the right amount of information for their school community in an effective way.