School websites are often the first impression of all stakeholders, especially prospective parents, has of an institution. Beyond being a statutory information repository, a great school website acts as a vibrant digital presence, reflecting the school’s values, mission, and unique culture. Our favorite website designs for schools combine great design, informative content, a strong brand and unique features.

In this post, we’re going to take a look at some of our favorite. We’ll explore designs, content, brand appeal, and functional features. It’s not easy to design a school website so it is always worth shouting about some of our favorites!

The realsmart teams favorite designs

Below are a small selection of some of the favorite website designs for schools that our team have picked out. In no particular order here are the choices with a short comment on why they are chosen:

• – This site has a strong modern looking brand, the colours are quite unique and the overall design feels very clean.
• – I like how there isn’t too much wording on the homepage, the images and social feed do all of the heavy lifting. It is really easy to navigate.
• – I like the focus on information we see on the carrhill website. There is the latest news, a weekly highlight and also some attendance info, a real community focus.
• – This site has a clean and professional look about it, the imagery is some of the best and it sets the tone of young professional adults, some subtle animations are a nice addition too!
• – The Astrea sites lead the way in having a strong consistent brand for a Trust. The St Ivo site is a good example with some subtle tweaks to the sixth form area for differentiation.
• – This site has not only a strong brand, there is good photography, I like how the elements overlap and the stats are a live feed into their MIS which is a pretty cool feature!

Key components to our favorite school website designs

A strong brand composition

A strong brand makes the design work easier, the colours will have been well thought out, the logo will be sharp and the brand will be in place across multiple medium. Here we take a look at the two main components of a schools brand, the logo and colour palette.

School Logos

We’ve seen a move in recent years away from the classic shield or circle shaped school logo, some abstract shapes, clever typography and mimialist design are all features we are now seeing emerge. That does not mean that the classic shield or circle shape is out of fashion. We see use a modern twist on a shield shaped logo.

The Laurus Trust’s in house design team create some of the logos, we have to say there are some awesome desgins! Take a look at some of their school websites via the .

Colour palette

A website can perform well without a great logo if it has a strong colour palette. By strong we mean colours that are complimentary, colours that are not too intense and colours that work in a number of situations. If your brand colours work with white or black text your are already winning half of the battle, add in a secondary colour that assists or pops then you have a strong platform.

This screenshot from some brand guidelines really shows how much thought goes into colour theory:

Easy to navigate menu structure

If your users cannot easily find what they are looking for on your school website then the chances are they will give up and leave with a negative experience. One common theme around strong performing websites is that they all have a clear and easy to use menu strucutre. The key peice of advice we give is to ensure you target some of the stakeholders who will be visiting the site and to think about what their main target information may be. For example parents will be looking for information around term dates, uniform and contact details.

The Astrea Trust used a set template for all of their school menu strucutres, this added consistency and allowed the trust staff familiarity in knowing where to look for content. This improves the time it takes to find and edit content.

Impressive photography

Photography is a major influence on how first impressions are made on a website. The images used on your website sell the school to the prospective parent. Images set the tone and also give key snippets of information. From the photography parents can see the facilities on offer, what the uniform looks like and also activities on offer via the curriculum.

If your photography is great then your website design will benefit, there will be no blurred images with bad composition, instead your website will tell a story. The best website designs for schools always have good quality photography it’s a step than cannot be skipped. Having a good bank of images can also be used for prospectuses, promotional material, wall art etc.

In a recent blog post we cover how important photography is, we’ve also partnered with Andy Catterall to offer you the very best service in school photography! Here is a selection of his work:

Additional features

Additional features act like the icing on the cake, these leave a subtle but lasting impression on your website visitors. It could be anything from some subtle animations, interactive data or a nice and simple contact form. There are lots of little decisions that can be implemented into a site that just make the experience more pleasant.

Recently we created a plugin that allows data to be sent from an MIS into a trusts homepage. This data shows the amount of staff and students currently in the trust.

Some subtle animations can ensure a page is not overpowering but offers a little bit of visual flare that can really polish off a design, for example –

Conclusion to our favorite school website designs

It’s no fluke that our favourite website designs for schools all contain more than one of these key features. Consider your school website a recipe, if you add all of the key ingredients then you will have the best possible outcome.

If you are planning a redesign then focus on these core principles and remember that your site can evolve over time. Refreshed imagery and brand tweaks are subtle changes that can refresh your look quickly. The best website designs for schools will hold their own over multiple years saving you time in the long run.

The post Our Favorite Website Designs for Schools appeared first on realsmart.

ĚÇĐÄVlog school websites are built with integrations at their core. Our Single sign-on (SSO) capability is proof of that. In addition, our smartOptions area makes it incredibly easy to connect with key platforms like Studybugs and MyNewTerm. These platforms have seen great uptake recently.

MyNewTerm: Effortless Recruitment

Recruitment is a critical function for every school and trust. offers a powerful platform to manage school job vacancies, applications, and applicant communications.

Integrating with a school website ensures that your “Vacancies” or “Work with Us” page is always up-to-date. This seamless link allows prospective staff to view and apply for roles directly. Consequently, your recruitment drive is as efficient as possible.

With ever increasing budget pressures, schools are still faced all too regularly with spending a fortune to advertise vacancies and recruit staff. In today’s digital world, why then do we make it so difficult for candidates to apply directly? – Founder of MyNewTerm Wayne Cartmel 

To implement myNewTerm on a realsmart website all you need to do is paste two simple lines of code in place and you are ready to go!

Where this application really excels is when you use it on your multi-academy trust website, display the vacancies all across the trust in one single place, with a filterable interface you now have one port of call for all the schools in the trust.

Studybugs: Simplify Absence Reporting

is an efficient service that makes it simple for parents to report their child’s absence. This significantly reduces the administrative burden on school staff.

With on of our websites, integrating is a smooth, quick process. This means parents can navigate from your school website straight to the Studybugs portal, providing a streamlined and straightforward experience.

The advantage of schools using a service such as study bugs is that the school can analyse all of the data. This then allows early intervention.

Never miss a warning sign again. Studybugs automatically highlights and alerts you to attendance and wellbeing concerns so you can act faster. – Studybugs

There’s more

Our websites extend far beyond just these two services. Whether you need to integrate store functionality such as Shopify or a virtual learning environment (VLE) using our user roles and redirect ability, our website architecture is designed to accommodate various third-party platforms. For example, you might want to install . In any case, our aim is to make your life easier! We are a partner not a barrier.

If you need any help adding a third party service onto your school website then just drop us an email to support@realsmart.co.uk

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1. Branding and Visual Identity

The website must immediately convey the school’s ethos, values, professionalism and environment. Consistency in branding builds trust and recognition. Effective branding can be replicated across stationary as well as all digital platforms. 

Logos and Color Palette

• Logo Implementation: The official school logo should be high resolution and positioned prominently, typically in the top left or center of the header. Ensure it links back to the homepage.
• Color Scheme: The website’s colour palette must align with the school’s official colours, ideally using a maximum of three primary colours for design elements to maintain a clean, cohesive look. These colours tend to match up with the school uniform but this is not always the case. Secondary colours are used to add pops of contrast to the design, items such as buttons or hover states.
• Typeface: Use a consistent typeface across the design, you can use a combination of typefaces for example one of headings and another for body copy. Try and select a typeface that you can use across your website and stationary for consistency.

Photography and Imagery

High-quality, relevant photography is crucial for conveying the school’s atmosphere.

• Authenticity: Use genuine photos of students and staff in daily activities rather than generic stock images. How many school websites have the image of fire in a science lab?
• Permissions: Always ensure all people featured have provided the necessary consent (permission forms).
• Diversity: Photography should reflect the full diversity of the school community.
• Quality: Images must be well-lit, in focus, and optimized for web use (compressed) to ensure fast loading times. Plan your photographer to come in bright months such as May.
• Value for money: Avoid too many photos of students in their final year at the school so that the images can be used across a number of years.

2. Understanding Stakeholder Needs and Menu Structure

A user first design begins with catering to the needs of different audiences. A clear, intuitive menu structure is essential for user experience (UX) and navigation. Schools have so many stakeholders that a menu needs to be clear and concise, and keep the amount of headings down.

Key stakeholders and their needs

Example Menu Structure

Limit the main menu to 5-8 clear items, not only does this allow space in the header it also limits the areas stakeholders would need to look through. Here is an example menu structure that we see commonly implemented:

1. Home
2. Our School/About: Ethos & Values, Headteacher Welcome, History, Staff List, Job Vacancies.
3. Admissions: Policy, How to Apply, Open Day Information.
4. Key Information: Admissions, Statutory Documents, Policies, Term Dates.
5. Students: Subject Pages/Curriculum (e.g., English, Maths), Assessment, Remote Learning, Exam Information.
6. Parents: Letters Home, Uniform Policy, Parent Portal Login.
7. News & Events: Latest News, Calendar, Newsletters.
8. Contact

Design Note: Ensure a functional search bar is prominently displayed, as many users prefer to search rather than navigate menus.

3. DfE and Statutory Requirements for UK Schools

Compliance with the Department for Education (DfE) requirements is mandatory and therefore should be at the top of your list when designing a school website. All required information must be easily accessible, ideally through the Key Information or Statutory Information section, You do not want Ofsted having to search through multiple areas of your website. 

Essential Information Requirements

• Contact Details: Name, postal address, telephone number, and the name of the person who handles queries.
• Admissions: Current and future arrangements.
• Policies: Behaviour, Safeguarding, Charging and Remissions, and Complaints Policy (All should be linked to a PDF file for viewing or download).
• Curriculum: Content and approach for each academic year.
• Pupil Premium/Catch-Up Funding: Strategy and impact report.
• Ofsted: Link to the school’s most recent report.
• Governance: Information on the governing body, including attendance and register of interests.
• Financial Information: Staff salary details (ÂŁ100k or more).

We have a that you can follow along with previous blog posts.

4. Technical Performance and SEO

A beautiful, compliant website is useless if it cannot be found via search engines and Ai queries. Strong Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and technical performance are essential.

Technical Requirements (the bits we can help with)

• Mobile Friendly Design: The website must be fully responsive and optimized for mobile devices, as this is how Google primarily indexes websites.
• Speed (Core Web Vitals): Optimize images, minimize code, and use fast hosting to ensure quick loading times, which is a major ranking factor.
• Security (HTTPS): The entire site must be secure using an SSL certificate (HTTPS).
• Sitemap: Submit an XML sitemap to Google Search Console to ensure all pages are crawled and indexed efficiently.

We run regular accessibility, lighthouse and penetration tests to ensure the platform your website runs on is up to scratch. Taking this worry our of designing a school website is a real benefit of using a provider such as realsmart.

Content Strategy

• Target Local Keywords: Optimize every applicable page title and meta description using the school’s name and location. Think about how many schools share the same name, for example St Mary’s. 
• News/Blog Section: Regularly publish original, high-quality content related to school life (trips and events), education trends (project based learning), or local community news, targeting relevant keywords. Ensure articles include a descriptive title and date.
• Metadata: Write unique, compelling Title Tags (under 60 characters) and Meta Descriptions (under 160 characters) for every single page.
• Don’t neglect the footer: The footer of your website is an important element. Generally your visitors will scroll down here to look for contact information so why not make use of this area an present them with even more information such as key links, accreditations etc. This content then appears on every page.

5. Keep it simple!

This may sound a bit counterintuitive since we’ve just covered a range of topics to cover but it actually makes sense when you dig into some key points:

• Simplify content: ensure your users do not need to scroll though endless amounts of content on a page. Break content down into sections or even sub pages. Use items such as accordions to hide content until a clear and concise title is clicked on. The easier your content is to scan then the faster stakeholders will find what they desire. 
• Single point of truth: Upload all of your policies into a single section, then when you refer to a specific policy on another page (admissions for example), simply link back to the policies page rather than the individual file. This ensures that you only need to keep on top of one single area for policy management. We’ve got multiple solutions for easy management of policies!
• Single news source: Decide early on in the process how you will present your latest news, this could be via social media that can then be embedded on the website or via blog post that is displayed on your homepage that you can then share via socials. You only need to be posting an article once!
• Schedule in time to update your website: Instead of chipping away at bits when they arise, plan in some annual time to focus on updating key aspects of your website. Changing and updating the images used on the site, uploading new policies, changing the term dates for the next academic year. Put these updates in your calendar or use our email reminder functionality to plan when to make updates. 
• Make use of integrations: We have multiple methods of integrating with Microsoft and Google Solutions, Whether it be policy management or displaying a calendar, we’ve got solutions to help you!

Don’t forget that our support team is always here to help you! Just drop us an email to support@realsmart.co.uk

A final word

By integrating a solid brand, clear navigation for all stakeholders, full DfE compliance, and a strong technical foundation, the school website will serve you well and require minimal day to day input. Designing a school website is the hard work that really pays off if you do it well.

The post Designing a school website our essential guide appeared first on realsmart.

Here is a step by step guide and a list of crucial points to be aware of during the transition.

The Transition Process: A Step by Step Approach

1. Initial Assessment and Planning

Before engaging a new provider, thoroughly assess your current website’s performance, what you like and dislike, and what features you want to see in the new website.

• Define Your Goals: What do you want the new website to achieve? (e.g., better communication, increased enrollment inquiries, improved accessibility).
• Establish Key Stakeholders: Identify who needs to be involved in the decision making and content creation process (e.g., Headteacher, Governors, IT lead, administrative staff).
• Set a Realistic Timeline: Work backward from your desired launch date or end of current contract, allocating time for planning, content migration, design iteration, and testing.

2. Provider Selection

Research and select a provider that specializes in school websites and understands the unique requirements of the education sector. Take advantage of bespoke functionality that is aimed at schools. 

• Review Portfolios: Look at examples of other schools they have worked with.
• Request a Demo: Ensure the Content Management System (CMS) is intuitive and easy for staff to use.
• Check Support and Training: Understand what support is offered post launch and whether there are any additional costs. We have no additional costs for support or training.
• Planning for the future: Investigate how easy it is to change providers in the future, can you export your content and how easy is it to work with?

3. Design and Branding

The new website is the perfect opportunity to implement any new brand guidelines or simply give your school a visual refresh. Whether you decide to change the font you use, tweak your brand colours or even change your logo, this is the ideal stage to implement change. 

• Apply New Brand Guidelines: Ensure your new website accurately reflects your school’s ethos, colors, and logo.
• Focus on User Experience (UX): Prioritize clear navigation and mobile responsiveness. Most users will access your site on a phone or tablet.

4. Content Strategy and Creation

This is the most time consuming step but is essential for a successful launch.

• Start Fresh with Content: Resist the urge to simply copy and paste old, outdated material. Use this as a chance to audit, update, and rewrite content to be concise, engaging, and relevant.
• Identify Mandatory Content: Ensure all legally required documents and information are accounted for. We have a handy to ensure your school website is DFE compliant.

5. Development and Testing

The provider will build the site, but your input and rigorous testing are vital before launch.

• Regular Check-ins: Maintain open communication with the provider throughout the build process. Be open with them if you feel like a tweak is needed to the design. 
• Thorough Testing: Test on multiple devices (desktop, tablet, mobile) and browsers. Check all links, forms, and interactive elements.

6. Launch and Post Launch

Plan the migration of your domain name and be ready for immediate feedback.

• Domain Migration: Work with your IT team and the new provider to ensure a seamless switch, minimizing downtime.
• Staff Training: Ensure all relevant staff are trained on how to update and manage the new CMS.

Key Points to Be Aware Of

*For a full list of required content, please refer to the latest DfE guidelines available here:

Conclusion

This transition, while requiring effort, is an excellent investment in your school’s future, ensuring a modern, compliant, and effective digital platform for the entire school community. If you are interested in changing your school website provider to realsmart then just drop us an email, we look forward to partnering with you.

The post Advice for Changing School Website Provider appeared first on realsmart.

Whether you need to announce a PE class change, a weather delay, or a reminder for the school play, here is how to set up Boxzilla on your WordPress site while keeping your SEO rankings high. Also, using a popup responsibly can boost engagement when school news needs immediate attention.

Why Boxzilla is Perfect for School Websites

Many school sites struggle with slow loading times. Boxzilla is designed for performance, and that makes it an ideal popup alternative for educational websites.

• Lightweight: It won’t drag down your PageSpeed Insights scores.
• Non-Intrusive: It “slides” in rather than “popping” up, which is much better for mobile user experience (UX).
• Highly Targeted: You can show specific boxes only on certain classroom or grade-level pages.

See some examples of how it’s used on our School Websites

Step 1: Install and Activate Boxzilla

From your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins > Add New and search for “Boxzilla.” Once activated, you’ll see a new “Boxzilla” menu item in your sidebar and can start configuring popup boxes for your announcements.

Step 2: Create Your “School Alert” Box

Please see our article if you need help!

Click Add New Box. This interface looks just like the standard WordPress editor, making it easy to use when designing a popup notice for your school website.

1. Add Your Content: Keep it punchy.
   • Example: “Reminder: Early Dismissal this Friday! Students will be released at 12:30 PM for teacher workdays.”
2. Add a Call to Action (CTA): If there’s a form to sign or a lunch menu to view, link it here.
3. Visual Branding: Use the “Box Settings” area to match the box background to your school colors (e.g., Navy Blue or Forest Green).

Step 3: Set Your School-Specific Triggers

SEO in 2026 heavily weighs User Engagement. To avoid “annoying” your visitors, configure these triggers in the Boxzilla settings for each popup alert on your website:

• Scroll Percentage: Set the box to appear once a parent has scrolled 25% down the page. This proves they are actually reading the content.
• Time on Site: A 10-second delay is perfect for school homepages.
• Exit Intent (Premium): Great for “Before you go, don’t forget to sign up for the newsletter!” Using popup triggers like exit intent can help remind parents at the perfect moment.

Step 4: Mastering Mobile SEO with Boxzilla

Google and other search engines penalize sites that block content on mobile devices. To stay SEO-safe, choose popup positioning thoughtfully.

• Positioning: Set the box to slide in from the Bottom Right or Bottom Center.
• Dimensions: Keep the box width small (under 300px for mobile) so it doesn’t cover the entire screen.
• Dismissible: Ensure the “Close” button is clearly visible.

2026 SEO Tip: Use “Conditional Logic”

Don’t show the “Kindergarten Registration” box to parents who are looking at the “High School Football” page. Instead, set different popup rules to keep targeted content relevant.

In the Boxzilla “Conditions” section, you can tell the box to only appear on specific URLs. This keeps your site relevant to the user, which reduces your bounce rate—a key factor for ranking well on search engines. Therefore, smart popup display rules can achieve targeted communication.

Summary Checklist for Boxzilla

Final Thoughts

Boxzilla is the “quiet achiever” of WordPress plugins. It gives your school the communication tools it needs without the “clutter” of traditional popup builders. By following the steps above, you’ll keep your parents informed and your SEO in top shape. Lastly, choosing the right popup for school sites optimises information flow and parent engagement.

The post How to Use Boxzilla for School Website Alerts (WordPress Guide) appeared first on realsmart.

How to defend against these threats

• Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA): MFA is a critical defence against attackers logging into your account and accessing sensitive data.
  School Admins can now force staff to use MFA either on a user by user basis or select all staff. Simply select users and select Enable 2FA from Password Bulk Actions. We recommend Google Authenticator (or use an Authenticator app that you are already using)
  
  This realsmart article explains how your admins can implement MFA
  
  
  This article will help your staff set up MFA
  
  

• Educate users: Train your staff to be cautious of phishing attempts and to report suspicious activity immediately.
  
• Ensure your password is not a default. Adopting the ‘three random words’ technique can help users to use suitably complex passphrases that they can actually remember.
  
• Adopt a password policy for your users, where they must use complex passwords and a password expiry duration prompts user to update their password.
  
  This article explains the realsmart password options and settings
  
  

What ĚÇĐÄVlog are doing to ensure you are more protected

• ĚÇĐÄVlog is taking a pro-active approach to ensure that you have the tools to protect your users and data
• Admin users can now be managed in an Admin OU in your Google Workspace Environment
• All users in the Admin OU can easily be prompted to enable Google’s multi-factor authentication via google 2FA settings

Our Commitment

We value your trust and are committed to maintaining the security of your users data.

The post Security Update appeared first on realsmart.

Why wordpress?

WordPress is the world’s most popular content management system (CMS) for a reason. It is flexible, scalable, and incredibly user friendly. It powers the majority of the wordwide web which in turn means it is vastly supported by a worldwide community and a wealth of knowledge.

The realsmart offering

While WordPress provides the engine, we at realsmart offer a tailored environment specifically designed for Schools and MATs. Integrating WordPress through a service like ourselves brings a suite of specialised advantages:

1. Enhanced Security and Compliance

We provide dedicated hosting and security features that are essential for protecting sensitive school and student data. This ensures your website meets the necessary regulatory standards and gives you peace of mind. Leveraging the power of tools such as AWS and Cloudflare we work with industry leading technology to give you the very best service.

2. Education-Specific Tools

With realsmart, the WordPress installation is often pre-configured or bundled with plugins and features crucial for schools, such as:

• MIS Integration: We can sync your users from your schools MIS into realsmart to allow users to log into your school website to manage their content. Alternatively we can generate a list of logins for cases where only a handfull of accounts with access are required.
• Calendar and Event Management: Easy publishing of term dates, school trips, and meetings. We can intergrate with feeds from multiple sources of calendar, from Google Calendar to Microsoft Outlook calendars and more.
• Bespoke Theme Options: Themes designed to meet the communication and aesthetic needs of a school environment. Easy to update main carousels, areas to add anayltics tracking and out of the box responsiveness.
• School Specific Plugins: We have developed a long list of plugins designed to make managing your school website easier. From policy management, job vacancies, carousels, popups and more we have plenty of solutions for you to take advanatge of.
• Multisite Functionality: Our multisite functionality makes it easy for you to manage content such as policies, menu links and news posts from one location such as the Trust website and then push this content across multiple other school websites.

3. Dedicated Support

When an issue arises, you won’t be navigating the generic WordPress forums alone. We offer dedicated, UK-based support that understands the specific needs of a school. If you need assistance, simply drop our support team an email, or find the support guide on our .

The best bit? We have no hidden costs, our support service is all part of the package. We’ve heard some fo the horror stories where schools have been charged for a simple colour change or some assistance formatting content.

4. Simplified Management

We handle the technical heavy lifting such as: updates, backups, and maintenance, allowing school staff to focus entirely on content creation and communication. We backup sites every night and store these backups on a 30 day rolling service giving you peace of mind.

Need more Information?

If there is anythin else you need to know about our offering for school websites with WordPress then just drop us a call or have a browse through all of our products. We try to post regular blog posts that will often include any new features we’ve developed or useful information to make your school life easier.

The post The advantages of using wordpress for your school website appeared first on realsmart.

Website news

As well as general updates to our codebase to ensure it works as efficiently as possible we have also released a host of new plugins and features. Here is a quick insight into what has been developed:

• New policy/document manager plugin
• Multisite functionality for the policy/document manager plugin
• Vacancies plugin
• Login link shortcode
• Started development on a parents evening booking system plugin

Policy manager plugin

We’ve developed a plugin that allows you to manage all of your policys (or other grouped documents) directly from within your school website. This offers an alternative to our existing plugins that allow you to display the contents of either a or folder directly onto your school website. With this final addition to our policy management offering we now offer solutions for any approach of managing doucments on your website.

Our plugin allows you to create groups in which you can assign doucments uploaded to your school website, this allows you to not only manage policies but also other potential groups of documents such as letters home, newsletters etc. Once you’ve uploaded a group of documents you can simply paste a provided shortcode into a page and then voila, your documents all appear in a user friendly interface. Interested? Take a look at our guide on setting up and using the plugin .

Policy manager multi-site functionality

After the policy manager plugin was released we started work on an update that would allow users to display a group of documents across more than one website. The advantage of this update is that it now allows a trust to manage a set of trust wide policies from one single location. The trust can then display this group of policies/documents across every school website for easy document management.

Vacancies Plugin

The second plugin we’ve released is a vacancies plugin, this allows you to add and display current vacancies on your school/trust website. We know there are some great options and methods of advertising vacancies already out there such as services like MyNewTerm but we are providing schools with a free alternative to displaying vacancies on their school website. The plugin allows you to easily create a vacancy, add instructions, set dates for it to display and also assign any relevant documents to a role. Each vacancy added is then displayed in a user friendly template until the close date is reached.

Take a look at our on setting up and using the plugin if you are interested.

Login link shortcode

We know there are some customers who do not have a need for the login bar on our websites as they do not use the single sign on, MIS sync and apps management services we have intergrated with our websites. Usually we would just turn off the bar and then provide a more subtle login link to access the backend of the website. We have now developed an option (located in your smartOptions panel) that allows you to grab a login link shortcode, this can then be placed anywhere on your school website for easy access. Simple but effective this now opens the doors for all sorts of alternative and creative login options.

Parents evening booking system

In early development stages but we have started work on a parents evening booking system that will be inbuilt into your school website. This leverages the abilitys of WordPress so that the timeslots can be displayed in your website, confirmation emails sent and also an admin interface to setup and customise the event. Parents will be able to book a slot and will receive confirmation upon success. Teachers will be able to cusomise the amount of slots avaialble, the length of slots and also add in any requried breaks.

Take a sneak peak below:

Half Term is here!

We hope you all have a well earned half term break! Keep an eye out for future updates from the team and don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any queries or suggestions!

Team realsmart

The post Half term review and updates appeared first on realsmart.

The importance of clear headings

The top-level headings in your school website’s navigation menu must be instantly recognizable and intuitive. Vague or overly-clever language is no help to good navigation. Your users should know exactly where they’re going before they click. Don’t forget even Ofsted trawl through your website, make it easy for them.

Here are some best practices for main headings:

• Be Direct: Use common, simple terms that cover a broad category, such as “Parents”, “Admissions”, “About Us” and “Contact”.
• Focus on the User: Consider what your primary audiences are looking for. Parents are likely searching for calendars and resources, while prospective families need admissions information.
• Limit the Options: Keep the number of main menu items manageable—ideally between five and seven. Too many choices overwhelm the user and cna cause your menu to wrap over multiple lines.

If you find this a little challenging then look at what other schools are doing or a bit of advice we often give is to target your main stakeholders (Staff, Students, Parents/Carers, Ofsted and the local community).

Utilizing submenus in your school website menu

Once a user clicks a main heading, a well-structured submenu acts as the map for that specific section. This is where you organize all the detailed pages within that category. Submenus are essential for avoiding a chaotic dumping ground of links under a single heading or pages containing mountains of content.

By using submenus, you can neatly group related information, making it easier for a user to scan and locate a specific document or page.

Consider how a “Parents” section can be structured:

• Parents
  • Term Dates
  • Admissions
  • School Lunches
  • Uniform
  • Letters Home
  • Safeguarding

The links above are all pieces of information that we have grouped as being of interest to parents/carers. Our schools at the Astrea Trust are a perfect example and they consistently use this structure across the trust – .

Tips for a well-managed navigation menu

To maintain a pristine navigation system, follow these actionable tips:

1. Conduct an Audit: Go through every menu item and ask: “Is this necessary? Is the title clear? Is this the most logical place for this link?”
2. Use Descriptive Link Text: Instead of a generic link like “Click Here,” use specific text like “View 2026-2027 Academic Calendar.”
3. Review Regularly: School offerings and policies change. Schedule a review of your website’s menu structure every six months, perhaps around the start of a new semester.
4. Get External Feedback: Have a parent, a new teacher, or even a community member try to find specific information (like the lunch menu or the school’s mission statement) and note where they struggle.

A clear, well-structured navigation menu is the silent workhorse of your school’s website, it is one of the key steps of designing a new school website. It minimizes user frustration, enhances accessibility, and ensures that vital information is found quickly and efficiently. Make managing this core element a priority—your community will thank you for it!

If you need any further help with your main menu take a look at our simple guide for managing it .

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Absolute Hyperlinks: The FULL Address

An absolute hyperlink is the complete, full URL to a destination. Think of it as a street address that includes the recipient’s name, street number, city, state, and post code. It contains all the information needed for a browser to locate the resource, regardless of where the current page is located. Here is an example of an absolute hyperlink – /school-websites/primary-school-websites/

Key Characteristics of an Absolute Hyperlink:

• It includes the protocol: It must start with http:// or https://.
• It includes the domain name: It specifies the website’s address (e.g., www.realsmart.co.uk).
• It works anywhere: It can be used to link to any resource on the internet, including a different website entirely. 

Attention! If you are linking to your website’s main page from an external site, you must use an absolute URL, for example: https://www.realsmart.co.uk/

When to Use Absolute Hyperlinks:

• Linking to external websites.
• Including links in emails (since you don’t know where the email will be opened).
• Referring to files that will be consumed outside of your website’s structure, such as in a PDF document.

Relative Hyperlinks: The Shortcut

A relative hyperlink provides a path to a resource relative to the current page. It’s like giving directions to a friend that start with “From where you are right now…” It only includes the parts of the URL that are different from the current page’s URL. The browser automatically assumes the current domain name. In our example, instead of applying a link using – /school-websites/primary-school-websites/ We would only use /school-websites/primary-school-websites/ 

Key Characteristics of a Relative Hyperlink:

• It does not include the domain name, it is assumed by the browser.
• It only works within the same website.

Consider the following examples of relative paths using as an example:

This link is using /school-websites/primary-school-websites/ and will take you to our primary school websites page.

This link is using /microsoft-active-directory-sync/ and will take you to our Microsoft sync page. 

When to Use Relative Hyperlinks:

• Linking between pages on the same website. This is the primary use case.
• Making your website more portable. If you move your entire site to a new domain name, all relative links will still work without modification, whereas absolute links would need to be updated. We see this more and more commonly with schools now joining trusts etc and their domain name will change. 

Comparison Chart

Choosing between absolute and relative links is usually straightforward once you know the destination. Below is a brief comparison:

Summary

As you can see there are use cases for both types of hyperlink but it is worth knowing the difference. Now that schools change domains a lot more frequently than in the past it is worth knowing about and implementing relative hyperlinks. Using these across your website will save you a lot of time and headache if your school ever changes its domain name, which in present day with schools joining trust, trusts merging etc is more common than ever.

The post Absolute vs. Relative Hyperlinks: What’s the Difference? appeared first on realsmart.