The Arthur Terry Learning Partnership - 19 School Websites

The Arthur Terry Learning Partnership undertook a comprehensive overhaul of their academy websites. As part of this project, the existing academy websites were seamlessly migrated to the newly developed platform. To ensure smooth operations, a continuous support agreement was established to manage the web servers, and dedicated hours were allocated for making content amendments as needed.

The Arthur Terry Learning Partnership (ATLP) approached me in December 2019 with an ambitious project of moving all their school websites, plus the main trust website, into one platform with a new modern design. The ATLP is a growing multi-academy trust of thirteen primary schools, six secondary schools and one teaching school, based in Birmingham, Coventry, North Warwickshire and Staffordshire.

The trust was facing multiple problems with the current setup of standalone websites. The trust found it challenging to maintain all the websites to their high standards because of the multiple platforms used. The project moved forward with maintainability central to the design process, making everyday tasks into quick 5-step processes.

Project Phases

The project was divided into multiple phases to allow us to give enough attention to detail for each school.

The project’s initial phase involved assessing the existing standalone websites to determine their current state and establish a priority order. This step was crucial, especially for those school websites whose current providers were discontinuing their services or if any schools were without access to web support.

In addition to determining the priority order, I identified the specific features each school would require to maintain on the new platform. I considered any overlapping content structures among the websites as well. Overlapping content was then converted into guidelines that all schools within the trust could follow during the migration process.

These guidelines ensured consistency and uniformity across all school websites, allowing for a smoother transition onto the new platform. By outlining the necessary features and content structure, we aimed to provide a seamless user experience for visitors and ensure that the websites effectively represented each school in the trust.

To initiate the design process, I started by presenting a mood board that showcased websites from other trusts of a similar size. This approach aimed to understand better the desired design aesthetic and style the trust wanted for their websites. By examining these reference websites, we identified common design elements, layouts, colour schemes, and overall visual direction that resonated with the trust's preferences.

Once a design direction was agreed upon centrally, I built a static demo website. This demo website served as a representation of how the finished website would look and function. It allowed the trust to get a tangible feel for the design concept and provided an opportunity for internal stakeholders to provide feedback and suggestions.

After the design concept was approved, the actual development of the websites began. The focus during this phase was on implementing all the features that were identified in the initial discovery phase. A key consideration was ensuring the websites were easy to maintain, catering to individuals with varying skill levels. The development process adhered to website standards and guidelines, ensuring compatibility across different devices and browsers.

The next step after the theme development was completed was setting up the server. The server is config to handle a lot of non-logged-in visitors (students, parents and the wider community) by serving them a cached version of your web pages. This allows your websites to load quickly without over-purchasing server capacity.

After preparing the server, the main trust website was migrated to the new platform. The trust website offered additional functionality that all the school websites could utilise. Among these features was the capability to directly extract content from the trust website. This feature proved convenient for content that could be generated once on the trust website and distributed across all school websites. Implementing this workflow enables you to maintain content in a single location rather than having to update each individual school website separately.

The migration process involved transferring each website onto the new platform individually. This approach enabled me to allocate sufficient time and attention to each school's website individually, ensuring that any custom requirements they had could be effectively implemented.

The process for this phase typically followed a structured workflow. Here is a breakdown of the steps involved:

  • Content audit and new structure - The first step was identifying any missing content from the trust content guidelines agreed in phase 1.
  • Header design concepts - I produced a couple of design options for the website using existing branding. This allowed me to define the core brand colours used on the website.
  • Setup preview website and initial content meeting - The next step was sending a private preview website to staff at the school to review and then arrange a meeting to discuss any further changes.
  • Website launch - Make the website live, setup redirect URLs and SEO submissions

The project included a support package that has been renewed this year. The support package comprises allocated hours that authorised staff members can utilise to make necessary adjustments to their website. It also ensured that the website was regularly updated and security packages were promptly installed.

West Coventry Academy Homepage

West Coventry Academy Homepage

ATLP Single Job Posting

ATLP Single Job Posting

Sixth Form Microsite

Sixth Form Microsite