News
Huddersfield web agency gets top marks for ‘outstanding’ academy website
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Huddersfield-based web design agency has been praised by staff and students at Trinity Academy in Halifax for its work on the academy’s innovative new website. Having achieved
On your bike! S
‘Outstanding’ status from Ofsted in 2013, the academy approached Splitpixel Creative Limited for an inspiring re-design of its website that would highlight its achievements and its vision of ‘excellence in all we do.’
taff at Stoke on Trent College have come up with a “wheely” green way to commute between campuses! A fleet of five “705 Wisper Classic” electric bikes have been launched to give college staff a travel alternative when travelling between the two main sites, the Cauldon and Burslem campuses. It comes following a successful bid put forward by Stoke on Trent College against the governments Clean Air Grant in 2013 to purchase a fleet of electric bikes, accessories and cycle storage units fitted with charging points.
The Local Sustainable Transport Team, who were very enthusiastic about the college’s idea, supported the funding bid and enabled the college to recently take receipt of the new fleet of electric bikes. The electric bikes will now be used to commute the three miles between the college’s Cauldon Campus off Stoke Road, Shelton, and the Burslem Campus off Moorland Road in Burslem. Sally Fitchard, Facilities Manager at Stoke on Trent College, said: “Staff from across the college will be using the new electric bikes as an alternative travel option between the campuses, and away from car use for short journeys, supporting our Green Travel initiatives.
This is a wonderful opportunity to offer individual health and wellbeing benefits to our staff whilst reducing the noise and air pollution produced by cars in the city. It will also help reduce the impacts of road congestion and avoid our staff having to battle with the traffic when commuting between the campuses. Instead they will get to enjoy a stress-free journey along the fantastic canal paths and scenic bike routes we have available in the city.
We have received tremendous support from our staff ahead of the launch and we are excited about being an even greater environmentally friendly establishment.” Following the successful bid, the college has partnered with eBikeShed to provide and train the staff in using the electric bikes. The local business, who specialise in a wide range of electric bikes, non- electric bikes, and accessories, have assisted the college to select the right bikes and will support them throughout their usage.
Mr Michael Gosling, Principal at Trinity Academy, explained: “It’s important to us that our website reflects the outstanding achievements of the academy and our belief that what we do here is truly unique. We were looking to portray that individuality through an innovative, yet user-friendly website that would enable both students and parents to experience a true insight into life at the academy.” Splitpixel Creative designed the new website around Trinity’s four core values of Empathy, Honesty, Respect and Responsibility. It was also crucial for the design and content of the site to reflect the academy’s belief that students can achieve their potential whilst also enjoying their time at the academy. A five-minute video was commissioned, alongside professional photography, to provide the basis for the aspirational design.
Mr Gosling added: “We were impressed with Splitpixel’s portfolio and especially liked the fact that they specialise in web design. As well as creating a ‘wow’ design, they have the technical skills in-house to make our website user-friendly and ensure that it works on all devices, including smartphones and tablets.”
Charlie Kemp, Director at Splitpixel, explains: “The website we built for Trinity Academy is fully responsive, which means that it works well on any size screen, from mobile up to desktop. This was a challenge because of the size of the website so our designers and developers had to work together closely throughout the project to create a website that is slick, attractive and user-friendly.” Splitpixel also built a secure and easy to use content management system (CMS) for the website so that the academy can update the site with new content in the future.
We want greater influence over school meals, say parents P
arents of school age children want greater influence over the meals their children have at school lunchtimes, as well as the introduction of healthier choices and more British food, according to a new YouGov report.
The research shows that almost four in ten (39%) parents whose children are in primary or secondary education, would like to know what their child has chosen to eat if they have had a school dinner. A third (35%) would like to try the meals that the school offers in order to be more informed about what their children are eating every day, and 30% would like direct influence on what is served.
One in five (20%) would like to take the choice out of the child or school’s control, and decide in advance what their child will have to eat. However, there is a question of how this can be achieved as over a quarter (27%) of parents say they have no way of communicating with their child’s school on this issue. This rises to six in ten among those who are currently dissatisfied with the current school meals system at their child’s school.
Parents would like to see a number of initiatives introduced, for example over eight in ten (84%) would like school lunches to contribute to a child’s ‘five-a-day’. Three in five (60%) want healthier options to be available, 43% would like to see an emphasis on local products, and 35% said the same concerning British foods. A quarter (27%) placed importance on fair trade products. One area of concern is the ubiquity of fast food and the potential for that industry to dominate school meals catering. Just under half (48%) of parents say their foremost concern would be seeing fast food brands in schools. In total, 52% are also concerned that big fast food companies will try to take over school meal provision, with the problem being the perceived emphasis on profit, not providing nutritional meals.
James McCoy, research director at YouGov, said: “The report shows that schools should work with parents to create a school meals programme with a focus on healthy and locally-sourced products. The trouble is, many of the parents we surveyed do not feel that there are existing channels for them to communicate with school authorities on this issue, and so the first order of business must be opening the lines of communication.”
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www.education-today.co.uk April 2014
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