As someone who’s worked with many schools who have been in the trenches of school website management, I know just how overwhelming it can be. There’s always something that needs attention—keeping content up-to-date or ensuring the site is secure. These responsibilities can really pile up and stress out senior leaders, teachers, administrators, IT staff, parents and students.
But here’s the good news: realsmart is designed to tackle these challenges head-on.
Our solutions take the hassle out of website management, letting schools focus on what they do best—educating students—instead of getting bogged down by technical tasks.
In this blog, I outline the top 7 challenges that we can help you solve! Here goes.
Table of Contents
- Keeping Content Up-to-Date
- Data Integration and Accessibility
- Design and Aesthetics
- User Account Management
- Responsive Support
- Multi-Site Management for MATs
- Security and Stability
1. Keeping Content Up-to-Date
One of the big stressors for schools is keeping their website’s content up-to-date and accurate. Regular updates are needed for a variety of content, including policies, staff lists, event information, and other important pages. These updates ensure that everyone has access to the most current information.
If they miss these updates, parents, students, and staff might end up with outdated info, leading to confusion and potential miscommunication. This can affect everything from scheduling and attendance at events to understanding school policies and knowing who to contact for various issues. Maintaining a current website is crucial for smooth communication and effective school operations.
How realsmart helps:
realsmart websites feature automatic reminders to update key pages on predetermined dates. This ensures that crucial content like policy documents and staff directories are always up-to-date, reducing the likelihood of outdated information causing problems.
2. Data Integration and Accessibility
Handling real-time data like timetables, attendance records, and student rewards can be a tough job for schools. These bits of information are always being updated and need to be spot-on for things to run smoothly.
If different systems don’t work well together, getting to this data can take forever, be full of mistakes, and make daily tasks a hassle. Keeping everything in sync and easy to get to is key to running a well-organized and efficient school environment.
How realsmart helps:
realsmart integrates seamlessly with your Management Information System (MIS), providing staff and students with easy access to real-time data. This not only reduces the administrative burden but also enhances the accuracy and reliability of the information accessed.
3. Design and Aesthetics
As design trends change, schools often want to give their websites a fresh look to stay modern and engaging. A contemporary website can draw in more students, improve user experience, and better showcase the school’s values and achievements.
But let’s be real, redesigning a website can be both pricey and time-consuming. It takes careful planning, a clear vision, and teamwork between designers, developers, and stakeholders.
How realsmart helps:
We offer a free design refresh every three years as part of the subscription. This means schools can keep their online presence looking fresh and modern without incurring additional costs or spending significant time on redesign efforts.
4. User Account Management
Manually creating new user accounts can be a real hassle, especially in bigger schools where staff and student rosters change often. You have to input detailed info for each person, which is not only time-consuming but also easy to mess up.
Plus, with students and staff constantly coming and going, you need to keep the system updated regularly, adding more to the admin workload. Automating this task can save a ton of time and cut down on mistakes, making things run much smoother for the school’s IT team.
How realsmart helps:
realsmart automates the creation of new user accounts through your MIS. This automation saves valuable time for administrators and ensures that user account management is handled accurately and efficiently.
5. Responsive Support
Technical issues can pop up out of nowhere, usually when it’s least convenient. That’s why having timely support is so important to keep things running smoothly at school. Whether it’s a computer acting up, the network going down, or software glitches, quick and efficient troubleshooting ensures that teachers and students can keep doing their thing without major interruptions.
Reliable tech support not only reduces downtime but also keeps the whole academic environment productive and running smoothly.
How realsmart helps:
Our amazing support team is known for its prompt response, with an average response time of less than 30 minutes. This ensures that any technical challenges are swiftly addressed, minimizing downtime and disruption.
6. Multi-Site Management for MATs
For Multi Academy Trusts (MATs) managing multiple websites, content publication can become a significant headache. Coordinating updates and ensuring consistency across sites requires considerable effort. Each website may have its own unique set of requirements, audiences, and compliance standards, making the task even more complex.
Additionally, the need for timely updates to reflect changes in policies, events, and other important information adds to the challenge.
Effective communication and collaboration among different teams are crucial to maintain the quality and accuracy of content across all platforms.
How realsmart helps:
Our tailored MAT features enable efficient publication of content across all or select websites with a single action. This streamlines the process, making it easier to maintain consistency and efficiency in content management.
7. Security and Stability
Keeping school websites secure and stable is crucial for protecting both students and staff. Imagine the chaos a DDoS attack could cause—disrupting access, stalling educational activities, and putting sensitive info like personal data and academic records at risk.
To prevent this, it’s key to have strong cybersecurity measures and regular monitoring in place. This way, we can ensure these important resources stay safe and everyone enjoys a secure online environment.
How realsmart helps:
We handle software and security updates centrally, providing robust protection against DDoS attacks. With a guaranteed uptime of 99.9%, schools can rely on their websites being secure and accessible at all times.
By tackling these common stress points, realsmart makes managing school websites a whole lot easier. Their all-in-one solutions keep school sites effective, secure, and up-to-date, so educators can focus on what they do best—providing quality education.