Sacred Heart’s new website By Ellen Campbell

Earlier this month, Sacred Heart Secondary School Clonakilty launched its new and completely re-designed website – www.sacredheartclonakilty.ie.

It has a unique homepage design and the layout dynamically adjusts according to the screen size on which it is viewed-making it completely mobile friendly.

The “tile style” design on the homepage uses image menu options for the content within. You just chose which area you want to explore and then discover the content behind it by clicking on the relevant image.

When viewing the website on a mobile device, visitors can either call or email the school via a single click at the bottom of the screen.

Apart from the traditional content you would expect from a school website (curriculum, sports, extra-curricular activities, etc.), it also features some unique content designed for active student and parent interaction and communication.

Parents, students, staff and the wider school community can subscribe to news updates in the news & events section, which notifies them automatically of school news via email.

The website is also completely integrated with social media – news articles posted on the website are automatically posted to the school’s social media sites on Facebook and twitter. Visitors can also like and share news articles via social media. They can also email them directly from the website and a live feed from Sacred Heart’s social media pages is available on the website’s social media section.

Content created by and for students was very much at the forefront of the thought process behind the new site. In the “Student Zone” students can contribute to the Student Blog in a dynamic way by writing their blog entries directly onto the website and submitting them to the content manager with a single click. They can even do this from their mobile devices. Students are also encouraged to contribute photos of school events and school life in the student zone. They can also subscribe to the student blog and receive their fellow students’ blog posts directly and automatically via email to their device(s).

For parents there is a dedicated “Parent Section” at the top menu where they can access information regarding enrolment, uniform, book rental and book lists, etc.

The school’s mission, values and motto are very clearly identifiable and are enhanced through graphics and images.

As a student, it’s really nice to see a lot of our work and activities on the site. I enjoyed viewing the galleries and looking through the artwork, various projects and photos of the school musicals. An interactive site that allows inclusivity for both students, parents, and teachers helps us to feel part of the ‘school community’ and enables us to be comprehensively informed, and to react to such in a proactive way.

It’s great to have a website that is on the cutting edge of design. It’s a very effective tool for showcasing the school, the teachers and the students’ talents and achievements as well as giving us, the students, a view of Sacred Heart that we can be proud of.