The website sits on the governing board’s plate, even when it never reaches the agenda.
In Summary:
- The governing board is accountable for what the school publishes, so the website is a board concern and not just an office task.
- Website problems tend to surface at the worst moment, during inspection or when a parent complains.
- Governors do not need to run the site. They need to know who does and check it stays current.
- A well kept website reads as a well run school. A neglected one reads as the opposite.
The board is accountable for what the school puts online
Governing boards are legally responsible for how their schools are run. In a maintained school that responsibility sits with the governing body. In an academy it sits with the trust board. The DfE’s governance guides set out these duties, and school governor responsibilities extend to the information a school is required to publish. A good part of that sits on the website. Policies, admission arrangements, curriculum information and governance details all live there in public view.
No governor has to write or upload any of it. But the board cannot treat the website as somebody else’s problem. If a required policy is missing or a published document is years out of date, responsibility does not stop at the office door.
Most governors know this in principle. The practical test is simpler. When did the website last come up at a board meeting? If the answer is never, or only during the annual compliance check, that is the gap.
Problems show up at the worst possible time
An out of date website causes no trouble at all, right up until it causes a lot.
When inspection notice arrives, the school’s published information is available to inspectors before anyone sets foot on the premises. A missing policy or a governor list showing people who left two years ago says nothing about the real work of the school. But it is visible and it shapes a first impression before a single conversation has happened.
The same applies when a parent complains. A dispute over a charge or an admissions decision will often send someone straight to the website to check what was published and when. If what they find is unclear or outdated, a manageable situation gets harder.
These are exactly the moments a board does not want to discover the website has slipped.
Transform Your Online Presence
Partner with Lemongrass Media for bespoke website design, branding and innovative digital solutions tailored to your school.
You do not need to run the website. You need to know who does.
The most useful thing a board can do here is not technical. It is to make sure someone owns it.
In our experience of working with schools, websites drift out of date when no single person is clearly responsible for keeping each part current. Term dates get updated but the calendar does not. A policy is reviewed by the board but the site still shows the old version. The staff page stays right for the senior team and slowly goes wrong for everyone else.
A board fixes this by asking plain questions and expecting straight answers. Who keeps the website current? How often is it checked against what we must publish? When was that last done and what did it find?
Confident answers mean the board can move on. Vague ones are the finding.
A good website reads as a well run school
Parents look at school websites before deciding where to apply. Prospective staff look before an interview. People form a view of how a school is run from what they see there, fairly or not.
A current, easy to use site suggests a school that is on top of things. A neglected one suggests the opposite, even when the truth inside the building is the reverse. That impression affects pupil numbers, recruitment and the confidence of the families already with you.
For a board that sets strategic direction and holds leaders to account, that earns the website an occasional place on the agenda. Not every meeting. But more than never.
A simple ask for the board
None of this needs a working group or a budget line. Once a year, ask for confirmation that the site has been checked against the DfE’s published requirements and that someone is named as responsible for keeping it current. Our guide to school website compliance sets out what the DfE requires and where schools most often fall short.
And if the honest answer to who owns the website is nobody in particular, better to find that out now than during an inspection.
About Lemongrass Media
Lemongrass Media is a boutique website design agency with offices in Milton Keynes, St Albans and Bedford. We design bespoke school websites that look great, meet statutory requirements and make a real difference to how prospective families see your school.
Contact Us | View Our School Website Portfolio | School Website Design Services
