When someone registers on the ARLT web site I usually have a look at their school site, first to see if they are on the staff list (I try to keep our teachers' Section exclusive to teachers) and secondly to see how lively the Classics department is and how they use the internet.

The other day I was able to congratulate a PGCE student in the Chigwell School Classics Department on his departmental web site. You might care to take a look. I've since noticed that the school is current Learning Alive winner of School Site of the Week. (I'll put the 'citation' at the foot of this post, since I suppose it won't be on line next week, when there will be a new winner.) On the other hand, a number of schools have either no Classics input on their school website, or a single page that looks as if it was produced on request when the web site was set up, and not developed since.

I had the idea of publishing some code that could be pasted directly into a school web site, or adapted. Then I remembered David Swift's site, and went to look for ideas. I found not only his sample Classical Civilisation site, but also a complete set of 24 on-line lessons on writing the simple code to make your own web pages. These were developed for an option group at the 2002 ARLT Summer School, and I'd never spotted them before. They cover the ground that many other on-line tutors do, but with specific reference to creating a Classics Department site - and you will occasionally find bits of encouragement in Latin! A quick look through taught me several things I didn't know.

I might still try to provide some 'oven-ready' bits of code, I think. Any comments?



Why did they win?

Chigwell SchoolThe content of Chigwell School's website is frequently updated by both students and staff. To sample the variety of the resulting material, have a look at the Academic Subjects section.

Each department has been given an area to develop in its own style, and this flexible approach has proven a success. Each subject has been able to use aspects of the Internet that suit it best, and some of the areas have grown into websites in their own right.

For example, the Religious Studies section has chosen to take advantage of the wide range of information available on the Internet to complement the teaching of R.E. In particular, the ethical issues section provides a very good range of links to a range of thought-provoking articles that can be used for discussions of GCSE curriculum topics.

Meanwhile, the Biology department has opted to provide information to help more directly with learning the subject. As well as links to a large number curriculum-relevant sites, there are revision notes - thanks to the current 5th form pupils who developed them.

When it comes to the Drama pages, the influence of pupils is much greater. The designer and Webmaster is pupil Daniel Gilbert, who appears to be a keen actor too! The resulting website is a smart and lively area with its own message board and lots of photos and reviews. The Drama department is very active, producing several plays each year.

The Art department don't publish Web pages of their own, but they make use of the Internet in a different way. The Art & Design link goes directly to an interesting gallery of recent work by Chigwell students on a website called Artsonia. The Artsonia site links schools from around the world in art projects, and provides gallery space and the opportunity for viewers to write in their feedback on each piece. The Chigwell works were well received!

In addition to all this content, there is also plenty more on this site that is not related to academic subjects. Particularly worth looking at is the News Index, which shows reports and photographs of school events in a simple but effective way.

Congratulations to all involved for a varied and lively site.