Nairn Academy I.T. News

Update 10/3/10

2010-03-10T09:37:00.000-08:00

Have just completed version 2 template for the school site. Not 100% happy with it but will continue to work on it over the coming weeks.

I aim to launch the new-look site in May/June 2010.

Keep reading form more updates on the website project.

Update 5/3/10

2010-03-05T02:45:00.001-08:00

Parents Page template has had to altered back to version 1 due to rendering errors. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Update 5/3/10

2010-03-05T02:03:00.001-08:00

More content added to parents page of site. To be completed.

Another Update

2010-03-03T10:06:00.001-08:00

Parents page template has been updated further. Certain elements have been removed and school logo has been updated.

New layout

2010-03-03T09:28:00.001-08:00

A new layout is about to be added to the website. Check it out on the Parents pages of the site.

Next Steps

2010-03-02T01:24:00.001-08:00

Content addition to the website will slow down over the coming weeks as work is done on developing the aesthetic quality of the design. This will involve CSS alterations as well as additions of more reliable and robust news-scrollers.

The first alterations will be made before Friday 5th March 2010.

Update 26th Feb 2010

2010-02-26T01:57:00.001-08:00

New keywords added to CEOP page to try and get better 'hit rate' when Internet Safety related keywords are added to search engines.

Website Update 12th January 2010

2010-01-12T14:00:00.001-08:00

The standard header has been reset.

The text message regarding access to school in the Holidays has been removed

The same message from the Newscroller has also been removed.

Update 21st December 2009

2009-12-21T03:37:00.001-08:00

A new Former Pupils page has been added to the Academy site. We are even trialling a message board which can be accessed via the following page:

http://www.nairn.highland.sch.uk/formerpupils.htm

Information/News regarding former pupils will be added here over time so if there is anything you feel would be useful to add then please let me know on:

mr_caddell@gmx.com

More to follow:

Update 9th December 2009

2009-12-10T00:16:00.001-08:00

Th following updates have been performed on the Nairn Academy website:

- Highland Literacy Project page created
- Eco-group Project page created
- Pupil Council Page Created
- Drama page created
- Ceop page links developed
- Sitemap updated

Emails have been sent to heads of Guidance and Geography for more up to date information and staff lists for addition to department information pages

Currently looking into setting up and e-mail account for the parent council for mass communications.

The site has also undergone some updates with font alterations, font size alteration as well as a new Christmas themed header to be up and running over the festive period.

Feedback

2009-12-07T07:33:00.000-08:00

The following feedback results have been added to the Parents page of the website:

S1 Parents Questions
S3 Parents Questions
SQA 2008/09 Feedback

A restructuring of the parents page will take place in the near future.

New Extension Update 7/12/2009

2009-12-07T07:15:00.000-08:00

A brief update to let all interested parties know that the cabling for the new computer equipment is now complete. This linked in with the new phone system and fibre link should mean that the new build is 'ahead of the game' when it comes to ICT in Nairn Academy.

More updates expected...

Adverse Weather Update

2009-12-04T08:10:00.001-08:00

The latest information relating to adverse weather conditions has now been added to the website.

Update 30th November 2009

2009-11-30T01:41:00.001-08:00

New header added to mark St Andrews Day 2009

New Internation Education information page added: international.htm - Link added to site map

New links added to Active Sports Coordinator page

New Active Sports Coordinator mini-site added to website

http://nairnactivesports.wordpress.com

Department mini-site menu updated with new pages/site

Paragraphs Literacy Document added - can be located using the News Scroller or by visiting:

http://www.nairn.nairn.highland.sch.uk/literacy/Paragraphs.doc

More will follow later on this week

CEOP Training

2009-11-25T10:20:00.000-08:00

Next week I will be attending training run by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) organisation.

The aim of this course is to become a fully fledged CEOP ambassador allowing me to filter training and other information through to pupils, staff, and the general public.

Learning to stay safe online and developing an understanding of Internet dangers is crucial to all in our society today, and is widely regarded as being as important as the likes of road safety and cycling proficiency.

I will post information on the Wednesday night after day 1 and the Friday morning after day 2 withan update on how the course went and some of the ways CEOP Ambassadors will be promoting the various issues surrounding online safety in the coming months.

Update 25th November 2009

2009-11-25T10:10:00.000-08:00

Hi folks,

Lots been happening this week on the Internet line.

The week started with an well attended twilight introducing staff to the Google/Wordpress project.

Over recent months we have been looking at a solution to the following question:

"How can staff post information and resources to the World Wide Web quickly and easily and with as little training as possible."

This session was no more than an introduction to the process and how the system worked and where we can go with the project in the future. I am not going to go into the main body of the project in this mail but I will add a link before the end of the week to the nights presentation for people to view at their leisure.

Anyone keen to see how the project is working please click on the following link and view the PE Mini-site:

http://www.nairn.highland.sch.uk/departments.html

Work is also about to start on the International Education and Active Sports web pages which will be completed within the next couple of weeks. Information for these pages/mini-sites will be submitted by Susan Appleby and Elizabeth MacDonald respectively over the coming months.

I think that's it for now but updates will continue regularly over the coming weeks.

S.Caddell

Update 20th November 2009

2009-11-20T01:23:00.001-08:00

Basic changes have taken place to the website in the past 24 hours.

Edits have been made to the Departments Page and Sports Coordinator page with more information to be added to the latter in the near future.

Other updates include refreshment of news scrollers on home, staff, and pupil pages with relevant and up to date information.

News Updated

2009-11-16T00:56:00.001-08:00

The latest weekly Nairn Academy news report can nown be found on the website. Please click on the News link on the left side of the homepage to view.

Newsletter Subscription

2009-11-05T02:43:00.001-08:00

A new subscription form for the School Newsletter has now been added to the site:

http://www.nairn.highland.sch.uk/subscribe.htm

Sign up and receive all the latest news from the school as it happens!

New Layout

2009-11-04T07:22:00.001-08:00

Staff and Parent pages have new layouts. Please visits to see the changes.

News Scrollers

2009-11-04T07:13:00.001-08:00

These can be found on the Homepage, Staff page and Pupil page and contain brief information reports about current school happenings.

http://www.nairn.highland.sch.uk

http://www.nairn.highland.sch.uk/staff.html

http://www.nairn.highland.sch.uk/pupil.html

Co-operative Learning 2009

2009-11-04T07:11:00.001-08:00

A new page dedicated to information relating to Co-operative learning can now be found at:

http://www.nairn.highland.sch.uk/coop.htm

More information will be added in the near future.

Update 3rd November 2009

2009-11-03T10:55:00.001-08:00

Materials based on Cooperative Learning training for staff has been added to the Parents page of the website. The majority of staff from Nairn Academy and the associate Primary schools attended this course during last weeks in-service days. Feel free to visit the new page for more information.

News Scroller added to Pupil Page

2009-11-02T01:16:00.001-08:00

An section for updateable news has been added to the pupil page. This can be viewed in the top left corner of the page as you look at it.

French

2009-10-30T04:42:00.003-07:00

Audio files have now been added to the French website -

http://nairnfrench.wordpress.com

School Calendar

2009-10-30T04:42:00.001-07:00

The school calendar is now back online. Please feel free to view this for all the most important dates for this session.

HMI(e) Link added

2009-10-29T02:51:00.001-07:00

A link to recent and historical HMI(e) reports has now been added to the PARENTS page on the website.

Web Site Viewing Analysis

2009-10-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

School Virtual Tour

2009-10-28T04:52:00.001-07:00

I am in the process of creating a school virtual tour using our school Kizoa slideshow account. Keep your eyes peeled on the homepage for the upcoming link

Update 27th October 2009

2009-10-27T06:33:00.001-07:00

Todays update:

Department folders created in staff Google Docs account
Investigated the possibility of increasing use of FirstClass e-mail in the short term (staff)
Presentation notes (draft) for staff use of new systems created and tested
Art and Design template changed back to 'Contempt' theme to match other blogs
New gallery added to GALLERIES page on website
New access button to Wordpress account added to STAFF page (secure login section)

Update 26th October 2009

2009-10-26T08:33:00.000-07:00

'Back to the old boots 'n' porridge!'

I have been busy today. Listed below is what I have done to update the schools web presence this inservice day:

Created wordpress account for school
Created google account for school
Created new test e-mail account
Blog rules developed
Security issues scrutinised
New blog developed for EVERY teaching department in the school
All templates (except Art - being used for test purposes) set to CONTEMPT theme
Links added to DEPARTMENTS page on the website
Links added to the PUPIL page on the website
Design created for new look STAFF page (online before end of this week)
Testing of accounts and certain useful features of Wordpress

Please feel free to have a look at the blogs:

http://www.nairn.highland.sch.uk/departments.html

Each one will have a news page (the blog) as well as a page for each course taught in each department. Within these 'Static' pages will be links to online files created by members of staff and stored online in a separate location. Links to other websites, pages, files, etc can also be added over time.

Keep reading for more information!

Update 9th October 2009

2009-10-09T04:50:00.001-07:00

Too many updates to mention so please have a look at some of the department pages to find out more!

Happy Holidays!!!

Update 8th October 2009

2009-10-08T06:34:00.001-07:00

Maths, Physics, and PE department pages have been updated.

A memo has been distributed to all PT's asking for an up to date list of all staff working in their departments and what courses are currently taught. The deadline for returns is 6th November 2009.

2nd Update today

2009-10-07T06:48:00.001-07:00

I have been working on adding content to the department pages of the new site. This will take a while to complete by so far I have got some content on:

- English
- French
- Maths
- Geography
- Chemistry
- Biology
- Art and Design
- Computer Science/ICT
- History
- Music

More content will be added to these pages in the near future but in the meantime I will be focussing my attentions on adding some introductory content to the rest of the department pages.

Update

2009-10-07T04:10:00.001-07:00

English and Chemistry now updated. Still more information to follow...

Error

2009-10-07T03:27:00.001-07:00

Apologies for the recent error regarding pupil information. This information linked in from another Secure Blog we are trialling at present.

I can fully assure all parents/guardians that the problem has now been solved and information related to pupils will not be added to this blog in future for any reason whatsoever.

Apologies again!

Update 6th October 2009

2009-10-06T07:35:00.001-07:00

Content added to Chemistry page.

New link to latest video of the school Science Department build - see News section on the website to view the movie.

Meeting

2009-10-06T00:32:00.001-07:00

Staff given short briefing on web project at meeting last night. Also updated on the state of play regarding the school network.

Links added

2009-10-05T07:49:00.001-07:00

Links to associate Primary Schools/info pages have been added to the Website this afteroon.

Update 5th October 2009

2009-10-05T05:31:00.001-07:00

Extra Curricular lists added to PARENT and PUPIL sections of website. This gives details of activites, times, and staff relating to the various extra-curricular events the school currently has running.

Also, a list of each extra-curricular activity the school currently offers is available to view. Links will be added to club sites in the coming months.

Update 2nd October 2009

2009-10-02T01:41:00.001-07:00

Information added to the following pages:

- Rugby (see pupil section)
- Art and Design
- Biology
- Business Education

Also additional information added to the Nairn Rugby Website which can be accessed from the homepageq

Parent Council

2009-09-30T01:00:00.001-07:00

After discussions at the Parent Council meeting last night I am going to try and set up a Parent Council 'mini site'm where members of the team can add information, contact details, etc.

More information to follow...

Update (2) 29th September 2009

2009-09-29T11:47:00.001-07:00

A new site map has been added and all links on all pages updated.

A new link has been added to each page on the website for the sitemap. This can be found on the menu bar.

Google Analytics Update

2009-09-29T02:00:00.001-07:00

After 24 hours the website has had 125 unique visitors viewing its content.

Internet Explorer seems to be the most popular browser (the one used in the school is the reason for this!) but some have viewed the site also using Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.

Update 29th September 2009

2009-09-29T01:57:00.001-07:00

Information about the Computer Science/ICT department has been added and validated at wwww.w3.org.

Information relating to the rugby setup in the school has been added and validated at www.w3.org.

A new rugby website (nairnrugby.wordpress.com) has been created and will be run by myself, TJ Baird, and selected senior pupils. This will allow Web 2.0 communication to take place and allow a better link between all associated parties. The link can be found on the Rugby Page of the website (See Pupil section)

Google Analytics Installed

2009-09-28T06:19:00.001-07:00

A new site tracking program has been added to the homepage of the website. If this proves successful in tracking useage etc it will be rolled out on other key pages of the website.

Update 28th September 2009

2009-09-28T02:02:00.001-07:00

RMPS section added to Departments page. Now contains S1/2 Syllabus document.

S1/2 and S3/4 update homework document added to Parents page.

Folders set up on server for relevant information regarding departments etc

Rugby page added

2009-09-25T06:48:00.001-07:00

In addition to the pupil page I aim to have a page set aside for each of the extra-curricular clubs in the school.

see http://www.nairn.highland.sch.uk/rugby.htm for an example.

Update 25th September 2009

2009-09-25T03:23:00.001-07:00

Work has started on the Pupil page. A baisc outline is now in place and will be further developed and tidied up over the coming weeks and months.

If anyone has any ideas about how the page could be improved then please let me know!

Update 24th September 2009

2009-09-24T04:01:00.001-07:00

Following a meeting with Senior Management on Tuesday of this week we now have a clearer idea of how the website will take shape over the coming months.

At present I am looking at getting as many people involved in the site development, mainly relating to content addition. This will be an ongoing task and I ask any interested parties to contact me to discuss how they feel they could help.

nairn.computing@yahoo.co.uk

We are also looking at developing the site and getting some kind of content management system in place. This will allow various 'editors' to upload information to the website themselves directly. This may be a while in setting up.

Mr Chalmers experessed his interest in developing video podcasts and audio podcasts which could be accessed from the web. I am going to look at developing a Nairn Academy YouTube channel in the coming weeks so we can developing these ideas asap.

Issues arose regarding the publishing of image galleries on the site. No publishing of pupil images will be undertaken until we have clear-cut permissions from the council, parents, etc.

All department pages will be updated over the coming month as well as Pupils and Staff sections. The Staff section has been added to replace the Subscription section which was agreed would not be required in the near future.

I hope to add more to this blog in the near future so please keep reading...!

Update 18th September 2009

2009-09-18T04:05:00.001-07:00

Started to add Google Calendar with all relevant school dates available to staff, parents and pupils.

Added a link to the calendar on the Newsletter page

Update 17th September 2009

2009-09-17T03:05:00.000-07:00

- Departments page updated: all items in drop down list now have a working page associate with them

- Contact page: updated with basic information: more detailed information to follow

- Pupil page: basic update - content required

- Parents page: updated with list of important information: more content and links required

16th September 2009 - Update

2009-09-16T07:20:00.001-07:00

Version 1 of the site has now been 'live' for 24 hours and so far has been received with a very positive reaction.

Todays updates included:

- Adding a drop down list to the Departments web page. This will save 'overcrowding' on the page and take users straight to where they need to go.

A Senior Management Page has been added which can be accessed from the Links menu on any page. More information and photos (hopefully!) will be added to 'bulk up' the page.

- This links menu, which had been undergoing testing on the homepage only, has now been updated on every page to give a uniform sense of navigation.

- Search page is now up and running: needs a little refining but useful none the less!

- Pages added for all subjects/departments inc. Janitors, Office, Reprographics, and Library

- Only reached 'M' in list so still some more pages to add headers to.

- All new pages require relevant page titles

Keep reading for more updates...

Temp Site - Going Live

2009-09-14T07:00:00.001-07:00

The new, albeit temp, Nairn Academy website is due to be published on the evening of Monday 14th September 2009 by S.Caddell (Administrator).

The site will continue to be modified and altered as testing and content evaluation continues.

Keep reading for more updates...

Layout of Temp Site

2009-09-11T01:25:00.000-07:00

Home
Information
Departments
Community
Parent Council
Pupil Council
Links

A school newsletter subscription section to be added

The site is still on schedule for revamping before the school holidays.

The site will take the place of the current site on the council web server.

More to follow:

Update

2009-09-10T01:56:00.000-07:00

The temp. web site will be created using an Artisteer developed template and Coffeecup development software.

Not as powerful as the likes of Dreamweaver, Coffeecup does everything we require and more for this type of site development. The software also allows us to make sure we are adhering to W3C standards with regards to XHTML Validation

CEOP/thinkuknow.co.uk

2009-09-09T00:47:00.001-07:00

In the school we are very keen to promote the issue of staying safe online. Along with a new S1 ICT course focussing on the issue we are planning pupil and parent training during the coming session.

Please keep reading for all the latest updates....

www.thinkuknow.co.uk

Temp Site

2009-09-09T00:44:00.001-07:00

In light of recent communications from parents, and other groups associated with the school, we are embarking on a 5 week project to develop a short-term website designed to cover the main communications needs of the school.

The layout will be as follows:

Home
Information: News, SMT, Prefects, Uniform
Faculties: an information page for all departments/faculties
Community - links to community projects etc
Parent Council
Pupil Council
School Improvement Plan
School Calendar
LinkS

The website will also have a subscription button for members of the public to submit their e-mail address and receive all the up to the minute news about the school.

The template is due to be created by Tuesday 15th September with the site going live during the last week of term or, at the latest, the first week back of the new term

Communications regarding content will be taking place with SMT and other staff members over the coming months.

More details will follow...

Urgent Update

2009-09-07T06:42:00.001-07:00

Meeting to be held with Julie Macdonald, rector of Nairn Academy, on Tuesday 8th September 2009 at 1600hrs to address up to date web issue. This relates to requests from members of the Parent Council regarding being kept up to date with school information.

Minutes of this meeting along with Plan of Action to follow.

Design Update

2009-09-07T01:46:00.000-07:00

Over the coming few days I am going to be working on developing Phase One of the academy website layout. This will focus on initial layout of the site as well as initial content.

As already stated it is not in the best interests of any involved to 'run before we can walk'.

More details to follow...

Meeting with Primary Heads

2009-09-03T08:18:00.000-07:00

Meeting held in M1 last night relating to the following presentation:

Joomla Presentation

Awaiting response from primary schools.

Test site up and running

2009-09-02T02:54:00.001-07:00

I have set up a Joomla Test website on my own hosting account of 365remote.co.uk. This site will be used for personal training purposes and developed in the same way the schools site will be over the coming months.

See the layout at www.365remote.co.uk

Web Development Update

2009-08-31T02:35:00.001-07:00

Continuing with research into Joomla project. Happy with hosting by JustHost.com, excellent features offered including 1-click Joomla installation.

Artisteer skills coming along. Software looks ideal for project and will continue to investigate over the coming weeks.

Permission granted to have some of the Inservice time in October to train in the use of Joomla. Although a relatively simple piece of software to use it will take a bit of getting used to.

Presentation confirmed for this Wedenesday at Nairn Academy. An update on that meeting will be posted here in the near future.

Software

2009-08-28T01:00:00.000-07:00

Over the past couple of days I have been trialing a template creation software called Artisteer 2. This is a powerful template design package which provides the ability to create high-level, personalised templates for Joomla based web sites.

The cost of the software to the school will be approximately £80 and will include regular software updates in conjunction with development in Joomla 1.5.

More to follow...

Research Update

2009-08-25T12:31:00.000-07:00

Over the past few days I have been looking into the following areas for the school website:

- Implementation and efficiency of using a Joomla 1.5 web solutions

- Development of custom template for the site using Artisteer.com

I am currently looking at setting up a 'practice' account and will be downloading Artisteer free trial to see if this is a solution we would wish to implement.

Any Artisteer templates will be added to some of the Higher Computing pupils Wordpress accounts in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the solution.

Communications

2009-08-24T07:01:00.001-07:00

S.Caddell have signed up to represent the School Improvement Team/Standing Committee looking into:

Continuation and development effective communication strategies both internal and external to the school. Continue to raise the school profile in the community. Continue to extend effective systems of communication within the school.

This group will link in well with the development of the Nairn Community Schools web project over the coming months.

Joomla Training

2009-08-24T02:31:00.001-07:00

Today I have started investingating Joomla Training possibilities. I have signed up to a joomla webcast site and will see if this will be a useful training aid. There is also a DVD available as well as online courses that I will be looking into over the coming days.

Update - Wednesday 19th August 2009

2009-08-19T07:08:00.000-07:00

Confirmation of head teachers meeting on Wednesday 2nd September 2009 at Nairn Academy. The discussion will be led by Stuart Caddell, Computer Science/ICT teacher and project leader.

The focus of the meeting will be to properly demonstrate how useful and effective a web-based collaboration system would be and to answer any questions about the project. All results of this meeting will be added to this blog after the event.

At present S.Caddell is looking at the following areas:

Best development solution/software
Training
Hosting
Preparation of presentation for 2nd September

More details to follow:

Introduction

2009-08-19T07:07:00.000-07:00

The purpose of this weblog is to document the progress of the upcoming Nairn Community Schools Web Project.

The project is being carried out by Nairn Academy in collaboration with all associate primary schools and will be an ongoing project over the coming sessions.

More detail to follow....

Nairn Academy I.T. News

Update 10/3/10

Update 5/3/10

Update 5/3/10

Another Update

New layout

Next Steps

Update 26th Feb 2010

Website Update 12th January 2010

Update 21st December 2009

Update 9th December 2009

Feedback

New Extension Update 7/12/2009

Adverse Weather Update

Update 30th November 2009

CEOP Training

Update 25th November 2009

Update 20th November 2009

News Updated

Newsletter Subscription

New Layout

News Scrollers

Co-operative Learning 2009

Update 3rd November 2009

News Scroller added to Pupil Page

French

School Calendar

HMI(e) Link added

Web Site Viewing Analysis

School Virtual Tour

Update 27th October 2009

Update 26th October 2009

Update 9th October 2009

Update 8th October 2009

2nd Update today

Update

***Error***

Update 6th October 2009

Meeting

Links added

Update 5th October 2009

Update 2nd October 2009

Parent Council

Update (2) 29th September 2009

Google Analytics Update

Update 29th September 2009

Google Analytics Installed

Update 28th September 2009

Rugby page added

Update 25th September 2009

Update 24th September 2009

Update 18th September 2009

Update 17th September 2009

16th September 2009 - Update

Temp Site - Going Live

Layout of Temp Site

Update

CEOP/thinkuknow.co.uk

Temp Site

Urgent Update

Design Update

Meeting with Primary Heads

Test site up and running

Web Development Update

Software

Research Update

Communications

Joomla Training

Update - Wednesday 19th August 2009

Introduction

Error