Hunter & Central Coast Private School Websites Ratings(as at 31/3/09)
MAP Marketing rated 23 Hunter and Central Coast private school websites along 15 categories. The basis of the rating was a score systems from 0 - 5 with increments of 0.5. The score of 3 was considered average, 5 was considered excellent.
In some categories including having a search function, parent portal, student portal and map, the school either received a 5 for having that particular function or 0 that indicated that the category was missing from the website.
Categories That the Websites Were Rated
Overall Quality
Currency of Information
Image & Photo Quality
Language & Content Quality
Online Enquiries
Information Quality
Ease of Finding Information
Aesthetics
Location Map
Search Bar Function
Loading/Que Time
Student Portal
Parent Portal
Calendar of Events
Curriculum Outline
These ratings were entered on a spreadsheet, totalled and averaged. The averaging factor was 15 (the number of categories) and the scores held the same for the overall ratings of the website and 3 was considered to be the average.
St. Philips Christian Education Foundation topped the list with an average score of 4.83 out of 5. Their website had high overall quality, current information, easy navigation, high language and content information, high quality information, high aesthetics, quick loading time, student and parent portal, map, detailed curriculum and a calendar of events.
Macquarie College was a close second with an average score of 4.73 out of 5. Its website scored highly on overall quality, currency of information, language and content quality, online enquries, ease of finding information, que time, search function, aesthetics, student and parent portal, and map.
Avondale School Cooranbong came third with an average score of 4.67 out of 5. Its website scored highly on overall quality, language and content quality, image and photo quality, information quality, ease of finding information, que time, search function, aesthetics, student and parent portal, map and detailed curriculum.
Newcastle Grammar Schools came fourth with an average score of 4.43 out of 5. Its website attracted high ratings for language and content quality, online enquiries, information quality, ease of finding information, search function, que time, high aesthetics, student portal, map, calendar of events and detailed curriculum.
About 48% of the schools scored 3.0 or better and 52% scored less than 3.0.
As websites are considered major sources of stakeholder and public communication, private schools need to undertake ongoing improvements in this area to maintain their competitive edge and community standing.
School Websites Rated N=23
Average Rating (Max 5)
St. Philips Christian Education Foundation Ltd
4.83
Macquarie College
4.73
Avondale School Cooranbong
4.57
Newcastle Grammar School
4.43
Belmont Christian College
4.27
Maitland Christian School
4.20
Hunter Valley Grammar School
4.00
Christadelphian Heritage College
3.77
Central Coast Grammar School
3.47
Hunter Christian School
3.47
St. Joseph's Catholic College
3.07
Green Point Christian College
2.90
St. Francis Xavier's College
2.90
St. Peters's Catholic College Tuggerah Lakes
2.83
Lakes Grammar
2.73
San Clemente High School
2.60
Charlton Christian College
2.53
Bishop Tyrrell Anglican College
2.47
St. Mary's High School
2.40
St. Pius X High School
2.57
Brightwaters Christian College
1.13
St. Paul's Booragul
0.67
Singleton Christian College
Website could not be accessed for rating
Schools rated can obtain more information from
Maria Charlton
MAP Marketing
P: 02 4929 7766
What Type of Website Does Your School Have?
An increasing number of schools are using websites to promote their school & communicate to school stakeholders & the community.
School websites were grouped according to the sophistication of their content & design.
Types of School Websites
Disseminate information on the school's curriculum & facilities
Inform, communicate & entertain with features such as video, animation, graphics, podcasts, virtual tours & exhibition of students' work
Inform, communicate, entertain & showcase innovation in education, web structure & in the structure of their educational organisation & overall innovative practices
Classification by Carmel Maio-Taddeo
University of South Australia
E: carmelina.maio-taddeo@unisa.edu.au
