School website menus should not be like a treasure hunt. Most parents are busy, mostly on the phone, and they only come in for one of a few crucial tasks: school dates, uniform details, or order forms. A clear menu means fewer calls to the office and also helps families know they are in possession of all the necessary information. For help with Websites for schools, visit fsedesign.co.uk/websites-for-schools
Main tasks, not school departments
Design the menu based on what parents need to be done rather than what works for internal teams. As a general rule, if an item cannot be found in the two clicks that marketing speak talks about, it should probably not exist on your menu.
Short top menu (5–7 items)
Providing too many headings will slow your visitors down. Although the Mapping function can take any shape, you should try to think of a small set of high-level categories.
Parents (dates, uniform, meals, absence, and clubs)
Primary Navigation – Admissions (how to apply, catchment) Open Days
About Our School – (Values and Ethos, Staff and Governors)
Learning – (curriculum, homework, remote learning)
News & Events – (news, calendar, newsletters)
Contact (address, phone, enquiries, directions)
You can add Students or Sixth Form if you are a large school, but only if you need it.
Place the links of most use where parents expect them.
Under the Parents section, start with:
Term dates
Uniform
Attendance/absence reporting
Lunch menus
School day times
Letters/newsletters
Clubs and wraparound care
Steer clear of generic labels like “Information” or “Downloads”. Use everyday language – what parents actually search for.
High-traffic means quick links
Not all pages are for having equal visibility, even on a clean menu. Place quick links (on the homepage, and ideally in the header) to:
Report an absence
Term dates
Calendar
Lunch menu
ParentPay / online payments
Make it work on mobile
Test the menu on a phone. If parents have to scroll through 3 sub-menus, the information is too deep. Wherever possible, keep drop-down to a single level.
Review it using real questions.
Pose the question to your office team: “What do parents call about most?” Then just make the answers easy to find. The perfect organisational chart that lives in your mind does not always match reality.
An organised menu means that it will not only be more visually appealing, but you also won’t waste time finding what you need, and doing so just might make dealing with frustrated parents a little less headache-inducing.
Roger Walker