What the Prospectus Used to Do That the Website Now Has to Do Better

The prospectus used to perform some of the functions that the website now must do better.

The prospectus of the school had a good run for decades. It performed something useful for prospective families. It was a physical object that the family could take home from an open evening at the school. It contained photographs of the school, its values, and important information about the school. The schools invested in them annually.

The internet eventually replaced the prospectus as the means of communicating information to potential students.  The prospectus is now only occasionally produced by schools as a matter of tradition.

Most school websites never properly understood what they were being asked to inherit.

The prospectus does specific things on purpose. The prospectus tells a story. The beginning of the story is usually told in a message from the head of the school. The middle of the story is about the curriculum, pastoral care, enrichment programs, and the evidence that the values stated at the beginning of the story are actually lived out within the school. The end of the story is a clear invitation to take the next step, visit the school, inquire about the school, or apply to attend the school.

Though the structure of the prospectus was the most effective element of the prospectus, most school websites lack such a structure. A website with separate sections for curriculum, policies, and news does not have the same structure as the prospectus, nor is it as effective in communicating information as the prospectus. A filing cabinet for documents contains all of the same information as a story, but it is not a story. For help with Websites for schools, contact https://www.fsedesign.co.uk/websites-for-schools/

Also, the prospectus was subjected to the editorial discipline of its physical format.  For instance, should an author wish to add another page to the prospectus, they would have to incur the costs of printing that page, as well as the physical changes to the prospectus that would have to be made by another individual.  These factors, however, prevent prospectuses from becoming as bloated and lacking in focus as the websites that contain the same content.

The prospectus also made certain choices regarding the information that was included in the publication. The school did not include all of the information that it had regarding the school. Instead, it chose to include information that it was most proud of and information that would allow the school to make the strongest possible case for the reasons that students should attend the school.

Websites default to inclusion. Another page is added without cost. Another policy is added because it is required. Another news item joins those that nobody read from last term. The discipline of the prospectus  –  what to include, what to leave out, what to show first  –  evaporates in the face of a medium that imposes no limits.