WE are updating the school website with profiles of new members of staff and school information, while creating a new version with enhanced features in parallel.

The original website was created about three years ago, in 1998, while I was studying at Sunderland University.

This had become outdated, with a number of staff no longer teaching at Bishop Barrington, and was desperately in need of maintenance.

Many new members of staff have since arrived at the school.

Timetables and holidays have changed, and the look and feel of the site is beginning to look old.

Since its design, new technologies have been developed, and are being employed on the world wide web.

The school's website development team is made up of Craig Rodway, Lee Humble Kevin Latcham, Richard Smith and myself.

Team members were chosen because of their experience in website design.

But any pupils who express an interest are welcome to help out.

The development team has four initial aims.

Firstly, it hopes to update the present website with the addition of new staff members, holidays and general school information.

Secondly, it will work to make the site go live sometime in 2001.

Thirdly, the team wants to develop a new-look website, while retaining or improving the effective content and navigation.

Finally, the team will develop a whole school Intranet (website) with a centralised administration system.

When these aims have been achieved, the team will be hoping to expand the range of services available through the website.

A survey of teachers and students will be carried out in order to assess their requirements for online teaching, learning and assessment facilities.

It is not envisaged that the new Intranet will be for the sole use of students and teaching staff.

It is hoped that members of the school's support staff will also be able to participate by creating a central repository for all administration material.

This will permit the elimination of some of the paperwork that accumulates in a modern, forward looking school like Bishop Barrington.

Report by Mike Bennet