This guide is for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Information is current as at 21 March 2026. Legislation and standards in this area are subject to change, we recommend seeking independent legal advice for matters specific to your school's circumstances.
Is It Time for a New Website?
Not every school needs a brand new website. Sometimes a targeted refresh, updating photography, restructuring navigation, or improving mobile performance is the right call. But there are clear warning signs that your current site has reached the end of its useful life.
Warning signs your website needs replacing
- It’s not mobile-responsive. If parents have to pinch and zoom on their phones, they’re forming a first impression you don’t want.
- Staff avoid updating it. If the CMS is so difficult that updates get put off or abandoned, the site is working against your team, not for them.
- You can’t find basic information in three clicks. Term dates, enrolment process, contact details. If parents can’t find these quickly, they’re calling the office instead.
- The design looks dated. If the site hasn’t been visually refreshed in more than four years, it’s likely creating a disconnect between the quality of your school and how it presents online.
- You’ve been told it’s not accessible. Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, every Australian school website must be accessible. If yours hasn’t been assessed against WCAG standards, it almost certainly has issues.
- The technology is unsupported. If your CMS, hosting, or plugins are no longer receiving security updates, your site is a liability.
- Your previous agency has disappeared. If the people who built your site are no longer around to support it, you’re carrying risk you may not fully see.
- A new principal or leadership team wants to modernise the school’s digital presence.
- Enrolment enquiries have dropped, or families are reporting difficulty finding information online.
If your site’s underlying technology is sound (modern CMS, responsive framework, accessible markup), a refresh may be sufficient. If the technology itself is the problem like an outdated CMS, no mobile support, accessibility failures baked into the code, a rebuild is almost always more cost-effective than patching.
Building Your Project Team
A school website project needs a small, empowered team. The most successful projects we’ve seen involve three to five people with clear roles and the authority to make decisions.
Recommended project team
| ROLE | WHY THEY’RE NEEDED | TIME |
|---|---|---|
| Principal or Deputy | Final sign-off on design direction and key messaging. Sets the vision. | 2–3 hrs total |
| Business Manager | Budget approval, contract sign-off, procurement compliance. | 2–4 hrs total |
| Marketing / Comms | Day-to-day project lead. Content preparation, photography coordination. | 5 hrs/week |
| IT Coordinator | Technical requirements, DNS, hosting, integrations (Compass, SEQTA, etc.). | 3–5 hrs total |
| Parent Rep(optional) | User testing and feedback from a family perspective. | 1–2 hrs total |
The single most common cause of school website project delays is too many people having input without clear decision-making authority. Nominate one person as the project lead with authority to approve day-to-day decisions. Reserve leadership sign-off for two or three key milestones: design concept approval, final content review, and launch.
Getting internal buy-in
If you need to make the case to your principal or school board, focus on these outcomes:
- Reduced admin workload: A well-built website with clear information reduces phone calls and emails to the front office.
- Enrolment support: Your website is the first touchpoint for most prospective families.
- Compliance: The DDA applies to your website.
- Staff efficiency: A modern CMS means anyone can update the site, not just one person who “knows the system.”
- Long-term value: A website built properly lasts five or more years, making it one of the lowest cost-per-year investments in your communications budget.
What a School Website Costs
These are realistic ranges for Australian school websites in 2026. Your actual cost will depend on the size of your school, the complexity of your content, how many integrations you need, and whether photography and content writing are included.
Upfront build cost
| PROJECT TYPE | TYPICAL RANGE (EX. GST) | BEST SUITED FOR |
|---|---|---|
| Template-based | $3,000 – $15,000 | Schools with straightforward content needs |
| Custom-designed | $15,000 – $35,000 | Most primary and secondary schools wanting a unique, branded site with custom functionality and medium-large content heirarchy |
| Complex / multi-campus | $35,000 – $60,000+ | Schools with advanced integration needs, complete custom functionality and deep content heirarchy |
Ongoing annual costs
| ITEM | ANNUAL RANGE | NOTES |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting & support | $1,200 – $4,800 | Server, security updates, CMS upgrades, backups, support |
| Domain renewal | $30 – $80 | Your .edu.au or .wa.edu.au domain |
| SSL certificate | Included | Should be included with hosting, ask if it is |
| Ad-hoc updates | $500 – $2,000 | Design changes or new sections beyond day-to-day content |
Additional costs to plan for
| ITEM | RANGE | WHEN |
|---|---|---|
| Professional photography | $1,500 – $5,000 | Before or during the build |
| Copywriting | $2,000 – $6,000 | If you need help writing page content and messaging |
| Video production | $3,000 – $15,000 | Virtual tours, principal’s welcome, program showcases |
| Content migration | $500 – $3,000 | Moving content from old site. Depends on volume. |
| Staff retraining | $500 – $1,500 | Budget for this when staff turn over |
A $5,000 website that needs replacing in two years costs more than a $10k+ website that serves your school for six. When comparing quotes, ask: what’s the total cost over five years, including hosting, support, and likely updates? A properly built website should last a minimum of five years before a major redesign is needed.
Want this guide as a PDF?
Download the full planning guide to share with your project team. Includes all budget tables, checklists, and governance frameworks — formatted for printing and internal distribution.
What to Budget For
When reviewing proposals, it helps to understand what’s usually included in a school website build, and what is often quoted separately. Not every project needs every component, but knowing the full picture helps you compare quotes properly, including what happens after launch.
Typically included
- Discovery and planningUnderstanding your school’s audiences, content, approval process, and technical requirements.
- Information architectureOrganising content into a structure that works for families, staff, and prospective families.
- Custom designVisual design shaped around your school’s identity, not a template with a logo added.
- Responsive buildBuilt to work well on phones, tablets, and desktops.
- CMS setup and permissionsCMS configured with role-based access so teams can update their areas safely.
- Accessibility deliveryDesigned and built to WCAG 2.2 AA, including accessible component patterns and forms.
- Content entry (for agreed pages)Loading approved content into the new site (scope varies — clarify page counts).
- Staff trainingTraining for the people who will publish updates, plus guidance for good content habits.
- Launch and DNS cutoverGo-live coordination, including working with the school’s IT contact where needed.
Common add-ons (quoted separately)
- Content writing and editingWriting new pages, rewriting outdated pages, or editing for consistency and tone.
- Photography coordinationShot list planning, coordinating a photographer, and selecting images for key pages.
- IntegrationsPortals, calendar feeds, enrolment forms, payments, maps, embeds, and third-party tools.
- Content migrationMoving content from the old site — depends on volume and how tidy the current site is.
- SEO setupPage titles, descriptions, redirects, Search Console setup, and launch checks.
- Accessibility audit and document remediationIf the school has a large library of PDFs or legacy documents, improving those can be separate work.
What happens after launch
A school website isn’t a “set and forget” asset. Ongoing costs usually sit in three buckets: hosting and monitoring, platform updates, and support.
1. Hosting and monitoring
This covers where the site lives and how issues are detected early. Typical inclusions:
- Managed hosting (ideally VPS rather than shared)
- Uptime monitoring and alerts
- Backups and restore capability
- Performance monitoring and basic tuning
- SSL renewal
2. CMS and server updates
Updates are not optional for school sites. They reduce security risk, keep the site stable, and prevent bigger catch-up costs later.
- CMS updatesCraft core and plugins, applied in a controlled way (ideally tested before going live). If updates are skipped for too long, future updates become harder and more expensive.
- Server updatesThe server environment also needs patching and upgrades over time. This keeps the hosting secure and compatible with modern software requirements.
- Server upgradesAs traffic, content, or features grow, hosting may need more resources. This is normal, and it’s better planned than reactive.
3. Ongoing support
This is where the school gets help staying current. Typical inclusions:
- Support for questions and troubleshooting
- Help when staff change (access updates and refresher training)
- Small guidance on content and publishing practices
- Larger changes quoted as project work (new templates, major redesigns, complex integrations)
Ongoing costs to compare
| CATEGORY | WHAT IT COVERS | WHAT TO CHECK IN A PROPOSAL |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting and monitoring | Uptime, backups, SSL, performance signals | Is it VPS or shared? What is monitored? What’s the uptime target? |
| CMS updates | Craft core, plugin updates, compatibility checks | Are updates included? Are they tested first? What happens if updates are skipped? |
| Server updates | Patching and upgrades at the hosting layer | Is server maintenance included? Who is responsible? |
| Support | Help desk, troubleshooting, staff changeover support | What response times apply? Is retraining included? |
| Growth changes | New sections, features, major layout changes | What is included vs project work? How are changes quoted? |
What to ask when comparing quotes
- Does the quote include hosting and support in year one? If not, what will it cost annually?
- Is CMS updating included, or will we be billed each time?
- Who handles server updates and upgrades? Are they included in hosting?
- What happens if updates are skipped for a year or more — what does catch-up look like?
- Is training included, and what happens when staff change?
- Who owns the website content and files if we ever move?
- Are there per-user fees or ongoing licensing costs?
- What is included support vs what becomes project work?
Project Timeline
School website projects follow predictable rhythms. Most custom builds take 12–16 weeks from kickoff to launch, but the planning and decision-making phase can add months before that.
Typical timeline for a custom school website
| PHASE | DURATION | KEY ACTIVITIES |
|---|---|---|
| Internal planning | 4–12 weeks before kickoff | Assemble project team, assess current site, set budget, shortlist agencies |
| Discovery & planning | Weeks 1–2 | Agency learns your school, maps audiences, confirms integrations and IT requirements |
| Design concepts | Weeks 3–5 | Visual design presented, feedback rounds, design approval |
| Build & content | Weeks 6–10 | Development, content entry, integration setup |
| Training & launch | Weeks 11–12 | Staff training, final review, DNS cutover, go-live |
| Post-launch | Weeks 13–16 | Bug fixes, refinements, additional training |
Design and development run to schedule. But writing page content, gathering photography, reviewing text across departments, and getting sign-off from leadership — this is where projects stall. Plan for it. Start content preparation early, ideally before the build phase begins.
Content Planning Framework
Before any design work begins, your team needs to understand what content the website requires. This isn’t about writing every word upfront — it’s about mapping out what exists, what’s missing, and who’s responsible for each piece.
Step 1: Audit your current content
Go through your existing website page by page and categorise each one:
- Keep as-iscontent is current, accurate, and well-written.
- Keep but updatethe page is needed, but the content needs rewriting or refreshing.
- Mergemultiple pages covering similar topics that should be consolidated.
- Removeoutdated, redundant, or no longer relevant.
- Create newcontent that doesn’t exist yet but should.
Step 2: Map your key audiences
| AUDIENCE | WHAT THEY NEED | PRIORITY PAGES |
|---|---|---|
| Prospective families | Culture, programs, enrolment, fees, virtual tour | Homepage, About, Programs, Enrolment |
| Current families | Term dates, newsletters, calendar, forms, contact | Calendar, News, Parent Hub, Contact |
| Current staff | Internal resources, policies, update tools | Staff portal (may be separate) |
| Job seekers | Vacancies, school culture, application process | Careers / Employment |
Step 3: Plan your page structure
A typical school website includes these core pages. Use this as a starting checklist:
- Homepage
- About (school story, values, leadership, history)
- Learning / Programs (curriculum areas, specialist programs, co-curricular)
- Enrolment (process, fees, key dates, application form or link)
- Student Life (pastoral care, wellbeing, houses/factions, student leadership)
- Facilities / Campus
- Community (parents, alumni, volunteers, partnerships)
- News and Events
- Calendar
- Employment / Careers
- Contact
- Downloads / Forms / Policies
Don’t wait until the design is finished to begin writing content. The best school website projects have content preparation running in parallel with design and development. A good agency will provide content templates for each page type so your team knows exactly what to write and how long each piece should be.
Content Governance — Who Updates What, and When
One of the biggest reasons school websites fall into disrepair is that no one clearly owns the content after launch. A simple governance framework solves this. It doesn’t need to be complicated — just clear.
Content update matrix
| CONTENT TYPE | WHO UPDATES | HOW OFTEN | APPROVAL? |
|---|---|---|---|
| News & announcements | Marketing / Admin | Weekly | No |
| Events and calendar | Front Office | Weekly | No |
| Homepage features | Marketing / Comms | Monthly | Principal may review |
| Program & curriculum | Heads of Learning | Annually | Deputy or Principal |
| Enrolment information | Registrar | Annually | Principal approval |
| Policies and forms | Administration | Each term | Leadership review |
| Staff directory | HR / Administration | As staff change | No |
| Photography | Marketing / Comms | Annually | Check consent records |
| Careers | HR / Business Manager | As vacancies arise | No |
Making governance stick
- Assign one person as the website coordinatorthey don’t do all the updates, but they make sure updates happen.
- Build content updates into existing workflows.Newsletter published? Upload it to the site. Event confirmed? Add it to the calendar.
- Schedule a quarterly content review(30 minutes) to catch outdated information, broken links, or stale photography.
- When staff change roles,ensure website access and training is part of the handover — not an afterthought six weeks later.
Share this guide with your project team
The next four sections cover photography, accessibility, integrations, and agency selection — critical reading for your IT coordinator and business manager. Download the PDF to circulate internally.
Photography and Student Privacy
Photography is the single biggest factor in how a school website feels. Stock photography or dated images immediately undermine even the best design. But school photography also comes with legal obligations around student privacy that many schools handle informally — and that informality carries risk.
Planning your photography
- Schedule photography early, ideally during terms when students are in uniform and campuses are active.
- Create a shot list tied to specific website pages: enrolment needs welcoming campus images; learning areas need classroom activity; facilities need architectural shots.
- Include diversity in your photography such as different year levels, programs, settings, and student demographics.
- Don’t underestimate the value of a professional school photographer who understands working with children.
- Budget for it. Professional school photography typically costs $1,500–$5,000 depending on scope.
Student privacy and consent
Under the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), identifiable photographs of students are personal information. Schools have legal obligations around how these images are collected, used, and published. For independent and Catholic schools, this is governed by the federal Privacy Act 1988 and the APPs. WA government schools operate under Department of Education policies and state legislation, with the new WA Privacy and Responsible Information Sharing Act 2024 commencing July 2026.
Consent must be Voluntary, Informed, Current, and Specific (VICS). Additionally, the individual must have the capacity to understand and communicate their consent. A blanket consent form signed at enrolment may not be sufficient if it doesn’t specifically cover website publication. Consent should be reviewed and refreshed regularly and not assumed to carry forward year to year. Parents must be able to withdraw consent at any time, and the school must have a process to act on withdrawals promptly.
Practical steps
- Review your current photo consent form. Does it specifically mention website use? Social media? Each channel should be named.
- Maintain a current consent register that’s accessible to anyone uploading images to the website.
- Establish a process for handling withdrawn consent, who removes images, and how quickly?
- Brief your photographer before the shoot. Provide a list of students who cannot be photographed.
- Consider using environmental and activity shots alongside portraits to reduce consent complexity while still showing school life.
WCAG Accessibility Requirements for Schools
Every Australian school website, public, Catholic, and independent, is covered by the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA). There are no exemptions based on school type, size, or budget. The Disability Standards for Education 2005, made under the DDA, explicitly apply to both government and non-government schools.
The current benchmark for web accessibility is WCAG 2.2 Level AA, which became a W3C Recommendation in October 2023. The Australian Human Rights Commission's Guidelines on Equal Access to Digital Goods and Services (April 2025) specifically recommend that "organisations should conform with WCAG 2.2 at a minimum Level AA." The Australian Government's Digital Service Standard (December 2023) requires compliance with the latest version of WCAG. These April 2025 AHRC guidelines replaced the Commission's previous 2014 Advisory Notes and are the most current authoritative reference. Notably, they now extend accessibility obligations beyond websites to mobile apps, self-service kiosks, AI tools, and other digital products — the direction of travel is clear.
WCAG 3.0 remains an incomplete Working Draft. It is not a recommended standard and is unlikely to be finalised before 2028–2030.
Key requirements
- Text alternatives:Every image must have meaningful alt text describing its content.
- Keyboard navigation:The entire site must be usable without a mouse.
- Colour contrast:Text must have sufficient contrast against its background (minimum 4.5:1 ratio for body text).
- Heading structure:Pages must use proper heading hierarchy (H1, H2, H3) for screen readers.
- Form labels:All form fields must have visible labels.
- Video captions:Any video content must include captions or a transcript.
- Resizable text:Users must be able to increase text size without the layout breaking.
- Link text:Links must be descriptive (“View the enrolment process” not “Click here”).
The WebAIM Million 2025 report found 94.8% of sampled website home pages had detectable WCAG failures.School websites are no exception. Complaints to the Australian Human Rights Commission about web accessibility are increasing. When evaluating agencies, ask specifically: do you build to WCAG 2.2 AA? How do you test for accessibility? And what happens when your staff add new content — how do you maintain compliance over time?
What to ask your agency about accessibility
- Do you build to WCAG 2.2 AA as standard, or is it an add-on?
- How do you test for accessibility — automated tools only, or manual testing as well?
- Will the CMS make it easy to maintain accessibility when we add new content?
- Do you provide guidance for staff on writing accessible content (alt text, heading structure, link text)?
- Can you provide documentation of the site’s accessibility compliance at launch?
Integration Checklist
Your website doesn’t exist in isolation. It needs to connect with the systems your school already uses. The right integrations reduce double-handling, keep information current, and make the website a genuine hub for your school community.
Common school management systems in WA
| SYSTEM | COMMON IN | TYPICAL INTEGRATION |
|---|---|---|
| Compass | WA public schools (800+ contracted), some independent | Calendar feeds, absence notifications, parent portal links |
| Tes SEQTA | Independent and Catholic schools | Calendar feeds, LMS links, portal links |
| Tes Synergetic | Independent schools (40+ years, 65+ API endpoints) | Enrolment form connections, events, data sync |
| TASS | 400+ independent schools nationally | Calendar, enrolment, student data |
| Administration of Schools (AoS) | Catholic schools in WA | Administrative and compliance integrations |
| Connect | WA Department of Education platform used by 300,000+ public school staff, students, and families | Teaching, learning, and communication; portal links from school websites |
| Sentral | 2,500+ Australian schools across all sectors | SMS integrations, attendance, wellbeing |
Integration planning checklist
Use this during your planning phase — tick what applies to your school:
- Calendar: Do you want events to flow automatically from your SMS to the website?
- Enrolment: Does the website need to connect to an online enrolment system?
- Parent portal: Do parents need a single login link from the website to Compass/SEQTA?
- Newsletters: Distributed via email, uploaded as PDFs, or both?
- Payment gateway: Does the school accept payments through the website?
- Forms: Contact, enrolment enquiry, absence notification, permission slips?
- Social media: Should Facebook/Instagram feeds display on the website?
- Google Workspace / Microsoft 365: Any SSO or directory integration?
- Job listings: Do vacancies need to sync from an external system?
Not every integration needs to be a deep technical connection. Many school integrations are simple and reliable: a calendar feed URL, a link to a portal login page, or an embedded form. Others (like real-time enrolment data sync) are more complex and may add cost. A good agency will map what level of integration each system needs and recommend the most practical approach.
Questions to Ask Any Agency Before Signing
Whether you’re talking to us or another agency, these questions will help you evaluate whether they genuinely understand school websites or whether they’re applying a generic process with a school-coloured coat of paint.
About their experience
- How many school websites have you built in the last three years?
- Can we see examples of school websites you currently host and support?
- Do you understand the difference between independent, Catholic, and public school procurement?
- Have you worked with our school management system (Compass / SEQTA / Synergetic / TASS)?
About the technology
- What CMS do you build on, and why?
- Are there per-user licensing fees for the CMS?
- Who owns the website code and content if we ever need to move?
- How often does the CMS receive security updates, and who handles them?
- Do you build to WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standards?
About ongoing support
- What happens after launch? What does your ongoing support include?
- What is the annual cost for hosting and support?
- What are your response times for support requests?
- How many of your school clients stay with you beyond the initial build?
- If we need changes beyond day-to-day content, how is that priced?
Keep the checklist handy
The PDF version of this guide includes printable checklists for agency evaluation, integration planning, and content governance — ready to bring into your next project meeting.
What Happens After Launch
Launch day is the start of the website’s working life. A well-supported website should serve your school for five or more years with proper maintenance.
The first month after launch
- Expect minor adjustments. Real-world use surfaces small issues — a link that needs updating, a mobile layout tweak, content that reads differently in context.
- Monitor feedback from staff and families. The first few weeks are your best window for catching usability issues.
- Reinforce training. Staff may need a refresher once they’re using the system with real content.
Ongoing maintenance
Your hosting and support plan should cover:
- Security updates
CMS and server patches applied promptly, especially critical vulnerabilities. - Backups
daily automated backups with documented retention and recovery procedures. - Performance monitoring
uptime monitoring, load time tracking, server health checks. - CMS upgrades
keeping the content management system current with new versions. - Support access
a clear channel for reporting issues or asking questions. - Staff retraining
when people change roles, new staff need to learn the system.
Annual website health check
Once a year, review:
- Are all pages still current and accurate?
- Is the photography still representative of your school?
- Have any programs, staff, or structures changed that the website doesn’t reflect?
- Are there new accessibility requirements or browser standards to address?
- Is the site still performing well on mobile and loading quickly?
- Are all integrations (calendar feeds, portal links, forms) still working?
Ready to talk about your school’s website?
We’re Remedy Design Studio, a Perth-based web design agency that specialises in custom websites for schools, nonprofits, and purpose-driven organisations across Western Australia.
We build on Craft CMS, design to WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standards, and support every site we build for the long term. Our school clients stay with us because we treat their website as ongoing infrastructure, not a one-off project.
No pitch, no pressure. Just a conversation about what your school needs and whether we’re the right fit.