As the school approaches its centennial year, Queenwood needed a website that reflected it’s change from a strong local independent school to a preeminent educational institution known for its strong academic results and a enviable pastoral care program

Research & Strategy

UXD

Interface Design

Development

Bespoke Application Build

Queenwood’s needs

Queenwood needed a fresh look on a robust, industry recognised CMS that would enable it’s brand to be presented in a sophisticated way across a range of devices from large formats down to hand held devices.

A secondary requirement was a new online application process that would streamline the back office efforts in managing the large volume of applications for the school.

What FIRST did

FIRST worked with the Queenwood team and AM Creative to scope and design a solution best fitting their needs outlined above The Kentico CMS system was chosen for content management and the Queenwood team was trained how to keep the site’s content up to date without the need for external assistance.

A bespoke application system was built enabling the status tracking of all outstanding applications Furthermore an events module was set up enabling Queenwood to set up school events such as information evenings and also take bookings for school.

Technology solution

Kentico was the Content Management System selected for the new Queenwood website primarily because of the ease of use for non-technical staff managing the site day to day.

FIRST implemented a comprehensive style guide and a set of templates to allow content creators to quickly and easily manage the site while ensuring the ongoing integrity of the look and feel and functionality of the site.

Several custom Kentico modules were created by FIRST to implement the specific functionality required for the site including integration with Queenwood’s internal CRM.

Since going live

After launch the website has seen a huge uplift in enrollment applications – over 400%. The backend system allows the Queenwood team to take full applications in a more streamlined way, reducing admin time significantly.

The Queenwood admin team make more regular updates to content on the site than was ever done on the old infrastructure. This ensures prospective and current students and their families are kept up to date with everything going on at the school.

Online communications have been improved and parents comment frequently about the quality and timeliness of information provided.