Overview
Horizon College International is a school in Sri Lanka offering education from child care and pre-school through to primary and secondary levels, following the British curriculum with Edexcel Pearson examinations. Its families are largely expatriate households in Colombo and parents who want a global education for their children. We built the school's public website, whose main job is to help those parents understand the school and begin an application.
The Challenge
Parents choosing a school compare several options, and they look for specific reassurance: what is taught, what the facilities are like, where the campuses are, and how to apply. The school also operates across more than one branch, and admissions run on set intakes, so the information must be current and easy to find. The site had to present all of this clearly, in a tone that suits an international school, and let the administration update it without technical help.
Our Approach
We structured the site around the questions a parent asks. Admissions is given prominent placement, and the homepage carries a clear apply call to action tied to the current intake. The rest of the navigation follows how families evaluate a school: the school itself, curriculum, activities, facilities, news, branches, careers and contact. We chose WordPress because school staff can publish news, change intake information and edit pages themselves, which matters because content changes each term.
What We Built
The site includes a homepage with an admissions-focused hero and an apply call to action. The school section covers its profile, about page, achievements and a photo gallery. Curriculum pages explain the British curriculum pathway and the stages from pre-school to secondary. Activities pages describe extra-curricular and co-curricular options and clubs and societies. A facilities page highlights laboratories, library, computer lab, sports and performing arts spaces, security and transport. Branch pages give locations and contact details for each campus, and there are news, careers and contact pages. A dedicated child care and pre-school application route helps parents of the youngest children.
Technology
WordPress with PHP gives the school a familiar editing environment, with page templates for consistent presentation across programmes and branches. We used a lightweight theme and optimised imagery, because photo galleries can otherwise slow a school site considerably, and many parents visit from phones.
Outcome
The school has a website that answers the main questions of prospective families and gives them an immediate way to apply. Administrators can keep news, intake dates and branch details up to date themselves, so the information families read stays current from one recruitment cycle to the next.
Highlights
- Admissions-focused homepage with a live intake call to action
- Curriculum, facilities, activities and branch pages for prospective parents
- Child care and pre-school application route
- Photo gallery and news section editable by school staff
- Built for expatriate and international-family recruitment cycles
