John Oates

Freelance writer, photographer and editor

Online editing

A long-standing relationship with the Department for Children, Schools and Families (formerly Department for Education and Skills) means that I have extensive experience as a web editor. Please contact me for details of my availability and rates.

Online Publications for Schools (Sep 2004–Dec 2005)

Responsible for establishing and maintaining consistent editorial standards on Online Publications for Schools, a site delivering critical information to teachers. Trained users of the site’s bespoke content management system, managed other editors working on the site and quality checked contributions to the site from departmental policy teams.

Sure Start (Aug–Dec 2007)

Sole editor of Sure Start, a website aimed at providers and users of early years services, writing daily news updates and maintaining content.

Schoolsweb (July 2006–July 2008)

Involvement at various stages of the development of this major new site which will bring together all material from the department which is aimed at teachers:
  • Worked alongside information specialists to develop a taxonomy describing the content which would be within the scope of the new site.
  • Engaged in user acceptance testing of the new content management system.
  • Repurposed content from legacy websites, making it suitable for an upcoming site. Involved the editing of material, setting of new metadata, and use of a highly content management system.

Foundation Learning Tier support programme (January 2009–present)

Editor for a website supporting education provision at Entry Level and Level 1 within the Qualifications and Credit Framework. Writing and adapting text for the site, developing a new information architecture and working to make the site more user-friendly.