St James Infant School, the Abbey Junior School and Falconer’s Hill Junior School have all created websites, which are updated several times a term and have improved parental and community access in an eco-friendly way.

Headteacher Judith Amery, from St James Infant School, said: “Letters will continue to go home in the book bags for the foreseeable future but we have got fewer phone calls since we’ve had the up-to-date website containing key information such as dates of events, term dates and forms that can be downloaded at home to order things like school uniform.

“It’s great for feedback too; we get lots of positive comments, via a guest book, about how much children enjoy their time with us – which is great to hear if you’re part of the team that work here.”

Webmaster Jeni Cadman launched Electronic Chalk earlier this year after seeing a need for improved school websites.

If parents access shopping websites via the school website, funds are donated to the school at no extra cost to the user and people logging on can access pictures, providing an insight into the world that children enjoy.

She said: “As a school governor I am aware that parents are getting web savvy – doing their shopping for groceries, books and toys for their children online.

“And children are now incredibly IT literate; a computer is an established part of many homes throughout the area.

“Schools are embracing these changes and the low carbon footprint that communication over the web creates, compared to other alternatives such as newsletters, seemed like a great area to develop in partnership with schools.”

To access the websites, visitwww.abbeyjunior school.ik.org/,www.falcon ers-hill-junior-ik.org/ and www.stjamesinfant.ik.org/.