Explore exclusive SharePoint Web Parts built for schools. Designed to save staff time, improve communication and personalise your school intranet experience.
Done right, your SharePoint intranet is the digital heart of your organisation; a central space where communication flows clearly, collaboration happens naturally, and everyone knows exactly where to find what they need.
The challenge is that out-of-the-box intranet tools are designed for corporate environments.
Schools, however, operate in a different context.
Staff have less time, more varied roles, and a constant need to move quickly between tasks. If your intranet is not immediately useful, it’s unlikely to be used at all.
That’s why, for over a decade, Cloud Design Box has focused on developing a solution that is specifically designed for education, informed by our work with schools across the UK and beyond.
Every feature has been developed based on input from teachers, support staff and senior leaders in schools.
Below, we round up our exclusive SharePoint Web Parts and explore how they solve real problems in schools and trusts – enhancing staff communication, reducing admin burdens and strengthening a school’s culture:
- Create smarter school home pages.
- Build a strong staff culture.
- Give staff faster access to what they need.
- Improve organisation and personalisation.
- Embed easier navigation.
Smarter school home pages with these exclusive SharePoint Web Parts for Schools
Here are just some of the SharePoint Web Parts that are helping schools turn their intranet homepages into fully functioning digital hubs.
Hero Banner
Add a visually striking banner to the top of any SharePoint page, with space for a welcome message and a clear call to action.
CDB’s Hero Banner allows your school or MAT communicate its mission, vision and values in a bold, visible way. It’s also ideal for highlighting major updates or driving staff towards key areas like CPD or safeguarding.
Hero Search
Display a personalised greeting with a prominent search bar and custom background design. The Hero Search Web Part increases staff engagement and makes SharePoint instantly more welcoming and easier to navigate.
My Profile
Allows you to display a personalised message to the logged-in user along with custom quick links.
The My Profile Web Part helps you tailor the experience to the individual, adding in useful links to help them get to what they need faster.
Make school communications clear and unmissable in SharePoint
Create a dynamic, central hub that connects everyone from across your school or MAT.
Staff Briefing
Display the most recent staff bulletin or update with a link to archived previous editions.
The Staff Briefing Web Part centralises communication, ensuring all staff receive key messages without having to rely on email.
Call to Action
Add an eye-catching block to highlight key updates, deadlines and documents.
With the Call to Action Web Part, you can guide users to important documents, such as CPD sessions, safeguarding policies or notices, in one click.
Build a strong staff culture with these SharePoint Web Parts for Schools
Add a personal touch to your school or MAT hub with the following Web Parts.
Staff Directory
CDB Staff Directory displays your employees and their key details in an eye-catching and easy-to-use format. The employee directory automatically pulls from Azure Active Directory (AAD)/Microsoft Identity.
Organisations can choose to display names, job titles, departments and contact information of their staff members. Users can easily find key staff members, see if they’re online/available and click through to contact their colleagues.
Give staff faster access to what they need with SharePoint Web Parts for Schools
Teachers and support staff need to move quickly. Help them get straight to the tools and documents they rely on.
CDB Menus
CDB Menus transform SharePoint by making menus much more user-friendly and showing links and sections relevant and accessible to the logged-in user. It’s a great way to add tile-style navigation to SharePoint sites that are dashboards, landing pages or departmental hubs.
Staff Toolbox
The CDB Staff Toolbox Web Part places high-impact tools like Student Assignment Search, Assignment Analytics, Cover Manager, and Site and Team Creation front and centre on your SharePoint homepage.
Promoted Links
Highlight key links to pages, Teams, libraries or resources. The Promoted Links Web Part helps staff spend less time searching and more time teaching!
Web Links
Maintain a centralised, easy-to-manage list of all your essential links. This is great for connecting staff with resources, platforms and systems outside of Microsoft 365.
FAQs
Build a searchable list of commonly asked questions, which will significantly reduce the amount of time spent answering repeated queries, as well as supporting the onboarding of new staff. Find out more about the FAQs Web Part.
Improve organisation and personalisation with SharePoint Web Parts for Schools
Help staff stay organised and make your intranet feel more personal with these SharePoint Web Parts for schools.
Class Dashboard
The Class Dashboard gives students and teachers a personalised view of all their Class Teams.
For students, this includes links to assignments, Class Notebook and work folders.
In addition to the above, teachers can see all students enrolled in each Class Team and access their individual work folders.
Meanwhile, the Time Machine allows users to easily access their previous academic years’ Teams, without trawling through the Teams archive.
My Assignments
The My Assignments Web Part makes it easier for students to keep track of assignments and take more ownership of their learning.
The student can see what assignments are coming up, what class they’re for and when they’re due. The ones that are overdue are highlighted in red.
What’s more, the student can click the assignment and be taken directly to that assignment page in Microsoft Teams.
My Classes
Brings in all the Class Teams you’re a member of, whether you’re a student or teacher. With the My Classes Web Part, you can click on a Class Team, which will take you directly to the class within Microsoft Teams.
My Line Manager
Display each staff member’s line manager, with an option to start a Teams chat. The My Line Manager Web Part strengthens communication and simplifies everyday interactions.
Make SharePoint pages easier to navigate and more engaging with these SharePoint Web Parts for Schools
Add structure and visual interest to your school or trust SharePoint hub with the following Web Parts.
Section Breaks
Use stylistic dividers like curves, wedges or clouds to improve design, break up content and create easier-to-read layouts. See how the Section Breaks Web Part works in this guide.
Google Search
Embed a Google Search bar directly into SharePoint. Let staff find answers from the web without having to leave the intranet.
Word of the Day
Feature a new word each day with the Word of the Day Web Part to support whole-school literacy, vocabulary retention or subject-specific focus areas.
CDB Blog Posts
Stay informed with updates on new features, blog posts, videos and enhancements from CDB and Microsoft with the CDB Blog Posts Web Part.
CDB Menus
The CDB Menu is your smart, one-click gateway to a secure and structured intranet, making it effortless to access key resources, share information widely, or collaborate effectively in focused teams. It’s personalised to only show you sites and teams that you have access to.
Every one of these tools is designed with school life in mind. Whether you’re aiming to improve communication, save staff time, or increase engagement with your digital systems, these web parts deliver practical benefits:
- Reduce the amount of time staff spend hunting for documents or links.
- Help ensure important messages are seen and understood.
- Promote school culture and connection, without adding workload.
- Offer personalisation that encourages staff to use the intranet regularly.
If you want to explore how these exclusive web parts can transform your SharePoint intranet into a truly useful digital hub for your entire school community, contact Cloud Design Box to book a demo. Or if you’re an existing customer, reach out to our training team.
