How Schools & Colleges Can Help

Get Students Creating

Encourage your students to create educational content as part of their learning. Creating a video to teach others deepens understanding and builds confidence. It's a powerful pedagogical tool that also contributes to the wider community.

Student-created content goes through the same rigorous verification process as all submissions. Schools can organise content creation days, set it as project work, or integrate it into media and ICT lessons.

• Students earn Creator XP and badges
• Content is verified before going live
• Eligible for subject prizes and awards
• Cross-curricular opportunity (media, ICT, subject knowledge)

Verification & Rating

Your teaching staff are experts. They can serve as verifiers — reviewing submitted content for accuracy, quality, and appropriateness. This is vital to maintaining trust in the platform.

Students can also contribute by rating videos and adding teaching-style tags. This collective effort helps surface the best content for all learners.

• Teachers verified via institutional email
• Specialist badges for verified subject experts
• Student rating sessions as classroom activities
• Contributes to your institution's crest progress

Sign Language & Accessibility

If your institution teaches or supports sign language (BSL, Makaton, or others), your students and staff can record sign language overlays for existing videos. This directly removes barriers for deaf and hard-of-hearing learners.

Schools with specialist provision, hearing-impaired units, or sign language departments are especially well placed to contribute. It's meaningful work that makes a real difference.

• Record BSL, ASL, Makaton, and other sign languages
• Picture-in-picture overlays on existing videos
• Students earn XP and accessibility badges

Fundraising Ideas

Help support Shared Area's mission through school fundraising. Every pound raised goes towards hosting, development, accessibility, and outreach. Here are some ideas to get started:

• Non-uniform days with donations to Shared Area
• Sponsored create-a-thons where students create content for pledges
• Bake sales and fairs with proceeds supporting free education
• Student council initiatives to adopt Shared Area as their charity of the term
• Staff challenges where teachers create content and the school community votes on favourites

Earn Your Institution's Crest

Schools and colleges that make significant contributions to Shared Area can earn their institution's own Shared Area crest. This is a mark of recognition displayed on the platform and available for use in your own communications.

Crests are awarded based on the cumulative contributions of your students and staff — content created, verifications completed, narrations recorded, and more.

Share With Other Schools

Help us reach more institutions by sharing our outreach letter with other schools and colleges in your area. The letter explains what Shared Area is, how it works, and how schools can get involved.

You can also invite us to present at staff meetings, INSET days, or governor meetings. We're always happy to talk about how the platform can support teaching and learning.