How to navigate your way around the St Samuel's website and get the best from your visit

Do you remember when you were at school?

Not so much the teachers or the other students, but the building itself?

For most of us it seemed so huge at the time - as well as more than a little mysterious.

What was it they kept behind the locked doors just past the chemistry laboratories?

Was that locked cupboard in the modern languages room really the place, as all the students thought, where the exam papers were stored?

And what about that odd trap door in the locker room ceiling? Did that really lead out onto the roof? Or was there something more sinister up there?

Of course, when you think about it, schools are such multi-faceted institutions that the buildings that house them are also necessarily elaborate.

And that's just as true of this website.

St Samuel's Academy is a complex institution with its own hierarchy, organisational structure, locations, buildings, departments, rules and standards of behaviour. New boys inevitably find it difficult to find their way around our campuses at first.

And inevitably the same is true of our website which - with its unexpected "rooms" and "corridors" leading you into all sorts of intriguing and, we hope, exciting adventures - you may initially find equally tricky to navigate.
We have therefore devised this basic guide to help you make the most of your Sponsorship and ensure that you don't miss out on any of the students' activities that we describe here.

So, let's assume that you begin by entering your log-in name and password.

Once that's done, you come to a page that offers you a choice between visiting our Riga campus or our other site in Bogota, or else clicking on "Academy Update" or "Sponsor Services". Tempting though it is to go straight to one or other of the campuses in order to see what the boys are up to at their study, sports or recreation, we recommend instead that you select "Academy Update".

ACADEMY UPDATE

To continue our analogy, if you visited a school in person the first thing you would expect to do is to meet the Headmaster. Going straight to the "Academy Update" section of the site is useful, as it will give you a complete overview of the new material that has been added that week. Clicking on any of the blue-coloured links will take you straight to the particular newly-introduced item that has aroused your special interest.

CLICKING ON A "PASSPORT" TO RIGA OR BOGOTA

If you do that, you will be taken to a page introducing you to the appropriate campus. As you will see, from there you may go in one of several directions: to the "Headmaster's Office", back to the other St Samuel's campus, to our "Sponsor Services" section or to the student files of the particular campus you have chosen.

HEADMASTER'S OFFICE

Going to the Headmaster's Office allows you to choose between (1) clicking on the Headmaster's in-tray which will give you access to some of the Sponsors' letters received this week, (2) clicking on the top drawer of the Headmaster's filing cabinet which allows you access to past correspondence and replies (arranged in weekly files which may be clicked for access), (3) proceeding to the Academy Update page (see above), (4) proceeding to the other St Samuel's campus, (5) proceeding to our Sponsor Services section, (6) proceeding to the individual files of that particular campus's students.

STUDENT FILES

Going to the "Student Files" page of either campus presents you with a "filing cabinet", on each drawer of which is a boy's photograph and name. Clicking on the boy's photograph takes you to his personal files.
Each boy's files consist of seven separate sets of file cards (any of the seven sections may consist of multiple pages - check the information on the card). You can move from one to another by appropriate clicking at any point.

(1) The Personal Details file gives some basic information about the boy.

(2) The Background & Academic Progress file gives information about the circumstances of the boy's admission to the school, his disposition and his progress so far.

(3) The Physical Education card lists the boy's various sports and details of progress made in each. Clicking on the various dates in the right-hand "photos added" column of this file card will give access (if available) to files of appropriate photographs.

(4) The Social Development file records how the boy interacts with staff and fellow students, in particular his room-mate at the school. Dated reports summarise incidents recorded on the school's CCTV network and the filmed images may be accessed by clicking on any of the dates in the right-hand "video added" column.

(5) The Medical History file records not only each boy's vital statistics, paying particular attention for our research purposes to his sexual development, but also his various dated medical examinations, attached to each of which is a written report (accessed by clicking on the date in the "report" column) and a set of photographs (accessed by clicking on the date in the "photos added" column). Our Guardians - Sponsors who have signed up for six months at a time - have unique access to full videos of some boys' medical examinations, accessed by clicking on the date in the "report" column of the boy's medical card.

(6) The Disciplinary Record file lists a boy's infringements of school rules resulting in disciplinary action - both the subsequent report of such action and a photographic record may be accessed by clicking on dates in the appropriate columns of the record card.

(7) The Miscellaneous Correspondence file contains any other material we have received about each boy - to access any such material, click where indicated in the right-hand column.

As you can see, dear Sponsor, there is plenty to see on this website about life at our Academy.

We do not, therefore, propose to detain you here any longer.

Feel free to explore the site, to get to know us, to develop warm and intimate friendships with our students - and to come back for more next week!