1 - Introduction ~5 mins
Welcome
Today you sketch four website pages for the investigation you already started: Home, About, Findings, and Sources.
- Decide whether a website is the right presentation format for your audience.
- Sketch a four-page site map a reader could navigate without getting lost.
- Save that sketch as portfolio evidence, because a reader who wants to browse several pages at their own pace needs a plan behind the pages.
You are not coding or publishing today. If your search log or references are incomplete, sketch the structure anyway, use placeholders, and mark gaps to fill later. A strong plan beats a half-finished live site.
What you will walk out able to do
- Lay out a four-page site for your findings: Home, About, Findings and Sources.
- Say whether a website suits your reader better than a shorter format.
- Finish with one sketch file banked in your portfolio folder.
Warm-up
Think of the last time you opened a website to find one clear answer. Did you land on a useful home page, or did you bounce after three clicks of confusion? What would have helped you trust the page faster?
2 - Key Concepts ~5 mins
Before you sketch, get these ideas straight. A website is not "more slides". It is a set of linked pages a reader chooses their own path through.
Four-page map (see the diagram on screen): Home is the front door; About builds trust; Findings carries the evidence; Sources lets a reader check your work.
| Concept | Why it matters | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Home page — the front door: question, hook, and what the site contains | If Home fails, readers leave before they meet your evidence | "Can a local coffee-cart side hustle break even in six months?" plus clear links to About, Findings, Sources |
| About page — who you are, who the site is for, and why the investigation exists | Audience trust rises when purpose and authorship are visible | "Written by me for my assessor and a local enterprise mentor, based on the investigation I started in this unit" |
| Findings page — the evidence and answers, organised so a busy adult can scan them | This is where your search log and graded sources earn their keep | Three key claims, each with a short evidence line and a pointer to Sources |
| Sources page — full references and short notes on reliability | A reader can only check your work if the references are accurate, and this page shows who said what and why they are worth believing | Citizens Information, Revenue guidance, each with date accessed and a one-line authority note |
When a website fits
Choose a website when the audience needs multi-page depth and lasting access to sources. Right for a full investigation write-up. Wrong for a 30-second hook aimed at a phone scroll. If both answers are "no", a social post or short clip may serve the audience better — and that honest decision still belongs in your portfolio note.
Worked example: coffee-cart four-page outline
Sample investigation question: Is a small coffee-cart side hustle realistic in my town over six months?
- Home — hook question, one-sentence teaser answer, links to About, Findings, Sources
- About — student role, intended readers (mentor, assessor, local enterprise contact), what the investigation covers and what it does not claim
- Findings — three findings (start-up costs, weekly break-even, main risk), each with a short evidence note
- Sources — references copied out of the two files you have been keeping as you researched: your search log, saved as {{code:sm4_search_log}}, which lists where you looked, and your reference list, saved as {{code:sm4_references}}, which holds the full details of what you used. Each reference gets a short note on why that source is worth trusting.
Today you plan the structure in a document so the thinking is solid before any live builder.
3 - Quick Match: Page Jobs ~3 mins
Pair check (about 3 minutes)
With the person beside you, match each page below to the job it should do. Write the pairs in your copy as letters and numbers, then be ready to say why.
The pages and the format choice:
- A — Home page
- B — About page
- C — Findings page
- D — Sources page
- E — Choosing a website rather than a post or a clip
The jobs:
- 1 — Gives full references so a reader can check every claim.
- 2 — Hooks the reader with the question and links them on to everything else.
- 3 — Suits a reader who needs several pages of depth and lasting access to your sources.
- 4 — Says who wrote this, who it is for, and why the investigation exists.
- 5 — Sets out the claims and evidence so a busy adult can scan them.
Your teacher will take the answers from the room before the demonstration, so keep your reasons handy.
4 - Step-by-step Task ~12 mins
Teacher-led demo on the classroom screen. Watch how a four-page website sketch is built for the sample coffee-cart investigation. You may copy only the four page headings (Home, About, Findings, Sources) into a blank note if that helps you. You will build your own full sketch in Independent Practice — one portfolio file only.
5 - Common Issues ~3 mins
Common Issues
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
| My sketch is just four headings with nothing under them | Each page needs a purpose line plus at least three concrete bullets. Empty headings are not a structure plan. |
| I cannot decide if a website is better than a social post | Ask two questions: does the audience need multi-page depth, and do they need lasting access to sources? If both are yes, website fits. If you only need one hook and a share, keep the social format. |
| My file saved in the wrong place | Close it. Open {{code:Project_Portfolio}} → {{code:09_specialism}} → {{code:sm4}}, then create the document from inside that folder. Online apps save where they are created. |
| Heading styles will not stick / look wrong | Select the whole line first, then apply Heading 1 or Heading 2 from the styles menu. Avoid bold-only fake headings if you want a clean navigation map later. |
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