To start, click on the ‘Student’ link the left-hand side of the website (fig. 2.1).

Fig. 2.1

You will be taken to a page with the heading ‘Is your school registered for Shine?’ Start typing your school’s name into the ‘School name’ field. You will see a list of possible names appear below the field as you type (fig. 2.2). The more you type, the more accurate the search will be.

Fig. 2.2

Once your school’s name appears, select it and press the ‘Check’ button.

You will be taken to a page telling you if your school has signed up or not. If not, you can ask Shine to send a registration request to your school. This can be done using the form on the page. You must enter your full name and your school's name, along with the school's address, postcode, and your email address.

If your school has signed up, you will be told the name of your school’s Shine coordinator, and given the option to create a student account. Fill in the form where account information is requested. Wherever you see a red asterisk, the information is required (fig 2.3)

Fig. 2.3

First type ‘Your tutor’s full name’ and ‘Your tutor group’. This information will be used by your school’s Shine coordinator to help identify you.

The next step is to choose a ‘Username’. This can be anything you like, just be careful not to type punctuation, except for periods, hyphens and underscores. You will need it whenever you log in together with the password. Type a valid email address in the ‘Email address’ field. Next, type a password in both the ‘Password’ and ‘Confirm password’ fields. Your password should contain a mixture of letters and numbers, but no other characters.

Next there is a checkbox under the ‘Arts Council England’ heading. Tick this box if you do not want to be informed about other Arts Council England initiatives. Beneath the ‘How did you hear about Shine?’ heading you can select from the checkboxes and type into the text fields how you heard about Shine.

The next required information is ‘Your full name’, first name and surname, so that you can be easily identified.

Finally, you need to read and accept the Terms & Conditions. Once you have read them, check the ‘Accept Terms & Conditions of Use’ box and press the ‘Create new account’ button (fig. 2.4).

Fig. 2.4

Your account will not be immediately active, but will be added to a list for approval by your school’s Shine coordinator. You will receive an email when your coordinator approves or blocks your account request.