Schools and their students benefiting from improved security and safety features
Our nationwide upgrade has now reached more than 1,840 schools!  By mid April, we’ll have upgraded more than 75% of all schools with the new cyber security hardware designed to keep teachers and students safer when using the internet.

The rollout of new hardware is on track, with all schools scheduled to receive their upgrade by the end of June. The hardware is designed by Fortinet, a company leading the way in network security for governments, businesses and education providers.

The pace and success of the rollout would not have been possible without the many technology partners across the country who are helping us. We are working closely with the teams at Fortinet and Spark to make sure schools are getting an industry leading security solution specifically designed to meet their needs.

What schools are saying
We survey schools to assess their experience following the upgrade and 92.2% of the 500+ schools that completed the survey have indicated they are either satisfied or very satisfied with the transition. This is good news but we know there is always room for improvement and will continue to work hard with our partners to get it.

Here’s what schools are saying about the upgrade:

“Love when people turn up when they say they’re going to and do what they say they’re going to do – Ka Pai N4L.” – Caroline Bush, Principal, St Joseph’s School (Orakei)

“Prior to the FortiGate, teachers were complaining about the speed of the internet, but since the upgrade, no one has groaned or moaned to me, so that must be good.” – Andrea Joyce, Principal, Tisbury School

“We did have an issue where not everything was working smoothly the next day, however this was dealt with quickly and efficiently.” – Diane Bates, Principal, Oruaiti School

“The safety and wellbeing of our students is of a huge priority for us, so having access to the tools and technology to keep our students safe online, at no extra cost to our school, is super important. The transition to N4L’s new security system was very smooth, and I am very happy with the end result.”  – Chris Jarnet, Principal, Ngaruawahia High School

Chris Jarnet, Principal, Ngaruawahia High School

What’s next?
The cyber security rollout is the first phase of a wider upgrade to N4L’s Managed Network, and will improve a schools’ protection against online threats, such as phishing and ransomware; provide more advanced web filtering tools to keep students safer online; and will better equip schools to block the use of VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) used by students attempting to bypass web filtering.

What’s coming – smarter reporting
While we currently have a couple of standard ‘out of the box’ reports available , we’ve been working closely alongside schools, and the sector, to understand exactly what information is useful. This will help inform future updates to our reporting platform designed to help schools understand and manage student internet use.

Self-service tools to help schools make their own changes
We’re working on a self-service tool called FortiPortal that will make it easier for schools to view and make changes to their filtering and firewall settings. Right now, we’re in the middle of running some tests – and plan to have it ready for schools for Term 3.

More bandwidth
We’re currently working with our partners to look at how schools can have easier access to more bandwidth when needed.

We are super excited to be helping schools get the best possible internet for their learning and we will continue to work on new features that will help them make the most of their digital connections.

Research suggests that New Zealand is in a unique position as one of the few countries in the world where the government is investing in a nationwide broadband programme that not only connects every school to fast, reliable and uncapped internet; but is also funding robust security for schools.