Learn how Mt Roskill Intermediate created a more secure learning environment with N4L’s Secure Access – and how your school could do the same.
Everyday Mt Roskill Intermediate’s 600 ākonga use technology to enrich their learning – something that’s long been a focus for the school. While bring your own device (BYOD) policies allow students to seamlessly integrate their devices, each classroom is also equipped with 20 Chromebooks. For kaiako, the set-up leans heavily on Apple, with laptops, iPads, iPhones and TVs spread across the 19 classrooms.
Philip Ploeg, a Year 8 teacher and head of IT, has been managing this digital landscape for 18 years. His guiding principle? Stay proactive and keep up with the latest innovations.
“We’ve been working with N4L for a few years now and we trust their expertise. If they tell us about a new Ministry of Education initiative or software upgrade, we get the details, we say ‘yes’, and move forward,” says Philip.
Password chaos
Like any school with a lot of tech, Mt Roskill Intermediate faced several challenges. One of the biggest was managing guest access to the school’s Wi-Fi network and securing student devices. Deputy principal Nicky Fleming knew this all too well.
“Sometimes, we’d give out staff access just to make things easier, which wasn’t very secure,” she explains.
Student access was another headache. Teachers sometimes had to share passwords, which led to students gaining access to blocked websites, like social media platforms. And though they hadn’t experienced a major cyber breach, they knew it was time to up their game.
“A cyber breach is not something we have to go through to know we need to step up our security,” says Nicky.
N4L’s Secure Access – security and simplicity
When Mt Roskill Intermediate migrated to N4L’s Secure Access, it saw immediate improvements in security and day-to-day operations. One example is that Secure Access now keeps student records and staff files separate, reducing the risk of unauthorised access and data breaches.
More control, better access, higher resilience
An important advantage of Secure Access is control – its segmented network lets Mt Roskill Intermediate set different access levels for students and staff. It means that students can’t access staff documents or interfere with administrative systems, keeping the network more secure.
“Secure Access lets us easily enforce the student access rules we have. It also makes us less vulnerable if we were ever attacked,” says Nicky.
That segmentation is behind one of the Secure Access features. Philip and Nicky say it’s much easier to handle guest access to the school’s Wi-Fi network.
“We can just email a key or send a QR code for entry, which makes everything simpler and gives us more control,” says Philip.
The segmented network also made troubleshooting much easier. Any issues with online resources for students can be addressed without disrupting the entire school’s network.
A seamless rollout
Thanks to the proactive and collaborative approach of N4L’s team, the transition to Secure Access had very little impact on the day-to-day running of the school. Nicky attributes this to the work N4L put into preparing for the change-over.
“The migration process was really good. On the day, I woke up and thought, ‘Oh no, the phones might not connect to the Chromebooks!’ but N4L was pre-empting issues. It was all sorted out before we needed it,” says Nicky.
The partnership between the school’s IT personnel and N4L established the high level of collaboration and proactivity required to ensure a smooth migration.
This included a great deal of preparation and taking full advantage of the school’s Mobile Device Management (MDM) systems’ functionality: Jamf School for Apple devices and Google Workspace for all Chromebooks.
“It’s a lot more painless than you might think. We thought we’d lose our whole internet for the day, but we didn’t. They were so organised,” Nicky notes. “Our own IT person, Philip, and Michael from N4L worked together well – they thought of everything. We had a lot of planning.”
With teachers using Apple devices and students working from Chromebook, it was crucial that Secure Access would work with both technologies. While Mt Roskill Intermediate trusted N4L’s reassurances, they were especially relieved to see the ease of migration.
“I was wondering how all the Apple devices would connect, so we’d planned for people to not use their TV.” says Philip. “But as it turns out, Apple was fine right from the start. Everything’s working really well,”
N4L’s support went beyond just technical solutions – they reassured staff members who were less confident with technology, guiding them step-by-step through the set-up process.
“With N4L, no questions are dumb questions. They’re really good with the staff,” says Nicky.
Building on a strong foundation
Switching to N4L’s Secure Access has made a big difference at Mt Roskill Intermediate, making tech management smoother and more secure. For Philip, a busy teacher who also handles IT duties, the upgrade has been a huge relief. It simplified tech management and reduced the time he spends dealing with tech issues, letting him focus more on teaching.
He’s soon leaving Mt Roskill and says he’s grateful that the new network is so simple to manage.
“The system is really intuitive, which will make it that much easier to hand over,” he explains.
N4L are migrating schools to Secure Access in a staged rollout, meaning we’ll reach out when it’s your school’s turn to get the upgrade. In the meantime, you can find out more about Secure Access here.