N4L helps Christchurch students get home internet for learning

Students at Haeata Community Campus in Aranui where an estimated 40 per cent of households are living without a suitable home internet connection, will now be able to access The Network for Learning’s (N4L) Managed Network from home.

N4L launched the “ConnectED” pilot during a ceremony at Haeata Community Campus to celebrate the 360 students across 190 homes that now have the option to continue their learning outside of school hours via the government-funded Managed Network.

The Managed Network is currently used by more than 821,000 students and teachers across 2400-plus schools throughout New Zealand, providing smarter and safer internet services for learning.

N4L’s role is to get students up and running with the same safe (filtered) internet experience that they get at school via the Managed Network.

“This is all about extending the tried and trusted N4L Managed Network service beyond the school gates and to the homes of students, so they can learn wherever they live,” says N4L CEO Larrie Moore.

“We are working in partnership with local groups, Chorus and the Ministry of Education, and we are delighted to be playing our part in this great initiative that we believe will be life-changing for all the students.”

The ConnectED project team is led by the Greater Christchurch Community Schools Network (GCSN), and sees N4L partnering with Haeata Community Campus, Chorus, and the Ministry of Education to give students free wifi access to the same safe (filtered), uncapped internet they get at school via the Managed Network. The school’s internet use policies and N4L’s web filtering will apply to all students accessing the Managed Network from home.

“We know that learning for students and adults occurs at times not just restricted to school hours, so having that access is really important for everyone in our community, not just those who can afford it,” says Andy Kai Fong, Principal, Haeata Community Campus.

“Interaction between students and their parents around learning and progress and success is an important factor in creating and raising the aspirations and success for those kids. So this initiative is giving these kids unlimited access to that learning, and also the encouragement of sharing that learning and talking about their learning and progress with their parents.”

This is the second pilot where N4L is partnering with Chorus, the Ministry of Education, the community and a school to deliver wireless access into student homes for learning.

These pilots are led by community trusts based in Christchurch and Lower Hutt, and involve different technology and partnership models.