What NZ schools are seeing,
and what you can do about it too

But what many schools are starting to realise is that filtering shows you where students go, not always what happens once they get there.

A student doesn’t need to visit an inappropriate website to come across something they shouldn’t; it can happen inside a search result, within a shared document, or on a platform that’s already allowed. Because these spaces aren’t always visible, it can create a false sense of confidence: Nothing looks wrong, until something is.

As Justin put it, “We assumed we were keeping students safe… until we realised we weren’t seeing the full picture.”

This is where gaps begin, not because schools aren’t doing the right things, but because those protections don’t always go far enough for how devices are actually being used.

The question isn’t whether filtering is in place, it’s whether it’s giving you the full picture.

Gaps don’t usually sit in obvious places. They look like...

• a search that returns more than expected.

• a conversation happening inside a shared document.

• a device that leaves school and connects somewhere else.

Individually, these moments seem small.

But together, they create blind spots tamariki fall through.

This page brings together what schools are learning, and what can be done to close these gaps.