Welcome to Digital Download - your ICT specific information from the Ministry of Education.
Te Rito - Every connection counts
Kura and schools are encouraged to connect to Te Rito, a secure, cloud-based information-sharing platform that enables ākonga and learner information to follow them throughout their education. When a student management system (SMS) connects to Te Rito and other data sources are added, more information on ākonga and learners is available for other connected kura and schools to access. This means information is shared safely and easily when learners move from one school to another.
For the sector, by the sector
Sector working groups Te Rau Whakatupu Māori and Te Rau Whakatupu Auraki (Ngā Rau Whakatupu), in partnership with the Ministry, are now well underway with the rollout of Te Rito to New Zealand kura and schools.
Te Rito now has:
- more than 600 schools signed up, and over 300 of those have connected their SMS
- more than 120,000 learner records, and as more schools connect, the records increase
- great feedback from students, teachers and leaders at Ko Taku Reo | Deaf Education New Zealand who are accessing and using it
- principals and teachers at pilot Whangārei and Ngā Rau Whakatupu schools onboard and their insights helping adapt the technology and experience for others
- increased data available, which continues to grow ahead of rolling out wider from next year
- full IT Certification and Authentication (C&A), validating its stringent security and privacy standards.
More information
Every connection counts. Connect today to protect learner information for the future.
Visit Te Rito website or email [email protected] if you have more questions.
Cyber Assistant Tool pilot update
If you missed our previous update, the Ministry has developed a self-assessment tool to help schools understand their level of resilience against safety, security, and privacy issues. The Cyber Assistant Tool is designed to guide you through selected survey questions and give your school a personalised action plan based on your answers. There are no minimum questions to answer, but the more modules you complete, the more accurate the advice will be.
Great news – the cyber assistant tool pilot has been extended!
Feedback from the 100 schools who have accessed it so far has been overwhelmingly positive, with many saying it’s increased their awareness of actions they can take to help keep their school safer. We’ve extended the pilot to the end of the year and are opening it up to include more schools.
Improve cyber protections at your school, join our pilot
If you are interested in getting a personalised action plan for your school and some practical advice on how to reduce your security risks, join the pilot and complete the Cyber Assistant Tool.
Don’t delay – research has shown schools take twice as long to recovery from a cyber incident than other organisations.
Join the pilot by emailing us as [email protected]
Supporting your Microsoft Licensing Requirements
The Ministry of Education is reviewing the number of Microsoft licenses procured for schools, to help inform any future renewal of the Microsoft Schools’ Agreement in 2025 and beyond.
Microsoft reporting indicates that some schools may not have the correct number of licenses. To better understand this, the Ministry has engaged Cyclone (as their licensing partner) to collect this information from schools.
Responding to this request will ensure that your school receives the licenses required for future years.
Detailed guidance on how to collect the required data will be provided within the next 2 weeks. If you use an IT Service Provider to manage your school IT infrastructure and Microsoft licensing, it may be easier to get them to complete this request on your school’s behalf.
Note: If the requested information is not provided by the due date, this may affect the number of Microsoft licenses your school has access to in 2025 and beyond.
Have confidence in your school’s software with Safer Technologies for Schools
There are over 300 EdTech organisations offering software in New Zealand. How can you be sure the software you select is safe to use and doesn’t open your school up to cyber security threats?
Check whether the software meets a minimum set of privacy and cyber security standards suitable for schools by accessing Safer Technology for Schools (ST4S). It is easy to do a quick check of the list of badged products on the ST4S website. In addition, IT staff and providers can access detailed reports if they want to know more. ST4S helps to take some of the guesswork out of selecting software and technology for your school, giving you confidence that the software you use is secure.
Check the ST4S website for a list of badged software products available to schools.
Microsoft Office 365 A1 Plus retired
From the 1 August 2024 all Microsoft A1 Plus licenses that were assigned to staff or students were automatically migrated to the Office 365 free A1 license. The free A1 license continues to give your users access to online Office 365 apps, collaboration, and classroom tools but they no longer have access to the Office desktop apps. To deliver the best value for money solution to the Education sector, it is recommended schools use the free A1 (online) license where possible.
More information can be found the following websites:
