BYOD
Bring Your Own Device
Embedded Files
2025 BYOD Evening RSVPs are open. Please scroll down to let us know you are attending.
2025 BYOD Evening RSVPs are open. Please scroll down to let us know you are attending.
2026 BYOD Drop In Sessions will be scheduled soon. Please watch this space for a booking link.
Current BYOD Students and Parents
Current BYOD Students and Parents
NEW BYOD Parents and Students Start Here
NEW BYOD Parents and Students Start Here
Parent Information
Parent Information
In Term 4 each year we hold a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) parent information evening. All Year 2 parents and caregivers who are moving to Year 3 the following year are invited to come to this evening. Any other interested families including those new to Sunnyhills in Year 3-6 are also welcome to attend.
During this event, we go over the BYOD program and what we use devices for. We also explain our rationale behind BYOD and give recommendations for devices.
The 2025 BYOD evening will be held on Tuesday 11 November starting at 5:30 pm. Please RSVP below to let us know that you are attending.
Purchasing a Device
Purchasing a Device
Chromebooks Only
Chromebooks Only
Please note - We only accept Chromebooks into our BYOD programme. We do not accept tablets or Chromebooks with detachable keyboards.
Students who were in year 3, 4, and 5 in 2022 and brought a device to school will be allowed to continue to bring their Chromebook, Mac or Windows device until they reach year 6.
We ask that should you replace those devices you do so with a Chromebook
Bringing a device to school is optional.
Students who do not bring a device will have access to school-owned Chromebooks for their learning during school time.
We provide a list of recommended Chromebooks through our partner retailers, you are welcome to choose other makes and models if you wish.
Please see the notes below that will give you an idea of what to look for when purchasing a device.
What to look for
What to look for
Chromebook any brand/model
Lightweight
Great battery life - it needs to last for a school day
Tough outer-casing
Auto-update life of 3 years or more (details here for Chromebooks)
A minimum of 4GB of RAM
Attached keyboard - clamshell / laptop style
No detachable keyboards are to be brought to school
Touch screens are okay but not required
A good insurance policy that covers accidental breakage and theft
You DO NOT need to purchase anti-virus software for Chromebooks
It is highly recommended to purchase insurance with your device to cover any breakages.
Why Chromebooks?
Why Chromebooks?
Easy login process for students
Chromebooks work seamlessly in the Google Environment
Cloud-based storage
Easy one-click software updates
Light-weight and great battery life
Less on-device distractions
Easy to powerwash - reset to factory settings if there is an error
Easily managed and setup for our school environment
Most secure option for Internet filtering at Sunnyhills School.
Where can I purchase a device?
Where can I purchase a device?
There are a number of retailers around New Zealand that sell Chromebooks. A selection of flyers have been added for you.
It is highly recommended to purchase insurance with your device to cover any breakages.
Device Setup
Device Setup
See 4. for details of BYOD Drop in session times.
See 4. for details of BYOD Drop in session times.
Parents are asked to attend a BYOD Drop-in session with their children to set up their Chromebooks. The dates for these sessions are below.
If parents and students wish to use their child's Chromebook before they come to a drop-in session:
Parents will need to setup a Google account for their child we call this your child's home account
We recomend parents connect home accounts to family link and ensure parents can closely monitor the account.
You can setup a family link account on a Chromebook by selecting 'set this device up for a child' when you first login to the Chromebook.
At your drop-in session Chromebooks that have already been setup will be returnred to factory settings in order to install the Chrome Upgrade. Anything that is saved on the Chromebook will be deleted during this process.
You can add your child's home account back onto the Chromebook after the Chrome Upgrade is installed, you will need to know the account username and password in order to do this
You can find out more about the Chrome Upgrade and what it means for you and your child's device here on our Chrome Upgrade page.
Booking a Drop in Session
Booking a Drop in Session
2026 Drop-in sessions will be open soon.
2026 Drop-in sessions will be open soon.
If you need a device setup for a current Year 3, 4, 5 or 6 student before then please contact your child's teacher.
If you need a device setup for a current Year 3, 4, 5 or 6 student before then please contact your child's teacher.
Learners who will be in year 3, 4, 5 or 6 and have not previously bought a device to school and wish to bring one will need to attend a drop-in session BEFORE the device is brought to school.
During these sessions learners and their families will:
Receive help to install the Chrome Upgrade Licence on the Chromebook
Read and sign our school BYOD agreements and re-read our school citizenship agreement signed at enrolment
Receive advice on device use and monitoring at home
It is likely to take about 20-30 minutes to get through the process.
Chromebooks must be fully charged. Chromebooks do not need to be setup prior to the session.
Chromebooks will be returned to factory settings before the upgrade is installed.
Anything saved on the device will be deleted.
Each session has a limited number of spaces to ensure we can get everyone's device setup. If you need to change your booking please let the office know either by giving them a call or sending an email.
Students & their parent need to attend the session together with the student's fully charged Chromebook.
2026 Dates (TBC)
2026 Dates (TBC)
Term 1 Week 1 2026
Monday 9 February
8:30, 9:00, 9:30, 10:00, 11:15, 11:45, 1:45, 2:15, 3:00
Wednesday 11 February
3:00, 3:30, 4:00
Thursday 12 February
3:00, 3:30, 4:00
Friday 13 February
8:30, 9:00, 9:30, 10:00, 11:15, 11:45, 1:45, 2:15, 3:00
Term 1 Week 2 2026
Monday 16 February
8:30, 9:00, 9:30, 10:00, 11:15, 11:45, 1:45, 2:15, 3:00
Wednesday 18 February
3:00, 3:30, 4:00
Thursday 19 February
3:00, 3:30, 4:00
Friday 20 February
8:30, 9:00, 9:30, 10:00, 11:15, 11:45, 1:45, 2:15, 3:00
Term 1 Week 3 2025
Monday 13 February
8:30, 9:00, 9:30, 10:00, 11:15, 11:45, 1:45, 2:15
Important Documents
Important Documents
Why BYOD?
Why BYOD?
Future Focussed Learning
Future Focussed Learning
Our children are entering a world that is looking for abilities far different from the traditional. We want them to be able to collect, synthesise and analyse information and then work collaboratively with others to apply that knowledge. They need to learn how to learn and to respond to the constantly changing technologies and social and global changes in the world.
Bring Your Own Device allows students to have one-to-one time on a device that is set up to their specifications for their learning. This has many benefits, including:
• enabling students to take increasing responsibility for their own learning
• empowering students to learn at a pace and place as well as a way which suits them
• teaches students how to discern what tool will best help with their learning
• encouraging and enabling teachers to more easily implement personalised learning
• prepares students for a future where they are likely to be working in an environment with increasing amounts of technology and IT/collaborative/cloud based tools.
Digital Citizenship
Digital Citizenship
As part of our learning at Sunnyhills school we help students to develop their digital citizenship. Our learning resources for this are on our SHINE Online site. Our SHINE Online site also has a parent resources page where you can find a wealth of resources to help you continue to develop citizenship at home.
Sunnyhills School is a Netsafe school. We regularly review and improve our policies, procedures and curriculum related to digital citizenship to ensure we're providing the best possible learning environment and experiences for learners both online and offline.
Google Workspace for Education and Classwize
Google Workspace for Education and Classwize
How does Google Workspace for Education (previously, Google Suite, GAFE) work?
How does Google Workspace for Education (previously, Google Suite, GAFE) work?
The Google Workspace for Education (GSuite) offers apps for email, calendar, blogs, documents, presentations and website creation as well as Google Drive, which is a way of organising all of the work done on these apps. The use of these apps is free and can be used in ‘the cloud’ - a collaborative environment where others can access and work on documents together in real-time. Google Workspace allows students to access their work from school, home, the local library - anywhere with an internet connection. Students at Sunnyhills have restricted access to some applications provided by Google Workspace accounts, for example only those in Year 5 and 6 have use of email. Year 4s will be introduced to email, including how to use it properly, at the end of the year so they are ready to use it in Year 5. All students are unable to make creations on their accounts using applications that are restricted to those over the age of 13. This includes YouTube.
What is Classwize?
What is Classwize?
Classwize is a management software that allows teachers to protect students from seeing inappropriate or harmful content while giving teachers tools to minimize distractions and provide rich and immersive digital learning experiences. You can read more about Classwize here: https://linewize.co.nz/solutions/classwize
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