Terms of use

The agreement between you and Planline, in plain English.

Last updated 25 September 2026

1. Who we are

Planline is a planning tool for New Zealand teachers, run by Daniel Southam, a registered teacher trading as Southam Apps, a sole trader in New Zealand (NZBN 9429053988713) ("we", "us"). By creating an account or using Planline you agree to these terms. If you're signing up a school, you confirm you're allowed to agree to them on its behalf.

2. Your account

You sign in with a code sent to your email address, so keep access to that email address secure. You're responsible for what happens under your account. Tell us straight away if you think someone else has been using it. Please give us an email address you actually use, since it's how you sign in and how we contact you about your account and billing.

3. Your planning is yours

Everything you put into Planline (your plans, notes, units and the files you import) stays yours. You give us permission to store it, copy it between your devices, and show it to the people you choose to share it with, only so we can run Planline for you. We don't sell it, and we don't use it for anything else. Our Privacy policy explains how we look after it.

Please only put in material you have the right to use, including your school's plans and any resources you attach.

4. Using Planline properly

Please don't:

try to get into anyone else's account or planning, or get around how Planline limits access;
interfere with Planline, overload it, or probe it for weaknesses without our permission;
copy, resell or rebuild Planline or its WALT bank as a product of your own;
use Planline for anything unlawful, or to store content that's harmful or that you don't have the right to share.

Planline is for planning. Please don't use it to store sensitive information about students, such as health, learning support or family details. If you mention students, use first names or initials only.

A share link lets anyone who has it read the planning it covers, until it expires or you turn it off. You decide who gets a link and how long it lasts, and you're responsible for sharing it only with people you intend to. Unit and topic notes are never included, but lesson sequences and notes are, so check them before you share.

6. Trials and subscriptions

New accounts get a 30-day free trial with no card needed. After that, saving changes needs a paid subscription. Prices, renewals, plan changes, cancellation and failed payments are covered on our Billing page, which forms part of these terms. Subscriptions renew automatically each year until cancelled. Because the free trial lets you try Planline before paying, subscription payments aren't refunded, except as the Billing page describes and where the Consumer Guarantees Act requires. If we change our prices, the new price applies from your next renewal, and we'll tell you before it does.

If a trial or subscription ends, your planning becomes read-only. You can still open, print, export and back it up. We don't delete it because a subscription has lapsed.

7. Curriculum content

Planline's WALTs and success criteria are written for Planline to help you plan. They aren't Ministry of Education text, and they don't replace your professional judgement or your school's requirements. Links to Tāhūrangi go to the Ministry's own site, which has its own terms. Chalkline and Codeline, whose lessons are built in, are made by the same teacher as Planline.

8. Keeping Planline running

We work hard to keep Planline available and your planning safe, and it keeps a copy of your planning on your device so you can keep working offline. We can't promise it will never be interrupted. We'll sometimes need to update it, fix it or change features, and we'll try to tell you in advance about anything that significantly changes how you use it. We recommend using Back up from time to time to keep your own copy.

Planline relies on other services to run, including hosting, email, payments and, if you choose to use it, Google Drive. Their availability is outside our control.

9. Responsibility

If you're using Planline as a consumer, you have rights under New Zealand law, including the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 and the Fair Trading Act 1986, and nothing in these terms takes those rights away. If you're using Planline for the purposes of a business, including a school, you agree that the Consumer Guarantees Act doesn't apply, as that Act allows.

As far as the law allows, we aren't responsible for indirect losses, such as lost time or planning that wasn't backed up, and our total responsibility to you for any claim is limited to what you paid us in the 12 months before it arose. This doesn't limit anything the law doesn't allow us to limit.

10. Ending the agreement

You can stop using Planline at any time, and cancel your subscription under Account → Manage subscription. To have your account and planning deleted, email us (see our Privacy policy).

We may suspend or close an account that seriously or repeatedly breaks these terms. Unless something urgent or unlawful is involved, we'll contact you first and give you the chance to take a copy of your planning.

11. Changes and contact

We may update these terms as Planline changes. If a change matters, we'll let you know by email or in Planline before it takes effect. If you keep using Planline after that, the new terms apply. These terms are governed by New Zealand law.

Questions? Email apps.southam@gmail.com.