Investigations for schoolsInvestigations for New Zealand schools

Helping schools conduct investigations everyone can trust

We support New Zealand schools with investigations involving students or staff

When complaints and allegations arise involving staff or students, we help you complete investigations everyone can trust. We’re not lawyers. We’re a family-owned consultancy addressing a growing challenge for schools across the motu.

How we can help your school

Aotearoa New Zealand primary and secondary schools regularly deal with complaints and allegations involving staff and students. From student bullying to allegations of misconduct against staff, it’s important to find out what really happened before making any decisions.

Getting these investigation processes right is an important part of ensuring a safe school environment. The Royal Commission has shown us what happens when we fail to address issues sufficiently. Transparent reporting and rigorous investigations are the new expected standard. Investigations are scrutinised closely and regularly challenged. But beyond compliance and risk management, it’s ultimately about protecting our tamariki and ensuring our kaimahi are treated fairly.

Here are the types of concerns, complaints and allegations we can help you with:

About Basalt Solutions

Basalt Solutions is owned and operated by Tim and Natalie Sterne. Tim is a former teacher and highly experienced criminal and civil investigator. Natalie is an experienced school teacher who has also worked as a professional practice lecturer.

Many providers investigate and leave. They don’t help your team learn how to do it themselves. In addition to our independent investigations, we also give you the chance to grow your own skills, so you can handle more in the future with greater confidence.

Our unique understanding of your environment enables us to bring cultural and pastoral sensitivity to our work. Other providers often don’t understand how schools actually work. We do. We’ve worked in education and engage regularly with leaders across the sector. We understand the complexities and layers. We understand your world, enabling us to ask the right questions and see things others might miss.

Our Services

Independent Investigations & Reviews

Independent investigations into disclosures, concerns or allegations involving your staff or students.

Internal Investigation Coaching

Real-time advice and guidance when you're conducting your own internal investigation.

Professional Development & Training

Innovative professional development workshops and online training to equip teachers and pastoral leaders to investigate with confidence.

Why Choose Us?

We engaged Tim Sterne at Basalt Solutions to conduct a complex and sensitive independent investigation. Throughout the process, Tim demonstrated exceptional professionalism, discretion, and rigour. His calm, methodical approach, combined with clear communication, gave us confidence that the matter was being handled with integrity and care. His report was balanced, thorough, and delivered in a timely manner, ensuring we could make informed decisions. I would not hesitate to recommend Tim to any organisation seeking expert guidance and independent review in challenging situations.

I contacted Tim when our school was going through a challenging internal process. Tim made time for us and provided his support at very short notice. Our staff greatly appreciated his involvement and were reassured by his experience and guidance. He made a very real and positive difference and enabled us to successfully navigate a difficult process. He also ensured our documentation was thorough and well structured. I’m grateful for Tim’s support and recommend his services.

Our school board engaged Tim to conduct an independent investigation into a very complex matter involving some of our staff. Tim was very committed to maintaining neutrality and impartiality throughout the process. It was an advantage to have someone investigate who understands schools. His expertise as an investigator, combined with his experience as a teacher, enabled him to ask the necessary questions and to make fair evaluations of the responses given by our staff. His process was transparent and his communication was professional through what was a challenging process. The report Tim provided to us and our team of advisors and representatives was clear and enabled us to move forward to a very satisfactory resolution. I recommend Tim's services to any school looking for a thorough and fair investigation from someone who understands the education environment.

Our leadership team recently went through Basalt's training on investigation processes. It was exceptionally worthwhile. The frameworks and prompts sparked immediate considerations and reflective conversations. We have already applied this thinking to our work and will continue to work with Basalt Solutions to develop best practice. Tim was a great facilitator and his experience and background are invaluable.

While serious incidents are rare in our school, having a clear and professional approach to investigations is essential when issues do arise. Since attending Tim’s workshop, I’ve found his ideas and advice invaluable - whether I’m leading a process myself or supporting staff who are carrying out investigations. His guidance has helped ensure our responses are thoughtful, fair, and consistent.

The very same day that we undertook investigations training with Tim we received a report of conduct that had to be investigated. We put the training and resources to use immediately as we conducted the investigation internally, with some serious external reporting obligations. Using Tim's methods, we got to the truth, closed the matter and our external accountabilities were upheld. Tim's expertise and training set us up for success, and we could conduct the investigation with greater care, clarity and confidence in order to protect children and the school.