We are really excited about the transformation in student behaviour and reduction in vaping that has been achieved at Worcestershire secondary school, Baxter College, thanks to our installation of HALO smart sensors.
Media spotlight on Baxter College thanks to Vape Detector success
Matthew Carpenter, principal, was so pleased with the improvements seen since the HALO smart sensors were installed that he has spread the word to other headteachers in the area and was happy to promote them within the media. This led to a story covered by the Kidderminster Shuttle and Worcester News, and a case study featured within industry publication, Professional Security.
The headteacher spoke to Rachel Burden from the BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast show and BBC Hereford & Worcester about the success of the vape detectors at Baxter College. The story was covered on the BBC News website and videos were featured on Radio 5 Live’s Twitter Feed, showing the HALO Smart Sensors on the ceiling in the boy’s toilets and Matthew explaining how they worked.
The Sunday Times also interviewed Matthew, and our Managing Director, Aaron Kernaghan, in a piece by Megan Andrew about the rise of vaping among young people and how schools are tackling the issue.
Last August when BBC Hereford & Worcester featured our launch of the HALO Smart Sensor within the UK market Matthew was also interviewed. He admitted to the local radio station that he had a problem with vaping among his students and we got in touch to see how we could help.
Vaping caused bad student behaviour in school toilets
As explained in the case study the school was finding the increasing number of students vaping within its toilets was becoming a difficult issue to manage. However, it was not just about the children who were vaping themselves, other pupils were worried about going to the toilets because of the anti-social behaviour. Meanwhile tracking down the students who were causing the most problems however, was a challenge. There had also been incidents of vandalism of the toilets.
The headteacher said: “The trend amongst young people who want to smoke is towards vaping, but as with smoking cigarettes, vaping contravenes school rules and we have a zero policy on both.
“The way vapes work in comparison to cigarettes allows them to be used quickly and the low-cost disposable ones are easily hidden or thrown away, so more difficult for staff to detect.”
Schools need to respond quickly to sensor alerts
As we explain to schools that enquire about the HALO Smart Sensor getting the policies around vaping and associated bad student behaviour in place, and a plan for how to manage this once you know the scale of the problem, is important as Baxter College found.
Matthew said, “I would advise planning for how the system is going to be monitored and the subsequent action, reflecting these changes in the school’s behaviour policy.
“You will receive a significant number of alerts and need to be able to respond quickly. I would also recommend pairing the sensor with a CCTV camera near the entrance to the toilet so you can quickly identify students who were in the toilets and considering a wand-style metal detector to support checking coats and bags.”
The combination of the sensors notifying staff and the school taking action meant that within the first week following the installation two children were caught vaping on separate occasions during a detention period. All students that have been detected vaping, since the HALO smart sensors were installed, have been dealt with in line with the school’s behaviour policy.
Commenting on the approach taken at Baxter College Matthew said: “It has transformed the amount of antisocial behaviour in toilets, children are more confident in going to the toilets. It has also reduced the number of students asking to go to the toilet during lessons.”
We are well-established in cabling and installation
Ecl-ips has expertise in data cabling and the installation of appliances that use power over ethernet (POE) for their power supply. POE has the advantage of delivering data and power over one Cat5 or Cat6 ethernet cable. This means Ecl-ips can carry out all the installation of the HALO Smart Sensors, including data cabling; just install the devices or we can supply the devices and support customers remotely if required. Ecl-ips is offering the HALO Smart Sensor across the UK.
Matthew said, “The installation at Baxter College was quick and easy. Getting the data cable to the sensor in our old building was the only challenging part of the install.”
We are already a well-established supplier of security solutions to schools and the HALO smart sensors can be integrated with other products we provide such as, CCTV cameras and software, and access control. So if you are looking for a discreet and powerful way to help combat vaping and poor student behaviour in your school, or would like to know more about all our security and monitoring solutions, then please get in touch.