Managed IT · cyber · security
The challenge
Cranleigh School has 961 pupils on a 280-acre site in the Surrey Hills, around three-quarters of them boarding across eight houses. Like many boarding schools it had a vaping problem it could not see: modern vapes are discreet and leave little smell, and the trouble spots — boarding-house bathrooms, changing rooms, quiet corridors — are exactly where staff can't be posted and where pupils' privacy matters most.
What we did
We fitted Verkada SV11 air-quality sensors in the highest-risk areas: bathrooms, common rooms, changing facilities and key corridors. When a sensor picks up a vaping signature, the designated pastoral and safeguarding staff are alerted straight away. Because the sensors are tied into the school's cameras, duty staff can open the nearest camera view at once instead of trawling through footage. We also added cameras in outdoor areas where vaping had been reported.
The outcome
Vaping incidents at Cranleigh have fallen markedly. Pupils know the sensors are there, which has changed behaviour as much as detection has, and safeguarding cases are now backed by a clear, timestamped record.
The Verkada side of this project is written up in full on our Verkada specialist site, verkadacctv.co.uk.