Not only is Shelly Park Primary the very first school to place an order for COVIDCare (now Tether Airborne Index), it’s also a state
school, meaning the school knew that they would be receiving CO2 monitors from the Ministry of Education, but made the proactive decision to pre-empt government support.
“For us, we were prepared to invest in COVIDCare (now Tether Airborne Index), because we wanted a device in each classroom and we knew that the Ministry would only send one device per school,”
explains principal Ed Roper, “we also knew that it would take a while to be delivered and we didn’t want to wait; it just seemed like the right thing to do and in retrospect, it was an excellent investment.”
Ed was strongly backed by the school Board who appointed “a dedicated Board member to research CO2 monitoring options, and Tether came out best.”
Installation and oversight was left in the capable hands of Trevor Corbett, beloved caretaker at Shelly Park School. Trevor has substantial experience in the science of ventilation as a Poultry Specialist, “the ventilation of chicken sheds is an extremely important and complex science,” explains Trevor,
“so I was interested to see how COVIDCare (now Tether Airborne Index), works.” “And work it does,”
confirms Trevor, “it’s simple to install, it’s simple to view and it’s quick to act. Not being connected to the school’s wifi made it even simpler, you basically attach it to the wall and let it rip.”
Tether was built to use the latest in LPWAN (Low Powered Wide Area Network) technology. This is what helps make installation frictionless and enables us to achieve 1 year of battery life.
Being constantly on the move, Trevor uses the Tether mobile app to monitor all the devices, and the full dashboard is also on a computer in the office.
“The app alerts me to rising CO2 levels in certain classrooms or pods and as I enter the space with my phone, the students now immediately jump up to open a window or door, it’s become a bit of school fun, the kids shout out ‘ohhh! here comes Trevor.”
With the current wave of COVID hitting school communities (June 2022), “Shelley Park has certainly not experienced significant disruption,” remarks Ed, “we invested in this solution quite early, and actually seeing the immediate result of intervention on the platform really helped with engagement, so the school as a whole is very aware of ventilation and air quality”.
“One particular day this past Summer,” adds Trevor “a classroom had a high red alert (which means high CO2 readings). I spoke to the teacher and she mentioned that the pupils were also quite dozy; we opened doors and windows and I remember the teacher remarking that the pupils visibly perked up as the monitor settled back to green.”
“You don’t need to convince us of the importance of CO2 monitors in schools; they should be in every classroom, but if you’re looking for real insight and understanding, it’s the Tether platform and app that makes the difference: that’s what engages and educates.”
“I know other schools are re-installing COVID transmission strategies but we haven’t had to,” says Ed,
“we just haven’t seen the same numbers: very few teachers have been absent, and our COVID and flu’ numbers are still really low.”
“I think because we got COVIDCare (now Tether Airborne Index), so early, we as a school have had the understanding and data to show the incredible impact of ventilation, both on health and mental focus. It’s just something that has become part of our lives and we’re better off because of it. “