Air Quality campaigns for schools

We encourage schools and school children to take action to help reduce air pollution within our borough.

• Clean Air Day
• Ask About Asthma campaign
• Nation-wide and local initiatives

Clean Air Day

Clean Air Day is the UK’s largest air pollution campaign. It aims to inspire everyone to take action to help reduce air pollution and usually involves hundreds of events around the country including many in our borough

Clean Air Day - Thursday 19 June 2025

This year our theme for Clean Air Day is 'Air pollution affects your health from before your first breath until your last'. 

Air pollution is linked to a range of health problems at every stage of our lives. Exposure to air pollution in the womb is linked to low birth weight and premature birth. It can affect the development of your lungs and brain, causing or worsening asthma and making it more likely that you have to be admitted to hospital as a child. Through causing or worsening serious health problems at every stage of your life, air pollution can reduce your life expectancy. 

We encourage all schools to take part in Clean Air Day by:

• Running poster making sessions for your pupils on the theme ‘Clean Air Future’ and send entries in to our school air quality competition
• Organising activities for year groups or the whole school throughout the week of Clean Air Day, or at any convenient time. Download a learning session pack from the campaign coordinator
• Encourage pupils and parents to attend our after-school drop-in art session from 3.15 to 4.30 pm on Tuesday 24 at Twickenham library to help create the ‘lungs of Richmond’, part of Richmond Arts & Ideas Festival. The session theme is ‘Trees – the lungs of Richmond’ led by local artist Paloma, who will demonstrate several art techniques which you can then try out. No booking is needed - all materials will be provided so just drop in and enjoy being creative and make your own tree image. Notes: the paint and ink being used are water-based, but participants may wish to wear an old top. Children under 11 should be accompanied by an adult

Schools can also:

• Run a lesson or assembly or learning session - both are zip file downloads
• Plan activities to support walking, cycling and scooting to school - from TfL
• Make your own low pollution map to raise awareness of how to reduce personal exposure, especially by avoiding busy roads
• Get free information about air pollution and how to tackle it from the London Schools’ Pollution Helpdesk

Use the resources to help spread the word to parents, carers, and the school community through social media and a newsletter article. 

You could:

• Raise their awareness about air pollution (pdf, 108 KB)
• Advertise the low pollution route finder to help to reduce exposure whilst walking and cycling to school

Find out more information about what is being done in the borough for Clean Air Day.

Ask About Asthma campaign

The Ask About Asthma campaign will run from Monday 9 to Sunday 15 September 2024. The campaign aims to raise awareness about children and young people's asthma, increase understanding that air pollution can trigger attacks, and to improve young people's asthma care. 

Campaign aims

The campaign encourages children and young people, their families, and those involved in their care, to ensure four simple and effective measures to help them control their asthma:

1. Get an asthma action plan in place
2. Understand how to use inhalers correctly
3. Schedule an asthma review – every year and after every attack
4.  Consider air pollution as an asthma trigger

Each day there are new webinars, podcasts, videos and blogs about different topics – all are free and details are given in the online schedule. There is also a free online conference on Thursday 12 September which you can sign up for.

There are free downloadable resources for schools and families from the organisers including factsheets for schools and youth groups, and presentations for schools to run a lesson or assembly.

There are lots of other free resources available which may be of interest, including:

• Asthma facts sheet
• Asthma UK’s asthma action plan for children and air pollution and asthma webpage
• Short videos about asthma care

This year’s campaign theme 'helping children and young people with asthma to live their best lives' aims to focus on good asthma control to reduce or eradicate symptoms. You can read more information on indoor pollution including damp, mould and condensation, the effects of smoking and vaping and outdoor air pollution.

Nation-wide and local initiatives

There are various activities and campaigns for schools that we promote which include:

• Walking initiatives
• Cycling initiatives
• Scooter training (for year 2 children)
• Smarter driving initiatives to promote cleaner air around schools

Our schools travel planning page helps schools promote active travel by participating in cycling and walking campaigns and producing a travel plan.

View Schools’ air quality for more information about current and recent projects for schools.