SCHOOLS 

Anti-Idling Campaign

Encouraging drivers to switch off their engine while waiting, especially outside of school, is important to help reduce air pollution and look after everyone’s health. Air pollution has damaging health effects for everyone, but particularly for children. 

If engine idling is an issue outside of your school, we have got some resources to help raise awareness of the impacts and remind everyone to switch off their engine while they wait.

• Poster

• Myths & Facts

• Newsletter Text

We have outdoor signs and other printed resources that you can also use as part of your campaign,

email clean.air@colchester.gov.uk to request resources.

 

Take Care of Your Air School Toolkit

Our school toolkit provides teachers with a range of activities and ideas for inspiring pupils to understand more about the air around them and encouraging everyone to take action to help improve air quality in Colchester.

The activities are great to include as part of a lesson or during a session of your eco or school council.

Some of the activities are short and others can form a longer project.

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To start, we recommend:

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• Having an assembly about air pollution using our presentation

  • Presentation for KS1&2 – new version attached

  • Presentation for KS3 – new version attached

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• Working through the fact sheet and quiz

  • Fact Sheet

  • Quiz for KS1

  • Quiz for KS2&3

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• Offering a fun activity during wet play

  • Wordsearch

  • Chatterbox – new version attached

  • Colouring – new version attached

 

To follow on:

• Showing a short film about air pollution

  • Short film

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• Have a look at the ideas for activities linking to different parts of the curriculum

  • Activities for KS1

  • Activities for KS2

  • Activities for KS3

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• Requesting to borrow air pollution monitors to conduct an air quality investigation at your school

Download the full toolkit – most up to date version attached

For some inspiration, there are some case studies to show how schools have used these resources below.

 

School Travel Plan

A school travel plan is a simple document that outlines how journeys to and from school can be more active, safer and better for the environment. It aims to:

• Reduce motor traffic and bad parking near schools, making roads safer

• Help more pupils and their families get the recommended daily physical activity

• Improve mental health and reduce stress

• Make the local air cleaner, both reducing CO2 emissions and lowering the nasty particulate pollution that gets into lungs

 

Getting started with a travel plan is easy and we have made a guide to help you. Further free help and support is available by emailing travelplanteam@essex.gov.uk and you can gain nationally recognised accreditation for the school through Modeshift STARS.

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We encourage you to get your students involved in the process and it can be a great project for an eco committee or school council to take on.

• Travel Plan Guide & Templates

• Travel Plan Action Plan Ideas – new resource attached

 

Free, Bespoke Active Travel Map

To help encourage and support active and sustainable travel to your school, you can request a free bespoke Active Travel Map to be made. The map shows walking and cycling routes to your school and approximate journey times, as well as location of nearest bus stops. Specific information about your school can also be added, such as preferred parent parking locations or restrictions, Park & Stride sites and location of cycle/scooter parking. There are different templates for primary and secondary schools/colleges.

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You can see examples of the maps on the Cycle Colchester website and request one by emailing clean.air@colchester.gov.uk. 

 

Case Studies

Kendall Primary School Eco Council borrowed air pollution monitors to carry out an air quality investigation around the school to understand the impact of cars on air pollution. They created a poster and presented to the rest of the school about what they had learnt to help raise awareness about air pollution and small changes that we can all make to help improve the air we breathe, such as changing how we travel to school. To help encourage active and sustainable travel to school, the pupils helped to create an Active Travel Map for their school.

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Resources used:

• Loan of Air Pollution Monitors

• Activities for KS2

• Free, Bespoke Active Travel Map

 

Queen Boudica Primary School have been using resources from the CAReless Pollution toolkit to raise awareness of air pollution and encourage active and sustainable travel to their school. Following an assembly with KS2, the children from the Eco Committee have been developing a school travel plan to encourage pupils to choose more sustainable ways of getting to school, such as walking, cycling, or scooting. As part of this, the Committee has created a travel map, run a travel survey and shared their ideas with the whole school through assemblies.

Queen Boudica Primary School is now working towards the Modeshift STARS Travel Plan Accreditation with help from the Essex County Council Travel Plan Team.

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Resources used:

• Travel Plan Guide & Templates

• Free, Bespoke Active Travel Map

• Travel Plan Action Plan Ideas

• Presentation for KS1&2 (edited to include school specific details)