BEFORE
Outdoor spaces
Transforming the space beyond the classroom can have massive benefits for pupils. Daniel Etherington looks at three schools which have done just that
‘Our #GoGoGreen barrier project helped clean up the air’
In 2017 we embarked on a scheme to green our school and improve the air our children breathe. Our PTA, known as the Home School Association (HSA), had been raising money for the next environmental project following the successful installation of solar panels on the school roof. Teachers, parents and the school’s Green Team (a pupil-based club) had asked to plant up the concrete yard. We’d also been monitoring our air quality because of our location next to a roundabout on one of the main roads in Sheffield. During one particular governors’ meeting the headteacher was reporting on nitrogen dioxide (NO2)
12 SUMMER 2022
pta.co.uk
levels in the playground, and it was noted that the school had exceeded the World Health Organization’s recommended limit of NO2 for two consecutive months. I met with Sheffield City Council, who
told me about schools in London that had produced a green wall using ivy and other plants to improve the air quality within their school. The school governors reviewed these case studies and we started talks with the University of Sheffield about the potential for a before and after air quality research project. This culminated in the successful appointment of PhD student Maria del
Carmen Redondo Bermúdez and her project: Breathe – A feasibility study of green barriers to mitigate air pollution in school playgrounds. My role was to manage the project
timeline for the school, chair meetings, write updates, track actions, budgets and procurement, as well as produce and deliver the corporate partnerships strategy, business relationships and public relations. I created a sponsorship pack, press
releases, promotional assets and developed the #GoGoGreen campaign. The whole school community fundraised tirelessly. This included dedicated events such as the park fun run (raising £3,000) and a David Bowie tribute concert (raising £4,000). Local businesses sponsored sections of the plant-based green wall. And our partnership with Sheffield Business Together and bigger businesses, including developers Henry Boot, engineers Arup and landscape architects Urban Wilderness, delivered the groundworks, landscape designs and planting schedules. The main element of the barrier is an
ivy fence: 50 panels of pre-grown ivy were installed by parents around the entire 60-metre perimeter of the schoolyard. In front of them, parents,
IMAGE: ID8 PHOTOGRAPHY
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