AGENDA – We did it!
pupils and volunteers from across the city planted 230 plants in newly created beds. The plant species were chosen by
Maria because they do different things. The ivy climbers can capture particles and reduce NO2, as they act as a physical barrier to pollution from the street. Then there are conifers and bamboo. These are plants that grow fast and provide a physical barrier to pollution, and can also catch particulates (tiny particles of air pollution) on their leaves and bark. In total the school raised over
£22,000 from fundraising and sponsorship efforts, and we also received around £50,000 worth of in-kind support from businesses who donated their time, people and products. We really pushed the boat out because
we were part of the study with Maria and the university and because we wanted to raise awareness of what we were doing and why, but a green barrier to mitigate against air pollution could be achieved on a reduced budget too. Our long-term vision was to develop a
digital toolkit to benefit other schools, and Maria and I invested a lot of time capturing the journey to support others. But then Covid hit and we’ve all had to prioritise other things in the immediate term. We still regularly speak to people about the project and the school is always happy to show people around and share learning. Maria is still collecting data as her study had to be extended and amended to accommodate the impact of Covid on traffic levels and the way the school community interacted with the space. Maria has been incredible to work with and we look forward to her being published and receiving her PhD. The big difference we have seen as a
school community is the impact on the pupils. They’ve been involved in air quality testing, planting and looking after the plants. Our playground is quieter and safer. The ivy has grown so thick now and the yard looks more like an outside forest school classroom! Quite different from how it used to feel on this busy Sheffield road. Rowan Hall, school governor, Hunter’s Bar Infant School, Sheffield (270 pupils)
pta.co.uk SUMMER 2022 13
The pupils have been involved in air quality testing,
planting and looking after the plants
‘We planted trees to make the school
look beautiful’ Our school initially applied for trees from the Woodland Trust’s Free Trees for Schools and Communities Scheme (
woodlandtrust.org.uk/ plant-trees/schools-and-communities/) in October 2020, and asked if the Parent Staff Association (PSA) could help organise an event to get them in the ground. Delivery was delayed because of Covid, and we eventually held our tree planting day last May. We started planning the event at the end of a
lockdown. Parents hadn’t been allowed past the school gates for months. I’d always wanted to hold community events as well as fundraisers, and I saw this as an exciting opportunity to encourage everyone back into the grounds. Our school site is relatively new, having been
rebuilt in 2015, and the school were keen to use the trees to create a privacy screen in an under-utilised green area. But there’s another reason for our focus on plants – our proximity to The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. As co- headteachers Voulla Demetriou and Jenny Stroud-Turp explained in their joint statement:
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