Harrier Class Test Air Quality Around the School Site

Kathryn from the My Journey Wokingham team visited Year 5 to assess the air quality around the school site. The children used air quality monitors to measure the nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) concentration in the air at different locations. NO₂ is a pollutant that occurs from vehicle exhaust emissions. There are many health problems that have been attributed to poor air quality so it is vital that we do our part to look after the air we breathe.

We monitored the air quality near the school gates and next to the field and compared results. Our findings revealed that the air had less NO₂ in locations further from main roads. The children concluded that the reason for this was that being further from cars causes the air quality to be better and safer.

Windmill Primary School has been an Air Quality School since 2021 and the My Journey Wokingham team have been monitoring NO2 levels around the school. Data collected so far has shown that the NO2 levels around our school site is at a low level, however, more data needs to be collected by the Wokingham Air Quality Project to provide a clearer picture up until the end of the project in October 2023. However, in Wokingham Town Centre, an Air Quality Management Area was declared 2015 (https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/aqma/details?aqma_ref=1602). This is an area where the air quality has been assessed and the levels of nitrogen dioxide exceed the National Air Quality Objective. We all still need to do our part by choosing active (walk, scoot, cycle) or sustainable travel (bus, train) for short journeys when travelling in and out of the town centre.