Goose Green School in East Dulwich awarded £6,000 from The Mayor of London’s Greener City Fund

A school leading the way in tackling air pollution has received a second year of funding to help create a natural pollution barrier in its playground.

Goose Green School has been awarded £6,000 from The Mayor of London’s Greener City Fund to build a wildlife haven, new trees, and eight metres’ of planting.

This comes after the success of earlier efforts that brought playground levels of nitrogen dioxide within EU limits, at a time when London faces calls to tackle illegal levels of air pollution.

The school in Tintagel Crescent, East Dulwich previously installed one of Southwark’s first school plant Green Screens which helped bring the level down by almost 50 per cent in the playground between 2018 and 2019, according to early figures.

Headteacher Simon Wattam said: “The Clean Air Garden and the new biodiversity that it will attract will be a fantastic educational tool.

“The pupils’ enthusiasm for the natural world continues to flourish, as does their incredible knowledge about air pollution and what we can do about it.”

The school’s clean air initiative is led by parents and carers, and is one of many eco-friendly activities the school promotes, including an eco-warrior programme for pupils.

Kimberley Hickman, Clean Air Garden project leader, said: “We are delighted with the air pollution reductions that we are starting to see in the playground.

“We are now more aware than ever of the air quality issues we face, and the policy and behavioural change required to rectify it.

“But while we wait for long-term change to take place, we have to take action now for the sake of today’s children who would otherwise, through no fault of their own, suffer from long-term consequences.”

Parents, children and community members will join specialists to start the planting this spring.