Air Quality campaigns for schools

We encourage schools and school children to take action to help reduce air pollution within our borough.

• Ask About Asthma campaign
• Clean Air Day
• Nation-wide and local initiatives

Ask About Asthma campaign

The Ask About Asthma campaign will run from Monday 7 to Friday 11 September 2026. The campaign aims to raise awareness about children and young people's asthma, increase understanding that air pollution can trigger attacks, and to improve young people's asthma care. 2026 marks 10 years of the NHS campaign.

Campaign aims

The campaign encourages children and young people, their families, and those involved in their care, to ensure four simple and effective measures to help them control their asthma:

1. Get an asthma action plan in place
2. Understand how to use inhalers correctly
3. Schedule an asthma review – every year and after every attack
4. Consider air pollution and lung health

The fourth measure aims to increase understanding that air pollution can trigger asthma attacks so it is important to know when air pollution is predicted to be higher. You can see the air quality forecast for today on the airTEXT website.

You can also sign up to receive free alerts and forecasts by text or email which includes some health advice if pollution levels are elevated.

To celebrate the campaign’s tenth year, there are two phases:

Phase one ‘Back to Basics’ runs beyond the main campaign to 9 October. This concentrates on encouraging individuals, schools and other organisations to set targets and take action to improve asthma control.

Phase two is the core campaign week (7 to 11 September). Each day there are activities aimed at a different audience. These include free online webinars and an in-person workshop:

• 10 years of asking webinar, 9am on Monday 7 September 
• Every Child webinar, 11.30am on Tuesday 8 September 
• Every Breath webinar, 11.30am on Wednesday 9 September 
• Every Neighbourhood in-person workshop, 8.30am on Thursday 10 September

All events are free. See details and registration in the online schedule.

You can read more information on the effects of smoking and vaping and other asthma triggers including indoor and outdoor air pollution.

There are free downloadable resources including factsheets for families and schools, and other resources to help schools to run a lesson and/or assembly.

There are lots of other free resources available which may be of interest, including:

• Asthma facts sheet
• Asthma UK’s air pollution and asthma webpage
• An Asthma Wheeze plan
• A short film on the difference between a wheeze and asthma in children (YouTube)

Clean Air Day

Clean Air Day is the UK’s largest air pollution campaign. It aims to inspire everyone to take action to help reduce air pollution and usually involves hundreds of events around the country including many in our borough

Clean Air Day - Thursday 18 June 2026

Air pollution is linked to a range of health problems at every stage of our lives. Exposure to air pollution in the womb is linked to low birth weight and premature birth. It can affect the development of your lungs and brain, causing or worsening asthma and making it more likely that you have to be admitted to hospital as a child. Through causing or worsening serious health problems at every stage of your life, air pollution can reduce your life expectancy. 

We encourage all schools to take part in Clean Air Day by:

• Running poster making sessions for your pupils on the theme ‘Fresh Air Starts Here’ and send entries in to our school air quality competition
• Organising activities for year groups or the whole school throughout the week of Clean Air Day, or at any convenient time. Download a learning session pack from the campaign coordinator

Schools can also:

• Run a lesson or assembly or learning session - both are zip file downloads
• Plan activities to support walking, cycling and scooting to school - from TfL
• Make your own low pollution map to raise awareness of how to reduce personal exposure, especially by avoiding busy roads
• Get free information about air pollution and how to tackle it from the London Schools’ Pollution Helpdesk

Use the resources to help spread the word to parents, carers, and the school community through social media and a newsletter article. 

You could:

• Raise their awareness about air pollution (pdf, 108 KB)
• Advertise the low pollution route finder to help to reduce exposure whilst walking and cycling to school

Find out more information about what is being done in the borough for Clean Air Day.

Nation-wide and local initiatives

There are various activities and campaigns for schools that we promote which include:

• Walking initiatives
• Cycling initiatives
• Scooter training (for year 2 children)
• Smarter driving initiatives to promote cleaner air around schools

Our schools travel planning page helps schools promote active travel by participating in cycling and walking campaigns and producing a travel plan.

View Schools’ air quality for more information about current and recent projects for schools.