Children in Lowestoft have been learning about the impact of air pollution and how everyone can make changes to improve air quality in workshops led by East Suffolk Council earlier this month.
Forming part of the Council’s renewed Air Quality Strategy, adopted in 2025, the workshops are one of several proactive measures designed to improve air quality, including providing educational resources to schools in Lowestoft.
Environmental Protection Officers from the council visited year five and six pupils at Gunton Primary School and Westwood Primary School in Lowestoft to deliver air quality workshops to help them gain more understanding on air quality.
Prepared in partnership with Natural England and local authorities in Suffolk, the workshops on 17 and 18 March taught students about air pollution and how active travel can make a difference to the air outside of schools.
During the sessions, students took part in interactive activities to encourage them to discuss the impact of air pollution, this included creating air pollution catchers which they will use to monitor local particulate matter at home and then bring back to school to discuss in class. They were also encouraged to think about the changes they could make to encourage active travel to school by walking, cycling or scooting and Suffolk’s anti-idling campaign which calls on drivers to switch off their engines when parked.
Fiona Quinn, Head of Environmental Services and Port Health at East Suffolk Council, said:
“It’s great to see young people engaging with us to learn about the dangers of pollution. By giving young people the facts early, we want to help them to develop life-long habits on the things we can all do to make our air cleaner. We also hope the workshops will spark conversations at home to encourage families to choose green methods of travels to and from school. With both schools taking part in the Big Walk and Wheel campaign, it’s brilliant to see pupils inspired to make active journeys to school, setting a positive example for the whole community to follow."