Pupils get arty to take on air pollution

Published: Thursday, 9th February 2023

Children from across the District got creative for a Council poster competition that’s helping to raise awareness of vehicle idling.

Pupils were asked to design a poster that would encourage drivers to turn off their engines when parked. Sixty-six pupils from five schools took part.

Each school had a winning entry with the overall winning poster produced by Jenson from Lady Boswell’s Primary School in Sevenoaks.

Jenson’s winning entry will now form the basis of posters and banners that will be displayed outside schools across the District later this year to encourage drivers to reduce air pollution.

Cllr Peter Fleming, Leader of the Council, says: “I was blown away by the amazing and thoughtful posters produced by school pupils from across the District. So much time and effort went into their work with many great ideas, making it a real challenge to pick a winner. But overall, we thought Jenson’s colourful and well-designed poster really captured the essence of the competition.

“What really came out of this competition was that our young people care passionately about the environment and are keen to send a message to adults that small, important changes can make a big difference to our future.

"Improving air quality is a top priority for the Council. Although we have seen year-on-year improvements in the District's air quality, we need to make sure we are all doing everything we can to ensure this trend continues."

Vehicle idling is when a car is stationary but the engine is running. An average parked car left running for ten minutes pumps out the same amount of CO2 as driving a three mile journey. Not only is this damaging to the environment and expensive for the driver, it’s also illegal.

The schools that took part in the competition were:

• Churchill Primary School in Westerham
• High Firs Primary School, Swanley
• Lady Boswell’s Primary School, Sevenoaks
• Sevenoaks Preparatory School
• Shoreham Village Primary School