FRESH AIR How a leading London school is devoted to a greener future

The FUTURE is GREEN

A London girls’ school is leading the way on healthier classrooms, writes Anne Cuthbertson

The long-suffering school hamster can breathe again. In the modern classroom furry friends look set to be replaced by something with a longer and happier life with health benefits for all – plants.

In the Great Pavilion at the Chelsea Flower Show in September, Putney High School for Girls’ “Biophilic Classroom” struck a chord with many visitors, proving an educational experience for all and winning a coveted Gold Medal.

The stand displayed a recreation of the school’s sixth form centre, with its carefully chosen selection of indoor plants such as low maintenance spider plants, Chinese money plants and dwarf palms. During a nine-month study at the school, the right combination of the right plants in a specific ratio saw an improvement in air quality, the removal of chemical toxins and an increase in humidity. Overnight in the school’s biophilic classrooms, air quality increased by 10 per cent and humidity by 7 per cent.

The benefits are manifold: a fresher environment, a reduction of fatigue in pupils, higher humidity which is better for skin, and pupils don’t feel so dehydrated. Other subtle biophilic design principles, such as images of nature on the walls, also reduce stress and improve focus and emotional wellbeing.

“I’ve got a school of eco warriors, passionate about the environment. We’re a London school aware of pollution,” says headmistress Suzie Longstaff, as she explains where it all started.

FRESH AIR Top and above: Pupils at Putney High School for Girls in their biophilic classrooms

Four years ago, Clare Bowman, an architect and sustainability advisor at De Montfort University came on board to design the school’s new centre for science, music, drama and debating. It was a London site, a Victorian building, and the aim soon became to create the optimum learning environment.

“Soon everyone – staff and pupils – wanted to get involved,” says Longstaff. The school launched its ‘Breathe’ sustainability campaign, showing “how a few simple steps can have a significant impact on wellbeing and the ability to learn well”.

The Biophilic Design Code began rolling out over the whole campus. Murals of forests or bluebells in native woodlands now bring walls to life, with an image of the Langdale Pikes mountain range of the Lake District offering inspiration in the geography classroom. Carpet tiles are zero carbon and bamboo furniture is being introduced. The school’s gardening clubs, sensory garden, raised beds and allotments are thriving.

Putney High School now hopes that other schools will be inspired by their example. They have created a Plant Guide for Schools, with plants chosen on the basis of their ability to remove chemical vapours, resistance to insect infestations, ease of growth and maintenance and transpiration rate. They are also giving away the optimum equation – 1 plant per six cubic metres. The plant selections are taken from a Nasa study – as the school likes to say, “it’s not rocket science but we did get it from Nasa”. L putneyhigh.gdst.net