Erdington Academy clean air project: Determined students sent a clear message to local leaders – when they spoke to them about air pollution and road safety at their school.
Students from the academy, which is part of the ambitious Fairfax Multi Academy Trust, welcomed the West Midland’s Police and Crime Commissioner and two local councillors to show them first-hand the impact of traffic at the school gates on Kingsbury Road.
The visit was the culmination of six months of extracurricular workshops with the students, delivered by Birmingham Healthy Air Coalition at the academy.
And, on Friday, March 14, the determined pupils gave a presentation to Police Commissioner Simon Foster and Erdington councillors Robert Alden and Gareth Moore, before they made their way to the school gates to witness the end of a school day.
Year 10 student Brycen Olakunle explained: “I think they listened to us. We hope that the councillors can refer our situation to local engineers to get a pedestrian crossing installed outside the school on the main road. We would also like road markings to be repainted, and improved signage around our school.”
Waseem Zaffar is from Birmingham Healthy Air Coalition, a collective of health, transport and environmental organisations with a focus on combatting air pollution.
After working with the students, he said: “It’s amazing the way the schoolchildren have come forward and identified a real problem which affects their daily life and have been courageous enough to speak to officials who make those key decisions.
“It’s brilliant to see young people having the confidence to challenge politicians and hold them to account, and also to see the politicians responding.”
Erdington Academy Clean Air
Florence Cadge, from the Coalition, added: “Erdington Academy is one of five schools we’ve been working with, and the response and interest from the students has been remarkable.
“It’s about empowering young people to present their thoughts to the change-makers.”
The visitors were impressed by the students’ courage, maturity and insight.
Simon Foster said: “I’m very impressed with the work the children have done and seeing them step up to raise their concerns. They communicated the issues excellently.
“This is an issue we see across the region, and we must ensure we are tackling it. It’s a top priority for West Midlands Police, as outlined in our new plan for 2025, which will soon be published.”
Erdington Academy clean air project gets message across
Erdington councillor Gareth Moore said: “It’s good to see the children are raising the issues that impact them on a daily basis, and it’s very concerning to hear that accidents have happened.
“I look forward to bringing these issues to the council, and working with the police and council to do whatever we can to improve road safety and make children feel safe.”
Erdington councillor Robert Alden said: “It’s great to see the passion of the children who want to ensure their journeys to and from school are as safe as possible.”
The students left the meeting feeling as though their voices had been heard, and they had made a real change.
Brycen said: “I think it went really well. The councillors and Mr Foster were very cooperative and understanding, and they seemed interested in what we said.”