Sustainability and the Environment

At Ashmead we believe in the importance of sustainability and the environment.

Anti-idling project and School Street

We have worked closely with the Local Authority and our School Council to make children and families aware of the risks to children’s health of poor air quality caused by idling car engines.

Following this project we worked with the Local Authority to introduce a School Street on Ashmead Road. Since its introduction the air quality that children experience on that road has dramatically improved.

Air filtration

Our Lewisham Way building, which opened in 2021, has a high-quality built-in air filtration system due to its location. 

As part of a previous Science Week and in collaboration with Airborne Allergy Action and Ashmead PTA, our Year 6 students also built additional classroom air filters. Airborne Allergy Action also provided us with specialist anti-allergy vacuum cleaners to use throughout the school. 

School Gardens 

We have a weekly gardening club where the children sow and plant, harvest and taste the food they grow.

Our PTA also run monthly gardening sessions to further enhance our school gardens with plants and seasonal flowers. The PTA have also acquired some recycled raised beds to create an allotment in the playground, we are very excited about this development! 

Sustainability

We act thoughtfully and purposefully when purchasing products and materials for school and PTA events, always aiming for products that are environmentally friendly and sustainable.

In 2025-26 we further developed our in-school recycling systems in addition to all our other sustainability and environmental projects. 

Climate Action Plan

We are working closely with 'Let's Go Zero' and have a Climate Action Plan that includes: 

• Decarbonisation and Energy Efficiency (including looking at energy consumption, food, travel and waste) 
• Climate adaptation and resilience (including heat adaptation and resilience and water use) 
• Biodiversity and Green Infrastructure (including nature and planting on school grounds) 
• Climate Education, Green Skills and Green Careers (including culture and curriculum) 

Did you know that in the academic year 2025-26 we won a Lewisham in Bloom award for our biodiversity on site? 

 RAFT project

The school are also working closely with RAFT (Retrofit Action For Tomorrow) to deliver a decarbonisation project for the school. This will involve a lot of sophisticated measuring of the current school buildings to assess their efficiency. Following this the school will be supported in applying for funding for a retrofitting plant to help reduce the school's carbon footprint. This could involve, as an example, the heating system being replaced in the main building.