SAMHE News

Our new publication Improving air quality in UK schools brings together SAMHE's findings and other evidence on air quality in UK schools and makes recommendations for policy and practice. This publication will be shared with policymakers; local authorities; school leaders and building managers; teaching unions; and school architects, builders and those who carry out school maintenance.

On 25 November we will have the opportunity to share these recommendations with MPs, Members of the House of Lords and key stakeholders from across the research and innovation system at a reception organised by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). We have been invited to the reception to showcase the SAMHE project and its impact on improving outcomes for children. In the words of UKRI "Your work has been selected as a standout example of how UKRI-funded research connects discovery to prosperity for a better tomorrow.".

Our latest technical report examines air quality in SAMHE schools throughout the 2023-24 academic year. Once again, the analysis suggests that keeping classrooms warm during colder weather periods may, for some schools, provide a significant barrier to providing adequate ventilation, with some monitors recording daily mean CO₂ values above the maximum government guideline of 1500 ppm during cold periods.

Particulate matter levels fluctuated over the course of the academic year but generally remained below the maximum daily mean value of 15 μg/m3 recommended by the World Health Organisation.

We've also published a paper on assessing classroom ventilation rates, using data from SAMHE monitors, which shows that ventilation rates in occupied classrooms are generally low.

You can access these and all the SAMHE project reports and research papers, on our Outputs page, along with short, simple summaries which aim to make the findings accessible to teachers, pupils (with teacher support for younger pupils), parents and others. We will continue to add new outputs to the page as they are published in the months and years to come.

Our free Teacher Resource Pack is now available! It enables schools without a SAMHE monitor to access parallel versions of many of the educational activities in the SAMHE Web App, including quizzes, data analysis, videos, and creative activities.

The pack contains 20 activities that can be used to teach pupils from age 5 - 18 about air quality and support their development of a range of different curriculum based skills. Teacher guidance is embedded throughout and we have included example data and graphs for pupils to work with. Many of the activities complement curriculum teaching and they can also be used for extracurricular activities, such as science clubs.

SAMHE is now in a new phase and no longer offering air quality monitors to schools, so we're delighted to be able to offer this stand-alone pack to enable all schools to benefit from the resources we've developed.

Download the Teacher Resource Pack from our Get Involved page.

In July we held two webinars to share our findings on air quality in UK schools. One was for pupils and staff at SAMHE schools and the other was a public webinar open to all. As part of these we received and answered some really interesting questions. Watch the recordings:

• SAMHE schools' webinar
• Public SAMHE webinar

We've also produced a short video introducing pupils to two key scientific papers on SAMHE's methods. This is designed to support the SAMHE Methods papers activity which can be found both in the SAMHE Web App and our teacher resource pack. In the video, Professor Sarah West talks through two key SAMHE papers, why we wrote them and what we learned through the process of co-design.

You can find summaries of all reports and research papers about the SAMHE project that have been published by the SAMHE team to date, with links to the full versions for those interested in reading about our work in more detail, on our Outputs page.

We anticipate publishing more findings over the coming months and years. Sign up to receive the SAMHE newsletter to stay in touch with our findings and further project developments.

Although our initial funding came to an end on 31 July 2024, there are still plenty of ways for schools and others to be involved in SAMHE. Read more on our new look Get Involved page.

The latest additions to our Outputs page are two technical reports on air quality in SAMHE schools: one on the 2023 Autumn term and one on the 2024 Spring term. In particular, we investigated how changes in outside temperature influenced the different aspects of air quality inside. The analyses suggest that keeping classrooms warm during colder weather periods may, for some schools, provide a significant barrier to providing adequate ventilation.

You can access all the SAMHE project reports and research papers on our Outputs page, along with short, simple summaries which aim to make the findings accessible to teachers, older pupils, parents and others. We will continue to add new outputs to the page as they are published in the months and years to come.

You can also read about the impact of fireworks events, and a Saharan dust event, on classroom air, and discover how we worked out classroom ventilation rates.

It's really important for our researchers to know what air quality is like when classrooms are not occupied, so please keep your monitor switched on and connected to the internet at all times, including outside of school hours and over school holidays, if possible. This will also allow pupils to investigate how air quality changes with occupancy level!

You don't need to worry about the cost or environmental impact as the monitor uses very little electricity (c. 1.5 kWh energy per year) and costs almost nothing (under £1 per year) to run.

If all the electrics in the room are usually switched off overnight (e.g. through a 'kill switch') you can plug the monitor into a power bank (like the sort you use for a phone) and plug that into the mains. The power bank charges during the day and then powers the monitor overnight.

You are warmly invited to meet us online to hear about the project's findings on air quality in UK schools. We're running two webinars on Zoom in July - one for staff and pupils at SAMHE schools and one for other interested groups including local authorities and education unions. We will present some of the findings so far and try to answer your questions! We will record both webinars so, if you are unable to attend, you can watch them afterwards at a time that suits you.

SAMHE schools - webinar on Wednesday 3 July 3.30-4.10pm - you will have received an email last week inviting you to register.

Everyone else - webinar on Wednesday 17 July 12-1pm. Register for the public SAMHE webinar.

We're excited to have launched a range of new activities in the SAMHE Web App in the last few months!

The quality of the air outdoors can affect air indoors, so a broader understanding of air quality can help pupils understand the actions to take to improve indoor air quality. Learning about outdoor air pollution is a quiz activity that helps pupils learn about outdoor air pollution. They can then use their new knowledge to formulate arguments for a Clean Air Zones debate!

In Sources of air pollution indoors, pupils study a graphic showing potential sources of air pollution in a classroom and things that can affect temperature and humidity. Then they take a quiz to test their understanding.

Design a SAMHE poster is a creative activity which guides pupils in designing, creating and sharing a poster to illustrate a key message about air quality or something they have learnt through SAMHE.

How do you use SAMHE? is an activity just for school staff, to tell us how you are using SAMHE in your school or your classroom. This is really helpful for us to understand how effective the project has been.

Completing any of these activities gains you points towards SAMHE badges! See your progress on the new look Achievements page.

SAMHE is transitioning. We're still working with UK schools to better understand classroom air quality but are no longer recruiting new schools to host monitors.

Don't worry if you missed the deadline because we will soon release a Teacher Resource Pack to enable schools without a monitor to access SAMHE activities! Sign up to the SAMHE newsletter via our contact form to be the first to hear when this is available, and for other news.

Did you know that pupils can have individual accounts for the SAMHE Web App? This enables them to explore the monitor data in more detail and complete activities themselves, earning points towards in-app achievement badges! They can also contribute directly to the SAMHE research by inputting contextual data. By creating individual pupil accounts, you can also set SAMHE activities as homework.

For instructions on setting up pupil accounts, watch our latest 'video: How to set up pupil accounts' (2 min) or use the step-by-step instructions in the FAQ 'How can I set up pupil accounts?' on our tech support page.

(Please note, depending on your school's policy, you may need to communicate with parents/guardians before you set up pupil accounts. Our 'parent information pack' contains templates to support this. Please use these in combination with your usual processes and adapt the templates as required.)

Pupils need to earn 10 points to be a 'SAMHE Hero' - who will be first??

If your school would like to take part in SAMHE, register by 31 May! Our current research funding ends this summer and the support that we can offer SAMHE schools will reduce from 31 July. In order to get monitors out to schools and support them to get set up, we are closing registrations at the end of this month.

It's definitely still worth joining - you'll be able to keep using your monitor and the Web App for many years to come! We hope to receive additional funding in the future to extend and expand SAMHE, but even if we don't, we will maintain the Web App until at least 2030.

Please encourage other schools to sign up while there is still time! Download the latest SAMHE promotional materials for content you can use in newsletters, emails, social media posts etc.

Are you getting excited about British Science Week, 8-17 March? We are! This year's theme is Time so, if you use the Web App, why not try our data analysis activity Temperature changes throughout the day (15 mins).

Alternatively, have fun with some star jumps or dance moves as part of CO₂ levels before and after exercise (as seen on BBC Newsround!) (15 mins) before break, open the windows whilst the kids are outside, then use CO₂ levels of an empty classroom (25 mins) to see how CO₂ levels changed over the time period and witness the effect of ventilation and reducing occupancy.

You could also produce a poster on the theme of 'Time', based on your SAMHE activities, and submit it to British Science Week 2024 poster competition.

This 30th anniversary year there is a particular focus on Smashing Stereotypes - celebrating the diverse people and careers in science and engineering. If you are a teacher or pupil using the SAMHE monitor, that includes you! You are making an important contribution to scientific research into air quality in schools. Thank you!

You can now read short, simple summaries of SAMHE project reports and research papers on our new Outputs page. These are suitable for teachers, older pupils, parents and others. There are links to the full texts for anyone who would like more detail.

So far, the page provides summaries of our first two research papers - one on the overall SAMHE project methods and one specifically on the co-design process - and also a technical report on the raised levels of particulate matter recorded by SAMHE monitors during the Saharan dust storm in September 2023.

As a citizen science project we are committed to sharing all our outputs in an accessible way with those who are contributing to the research, including teachers and pupils at SAMHE schools. After all, we couldn't do this work without you!

We ran our first connection competition last month and are delighted to announce that the winner is Stanwell School in Penarth, Wales! They will soon be receiving their prize - a £50 National Book Token along with printed SAMHE stickers and posters. 247 schools had their monitors connected at midnight on 30 November, and were hence eligible for entry into the competition.

Could you be our next winner?
This month's winner will be drawn at the end of the month, so make sure your monitor is connected whilst you are busy enjoying your New Year's Eve celebrations!

If you'd prefer not to be entered into our competitions you can opt out at any time by emailing hello@samhe.org.uk. See full terms and conditions.

To show our appreciation for schools submitting data to the SAMHE project, we have started a monthly 'connection competition'. If your school's SAMHE monitor is connected to the internet at the time of the draw (23:59 on the last calendar day of each month) you will be automatically entered into the competition and eligible to win a £50 National Book Token along with printed SAMHE stickers and posters!

Read more about the SAMHE connection competition.

We asked four teachers how they are using SAMHE and what benefits they have seen for their pupils, themselves and their schools. See what they said in our new Teacher Testimonials video. We are extremely grateful to Andy Brittain, Alex Burns, Gemma Hortop, Steven West and their schools for wholeheartedly embracing the SAMHE project and being willing to share their stories and enthusiasm!

Want to find out more about the team behind SAMHE? Take a look at our 'Day in the life of the SAMHE team' careers resource.

This booklet can be used with pupils to explore different careers in STEM, and the different types of roles it takes to run a project like SAMHE. If you have access to the Web App, we will be launching a careers activity based on the resource soon!

The CoSchools website has been overhauled and now includes even more information and resources about air quality and schools. It's a great additional resource for SAMHE schools, for example providing information about air cleaners and filters in schools. Schools may particularly value the range of bitesize videos on topics including ventilation, CO₂ levels and virus transmission, CO₂ and effective learning, choosing and using HEPA filters, and much more.

Want to see for yourself what the newly revamped SAMHE Web App offers? Take a 2 minute tour!

This short video introduces the Web App, highlighting the ways pupils and teachers can view and interact with the data from the SAMHE air quality monitor and the range of curriculum-linked activities available. We also touch on the achievement badges pupils love to work towards, and embedded glossary links to help them understand key terms and concepts.

(Note, we have more improvements in the pipeline, so if you sign up now it will look even better when you access it!)

The SAMHE project has been included as a case study in a major new report which highlights how a failure to address childhood inequality is creating a “conveyor belt of disadvantage”. The Child of the North: Addressing Education and Health Inequity report highlights how children born into the poorest fifth of families in the UK are almost 13 times more likely to experience poor health and educational outcomes by the age of 17.

Sarah West, who leads our engagement with schools, says "Citizen science projects, such as SAMHE, can empower schools to better understand their environment and take low cost actions to improve it, thereby reducing inequality". Read more in a press release from University of York.

Today is the 4th International Day of Clean Air for blue skies! This UN designated day aims to build a global community of action that encourages countries to work together to tackle air pollution. This year's theme is Together for Clean Air and we are encouraging more schools to work together with scientists through the SAMHE project, to provide evidence for better national policies and practice on air quality in schools. If you haven't already, do register for free as a SAMHE school.

Claudia Castro Faccetti will be addressing the UK Indoor Environments Group (UKIEG) Annual Conference today, introducing them to the SAMHE project by explaining how schools helped us co-design the SAMHE data visualisations.

Monitor languishing in its box?
If you've received your SAMHE monitor but not yet set it up, please don't feel bad! We know that school staff have a host of conflicting demands on their time. The good news is that (most of the time) set up is actually quite quick and easy! And as soon as you're set up you can begin using your monitor readings and carry out experiments in the Web App with your pupils.

We have a step-by-step guide to Getting Started and, if it's advice on connecting your monitor to your school's WiFi that you need, head to our monitor connection page, which features a new walkthrough video. Additional guidance is available on the Tech support page, including troubleshooting tips and frequently asked questions.

Later this week, we'll also be releasing a series of dates for drop-in support sessions online where our team will be able to troubleshoot any issues you, or your IT support team, have come across. If you're not yet connected, you'll receive details by email soon. Meanwhile, don't hesitate to contact us. We're here to help!

Best wishes to all UK school staff and pupils. We hope you are enjoying a positive start to the new academic year!

Today we're excited to launch the Data Detectives activity on the SAMHE Web App! This activity supports pupils to investigate data patterns they find interesting, including formulating a research question and finding an answer backed by evidence. Data Detectives supports STEM and Geography learning and the trial version was a hit with SAMHE Pioneer Schools!

The activity takes about 25 minutes and can be carried out as often as you wish, looking at a different data pattern or event each time. It teaches many aspects of working scientifically, such as observation, recording, developing a line of enquiry, data analysis, cause and effect and presenting and communicating results. In conjunction with SAMHE's information resources, pupils could also apply their findings and interpretations to a wider understanding of climate processes and change.

If you haven't used the SAMHE Web App in a while, you will also notice that it has been beautifully restyled to make it easier to use and navigate and generally more attractive!

We are very excited that the SAMHE project was featured on Newsround! BBC's Ricky Boleto and project lead Henry Burridge visited a SAMHE school to see the project in action and meet pupils investigating their classroom's air quality using the monitor and Web App.

Henry and Ricky joined pupils in an experiment to see the effect of exercise on the CO₂ level in the classroom. During some strenuous jumping up and down, the CO₂ readout climbed until the indicator lights changed from green to orange. In line with SAMHE guidance, the group then took action to improve air quality in the room by opening windows to increase ventilation. Looking at the CO₂ plot in the Web App afterwards, pupils were able to identify when they had begun the period of exercise and when windows had been opened.

This experiment is just one of many activities pupils and teachers can access through the SAMHE Web App.

It's nearly Clean Air Day, the UK's largest air pollution campaign. Why not celebrate by registering your school with SAMHE?

If you are already signed up, you could use our SAMHE introductory assembly materials on 15 June or some other time that week to let the whole school community know what you are doing. You could also share the news with parents, your wider community and other schools in your area through your newsletter and/or social media accounts. Feel free to use and adapt our SAMHE promotional materials.

Global Action Plan has developed a range of resources to help everyone celebrate Clean Air Day 2023. See their resources for schools, including specific Clean Air Day packs for Scottish schools, delivered in partnership with Environmental Protection Scotland. These are a great complement to the SAMHE resources and your ongoing SAMHE activities.

For those able to get to Manchester, there is also an opportunity to hear Rhys Archer speak about SAMHE at the UK Institute of Air Quality Management (IAQM) forum on childhood exposure to air pollution 2-4pm on Thursday 15 June at Manchester Metropolitan University. Also speaking at the event will be Professor Paul Linden (SAMHE co-lead) speaking about his wider work on school air quality through the TAPAS network and Dr Abigail Whitehouse from Queen Mary University of London. Registration is open to anyone interested in air quality management.

We are thrilled to have recruited over 700 SAMHE schools! We want to get SAMHE monitors into 1500-2000 schools, so we're already over a third of the way there!

This is a great start just 5 weeks post-launch, but we recognise that recruiting the rest of the schools we need is still a big challenge. Please encourage schools you have contacts for to sign up. If every SAMHE school recruited just one more, that would make a huge difference! Do use the promotional materials on our media page if helpful.

Recruiting a large number of schools is important as we need to generate sufficient data for analysis to clearly understand schools' air quality across the UK.

We're delighted to officially launch SAMHE this week and invite UK schools to register now! The first 100 schools to register for SAMHE will receive a special launch pack along with their monitor, so don't delay!

We're delighted to announce the official launch of SAMHE!

SAMHE launch week is 24-28 April.

From Monday 24 April we invite schools across the UK to register as SAMHE schools to receive a high spec air quality monitor and access to the SAMHE Web App. SAMHE will be available to 1500+ schools and we hope to recruit a wide diversity of schools across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, representative of the whole UK school community.

In the coming weeks you will see some changes to this website as we prepare for more traffic from people looking to register their school, find out more about the project or learn about indoor air quality.

Today is the International Day of Education and we want to celebrate our wonderful SAMHE Pioneer Schools! Over the last few months, they have been testing and reviewing important aspects of SAMHE to ensure that it meets schools' needs before it is shared more widely.

With their feedback we have revised our instructions for schools logging in and connecting their SAMHE monitors and improved the functionality of the data views on the Web App. They have also tried out our first Web App Activities and helped us refine our in-app 'Achievements' structure and the rewards strategy for how badges and certificates are gained. In our next release, Pioneer schools will be invited to start testing our new 'Data Detectives' activity, which will help students investigate 'spikes' in their data (big but short-lived changes in the readings) and explore what could be causing them.

That will bring our beta testing process with schools to an end. Our designers and software developers will continue to implement the feedback, create new activities and tidy up the Web App and this website ready for the SAMHE launch. We hope to share a date for that with you soon!

Over 100 Pioneer Schools have already received SAMHE air quality monitors and access to the beta version of the SAMHE Web App. They are now starting to test its functionality and try out the initial activities. Over the next couple of months we will continue to release new activities to pioneer schools and ask them for feedback. This will inform our ongoing development of the Web App, with the aim that it will be fully functional, wonderfully engaging and brimming with exciting activities in time for the official launch of SAMHE early in 2023!

Unfortunately we cannot accept any more schools as pioneer schools at this stage, but if your school would like to receive a monitor as part of our next roll out, do register now to join our waitlist. You'll receive a monitor and access to the Web App after the official launch.

Discover fun, free ways to use SAMHE to celebrate British Science Week, read inspiring stories from schools and help us design a tool for schools to see the costs and benefits of installing HEPA filter units.

Access no-prep, fun activities for the last week of term, read SAMHE's recommendations for policy and practice on air quality in UK schools, download a poster for your classroom and hear about our trip to parliament!

Featuring inspiring stories from SAMHE schools, new activities and data visualisations, our latest findings and ways we're sharing them with those who can make a difference to air quality in UK schools.

This special issue is to share the launch of our Teacher Resource Pack for schools without a SAMHE monitor! We also share recordings of our webinars on SAMHE's findings and tell you what we're doing next!

Featuring new activities and a poster competition for Clean Air Day (20 June) and inviting you to a webinar to hear what the SAMHE project has discovered about air quality in UK schools! Plus more research findings, additional resources and the chance to use your STEM expertise to support schools.

Featuring exciting new activities, support from STEM Ambassadors and how SAMHE can support your school's Modeshift STARS work on sustainable travel! Plus important updates on recruitment and support.

Featuring SAMHE activities for British Science Week 8-17 March, including experiments and our exciting new careers activity, and introducing new data views, average values for air quality metrics across SAMHE schools and more!

Introducing our end of term quiz, careers resource for schools and the first SAMHE research papers, announcing the winner of our November connection competition and explaining how your actions are helping us recruit more schools!

Launching our new connection competition - get connected and you could win a prize! Also, discover an exciting new Web App activity, improved data views, easier-to-use activity steps and more!

Discover an exciting new Web App activity, posters to download, an opportunity to get some SAMHE stickers, help getting your monitor set up, an opportunity for schools in the Greater Manchester area, and more!

Discover new activities available in the Web App, find out what the team have been up to and get ideas for recruiting another school in your area!

Read stories from two of our Pioneer schools, find out what's new on this website and the Web App, and discover an opportunity to get involved in additional SAMHE research.

Discover the 7 types of activity the Web App will offer, including 'Data Detectives' which Pioneer schools are testing this week. See how they have helped us refine the air quality data plots, making them more useable and useful for pupil and teachers. Get excited about the in-app achievement pathways and rewards and the upcoming SAMHE launch!

Find out how our pioneer schools are helping us, what the Web App looks like so far, and what further activities, resources and rewards we are developing ready for launching SAMHE to a further 1000+ schools next year. Sign up to receive the SAMHE newsletter using the Contact Form.