At The British School of Beijing, Shunyi, the health, safety and wellbeing of our students and staff is always our top priority and we therefore follow procedures to protect ourselves during times of poor air quality. In addition, the Beijing Education Commission requires schools to maintain good air circulation indoors for the health and well-being of students and teachers.
The following systems and procedures are in place in this regard:
- The campus uses three air purification systems in unison across the entire school.
- We use the Beacon brand of filters in our central air conditioning system, and we have installed high-specification ceiling-mounted Daikin brand air filters in our classrooms, aimed at reducing the classroom AQI to no more than 10 µg/m3. Each EYFS classroom is also equipped with a portable air filter as an extra precaution.
- Our foyer areas feature positive pressure systems over all entrances and a large-scale IQ Air filter over the entrance to the multi-purpose room.
- Student school buses include filters as part of the air-conditioning. The quality of these systems is always under review.
- Outdoor AQI measurements that we use are from the World Air Quality Index (http://aqicn.org/city/beijing/shunyixincheng/). This refers to air quality measurement stations nearby our school and from the US Embassy official site. If there is any doubt, the principal will make the decision as to whether we may take classes outdoors.
- We use an AQI alert system using Green, Amber, and Red flags. The AQI is checked at 2-hour intervals during the day and an email alert is sent to all staff if the AQI moves to an amber or red zone.We have flags at exit doors which indicate the current AQI level and flags are changed if the air quality index moves to a different colour.
- In line with the ISAC agreement among Beijing International Schools, an outdoor sports tournament will not begin where the AQI is 201 or above, with a 6:15am notification from the hosting school. Any sports tournament must end if the AQI moves above this level during the event. The Sports Dome allows for PE, sport and play to continue even on the worst of weather conditions.
The guidelines below will be applied based on the Air Quality Index (AQI).
Activities during indoor break or lunch.
We will ensure that students have a relaxing break time and enjoy a range of activities whilst remaining indoors.
- Soft Play Room: EYFS have access to our soft playroom, a safe indoor space where our youngest students can play and climb safely indoors.
- Gym & Sports Dome: During indoor play time the sports dome, gym and other indoor spaces may made available to the student to socialise & play under supervision.
- Library: Pupils can use the library facilities and access our fantastic range of books, whilst supervised by an adult.
- Classroom Spaces: We limit the use of electronic devices during indoor break times and encourage a range of relaxing activities. Educational videos such as Blue Planet, Walking with Dinosaurs, Blue Peter, Newsround, and other age-specific videos may be shown alongside a range of other activities.
Updated: January 2024
