A new wind is blowing at Killingworth school
Feb 13 2010 by Tony Henderson, The Journal
IT was full speed ahead yesterday for a school’s clean green drive.
The brakes were released to send a 12-metre wind turbine spinning in the grounds of Amberley Primary School in East Bailey, Killingworth.
It was another stage in an ambitious eco-project for Amberley, which becomes the first school in North Tyneside to draw power from a turbine.
Funding for the £40,000 wind turbine included £10,000 from The Co-operative, £14,000 from the Government’s Low Carbon Building Programme and £7,000 from the Local Environmental Action Fund (LEAF) at the Newcastle-based Community Foundation.
Pupil Thomas Finch, aged nine, performed the big switch-on after his name was drawn from the hat, while youngsters at the 330-pupil school held seaside-style windmills.
“It was an absolutely fabulous occasion. A lot of parents stayed to watch and all the children were waving their windmills,” said head teacher Alice Barkes.
“The sun came out and right on cue a magical gust of wind started the turbine spinning. It is part of a longer-term environmental project at the school. The whole eco-project underpins our curriculum.”
The pupils can use the eco-data and activities across a range of subjects.
The school already generates power from solar roof panels. A monitoring panel in the school’s front entrance shows how much power is being generated by solar and wind sources and the savings in carbon emissions.
Others schools in North Tyneside will be able to tap into the data.
