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By GEMMA FRASER
Education Reporter

A SECONDARY school has become the first in Edinburgh to be powered by wind energy after a new turbine was installed.

Currie Community High School will use the renewable energy as an alternative source of power to run electrical systems such as heating its swimming pool and will help the council meet its carbon emissions targets.

The school is one of just six inADVERTISEMENTScotland to have been involved in the Secondary Schools Partnership Project, which promotes renewable energy technology in schools.

The wind turbine was officially unveiled yesterday, alongside Currie's new sports hall.

Woodlands – a new £5 million school for youngsters with learning difficulties – was also opened yesterday by education leader Councillor Marilyne MacLaren.

As Currie high school's neighbours, its 80 pupils, who have amalgamated from Kingsinch and St Nicholas schools, will share the new £2m sports facilities.

The school has specialist areas for science, home economics, craft, design and technology, music, art, and drama.

Pupils also have an independent living skills room to help them cope with living on their own in the future.

The turbine was funded by the council's sustainable development unit with a grant from the Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative, and Energy Savings Trust Initiative.

Councillor Robert Aldridge, the city's environment leader, believes that initiatives like this will help the council achieve its green goals.

He said: "The installation of the wind turbine and the solar panels will help the council towards meeting its carbon targets as well as having a real benefit for Currie Community High school in energy savings such as heating the school's swimming pool."

The new sports hall – which received a £500,000 grant from sportscotland – will be marked out for a range of sports such as five-a-side football, badminton, hockey, volleyball and basketball.

Stewart Harris, chief executive of sportscotland, said: "The new hall will be a great addition to the existing sports facilities at the school and will allow it to continue to provide its pupils with a superb curricular provision of PE and a wide variety of additional after-school sports activities and clubs.

"The hall will be a real asset to the local community and will also benefit pupils at the new Woodlands School, encouraging them all to adopt healthy lifestyles and make sport and physical activity part of their daily lives."

The Scotsman