PHOENIX High School is set to undergo a massive transformation this year after winning £135,000 worth of the latest energy-saving technology.
Last year the Chronicle teamed up with British Gas to give away a six-figure makeover to one lucky school in Hammersmith and Fulham.
After being inundated with entries, the foundation school in The Curve, Shepherd’s Bush was chosen as the winner by editor Adrian Seal.
Since its sixth form centre opened 18 months ago, the school has focused on improving its sustainability by installing solar panels and low-energy lighting solutions there.
However, the west wing of the school, as it is known, is used by 900 students aged 11 to 16 and has fallen into disrepair, having been built in the 1950s.
Executive head Sir William Atkinson said: “The building was only built to last 20 years so winning this money is very timely. Our current sixth form centre is excellent but the other building is woeful, it was built at a time when you didn’t have to worry about costs and energy saving.
“It’s not just the school that will benefit from this money, it will be the wider community. A lot of these classrooms are used at the weekend by Polish and Arabic schools. We see the school as a community hub.
“If we do a great job and teach these students about energy efficiency then they can take that home and have a positive impact on their families and their communities.”
Over the coming weeks energy auditors will visit the school to survey the building and find out what improvements can be made. When finished, Phoenix can claim to be one of the most energy efficient schools in the country.
The competition was part of the energy giant’s Generation Green School Programme designed to help teachers, students, schools and communities save energy and reduce their impact on the environment.
Generation Green programme manager Kate Lemon said: “We wanted to run a competition where we could provide a serious amount of investment and make energy efficiency in schools a possibility. We’ve given money to 16 schools across the country but we want to take the right approach to energy efficiency. Instead of just installing solar panels, we’re looking at each school individually and finding out what each one wants and catering to their plans.”
