STAFF and pupils at Ombersley First Endowed School have managed to make their eco-friendly Tree House Early Years Centre, even greener, with the installation of new solar panels on the building’s roof.

The 16 solar panels were installed and funded by Worcestershire County Council as part of its Spend to Save scheme, and they will generate enough energy to save the school more than £1,000 in energy bills and 2,000 kilograms of CO2 every year.

A spokesman for the school’s eco-council, said: "We were so excited when we got back to school after the February half term holiday. Our school has now got solar panels.

We had 16 panels put on the Nursery Tree House roof – this is the best roof to catch the sun. We love being able to look at the digital display and see how much energy we have made each day. This will be a great help with our application for a Green Flag."

The eco schools Green Flag scheme asks staff and pupils in schools to look at everything they use and see if it could be sourced in a more environmentally friendly way, as well as looking at energy efficiency by tackling things such as utility bills, the number of lights left on, or the number of dripping taps in the school.

Councillor Anthony Blagg, Worcestershire County Council's cabinet member for environment, added: "We're committed to doing everything we can in the county to reduce carbon emissions and looking after our environment and this project is yet another fantastic example of that. The county council project manage and implement these schemes as not only are they good for the environment and pupils at the school, they also make good financial sense.

"Its brilliant news that local children attending the school will have the opportunity to not only learn about solar energy but actively get involved in seeing how it works in practice."

Any schools in the area interested in installing solar panels or other energy saving initiatives, should visit worcestershire.gov.uk/spendtosave for more details or email energy@worcestershire.gov.uk for more information.