A Catholic secondary school in Colindale is about to become the first in the borough to generate its own electricity, after having solar panels attached to its roof.

St James' Catholic High School in Great Strand is pioneering a project in Barnet to help schools become greener and more eco-friendly. And one of the biggest projects the staff and students are working on at present is to harness the energy of the sun to generate their own power.

The solar panels are being attached this week, while the school is on half term, and once they are in place, they will produce around 1.5 kilowatts of electricity, which will be fed straight back into the National Grid.

Janet Keir, the school's senior science technician, said the panels were being paid for by Scottish Power, after she applied for them from the Central Environment Network. She said: "The whole idea is for the kids to understand that there are renewable energies for us to use. We don't know fully how much it will save us but even if it's £100 a year, it's a start."

St James, which became a specialist science and sports college in September, is focussed on developing an ethos of 'healthy body, healthy mind, healthy environment' and, to that end, is setting up a cerificate for healthy families who have joined in an 18-week course of lifestyle, fitness and diet changes. But the next exciting thing on the horizon is an application for a wind turbine.

Ms Keir said: "We have had a surveyor in and have made an application.

If we get it, it will be quite a spectacular thing from the road. I hope that it would generate around 2.5 kilowatts and that would go back into the National Grid too. I don't think wind turbines look any worse that telegraph poles, and I am hoping the council will be all for it. Then, hopefully, other schools can do the same too."