"Green" school in Pembroke

Bursting with colour and filled with bright airy classrooms, Pembroke primary school is not only a pleasant learning environment but also a green one that is totally self-sufficient for energy.

With a footprint of 9,000 square metres - 5,000 of which are dedicated to sports facilities - the new school was built in around 18 months and in October it opened its doors to 266 schoolchildren.

The government school, which forms part of St Clare's College, replaced the former army barracks used as school premises and cost around €3.6 million to build.

Its energy is produced by a number of solar panels, which can generate up to 36,000 kilowatt hours of energy units a year, and a wind turbine installed on the roof.

The turbine, which is shaped like a double helix, is free of noise and vibration and generates 2.5 kilowatts per hour. A solar tube was also installed to light up a poorly lit area in the school, using a series of mirrors to reflect natural light from the roof.

All these measures, together with three solar water heaters providing hot water for the whole school and an intelligent lighting system that uses natural lighting, make the school totally self-sufficient - it actually sells energy back to the electricity grid.

Two large murals, painted by artist Luciano Micallef, decorate the school's main hallways and columns while the classroom doors are colour-coded.

Kindergarten children can play in an internal courtyard covered in coloured squares of protective padding.

Schoolchildren can take up a variety of extracurricular activities: personal and social development, physical education, art, music, thinking skills, athletics, swimming and basketball lessons.

The school also boasts an indoor gym, library and rooms dedicated to music, art, personal and social development and ICT - which also has an interactive whiteboard.

The library has about 5,000 books that can be read in a comfortable reading area or studied in the research section. Plus, the young children can listen to storytelling sessions in a puppet theatre found in the reading corner.

After hours, the school will offer childcare facilities for up to 80 children aged three and younger.