Thursday 11 May 2023
Guernsey has run out of viable real estate in which to deliver post-16 education, the Committee for Education, Sport & Culture has said as it argues that the island cannot now avoid a generational investment in new buildings for post-16 education.
Following the decision to remove selection in 2016 and years of uncertainty as successive States Assemblies have debated, agreed and overturned various models of comprehensive secondary and post-16 education, the facilities at La Mare de Carteret High School and the three sites of The Guernsey Institute (former St Peter Port School, Delancey and Coutanchez) are now so poor that they cause material challenges to the long-term delivery of good-quality education.
The Committee has acknowledged concerns from certain States Members and some members of the public about building a new Sixth Form Centre at Les Ozouets as part of wider plans for a post-16 campus to create a truly adult learning environment for the community, where all students in this phase learn together on the same campus, which will complement the all-ability education system which now exists in Guernsey.
Committee President Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen wants to ensure any debate between now and the July States debate, when the Assembly considers the reprioritisation of the capital portfolio, is based on fact and has been concerned with some inaccurate and misleading narratives concerning the future location of the Sixth Form Centre.
- The new Sixth Form Centre will be approximately 1/5th of the total construction cost for the post-16 campus, whilst the majority of the cost of construction will be on the much needed and long overdue facilities for The Guernsey Institute.
- With approximately 1,200 students on site, if the Sixth Form Centre were to remain at its current location, added to the increased number of 11-16 students scheduled to attend Les Varendes from 2025, there would be insufficient teaching space once the merger of La Mare de Carteret and the Guernsey Grammar School is complete. It is not possible to keep the Sixth Form Centre at its current location at Les Varendes as the majority of Sixth Form lessons are already taught in shared spaces within the 11-16 school.
- To locate the planned 11-16 school and a separate Sixth Form Centre on this site would require significant investment in Les Varendes and would be educationally detrimental for students. This would likely cost a similar amount to building a new Sixth Form Centre at Les Ozouets but would not achieve any of the substantial educational benefits that a post-16 campus would bring.
While the Sixth Form Centre is planned to move on a temporary basis to the vacated La Mare de Carteret High School site from September 2025, at a cost of £141,000, this cannot be a long-term solution due to the site being end of life.
The Transforming Education Programme team has carried out additional scoping work on the potential options for the location of the Sixth Form Centre and its conclusions have been independently verified by a specialist education construction advisory firm, also used by the previous Committee.
Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen, President of the Committee for Education, Sport & Culture, said:
'We are working to improve education in Guernsey and Alderney to make sure that all students are receiving the best education that we can provide. Since the removal of selection in 2016, we have been working towards delivering a comprehensive system of education that is excellent and works for each and every child. Improving their experience, their level of education in literacy and numeracy and creating rounded individuals for the good of our islands' community and economy.
'All projects within the Transforming Education Programme contribute to this aim and a key project within that programme is ensuring that selection at 16 is discontinued. All students should be offered an equitable education experience, where professional, vocational and technical learning sits on a par with academic learning. All students should have access to the same high-quality facilities and access to a broad variety of choice as young adults.
'Ensuring that any discussion about the plans for a post-16 campus for our island students is based on facts is obviously important. Following the States' approval of our plans for the re-organisation of secondary and post-16 education, if anyone had been listening to opponents of those plans they would be forgiven for believing we are simply seeking to "move the Sixth Form Centre down the road" at great expense - a false narrative that completely omits the facts that the majority of the total post-16 campus construction costs will be for the much needed and long overdue development for The Guernsey Institute, which has been anticipated now for at least 20 years.
'It is simply not possible to accommodate the larger 11-16 school and a separate Sixth Form Centre at Les Varendes, without significant further investment to manage the circa 1,200 students that would be on that site. Neither can we leave the Sixth Form Centre at La Mare de Carteret for anything more than an interim period.
'As such, if we are serious about improving education in Guernsey and Alderney - and we do not believe the States can avoid this investment in post 16 education facilities any longer after years of uncertainty and indecision - then building a new Sixth Form Centre as part of a wider post-16 campus not only represents value for money, but also ensures much greater educational benefit where students no longer have an inequitable offering for post-16 education and will all attend the new adult campus.'
Nick Hynes, Director of Education, said:
'As Director of Education my focus is on supporting colleagues right across education to ensure our system delivers the best possible outcomes for all students. It is no secret that we have had more than a decade of uncertainty as numerous models for secondary and post-16 education have been developed, agreed and then reversed. This has caused untold instability across our whole Education system. As a result of this "flip-flopping" the standard of facilities at some of our schools and settings has now fallen well below what students and the community should expect and this is no longer acceptable.
'It is true that the delivery of good quality education is not predicated on having state-of-the-art facilities, but more recently buildings have become a far more important part of the conversation in Guernsey than they should be because they are of such poor quality and we are quite simply running out of estate that can be reasonably used for teaching and learning.'
