Sark School will no longer teach secondary education

It was agreed by a significant majority of Chief Pleas that, from 1 September 2019, Sark School should no longer educate beyond the age of 13 (Year 8).

They also agreed that Sark children should, if their parents or carers wish it, attend schools in Guernsey from September 2020 for Years 9, 10 and 11 of their education and the Education committee will work with the parents or carers to arrange suitable school places and accommodation for these children.

Parents and carers of Sark children will be expected to contribute to the accommodation costs in Guernsey and boat fares, depending on how long their child has been at Sark School.

The contributions for the academic year starting September 2019 are to decrease the longer the student has attended Sark School.

A similar scheme will exist for home-schooled children, who will have up to seven online GCSE courses and exams paid for by Chief Pleas.

A learning centre facility on the island will be established by the Education committee, although charges for this were not agreed and will be put before the government again.

Education committee chairwoman Conseiller Pauline Mallinson said these changes were a good thing for the island because she believed Sark School was too small and could not have enough specialist teachers.

‘Larger peer groups and facilities in Guernsey will give students a better education,’ she said.

‘We understand that some parents do not want their children to leave the island for their education and so we will work with parents who choose for their children to stay in Sark to choose what courses they want to do.’

Individual plans will be created for each child.

Discussions with Education, Sport & Culture in Guernsey are ongoing and it has been decided that Sark students will attend Les Beaucamps High School unless they wish to go to one of the private schools, in which case they will adhere to their regular admissions process.

On average, there are two or three students who are of secondary education age in Sark each year and just over 30 students in the whole school.

In the past few years there has been only one or no students at GCSE age, which has provided the government with the chance to discuss and detail these changes.