Early site analysis put La Mare at top of schools’ location

The early stage analysis looked at nine different categories, including traffic, location, available area, risk, impact on students and teachers during the works, and the extent of refurbishment required.

The re-build option at La Mare De Carteret scored top marks in eight of the categories, and slipped only one point in another category because it does not have a central island location.

It scored 44 out of a possible 45, whereas St Sampson’s and Les Beaucamps scored 36 and 30 respectively.

St Sampson’s scored two out of five in the traffic category, and Les Beaucamps scored one out of five for available area in the existing site.

Even with land acquisition factored in, Les Beaucamps scored three out of five because it is a relatively compact site.

The Grammar School site at Les Varendes was discounted as a potential location primarily because of space constraints with a lack of land around the school in States’ ownership, the degree of remodelling required, and the amount of temporary accommodation which would be needed during the transition period.

The States agreed at the beginning of this month that £77.9m. of funding should be allocated to building the new schools at St Sampson’s and Les Beaucamps, and it is thought that spades could be in the ground by June next year.

Several weeks prior to the debate, the Guernsey Press asked for information to be released regarding site selection criteria and scoring, but the details were only provided at the end of last week.

In it, Education reiterated the advantages of the two sites chosen: ‘They are conveniently located for their partner primary schools. The existing facilities are built to modern design standards and have long-term lifespans. There are good opportunities for the necessary extensions to be built. They can continue to operate as schools during the construction period. The school at Baubigny was opened in 2008 and was built at a cost of £43.5m. The school at Les Beaucamps was opened in 2012 and was built at a cost of £37m. The two sites present a cost-effective option. Other site combinations would be more expensive and/or create too much disruption for students. Using the sites which currently have the highest standard of facilities – mostly because they have been built more recently – removes the need to build a completely new school at La Mare de Carteret and to carry out extensive refurbishment at Les Varendes.’

In the education transformation policy letter there was information about site selection criteria for the College of Further Education (which is now called the Guernsey Institute), but until now similar information had not been published regarding the 11-18 schools.

The new information shows that concerns were highlighted about road junctions, crossings, and traffic safety at St Sampson’s, and that space was ranked as not highly optimal at Les Beaucamps.

Following the initial criteria analysis in 2018, which was a building and site assessment only, the Education, Sport & Culture committee then asked its officers to carry out further works to assess other factors which had not been involved earlier on.

These new considerations included cost and value of money, the quality of existing facilities, the geographical relationship with the primary schools, and the long-term viability of the sites, involving issues like flood risks.

After this more detailed analysis a La Mare De Carteret High School re-build was ruled out of the running, the significant negative point was value for money because it was estimated it would cost tens of millions of pounds more than using other sites.

In October 2018 it was announced that the preferred sites for the 11-18 comprehensive schools were St Sampson’s and Les Beaucamps.

In their report, Peter Marsh Consulting endorsed the two choices:

‘Both of the proposed selected sites for the operation of the new school at St Sampson’s and Les Beaucamps have, in our view, sufficient space within their grounds to meet the future new build space requirements of the new school system.’

‘They are also far more suitable for adaptation and development to meet the future brief of the States of Guernsey than either the Grammar School and Sixth Form Centre or the La Mare school sites.’