Education to ‘clear the decks’ on school models
EDUCATION, Sport & Culture will be calling for the States to rescind resolutions from previous debates, so it does not need to compare its ideas to the previously suggested two-school model.
The latest move follows a series of U-turns by the States over the future of Guernsey’s secondary education system and seems to confirm that there is no intention to have a two-school system.
The most recent idea was to create a one-school-on-two-sites model, which divided the public and was likely to have been a contributory factor in former Education president Matt Fallaize losing his political seat.
Currently, ESC is meant to be reviewing the three possible secondary education models – three 11-18 colleges, two 11-16 colleges and one 11-18 college and finally three 11-16 colleges and a separate sixth form – and comparing them to the two-school model.
The review was set to be completed by the end of April.
But the committee has branded this as illogical, as the two-school model was halted in its tracks before going operational. They also highlighted the strong opposition by education staff to the idea.
The committee instead wants to compare the models to what is in operation today – three high schools and a non-selective grammar school.
ESC president Andrea Dudley-Owen said they wanted to clear the decks to look at the ideas, without being tied to previous resolutions.
‘If the States approves our request to rescind these old resolutions, we will continue with the review of secondary education with a more focused scope – one that doesn’t dedicate time to solutions that cannot be delivered,’ she said.
‘We have all the value of the work done so far, keeping the members of our independent oversight panel on board and we will not be going back to square one.
‘Engaging directly with staff will be a key focus for the committee during the final stages of the review.
‘We have learned much from the significant feedback from staff, via the survey last summer and the series of workshops run in each school late last year, and we are currently planning our next phase of engagement with them.’
She said the committee would shortly be giving more details about the final stages of the review what options were still on the table.
‘For now though our focus is on seeking States approval to rescind previous resolutions that serve only to impede our work in this important area of our mandate,’ Deputy Dudley-Owen said.
She has emailed all education staff to explain the committee’s intentions and confirmed that selection was not back on the table and the Guernsey Institute would continue.
She noted that the committee, like all parts of the States, was working under tighter financial constraints and that was being factored into the secondary school plans.
Work to progress a new Education law has been de-prioritised for now, as the committee listened to feedback that there was too much change happening at the same time. The committee intends to take some time to get up to speed on this important workstream, fully own its direction, with a view of taking it to the States within the next 18 months.
