Amherst pupil capacity rising as more parish builds planned
PUPIL numbers have been on the rise at Amherst as development intensifies around northern St Peter Port.
St Peter Port constable Zoe Lihou raised concerns about the school’s capacity in light of the publication of the draft development framework for several fields on nearby Pitronnerie Road.
That document suggests that up to 88 homes could be created on the 1.6 hectare agricultural site.
Amherst Primary School is just up the road from the site and any new homes would be in the school’s catchment.
The States of Guernsey confirmed that the school was currently below its 525-pupil capacity, but numbers had been rising steadily in recent years.
In the 2017-18 year there were 423 pupils across the school’s seven year groups.
In the following years it went from 458 pupils to 456 and then to 476 last year. This year there are 480 – representing a 13% rise in the last five years.
The school was the autism hub for the island until the start of this year, giving special support to nine pupils. It was moved to Forest School due to Amherst becoming busier. Two children moved as to Forest as result of the move.
A States of Guernsey spokesman said that at this stage no big changes at the school were planned.
‘There are no current plans to expand the school, however in recent years a number of modifications have been undertaken to the Amherst Primary School site, the most recent being over the summer holiday period this year,’ he said.
Among the improvements, the top building has been modified to increase the size of four teaching rooms to facilitate additional teaching and learning options.
A better space has also been created for the junior library as a result plus a multi-purpose room in which the school is hoping to create a DT and cookery area as soon as it is able to obtain funding for furniture and resources.
The two staff rooms were consolidated into one in the former base building and the various moves also facilitated a room for speech and language and two office spaces.
The rising pupil numbers are a sharp change of direction from when in 2014 parents were asked to consider moving their pupils to under-subscribed schools and at that time this included Amherst.
There have been a number of new housing developments in the school’s northern St Peter Port catchment in recent years.
The GHA built 15 new houses on the former Longfield School site in 2015 – just down the road from the school – and planning permission for a further six on a neighbouring field has also been granted.
Also close to the school work is under way to demolish one house to make way for 13 new homes.
Further down Guelles Road there have been 40 new residential units created across three sites in the last five years, with work on another eight homes under way.
These are just the developments within the immediate vicinity of the school.
Its catchment covers north of St Julian’s Avenue/St Jacques/Les Ozouets and then follows the St Peter Port boundary with St Sampson’s to the north and Vale in the west.
