La Mare to house sixth form centre for a year

The announcement follows last week’s unexpected news that the new post-16 campus at Les Ozouets would be delayed, due to the States withdrawing from a deal with contractors RG Falla.

The temporary relocation should only be needed for a year, said Education, Sport & Culture president Andrea Dudley-Owen.

‘While it remains incredibly disappointing that we have been forced into a situation where there will almost certainly be a delay to the full opening of the new post-16 campus, the plan we are developing secures the transition from four 11-16 secondary schools to three 11-16 schools from September 2025 as planned.

‘It also maintains the recently-changed primary school feeder model, which parents are now familiar with so they know which secondary school their child will move to after primary school.’

The changes are all part of new secondary and post-16 plans, with the island’s high schools being based at Les Beaucamps, St Sampson’s and the former Grammar site at Les Varendes in future.

La Mare de Carteret is to close, with all post-16 education consolidated on the former St Peter Port School site at Les Ozouets.

But major building work is required at Les Ozouets before it will be ready for students.

The decision to move the sixth- form centre temporarily to La Mare was the best option, Deputy Dudley-Owen said, and affected students would not be subject to significant changes as most Year 11 students changed sites after Year 11 anyway.

‘Following our announcement last week that the States had withdrawn from using RG Falla to build the new post-16 campus at Les Ozouets, we wanted to share with the community as quickly as possible our plans for ensuring we maintain momentum and continue to deliver the re-organisation of secondary and post-16 education agreed by the States,’ she said.

‘Moving the sixth form centre to a temporary home at La Mare de Carteret High School is clearly something we would have rather avoided, but we believe at this stage is the best option to ensure momentum is maintained in other important parts of the re-organisation of secondary and post-16 education.’

If the sixth form centre was not moved and remained at the Les Varendes site in September 2025, this would mean accommodating about 1,300 students, Deputy Dudley-Owen said.

‘We considered whether it would be possible to transition students from La Mare de Carteret High to Les Varendes in September 2025 as planned, while retaining the Sixth Form Centre on the same site,’ she said.

‘While technically possible, this would require substantial reconfiguration of the site to make room for the additional students transitioning from La Mare.’

With more than 60% of sixth form lessons taught in the main school rather than the sixth form centre, there would not be space for this number of students at Les Varendes.

‘The community has made its feelings about such a large school very clear in recent years, which was another consideration of the committee before determining that moving the sixth form centre to a temporary home, for what we hope will be one year only, is currently the best option.’