‘Time for different narrative on secondary education plans’
EDUCATION, Sport & Culture president Andrea Dudley-Owen is calling for the ‘depressed and catastrophised’ discussion of the future of secondary education to focus less on buildings and more on the progress being made in its plans.
Deputy Dudley-Owen said it was time to change the tone of the conversation.
‘We owe it not only to our students but to our many staff to be far more celebratory of the many successes,’ she said.
‘It’s become an increasingly depressed and catastrophised narrative, which ignores the huge amount of very positive progress being made on the far wider elements of the implementation plans – things that arguably matter far more when trying to deliver change and improvements to the delivery of education.’
While the buildings were important, they were not the only ‘enablers required to improve education in Guernsey and Alderney’.
ESC highlighted its progress in some of the areas in which it had been working in a lengthy media release.
The key to delivering ‘systemic change’ was the Secondary School Partnership, it said, and this was being led by executive principal Liz Coffey and a joint team of school principals.
Subject leaders and senior leaders had already visited schools in England to learn from best practice across secondary education.
There is also a drive to deliver the highest teaching standards and ensure all student have access to the similarly broad-balanced curriculum.
Staff members will begin transitioning to new buildings this week, designed by the SSP leadership team with feedback from staff and unions.
New roles had been created to provide extra pastoral support for students and to reduce the administrative burden on staff.
ESC said progress has been made on integrating the College of Further Education, the GTA University Centre and the Institute of Health and Social Care Studies into the new Guernsey Institute.
An integrated leadership structure was now in place and its executive principal Jacki Hughes said the three groups had enjoyed the benefits of working together for some time, but some of the old campuses were struggling and they were looking forward to its new post-16 facility.
An announcement of how ESC plans to progress appointing a new contractor for this site at Les Ozouets could be made ‘shortly’, said the committee.
This followed its parting company with RG Falla, the contractor originally brought in to develop the site.
A number of options were being explored following discussions with companies in Guernsey, Jersey and the UK.
More details are expected in March.
Ms Coffey said planning was under way to create a new school on the Grammar School site.
‘We are committed to directly involving staff and students in this process,’ she said.
The new 11-16 school will merge existing Grammar students with those from La Mare de Carteret High School.
Moves were also being made in digital transformation and an improved ratio of devices to students will be part of the digital transformation element of HSC’s plans.