Herm School still not worth the cost – ESC
EDUCATION, Sport & Culture has reiterated its belief that keeping Herm’s primary school open was not a good idea for pupils or taxpayers.
Discussions about the school’s future have been reignited after Herm’s CEO, Craig Senior, announced he was moving away from the island.
Mr Senior’s two children currently make up half of the pupils at the school.
‘The current education provision in Herm costs in the region of £160,000 per year,’ said ESC president Andrea Dudley-Owen.
‘This is an additional £87,000 per year, compared to the cost of educating Herm-based children at Vauvert School.
'Our committee has been clear and consistent in our view that providing education in Herm for the very small amount of children is neither financially viable for the taxpayer, nor beneficial to students from an educational perspective.’
She added that ESC would not comment on circumstances relating to individual students or their families.
‘But we can confirm that we currently expect there to be two pupils being educated in Herm in September 2024.’
ESC closed the school in July 2023, but it was reopened just four months later after a successful States requete forced a U-turn.
Mr Senior took to social media yesterday to defend the school.
On the Facebook page Guernsey People Have Your Say, he responded to questions on whether he had informed ESC about his departure.
‘We had no choice but to leave, due to the age of my eldest going to secondary school as she’s reached that age,’ he wrote.
‘Our fight was for the long-term future of the island, future parents’ needs and their children.
'On a positive note we have two more families who have/are joining us whose children will join the fantastic school.
‘The underlying point is the school will have new pupils.
'No one person should dictate the school, which has served the community for decades.’
