They will be joined at Les Varendes by the Music Service, Youth Commission and sexual health teachers. In total about 130 staff will be accommodated in the building, which adjoins the 11-16 secondary school.
The move was criticised yesterday as ‘fiscally and morally irresponsible’ by Education Committee member Andy Cameron.
The sixth form centre at Les Varendes was opened in 2005. The States agreed last year to re-purpose it at an estimated cost of £1.7m. That proposal made no mention of moving the Education Office there and States property officials have said that part of the project would be funded from a different budget.
‘It is fiscally and morally irresponsible to re-purpose space that was only recently developed and funded as a purpose-built sixth form centre,’ said Deputy Cameron.
‘That development was supported at the time by the majority of politicians and the public based on the understanding that it would serve as a much-needed educational facility, not office space.
‘It has more than delivered as an educational facility. I doubt many would now support turning that space into offices, particularly if further down the line that means taxpayers being asked to fund the construction of yet another school when our finances are so tight.’
He said that school facilities typically cost at least twice as much per square metre as office space.
The Education Office advises the Education, Sport & Culture Committee and supports States schools. The committee’s president, Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen, recently announced a one-year ‘pause’ to the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme at the sixth form centre because of low student numbers.
Questions to ESC about the use of the current sixth form centre were redirected to the States Property Unit, which is part of the Policy & Resources Committee.
‘The Education Office and wider services are moving to Les Varendes later this year from their temporary location at Raymond Falla House as part of the wider property rationalisation programme across the States,’ said a property spokesman.
‘These services will co-locate in the current sixth form centre with a number of other services identified under the Transforming Education Programme.’
There will be a mix of open plan office space and individual rooms, including training rooms for use by about 1,000 staff employed across education.
Education hopes to move sixth form students to Les Ozouets by 2029 and is spending about £1m. installing foundations on that site alongside the redevelopment of The Guernsey Institute.
In the meantime, it is moving them from Les Varendes into the former secondary school building at La Mare de Carteret this summer.
Deputy Cameron said that duplicating facilities unnecessarily was inefficient and not the kind of investment in infrastructure which the island needed.
He has consistently opposed the future model of three 11-16 schools and a separate sixth form centre on a different site and wanted the latter to remain at Les Varendes.
‘We are seeing declining student numbers in our secondary schools, and I remain very concerned that by pressing ahead with relocating the sixth form to La Mare the next ESC will be left in an extremely difficult position, with three partially filled 11-16 schools and a partially filled sixth form centre housed in a building which should have been demolished years ago,’ he said.
‘And any new sixth form facility would be built during a time of spiralling building costs and open as student numbers are hitting their lowest point, undermining the financial case and locking us into an inflexible and costly school model.’
Deputy Cameron also revealed that there had been a significant drop in applications to study at the sixth form centre since its move to La Mare was announced.
‘I fear that the decisions being made now will create substantial challenges for the next committee and for the future of secondary and post-16 education in Guernsey,’ he said.
You need to be logged in to comment. If you had an account on our previous site, you can migrate your old account and comment profile to this site by visiting this page and entering the email address for your old account. We'll then send you an email with a link to follow to complete the process.