The bodies were expanding on the Guernsey Press story, which revealed that while sixth formers are being moved to the former La Mare de Carteret High School site – which needs work – education staff will get the custom-built sixth form building at Les Varendes.
They stated the Education Office, the Guernsey Music Service, the Share team, Careers Services, Education Psychology Service, School Attendance Service, Inclusion Services and the Youth Commission would all be moving to the Les Varendes site later this year.
‘It makes the best use of taxpayer-owned property,’ they said in the joint statement.
‘The space will also be used daily to deliver training to Education and States of Guernsey staff thus further reducing costs of venue hire.’
The bodies went on to say there was not enough room to accommodate the 1,300 students on the site, without significant reconfiguration.
‘This is the approximate number that would have attended the site if the Sixth Form Centre had remained, alongside the increased number of students attending Les Varendes High School once its merger with La Mare de Carteret High School completes this September,’ they stated.
‘Part of the pressure the Sixth Form Centre would have put on the wider school was in using a significant proportion of teaching space in the main school building, as the Sixth Form Centre building is not big enough for the Sixth Form Centre to be self-contained.’
They noted there were nearly 400 sixth form students and staff at the centre currently.
‘There is enough space [at the Sixth Form Centre] to house various services, with a combined 130 staff, many of which are peripatetic in nature so in reality there will be far fewer on-site at any given time,’ they stated.
‘It was identified that it would be both an efficient use of the space and be a great hub to deliver professional support services into schools and as a training venue for States of Guernsey staff.’
The States has been reducing how many sites it operates from across many departments, such as moving the tax office and DVLA to Edward T Wheadon House from other sites.
‘These moves align with our goals regarding States’ property rationalisation, which aim to make the most efficient use of taxpayer-owned properties, support us to vacate sites we don’t need, save money on rent or generate money via leasing or selling vacated properties.’
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