A whistleblower revealed a survey of employees there in which nearly nine out of 10 teaching staff and leaders had considered leaving their job in 2024 and provided details of numerous safety incidents involving students. It was claimed that staff had frequently challenged safeguarding practices and asked for improvements but had been left dissatisfied with the response from the leadership team.
Louise Misselke, principal of TGI College, previously the College of Further Education, said it would be inappropriate to comment on individual cases, but defended the organisation’s policies and culture.
‘Safeguarding is a top priority for Education and The Guernsey Institute, and it is a responsibility all education settings take very seriously,’ she said.
‘It is inevitable that safeguarding concerns will, on occasion, be raised. The measure of a good safeguarding system is how those concerns are responded to, and we are confident that The Guernsey Institute has a robust system, policies and procedures in place.
‘The effectiveness is evidenced in TGI College’s recent Ofsted report, and TGI College is also subject to the annual education safeguarding audit, overseen by the ISCP [Islands Safeguarding Children Partnership].’
The College of Further Education’s latest Ofsted report, published in November 2023, graded it ‘good’ across the board.
It stated that ‘students and apprentices feel safe at college’ and that ‘the arrangements for safeguarding are effective’.
At that time, the college had almost 1,000 students, including 320 aged between 16 and 22, 301 adults, 313 apprentices, and 50 who were described as having high needs.
Ofsted also commented on ‘ageing and poor-quality accommodation’ in which staff and students were working, ahead of the opening of a brand new facility at Les Ozouets in 2027, and current conditions are known to have affected morale.
The staff survey leaked to the Guernsey Press showed that only half of TGI teaching staff would recommend the college as a good place to work, or as a good place for children to learn.
These results were comparable to those from States’ secondary schools but far worse than States’ primary schools.
Staff shortages also appear to be an issue at the college with every worker in learning support stating that the use of temporary staff and staff vacancies had an impact on their own workload.
Dr Misselke said that staff retention was always monitored closely by education settings.
‘Staff wellbeing is always high on the agenda of senior leadership teams and a key tenant of the education strategy,’ she said.
‘If any staff or students are concerned about safeguarding issues, as ever we would encourage them to speak to a member of safeguarding team.’
