As well as allowing them to give up their annual £2.2m. grant from the States and offer more bursary places, the proposed new funding model would permanently unite the colleges under a single foundation while continuing to operate independently day to day.
Twenty-four hours after the gift was announced, the principals of the colleges spoke about the schools working together like ‘siblings’ and about how they would like to expand their offer to students and the island.
‘We have similar values but fundamentally we are different cultures and schools and we want to maintain that difference, but we recognise that this does tie us together in perpetuity, and we already have a lot of historic links.
‘We see it as one family and two different schools,’ said The Ladies’ College principal Daniele Harford-Fox.
‘Our understanding is that there will be a foundation sitting above both of our schools, as a funding mechanism – they [the philanthropist] are not looking for control or anything like that,’ said Elizabeth College principal Jenny Palmer.
‘We will be working closely together, as we have been doing for some time particularly with our sixth form partnership, but also more generally.’
Blanchelande College confirmed yesterday that it was not involved in the proposed gift and would continue to require an annual grant from the States.
In a letter sent to parents, Blanchelande trustee Michael Fattorini said he was pleased to learn of the gift to the other colleges and that it could only be a positive development for education in Guernsey.
‘It is also an endorsement of the arguments made, and accepted, during the States’ funding debate in March 2025,’ said Mr Fattorini.
‘Blanchelande College will remain a grant-maintained school and will continue to receive support from the States. With that support, we will continue to provide our unique educational offering which will remain accessible to all families who choose our school.
‘We remain committed to providing an excellent education and to playing a valued and distinctive role in the future of education in Guernsey.’
The gift was proposed to the colleges through former deputy Peter Ferbrache, acting on behalf of the philanthropist, who wished to remain anonymous.
Mr Ferbrache said yesterday that he did not wish to add to the comments made already by the colleges.
‘They [the philanthropist] have asked for very little,’ said Ms Harford-Fox.
‘They’re not asking for their name to be involved, or to have any ownership or strategic control over the colleges. They’re simply asking for their privacy, and when someone is giving a legacy like that it should be respected.’
Elizabeth College already runs a small bursary scheme, using a donation made by the late Roger Perrot, which funds some students who may not otherwise be able to attend the school. The gift would allow it to offer more funded places and The Ladies’ College also to run a bursary scheme.
The States’ grant funding currently received by the schools is conditional on any bursaries they fund not being awarded on the basis of academic selection, following the discontinuation of the 11-plus.
It is understood that they do not intend to use the gift to introduce academic bursaries.
‘Bursaries will be means-tested for children where this might be the right place but they cannot afford it,’ said Ms Harford-Fox.
‘It’s about finding children who we think will thrive in the colleges and need this help.
‘This is about creating different schools with different opportunities, and then making sure that children for whom this is the right place have the support so they can access it.’
Education, Sport & Culture Committee president Paul Montague said he welcomed any move which would allow Elizabeth College and The Ladies’ College to operate successfully without taxpayers’ funding.
‘The committee only became aware of this incredibly generous philanthropic offer very recently, so we have not had an opportunity to look at this in detail and examine all the implications,’ said Deputy Montague.
‘There is much work to be done to progress this further, which we will now do in collaboration with the two colleges. A change of this nature would ultimately require States approval.
‘We are also mindful that this will put Blanchelande College in a different position to the other two colleges.’
One condition of the gift is a change to the status of The Ladies’ College, which is currently governed by a States law of 1962.
Deputies will be asked to support a change to move it into a charitable structure which would also facilitate the purchase of the leased site from which it operates.
‘It’s a step-by-step process and the next piece is to have conversations with the States around whether it will be possible to step away from the law and into a modern charitable structure which would enable us to accept the gift, and if it can be achieved then the foundation will be set up,’ said Ms Harford-Fox.
‘We’re keen to move as quickly as we can to start being able to provide bursaries and to give the money back to the States, but everything has a process.’
For both principals, the news came as complete shock.
‘It’s not something that you ever really expect so it was quite overwhelming and amazing, and it certainly gets you thinking immediately what could be possible with something like this, if we can make it happen,’ said Mrs Palmer.
‘It’s an amazing opportunity. We’ve both got ambitions to build on the work we’re already doing.
‘It’s really about looking at how we can extend opportunities which we offer already, so that they can impact more people in Guernsey.’
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