OPINION: ‘I suspect something precious will have to give’

WHAT to make of the announcement of ESC’s proposed future model of secondary education?

Well the first thing to say is that it was far more the ‘dance of the seven veils’ than the ‘big reveal’. The first layer of obscurity has been ripped off, giving us a tantalising but frustratingly obscure vision of what lies beneath.

All very well for an exotic dance but rather worrying in terms of expecting the island’s community to discuss a really major policy decision where the devil is likely to be in the detail.

Let’s look at what we do know.

Firstly, the current four-school model will be replaced by a new four-school model. That will be achieved by closing one existing school and building one new one.

We’re not yet sure which school will be closed down. Either it will be the 11-18 Grammar School or, surely far more likely, the 11-16 La Mare de Carteret. What we do know for sure is that the brand new school will be a 16-18 facility, co-located with, but entirely separate from, the new Guernsey Institute, on what most Guernsey people still call the St Peter Port School site.

No one is keener than I am to see Guernsey’s education saga put to bed. It’s gone on for far too long and the years of constant uncertainty have been damaging. That shouldn’t mean that we grab at the first solution put forward without exercising our critical faculties. We mustn’t let fatigue over the whole schools debate lead to a sub-standard solution. Education is just too important and once this decision is made, our community and its youngsters will have to live with it for a generation.

So I do want to be supportive of ESC in finding a solution, but not at the cost of shrugging my shoulders or failing to do what I was elected to do. Deputies are voted into office to use their judgement on behalf of those they represent. To do so properly in this case we need two things.

1. Far more detail before we can even start to reach a judgement. If there is any devilment in these proposals that is where it will lie.

2. To be able to compare this new, proposed model against the other possibilities, on a like for like basis, just as the Dudley-Owen requete suggested.

Let’s consider the required detail.

My first worry is it seems highly likely that a four-school model will be very expensive to run. Whenever I say that, some people respond: ‘but education is important, we shouldn’t stint on it’. I couldn’t agree more but the real point is, whatever budget we spend on secondary education, the more efficiently that cash is spent, the better educational provision we can buy for that sum. On the flip side, the less efficiently we spend it, the more we will have to cut back on important features in order to stay within budget.

So it is not a case of financial efficiency versus educational excellence. Rather, the two are totally mutually supportive.

So what will be the running costs of this new four-school model? And if, as I suspect, they are very high, what will be sacrificed to stay within budget?

Will it require bigger class sizes? Lower space standards? Less ambitious plans to improve on our current special needs provision or to strengthen pastoral support?

We don’t yet know, so the jury must remain out, but I suspect very strongly indeed that something precious will have to give.

Then how will the new stand-alone sixth form college work? It is much, much, smaller than most similar facilities elsewhere. Nor is it anything like the existing Sixth Form Centre at the Grammar School. That facility shares staff, classrooms, science labs, leadership and just about everything else with the lower school. In contrast, an entirely separate sixth form college on a Lilliputian scale looks hugely inefficient.

Where will the staff teach when they are not teaching A-levels or IB? We can hardly hope to recruit part-time specialist teachers so I guess they will have to get in their cars, or on their bikes, and commute between the sixth form college and the three 11-16 schools. Will that prospect help to recruit the best and the brightest to teach in Guernsey schools? And what about the specialist facilities, such as science labs? Is there really a business case for building them when they are likely to lie idle much of the time?

Another really crucial aspect will be the transition plan. I know getting education right for future generations is crucial, but the students going through our schools right now, and over the next few years, will only get one shot at their childhood education. Their experience is really crucial. There may be a clever way to make the transition to this new model work well but I’m jiggered if I can see it. Please don’t repeat the mistakes of the closure of St Peter Port School by just melding year groups together.

And a really big detail, yet to be decided, is whether it will be the Grammar School or La Mare which will close down. I worry about the fact that ESC has gone public with a half-formed plan which leaves that question open. Particularly as I know there are some really passionate and dedicated people – including teachers – who are desperate to see La Mare rebuilt. So what’s the problem? Well I am 99% certain that won’t be the final outcome and it seems rather cruel to toy with their hopes.

So lots and lots of detail before we can see if this brainchild of the new ESC is a good idea.

I know what is really needed. A proper side by side comparison of the educational and financial pros and cons of this model against the other possibilities.

How does it stack up against 3 x 11-18 schools? Or 2 x 11-16 schools and one 11-18 school? Or 3 x 11-16 schools, one of which has a co-located sixth form centre?

We don’t know, but we should do before we leap at any old solution brought out of a hat to amaze us. I think I will demand such a comparison. Maybe a requete is in order? What should I call it? How about ‘pause and review’?