Concerns from La Mare de Carteret High staff

Following the release of the ESC’s policy letter setting out the plans of the ESC committee, we, the majority of members of the La Mare staff, wish for you to consider the following:

• We want to maintain the current four high school system.

• With reference to the current economic climate of instability and uncertainty following a global pandemic, when asked during a visit to La Mare High, Deputy Dudley-Owen herself stated that the States does not know what the next 10 years will bring in terms of economic stability. Our question is, why pile millions of pounds into reforming the education system when you do not know what is ahead? The Grammar building is due to be rebuilt in so many years, and given the baby boom that may come from this years and last year’s Covid lockdowns –(have the current birth rates been reviewed and studied? Statistics from the UK in previous weeks show a 40% increase in births following last year’s Covid lockdown) – will the three-school model be able to accommodate these increasing numbers?

• Many people are being led to believe La Mare High is falling apart. We question whether it is in any more state of disrepair as the Grammar building? On pages 17–19 of the policy letter, the ESC stated that La Mare High School is not fit for purpose. We question where this judgement has come from? What report is available to support this?

• It appears no consideration has been made to how families will be affected by this proposal. For example a family with a student in Year 6 and Year 4 will later have children at Les Varendes and St Sampson’s, and currently some of La Mare’s catchment will be closer to both Les Varendes and Les Beaucamps but will be sent to St. Sampsons.

• The major frustration of the La Mare staff is not only the sheer lack of information, but the conflicting information being given to us and other bodies. For example, during the reactionary meeting on Tuesday 18 June between the La Mare staff and Deputy Dudley-Owen and Deputy Aldwell, Deputy Dudley-Owen stated there were no plans afoot for the La Mare site, yet within 24 hours, on Island FM at approximately 8am the following morning, Deputy Dudley-Owen stated that social housing was the plan for the LMDC site. This was an interesting revelation, none more so than for some members of the P&R Committee who even stated themselves in an email to one of our staff, was not aware of these plans. This has since been rescinded, without any accountability for their comments.

• Another example of conflicting messages. Staff at the Grammar School understand, following their visit from the ESC committee, that the Grammar site remaining open wasn’t the cheaper option but instead was thought to be more politically viable.

• Another example of conflicting messages is all four high schools believing something different in terms of who has to reapply for jobs and who doesn’t.

• We could go on and on about conflicting messages. It strikes us more that either ESC committee does not know what is going on or they’re telling the different institutions different things.

• How can two different institutions – the College of Further Education and the Sixth Form Centre – independently exist on one site? We struggle to see how this can be staffed without the need for teachers to travel around the island to teach there, as well as their designated high school. Have staff been consulted about moving between sites? The information we have tells us that the answer to that question is no.

• Three 11-18 schools should not be up for consideration due to the immense restrictions on the curriculum offered at A-level and logistics of staff movement to teach there.

• There is an assumption that all teachers want to teach A-level and that it is A-levels that will attract the staff to the island. Have the teaching profession been consulted on this? Especially the recent excellent staff we have attracted to La Mare and the other 11-16 schools.

• Having been informed by Deputy Sue Aldwell that our students were not going to the Varendes site however now, we have since learnt that three full year groups will join Les Varendes students in the year 2023-24, making double-sized Years 9 to 11. How will this be staffed and once those three year groups have completed what will happen to the staff that were moved to deal with this influx of students? It beggars belief as to how the ESC committee proposes to fit approximately 480 students into St Sampson’s and Les Beaucamps without further development to extending both schools.

• We can offer you a comprehensive list of reasons for keeping La Mare open. Can you provide us with a comprehensive list of reasons why it should be shut, other than financial? This cannot be the driving force for closing such a successful school. We should be looking for the solution that has the greatest educational outcomes for the young people of Guernsey. The current proposal does not offer that.

• For a committee in charge of education, sports and culture in a Crown Dependency, the efficient running of such is lacking. Far too many questions remain unanswered, plans remain unplanned, and major decisions are not even thought of let alone thought through. We urge you to reject the contents of the policy letter and insist on the ESC committee to go away and review the option of a four high school model.

And finally, regarding the States meeting on Wednesday 26 May, we would like to raise the following points:

• When responding to Deputy Inder’s question about engaging with the teaching provision, Deputy Dudley-Owen stated the ESC committee has been very busy over the last few weeks engaging with the staff. Deputy Dudley-Owen has visited the La Mare staff twice over the last several weeks; and one of those two meetings was a reactionary visit following the disgruntled reaction of the staff by the lack of presence at the time we were told we were closing. This visit was not a scheduled ‘engagement’ session, which perhaps goes some way to explaining why only two of the five members attended that meeting. We question when the ESC committee plan/need to engage with us.

• Deputy Dudley-Owen responded to Deputy Gollop’s question about welcoming engagement from stakeholders. We question when the ESC committee has engaged with the students and families of the current Year 6, 7 and 8 students as they are the ones affected? They certainly weren’t engaged when told about the planned closure of their school. No correspondence has been offered to Year 6 parents in the primary school.

• Deputy Kazantseva-Miller questioned Deputy Dudley-Owen about the trustee-owned land around Les Varendes site. It was stated that negotiations have not commenced with regards to that land. Do we fear the same issue with obtaining the extra Les Varendes land as what happened trying to obtain the extra land at Les Beaucamps School? The point we would like to make is that the land around La Mare is not trustee-owned and work could start on the land tomorrow. It is clear that there will have to be extension works done to both Les Beaucamps and Les Varendes to accommodate the additional students. Les Beaucamps already has limited outdoor space for its current population. Currently classrooms at Les Varendes and the 12 classes in the Sixth Form Centre cannot accommodate class sizes of 28 which the ESC have identified as their tipping point.

Therefore, although we wish to support any committee that is committed to improving educational values and outcomes in Guernsey for all stakeholders, we wish for our concerns to be considered and the planned closure of our school to be reviewed. We look forward to your response.

Ms Sonia Hewitt

Mrs Jane Champion

Ms Wendy Shapcott

Mrs Emma Hughes

La Mare de Carteret High School

Editor’s note: This letter has not been submitted directly to the Guernsey Press for publication. It has been passed on to us from a third party, and is reprinted in full here to allow full context of our news coverage.