“Pupils should be learning more about Jersey in school”

Saturday 04 October 2014

The new head of the Education department has set up a major review of the school curriculum to make sure that children are learning enough about Jersey, its history and its culture.

Justin Donovan, who has recently taken over as director of the Education, Sport and Culture department, ordered the “fundamental review” as soon as he arrived in Jersey.

He is one of four new faces at the very top of the Education system in Jersey – Nick Falle, a Jerseyman, has just taken over the job of running Hautlieu; Steve Lewis has taken over as principal of Highlands College; and the States will elect a new Education Minister next month after Deputy Pat Ryan decided not to stand for re-election.

The reference to a review was included in a report about language teaching in Jersey schools that has just been presented to the States. The report – requested by Deputy Montfort Tadier – says that 50% of students study French at GCSE, with Spanish the second-most popular subject, studied by 17% of pupils.

The report also says that Mandarin and Portuguese – because of the links with Portugal and Madeira, and the emergence of the strong Brazilian economy – might be good languages to offer on an optional basis to school children.

Earlier this week, primary school children from St John's School re-enacted the Battle of Jersey in the Royal Square - a great example of local teaching, but there is a question over whether all children are learning enough about their Island, their history and their heritage.

The report said: “In order to respond to Deputy Tadier’s proposition, an internal review was commissioned into the teaching of languages across the Island.

“The recently appointed Director of Education, Sport and Culture has proposed an immediate and fundamental review of the curriculum to ensure that it reflects Jersey’s history, culture and economy.

“The place of languages within the curriculum will be of central importance to this review.”

A survey of parents conducted as part of the review of language teaching found that 60% of the 246 who responded would be happy to send their child to a bilingual school where French and English were spoken, but the review noted that it might be more beneficial to spread extra resources around all school language departments, rather than focus on just a small group of children.