Deputies Gavin St. Pier and Andy Cameron have signed off two amendments which ask the States to replace Education, Sport & Culture’s proposals for secondary and post-16 schooling with a model that teachers can contribute to and coalesce around.

The States will next week be asked to approve three 11-16 schools at Les Beaucamps, Les Varendes and St Sampson’s. The proposals would also see the Sixth Form Centre co-located with the Guernsey Institute at Les Ozouets Campus, which will be demolished and rebuilt, at an estimated total cost of £43.5m.

Teacher concerns escalated in the weeks before the July debate, leading to Committee Member Andy Cameron rebelling from the Committee line and proposing an alternative model based around 11-16 schools at St Sampson’s and Les Beaucamps, with a Sixth Form attached to a third 11-16 at Les Varendes. 

His amendment was ultimately unsuccessful in the States despite being backed by staff groups. The Assembly ran out of time to debate the other amendments and the Committee’s own proposals, which were deferred over the summer break. 

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Pictured: 100% of La Mare de Carteret staff – whose school will be closed under Education’s proposals – opposed ESC’s plans in a survey that 194 secondary school teachers responded to. 

Now he has seconded two amendments – proposed by Deputy Gavin St Pier – looking to abort ESC’s current proposals and commit politicians to “co-create and co-design from the bottom-up a workable model and proposals for secondary education and post-16 education that have the support of the teaching profession.”

Deputy Cameron explained: “In preparing this amendment, we wanted to draw attention to the very many flaws with the current proposals – probably most important of which is the overwhelming professional opposition, including a majority if not all secondary school principals.”

“Without that support, the proposals are unworkable and undeliverable, whether or not they obtain approval from the States next week.

“If they do go through, a considerable amount of time and money will be wasted before the point of no return.”

Pictured: The two amendments and the deputies’ concerns can be read in full above. The main difference is that one would delete ESC’s proposals, while the other, if the first fails, asks the Committee to take into account strong stakeholder support for a re-design of the island’s future education system.

The amendments ask the States to note, among other things, that:

  • the secondary principals oppose the proposals set out in the policy letter;

  • an overwhelming majority of secondary teachers – 87% of those responding to a recent survey – oppose the proposals set out in the policy letter, believing them to be operationally unworkable;

  • the Committee for Education, Sport & Culture have been aware of the teaching profession’s concerns referred to for some time;

  • the proposals in the policy letter will result in larger class size policies;

  • There will be no additional capital investment in the 11-16 secondary schools at Les Beaucamps and St. Sampson’s;

  • at a time when the Policy & Resources Committee have advised that resources are severely constrained, the proposals in the policy letter will require the building of a new sixth form centre at Les Ozouets at a cost of £40m, less than a half a mile from the site of the present Sixth Form Centre at Les Varendes, which was newly built only 16 years ago;

  • The Guernsey Institute project is long overdue and should be proceeded irrespective of decisions in relation to the secondary schools;

  • maintenance of the ‘status quo’ in the short-term would be better than proceeding with the proposals in the policy letter.

Deputy Cameron argued that the problems with the currently-proposed model are well-known – and that now it is time for the States to listen. 

“From my knowledge and experience of being on the Committee, I don’t think the status quo will need to be maintained for too long whilst a workable solution is co-designed with teaching professionals to create a proposal they entirely support,” he said.

“The teachers have already committed a huge amount of time and energy including staff engagements with ESC and other deputies. They know all the problems and the issues  – we now just need to listen to them.”

The two deputies, in their amendments, stress that their propositions have been prepare following consultation with members of the teaching profession and that the Committee for Education, Sport & Culture was invited to comment on these propositions prior to their publication.

If the status quo is maintained, they say the ongoing annual recurring revenue expenditure will be maintained in real terms at the same level for the time being.

Pictured top: Deputies Andy Cameron and Gavin St. Pier.