EDUCATION has backed down over the naming of the new secondary school at Les Nicolles. While St Sampson’s douzeniers thought the issue had been settled, with St Sampson’s High being given the green light, a BBC Guernsey phone-in on Sunday revealed what senior constable Peter Gilson has likened to a States U-turn.
He said that douzeniers had thought naming it St Sampson’s High would be a good idea.
‘To our knowledge, nobody had mooted it before,’ he said.
‘The idea of calling it De Saumarez High was totally new to everybody.
‘We were led to believe the name St Sampson’s High had been settled on.’
But speaking yesterday, both deputy Education minister Wendy Morgan and St Peter Port senior constable Jenny Tasker maintained that they favoured calling the school De Saumarez High.
Deputy Morgan argued that the school would bring in children from other areas and so its name should reflect that.
‘The school will cover a number of areas - Castel, Vale, St Sampson’s and St Peter Port - so I don’t think it’s fair that it’s named after only one,’ she said.
‘There are arguments for and against. But it’s time we had it named something nice.
‘It would seem very apt - it is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Guernsey naval hero Admiral de Saumarez after all.’
Education assistant director of planning and projects Derek Bridel said that various douzeniers, head teachers and school children had responded to a States public consultation on the issue, with the majority opting for the school to be named after the parish in which it will be located.
But Deputy Tasker said that neither the St Peter Port douzaine nor the St Peter Port School committee had received a letter from Education asking for a response to the suggestions.
But Mr Bridel refuted her claims and said that the situation was not a U-turn on behalf of Education.
‘The Education department consulted widely on the name of the new school,’ he said.
‘In response to the consultation and press articles, a number of letters were sent in with suggestions about what it should be called.’
Deputy Tasker said: ‘The other schools are named after areas in which they’re based.
‘But I don’t think that should be the case in this instance.
‘I didn’t have a name in mind before but I think De Saumarez High would be ideal.
‘After all, there was the Saumarez memorial in Delancey Park which was destroyed by the Germans. This would be a good way to commemorate him.’
She said that when she was involved in the closure of three schools in the UK, the education authority had dealt with renaming issues.
Deputy Morgan said that a meeting would be held in September to discuss the matter further.
Article posted on 31st July, 2007 - 12.00am
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