From the left, Tina Collenette and daughter Hannah with Kealeigh Bullock and Melissa Hockey as they took a look around new school St Sampson’s High yesterday. (Picture by Tom Tardif, 0630958)
ALL secondary-level students must enjoy the same high-level facilities that can be found at the new St Sampson’s High School, according to deputy Education minister Allister Langlois.
Parents, teachers and students enjoyed a tour of the new school yesterday in preparation for the start of term next week as Les Beaucamps and La Mare de Carteret pupils prepare to go back to their tired facilities. Deputy Langlois said redeveloping those sites was Education’s main goal.
‘I think I can safely say that the Education board is extremely anxious to emphasise that, in the prioritisation debates that will come up in the States in the next few months, the education development plan to move quickly to develop Les Beaucamps and then La Mare de Carteret is our top priority,’ he said.
‘When the States decided to move from four secondary schools to three high schools, it was a complete plan for island education to make sure that all our students enjoyed the same high level of facilities.
‘I believe it is vital that the island continues to see the importance of this and we must move forward with the Beaucamps project as soon as possible.’
But Deputy Langlois said it was important to recognise the current achievements of the secondaries.
‘A school is not only about its buildings and, as recent exam results show, our existing secondary schools are doing a fantastic job,’ he said. ‘Any sense of unfairness is simply a result of Guernsey not being able to build three schools in one go.’
St Sampson’s High head teacher Hazel Tetlaw said the quality of the new facility was beyond her wildest dreams and felt it had set the tone for future
developments. ‘This is the first of a series of developments and it’s really important for the whole island that Les Beaucamps and La Mare de Carteret students have this same kind of opportunity,’ she said.
‘I would hope that St Sampson’s High is the benchmark for those developments.’
Les Beaucamps School PTA secretary Sally Lamb said both it and La Mare de Carteret needed similar facilities on a smaller scale.
‘The teachers do a very good job to motivate children, but with better facilities they would be even more motivated and would probably get even better results,’ she said. ‘The students would benefit hugely and the curriculum might even be broader, so the sooner the better.
‘The other schools shouldn’t be left behind and they should all have the same facilities and therefore similar opportunities.’
Article posted on 29th August, 2008 - 1.00pm
One Article Comment
Before Deputy Langlois congratulates himself and his colleagues a little reality is needed.
Deputy Langlois said “it was important to recognise the current achievements of the secondaries”. Later he qualifies this with reference to examination results.
But what about those pupils who are not academic?
If anyone bothers to look at the College of FE staff lists they will see confirmation of the failure of the secondaries to look after the less able students.
Why does the College of FE have no less than 13 staff in its section providing learning support for English, Mathematics and IT? In addition, there are 8 staff engaged in preparing students for access to FE.
Seems there is a need because students have not been given the basics at the secondaries.
All of this staffing is in contrast to 6 staff for Business, Finance and Management. Or just 2 for building and 3 for engineering and 5 for IT.
Seems a high price for the taxpayer to bear just because the secondary moderns seem incapable of teaching the basics to the less able pupils. Why else does the College of FE need so many to teach ex school leavers the basics of learning?
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