More than 100 parents, grandparents and carers packed into the school hall to share ideas and show their support for the school. Those that couldn’t attend were represented by friends to ensure their backing was also noted. Every seat was taken, with benches and gym equipment roped in leaving standing room only at a meeting that would normally be discussing discos and fayres.

Top of the agenda was challenging Education’s proposals and there was clear agreement on where its statements can be challenged and alternative evidence presented.

PTA Chair Charles Swainston says he was nearly overwhelmed by the strength of feeling and support shown at the meeting. “A couple of times in my presentation I was nearly brought to tears by the clear message that everyone believes that St. Andrew’s is both an academically excellent school but more importantly that it develops socially inclusive and well rounded citizens.”

New committee member, Sarah Langford wished that the island’s deputies could have seen for themselves the eagerness of so many families, “this wasn’t what I expected from my first PTA event but I’m thrilled to be part of such a passionate organisation who are working tirelessly to ensure this wonderful school will continue to benefit local children for years to come. I didn’t realise how lucky my children were to be coming to St. Andrew’s but now that they are here, I’m seeing the many benefits of a small school for myself. The emotion at tonight’s meeting was overwhelming, I wish the deputies who will be voting on this could have been there to experience it.”

The PTA are grateful to the people of Guernsey already expressing their support and asking where they sign to back the campaign.

The ink is barely dry on the hastily printed petitions popping up across the island and already filling up with signatures.

Mention St. Andrew’s school or the planned changes to catchment areas and primary education as a whole in Guernsey and the PTA have found people really do care and want to show it.

There is very little time to stop sweeping, irrevocable changes that will affect all children across the island, but as Friday night proves, St. Andrew’s is full of ready, willing and able volunteers.

Islanders can sign online here.

Members of the St. Andrew’s primary PTA are shocked by Education’s failure to supply actual figures of the physical spaces available in the schools that would receive their children if the school closes. Parents and carers are stunned that Education hasn’t been able to get such vital figures correct when so much is riding on it for their children.

Mother of 3 Cathy Gordon said, “I’ve heard one plan is to re-instate a room in St. Martin’s that has no windows or ventilation to create an extra class full of pupils. How can this be healthy or conducive to learning? Who out of our elected representatives would accept this for their child?”

Another parent Kelly King said, “What about the toilets and cloakrooms at St. Martin’s? I’ve heard the facilities as they are couldn’t cope with all the extra children and even at current numbers the school can’t have a whole school assembly for health and safety reasons. How much will it cost to sort all that out?”

Donna Collenette has painstakingly researched and pushed for the true figures from Education. Despite assurances that she would be given them before the half term break they have still not been released. “How can Education put forward a life-altering proposal like this without getting its facts and figures right?” asks Mrs Collenette, “I’m putting my faith in our People’s Deputies to look in detail at what closing the school would really mean and cost. If Education can’t even count up the number of spaces correctly what faith can we have in the other figures?”

Sarah Barrett Secretary of the St. Andrew’s PTA Committee elaborates further. “In just a few days we will provide all States Deputies with our analysis of Education’s research and figures. I can tell you now that the sums don’t add up. Closing schools now will just end up costing more in the long term. What point is there in reaching a short term FTP target if the overall result equals a greater cost in just a few years time?”

The PTA maintains that closing the school will lead to detrimental outcomes for students and the repercussions of moving children will still be felt three years after the move. PTA Chair Charles Swainston said: “There are also strong social arguments which need airing. More than one third of St Andrew’s pupils live in social priority housing and 67 of the total 168 children currently walk to school.”

The PTA says that Education’s calculation of surplus spaces is flawed; population estimates indicate a surge in numbers in 2019 and even at current capacity, without closing the school, there will not be enough space. They argue that Guernsey schools should not be modelled on the UK’s failing system when research shows that collaboration between schools is better than multi-forms and bigger class sizes do not raise educational outcomes. The curriculum at St Andrew’s is as strong as that in many other island schools and the buildings are robust and fit for purpose.

The PTA says St Andrew’s community has not been considered but community value has been cited as a reason for re-building La Mare de Carteret.

Mr Swainston said: “A committed team of busy lay people have spent hundreds of hours of their own time analysing Education’s proposals and have drawn on the most recent research available to compile this report. Many of Education’s reference points are now considered outdated by leading education academics.”

“There was no consultation with the school community and Education’s report lacks authority and credence,” he said.

The response will be forwarded to all deputies ahead of the States debate at the end of the month. All deputies have also been invited to a presentation at which the PTA will put their case.

Donna’s eldest son Kyle (now 18) started at school in September 1999. He fell victim to changes made to catchment areas at the time and was expecting to go to Castel school with his friends. But, the teaching and support staff at St. Andrew’s went out of their way to ensure he settled in. The next year is brother Nathan joined him at the school. Nathan had turned 4 only days before starting school and again, it was the dedication and understanding of the staff that helped him adjust and learn at his own pace.

The next event that the school helped them through was devastating. In March 2002 Nathan and Kyle’s little brother died tragically aged just twelve weeks. The boys were in years 1 and 2 and the Doctor at the time thought that Brandon had picked up a virus from Kyle that had seen him sent home from school.

In Donna’s own words the staff at the school were amazing. She can fill you in on the details but here is some of what she told me, “They offered us support, put us in touch with people who could help like the Sunflower trust and supported the boys hugely and relayed anything they felt was important that the boys had said during the school day so we could gauge how they were coping. We were overwhelmed by their thoughtfulness which considering we’d only been at the school a relatively short time was very unexpected. They arranged cards and flowers to be sent from the staff and parents and when we held his funeral (at St A church) they ensured that the school was represented. Obviously we had support from family and friends in a huge way too but the school really made a huge difference and helped make sure our boys were ok at all times.”

Donna also told me how the school helped support her and the children when she had to spend 3 weeks away looking after her father.

But on top of the fantastic pastoral care the school offers she notes that the teachers have always helped get the max out of the children.

For example one of Donna’s daughters finds maths difficult so they have been, and still are, helping to expand her learning there.

For Donna losing the connection with the school would be a devastating blow.

She said, “If the school closed then it would be like a death. St. Andrew’s has been a huge part of our daily life for so long we would really grieve. It’s all my children have ever known since they were tiny and to be honest it terrifies me to think of having to start somewhere new. I’ve made some amazing friends through school, many will be lifelong friends and while I know we’d stay in touch etc it would be like severing a limb.”

Where do we think these 180 odd children are going to go…to the rest of the islands’ schools of course and we are told St. Martin’s, Castel and Forest in particular. If I was a parent of a child at one of these schools I’d be very concerned too…increased class sizes are in no-ones’ interest and rises in numbers at these three schools will be significant. I understand traffic is horrendous already around these schools at peak times, who wants another 50 or so students at the school increasing this problem?

The second important point I’d like to draw to other parents’ attention is the Education Board’s intention to move towards 2 and 3 form entry schools. If the intention is to move away from single form entry, after St. Andrew’s and St. Sampson’s infants, Forest could be next, distroying another of the island’s communities, there are implications too for the Catholic schools who Education have an eye on too. Once Education have had their way and got rid of all our one form entry schools, we’ll no longer have the choice of a smaller primary school for our children, unless, of course, if we are able to pay for the privilege – is this really what we want as an Island?

In my view, the Education Department are simply trying to make savings and all this talk of moving to two and three form entry schools is just a smoke-screen, rendering many of the arguments utterly ridiculous! If we are to look at these potential financial savings, you can bet the figures will have been fudged to imply larger saving are possible than may be the reality.

So, come on parents of Guernsey, please think of the impacts to the Island as a whole, have a good read of the Billet and get behind our fight to stop these ill-conceived plans getting through. Time is not on our side, so please act quickly!

S. Langford

This individual, who has been intimately involved  with the consultant-driven, FTP cost-cutting project from the early days, says he is ‘sickened’ by the way it has ‘betrayed’ the people of Guernsey.

‘Education claims that they want to close the school for the good of the children, because they will get a better education in a bigger school,’ Chris told me*. ‘That isn’t true. It is about hacking money out of the budget. It always has been.’

Chris said that Education’s argument about multi-form entry schools being better than single-form entry, like they have at St Andrew’s, was only added later, to justify the decision.

‘The whole process sickens me, because it is driven by the FTP consultants, who are paid on results, and results for them means cuts. They are trying to close a good, successful, local parish school, loved by parents, children and the community, for the sole reason that it represents a ‘quick win’ in terms of a cut.

‘I grew disenchanted, because if they had the balls from the start to say that they wanted to close the school because they needed money for the FTP process, I would have sympathised with them. I would have been upset, because St Andrew’s is a brilliant school. But I probably wouldn’t be doing what I am doing now, and speaking out about it.’

What Chris says is corroborated by documents which can be found on the States’s own website.

If you search for the numbingly dull term ‘Fundamental Spending Review’ you will find a document which glories in the enticing title: ‘Fundamental Spending Review Phase 2 Annex.’ It was compiled by the high-price firm of consultants who were in on the FTP project at the ground floor. They were called Tribal, which makes them sound like an urban dance collective. But they really aren’t. They have changed their name since, presumably to remove any confusion.

So, on page 18 of this document it talks about ‘the rationalisation of the state-run primary schools,’ and suggests that it can save the suspiciously precise sum of £4.56m over five years. Not surprisingly, it does not show any working out, as our maths teachers always used to tell us to do.

Again not surprisingly, there is no mention of how you can improve education by bussing children to bigger schools miles from their homes.

The date of the report is July 2009, just a few months after  the States’s first, failed attempt to shut the school. Chris said that the ‘evidence’ suggesting that multi-entry form schools are better for children than single-form entry schools was commissioned later, to justify the decision that had already been made.

‘It was utterly cynical, and a whitewash of the truth,’ said Chris.

Of course everyone already kind of knew that this fat-headed, ham-fisted proposal was everything to do with money, and absolutely zilch to do with what is good for children. Chris’s testimony from inside government proves what everyone already assumed. It was also corroborated by a senior Deputy, who is all for closing the schools, who told me this week: ‘Despite what the Education Minister insists, this is all about saving money.’

The truth is that Education are making an arbitrary cut to satisfy a short-term financial target imposed by the FTP consultants. It is exaggerating the savings to be made, and the grand claims of vast sums which can be rescued for the Treasury are already beginning to unravel. It makes no sense in the long-term.

Our children are sacrificed to feed the consultants’ hunger for fees and will cost Guernsey taxpayers more in the long run.

When the youth population of Guernsey ticks up again in a few years, which the sonic wave of demographic change insists will happen, we will have to open another primary, because the new Frankenstein schools won’t be big enough.

Whoever runs Education then will look at a map of Guernsey, and wish they had another school right in the middle of the island. Approximately where St Andrew’s stands now, the same place where a school has stood since 1741, and which they closed for no better reason than it helped a consultant hit a short-term accounting target.

Closing this school will be an unforgivable act of vandalism.

If it goes goes through, it will be the day the States of Guernsey died of shame.

* Not the source’s real name.

The fellow was something of a bloom-judging veteran. After spending half a life-time sizing up hanging baskets at village hall from Alderney to Aberdeen, he had seen the lot.

Even so, his attention was seized by what he discovered at St Andrew’s School. The children took him on a trip through their willow walk; gave him a guided tour of the veg patch; showed him the flower beds, and the water garden. Best of all, they showed him their real pride – the sensory garden. At that time of the year the scent from the mint, sage and lemon balm hung heavy on the air and an inferno of marigolds blazed in the borders.

The wily judge asked if the grounds had been shaped by a landscape gardener, or a professional horticulturalist. No sir, said the children. They had done the lot themselves, with mums and dads helping, as well as a team from the school’s friends at Waitrose.

He let out a slow whistle and said: ‘This school is something special. Please, hang on to it.’

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is exactly what parents and teachers are trying to do at St Andrew’s School. Hang on to it, while some misguided, badly-advised politicians do their best to destroy it. They have a Vision for Education. And the Vision cannot accommodate a small parish primary school. The best you can say about that is: beware of politicians with Visions. It seldom ends happily.

So, the school struggles to hang on. They wear their blue ribbons, and keep the faith for the sake of the generations of children who will be denied the priceless chance of an educational experience that is unique in Guernsey. Unique, but not necessarily better than other schools. Because who is to say what ‘better’ means in education? You can’t put a value on a child’s happiness. It doesn’t show up on a balance sheet. It doesn’t mean it has no worth.

Neither can you enter the value of a school’s place in the community in any ledger. It is something that either happens, or doesn’t happen. And St Andrew’s in so many ways IS the community. It is the school that gives until it can’t give any more.

Shortly after the Britain in Bloom judges left Guernsey (after awarding St Andrew’s a Gold Award), another group visited the school to enjoy the grounds. They were the men and women from the Guernsey Blind Association, the school’s next-door neighbours. On fine days they love strolling through the sensory garden, especially. The one that was designed, planted and nurtured by the children, for no better reason than that it made the surroundings more pleasing. They are always welcome guests.

Of course, if the old school bell rings for the last time, and the building is boarded up, and the gardens are abandoned to the weeds, they will have to find somewhere else to spend their afternoons.

Perhaps there is a provision for it in the Education Department’s Vision. You would have to guess not though.

And so we are left to live with one more in a thousand little ripples of regret which will eddy out from the greater catastrophe of the closure of a school. Another tiny part of what makes Guernsey special will be lost. A little part of the island will have died.

The blind people can see it. Those with the Vision can’t.

They should have another look.