St Andrew’s PTA has prepared a 76-page response to the Education Department’s proposal to close their school. The report concludes with a bibliography of 67 external references supporting their counter arguments. St Andrew’s say that the FTP was not supposed to cut front-line services and that Education’s claimed savings are fundamentally flawed. For example, no account has been taken of the cost of training teachers to deal with larger schools or of monitoring the integration and wellbeing of former St Andrew’s pupils.
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 Many of Education’s reference points are now considered outdated by leading education academics.”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.