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Education has always been a hot topic and so it should be. A community is only as strong as the support it gives its students, and it’s understandable that wide-ranging decisions on how to educate our young people draw passionate debate.
But this article isn’t about the how, it’s about the where, and this question takes us back to a place most of us thought had been consigned to history.
When it was announced that sixth form students would be moved to La Mare de Carteret High School as an interim measure - while the long-gestating Les Ozouets Campus is developed - there was understandably some kick back in the community.
Pictured: The sixth form centre will be based at the former La Mare de Carteret High School from September 2025 for a temporary period of at least four years.
The States started closing La Mare de Carteret High School in 2021 and it has essentially been earmarked for demolition for a lot longer than that.
While it doesn’t seem like the obvious spot for a sixth form centre, the Committee for Education, Sport, and Culture and the island’s Education department believe for a neat £140,000 and a few cosmetic changes, the school will be ready to receive a sixth form student body later this year.
They say while it may seem tired, the building itself is fine and will be more than adequate as a place of learning for a brief four-year period before future students get to check in to a multi-million-pound specially designed sixth form centre at Les Ozouets, in 2027.
The decision has essentially been made, and unless a successful and radical requête rockets through the States, Guernsey will be sending its sixth form students to La Mare de Carteret from next September.
With this in mind I asked for a walk-around, to visit the school most people had written off as unusable, and to find out exactly what needs to be done.
Pictured: ESC says La Mare de Carteret High School will close in 2025.
While the school is inarguably old, inside it still feels like a school.
It’s not noticeably drab, the walls are adorned with artwork, portraits, and the kind of mottos that crop up in every school. Put simply, it doesn’t feel like it’s about to collapse around one’s ears. But there’s still work to be done.
Plans are in place to bring it up to the sixth form standard expected by teachers and students, even if only for temporary use. ESC argues that it’s a cheaper move - £141,000 – compared to developing the current sixth form centre, at Les Varendes.
We must also note that over recent years there have been several upgrades to the LMDC campus anyway. This includes refurbished portacabins, significant work to the roof, windows, and doors to make the building watertight, new carpets, a complete redecoration of several rooms, and the purchase of new lockers.
Looking to the future money is being funnelled into additional upgrades, including to the science lab, the creation of a dark room, modifications to the art room, and an IT media suite.
Pictured: ESC is investing in some upgrades to prepare the La Mare de Carteret High School building to be used as a temporary sixth form centre.
The fully equipped science labs and DT block already in situ need very little work, if any, to bring it up to standard for sixth form students, and the Executive Principal of the Secondary School Partnership, Liz Coffey tells me with a little work La Mare de Carteret will be a more than adequate place for new students.
“I think what we've got to do is just think really positively. The glass has always got to be half full, not half empty, because this is children's education that we're talking about. We've got to start talking it up and being really positive about it.
"We all want to move into a brand new spanking house that we don't need to do anything to. But however, if we can’t, what we can do is bring some of our own furniture with us and some of our own investment and energy. The more you invest in that and get the students involved, and the staff... then you know it will be fine.”
Ms Coffey talks very openly about the move to La Mare de Carteret and doesn’t misrepresent the situation as being ideal.
“This isn't a long-term solution by any means. None of us want to see the sixth form being here indefinitely. We know it will bring one or two other challenges with it. But nothing is insurmountable, and you can always find practical ways around and try to turn them into opportunities.
"At the end of the day if the young people are being taught well, if we make sure that it is a warm, safe, inclusive environment then they'll just respond to that, and they'll be able to get on with the important business - which is study.”
The development of La Mare de Carteret and the transfer of students, teachers, and classes, is being overseen by Kieran James, the new Head of the Sixth Form Centre.
Pictured: La Mare de Carteret High School is due to close fully in July 2025.
"Part of the work we're doing now is looking at the brand, the identity... the sixth form centre will feel different from one that’s part of a larger school.
"That comes from the branding and the logos, through to the dress code, and the way we're going to work and interact with students.
"I think most people in the community would recognise that there's been a lot of news about La Mare and the fabric of the building. At the same time, a lot of money has been spent on it over the last six to eight years and the interior is in good condition and will be fit for purpose for us in the interim as a solution for the next four years.
“There are opportunities to being sited here as well. We've just been talking about the opportunity to work closely with La Mare Primary... the opportunities that are afforded by having a stream coming through, by having the climbing walls nearby, by having the coast nearby, the opportunity for community involvement, the opportunity of active travel, the opportunity for volunteering for our students.
“So, there are all sorts of things that we can do in this location over the next four years that are a fantastic opportunity.”
Prior to my visit I had spoken to the Director of Education, Nick Hynes, more generally about the move to La Mare de Carteret and the work needed to bring it up to scratch.
“Importantly, staff themselves will be involved in making some of these changes and as of the beginning of March the newly appointed Team Leaders have been assigned to roles in the reorganisation process, and they will be involved in this work and along with senior staff, lead the transition. The whole staffing reorganisation process is due to be completed in the summer and this gives us one whole academic year to plan for the curriculum delivery,” he said.
“The new Sixth Form Design Board is in the process of being set up and Mr James as designate Principal of the Sixth Form Centre is working on a detailed plan for transition with the Project Team.”
La Mare de Carteret as a sixth form centre is an interim measure. This has been stressed by ESC and Education multiple times, and the four-year period is said to be firm.
Pictured: The La Mare de Carteret campus has been a centre for learning for 50 years.
The funding for the foundations of a new campus at Les Ozouets was agreed by the States of Guernsey in January. Mr Hynes said spades could be in the ground by August this year putting Education on track to start shifting students over to the campus by December 2026, and completely opening the campus by September 2027.
The only question now is whether the States of Guernsey are able to finally finish the Transforming Education Programme and see it through to completion.
In the meantime, sixth form students will have to get used to a bit of the old with a quick spell at La Mare de Carteret, a school which is by no means the derelict shack some would have you believe.
Pictured top and above: All photos taken by Matthew Leach, during March 2024.
This article first appeared in the April edition of CONNECT, Express' sister publication.
The latest edition of CONNECT can be read HERE.
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