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The long-overdue rebuild of La Mare de Carteret Primary is being given the same level of priority by Education as its secondary and post-16 proposals.
Education, Sport & Culture President Matt Fallaize said the current school is in a "wholly inadequate" condition and any refurbishments would just be papering over the cracks.
“This is the third successive committee with responsibility for education which has concluded that primary education should continue at La Mare de Carteret and therefore that a replacement school should be built there," said Deputy Fallaize. "This is the fourth time in recent years that the States have been invited to approve such a development. The longer a rebuild of La Mare de Carteret Primary School is put off, the greater the level of disadvantage experienced by the children and staff.
"La Mare de Carteret Primary educates some of the most disadvantaged children in Guernsey and the committee cannot accept adding further disadvantage by continuing to provide them with wholly inadequate school buildings. The redevelopment of the school should proceed as expeditiously as possible - it therefore makes sense for this development to form part of the Education Transformation Programme that ESC will ask the States to provide funding for in September.”
Deputy Fallaize said there is a need for a review of primary provision across the island due to the significant variation in average class size between schools.
Deputy Fallaize, left, said a review of primary school provision in Guernsey is needed in the future.
However, under all possible models, he said a school at La Mare de Carteret is required.
“La Mare de Carteret Primary School is in an area of relatively high population density and is a short walking distance from an area of social housing which is predominantly occupied by families with young children," he said.
"The proximity of many families to the school has been an important factor in enabling improvements in engagement with parents and carers in recent years, which has been a significant factor in the substantial improvement of the school seen under Headteacher Kim Hutchison.
"La Mare de Carteret Primary School incorporates ‘the Pod’, which caters for children under the age of nine who find mainstream school challenging due to emotional or mental health difficulties, and this has demonstrated significant success to date despite wholly inadequate buildings. Continuation of this provision is proposed in the new model.”
Rebuilding La Mare de Carteret Primary School will cost between £13.3 million and £22.4 million depending on whether it is a two form or three form entry school and whether a swimming pool is included. This is included in the total £157 million spend proposed by ESC, which also includes up to £69 million for extensions to the two secondary sites selected for the new colleges and up to £47.5 million for a purpose-built building for The Guernsey Institute.
These proposals are set to debated by the States in September.
Pictured top: La Mare de Carteret Primary School.
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