Online school plans for Sark's teenagers

Sunday 29 September 2024

Sark is progressing with plans to adopt online schooling for secondary age pupils in the island.

Having failed to find housing so the island's children can go to school in Guernsey after the age of 13, the decision was made earlier this year to look elsewhere.

A report was noted during July's Chief Pleas meeting where the Education Committee suggested that the island enrol its teenagers at King's Interhigh online school.

The report said that the Education Committee had "spent considerable time researching the providers offering" online school models and "amongst these, King’s
Interhigh stood out and the Committee was impressed by the standard of education plus the extras they offered".

If Sark does work with King's Interhigh the benefits to the island are financial mainly - with the added benefit of possibly becoming a ‘Partner School’ with discounted fees.

King’s Interhigh is said to be willing to create a tailor-made timetable for Sark's secondary age pupils - who could also attend things such as sports events in Guernsey, while using science labs, art rooms, and music facilities in Guernsey too. 

Work experience would continue to be offered in Guernsey too while King’s Interhigh also offers other programmes at partner schools in the UK and abroad that Sark's teenagers could take part in. 

While Sark's Education Committee is keen to pursue this idea it acknowledged that it might not suit everyone.

"It is therefore considering whether Sark should offer parents the choice of the online school for those who prefer to stay in Sark, or a subsidy towards an off-island school of their choice for those who feel that is a better option for them," the report stated.

Over the summer the plan was to discuss these options with all stakeholders before the report is debated at the Michaelmas Meeting of Chief Pleas, which is being held this coming Wednesday.

Education costs in Sark

Sark and Guernsey are at opposite ends of the scale when it comes to how much each island spends on education - with a Freedom of Information request showing the clear difference.

With Sark's small economies at scale, the island currently spends 20% of its GDP on education children from nursery age up to GCSE level.

By contrast Guernsey is likely to spend 1.8% of its GDP on education this year.

That doesn't include the grant maintained colleges, St Anne's School in Alderney, any pre-school or post-16 provision.

It does include other costs associated with education's central services in Guernsey such as premises costs, the School Attendance Service, Careers Service and Communication, and Interaction and Autism Service.

Pictured: Sark's population is currently too small to enable the school to provide secondary education to the standard desired. 

The recent FOI request - published earlier this month  week - suggested a comparison between the UK, Sark and Guernsey was being made.

In the UK, the estimated spend on education for 2023 was just over 4% of GDP.

During the July Chief Pleas meeting, Sark's Education Committee confirmed that based on current pupil numbers in Sark, by the school year 2028-2029 the cost of 13+ education would be around £212,000.

By 2028/2029 the total cost of education including Sark School is predicted to be close to half a million pounds per year - or 20% of the island's total expenditure.