"The love of school faded"

Tuesday 25 February 2020

Staff turnover in secondary schools is causing students to "fall out of love with learning" according to a local parent, whose son is currently studying towards his GCSEs.

The student at La Mare de Carteret High School is on the autistic spectrum and therefore thrives when he has a set routine.

While the school worked well for him to begin with, his attitude towards learning has changed over the past two years, which he says is down to uncertainty over teaching staff.

Pictured: La Mare de Carteret High School.

"The whole 'two school' model debate has made some of my best teachers leave," he said. "I built up relationships with some of the best teachers, but since the announcement of the closure, little by little they left. Now I'm left with just two of the original decent teachers. Because of my autism, I have been unable to make any real connection with any of the replacements, as they keep leaving.

"No thought has been given to students like me. I've been unable to settle into any kind of routine. The love of school faded once I lost my best teachers. I haven't received any kind of help, so my willingness has dwindled.

"Big schools are not the way forward for students like myself who struggle socially. The more students, the more likely students like me are going to be withdrawn. Education can't really say that their 'two school' model is all inclusive and all ability when they haven't asked the students what they think needs to change."

Pictured: The St Sampson's and  Les Beaucamps sites were chosen for the future two schools.

The student's mother claims the changes have caused "devastation" for her son, as he has lost the connection with those that inspired his learning.

However, the Committee for Education, Sport & Culture says there has not been a rise in the number of teachers leaving their posts across the island.

"Despite it becoming a popular comment that we are losing teachers due to the reforms, we have seen no real increase in the number of staff leaving our schools," ESC said in a post on the Lisia School Facebook page. "While the reforms represent significant change for Guernsey and the colleges will be larger than the island is used to, 11-18 schools of the size we are implementing are commonplace elsewhere. This is not an experiment.

"In 2019, staff turnover in our secondary schools of 12.8% did not differ much from previous years. For example, 2016 recorded a turnover of 12.9%, with 12.8% in 2017 and 11.4% in 2018. This compares to the staff turnover rate across the whole public sector being 15.1% in 2019."