Wednesday 27 September 2023
General Update
Sir, when I provided my June Statement, the NatWest International Island Games were just days away. We welcomed 2,194 athletes whose endeavours were recorded for posterity by 148 accredited journalists and photographers, and watched by family and friends in person and via live-streams, all ably supported by 1,200 volunteers without whom the Games would not have been possible and to whom we owe a debt of gratitude for their volunteering legacy.
The associated Youth Engagement Programme is already inspiring young people to live happier, healthier lives. Parasport demonstrations in boccia and badminton showed how powerful sport can be in breaking down barriers. This serves as a timely reminder of the importance of sport and physical activity to the health and wellbeing of our community.
Sir, we also owe a huge debt of gratitude to Art for Guernsey and the Musée des Impressionnismes, Giverny who, together with Guernsey Museum & Galleries have made the "Renoir in Guernsey", 1883 exhibition possible. It features 10 Renoir artworks and extensive coverage of this prestigious exhibition, opening on 30 th September, extends worldwide. This exhibition has relied upon the generosity of each lender and the substantial sponsorship Art for Guernsey secured from Investec, plus support from Christies and Condor Ferries. I am very pleased to place on record the Committee's thanks for the efforts of so many in bringing this wonderful exhibition to fruition.
We all understand the budgetary pressures the public sector faces. Our Committee will do what we reasonably can, but Sir I am duty bound to defend the education of all our learners from the material negative impacts that cuts to the Committee's budget will have. Not to invest appropriately in future generations would be short-sighted, especially when we are seeing a return on investments we have made in recent times that will benefit the island's economic prosperity in the long run, about which I will say more in a moment.
Sir, despite delays to the timeline of the Funding and Investment Plan, work to implement the States-agreed model of education continues in all areas bar construction.
We are well advanced in our work implementing the Secondary School Partnership. Les Varendes High School is now a working reality and there are no Year 7 students at La Mare de Carteret High this year. This has been possible by close working between leadership and teaching teams with significant input from students.
Work to give our secondary school workforce certainty about their professional futures progresses well. Of the 280 staff within the Secondary School Partnership, 26 senior leaders have now had their future roles confirmed. We are in the process of agreeing future roles with all middle leaders, delivering certainty for another 128 professionals before the end of November, with the remaining 126 job matches being completed in further phases through into 2024.
In parallel, work progresses well to integrate the constituent parts of The Guernsey Institute. Since the beginning of the year we have:
o Defined the future operating model;
o Prepared a senior leadership restructure, and updated our legal relationship with the GTA to align with the operating model;
o By year end we will be using consistent branding across all courses and key documentation; and
o Progressed work to define a common IT platform for the whole TGI.
A key tool for effective teaching and learning at any level is having the right technology supporting teaching and learning in and out of the classroom. This prepares our students for the modern workplace. Ongoing challenges evidence the need to continue the roll out of improvements to IT in schools.
o Migration to a resilient network has been completed;
o Extension of Wi-Fi coverage is due to complete by end January 2024;
o The deployment of new devices for staff will be completed by year end;
o New devices for classrooms are being purchased with phased delivery from November to June 2024;
o Data migrations to Office 365 and latest supported technologies will be completed in Q1 2024; and
o A Learning and Development project for staff including training on these new technologies and their integration into the curriculum has started.
The extent of the changes needed means we cannot, and will not, stand still.
Sir, another key tool is having the right accommodation to teach in. We await, like many other capital programmes, the critical decisions of our debate in October. In the meantime, I can confirm that:
o Our plans for Les Ozouets Campus are at RIBA 4 stage, we have planning permission, and are ready to demolish the vacant end-of-life buildings on site;
o Our plans for investing in Les Varendes campus are at the point where - once funding has been approved - we can tender for key work reducing overheads, such as the refurbishment of the building's heating pipework, replacing all external doors and windows with double glazed units and building accessibility upgrades. As a working school, works need to be phased over several years, reducing disruption. We are also progressing plans ensuring this site is optimally used once the implementation of the new educational model is complete; and
o We plan to repurpose the current pavilion building at Les Beaucamps High, thus making best use of existing facilities and reducing cost without negative impact, to create a Communication, Interaction and Autism base. External works are not required, and the internal alterations are scoped, and the design requirements are prepared and tender-ready.
Sir, we are on the starting blocks, poised to progress. Considerable joint work has been undertaken by officers in ESC and HSC demonstrating that our two build programmes can be efficiently and effectively dovetailed, neither over-stretching our construction industry nor compromising either project.
But what of our children? Let's start with the States Early Years Team, comprising teachers, nurses, social workers, inspectors and a speech and language therapist: all specialists in early childhood development. A great example of cross-committee working with integrated services, driven by the needs of our children and families.
The Team launched their "Language for Life" campaign this Autumn, a bespoke package for parents, carers and professionals aimed at improving speech, language and communication outcomes for tiny tots, starting when they are still in the womb! It builds on the comprehensive CPD programme the Early Years Team delivers for our schools, Preschools, Day Nurseries and Childminders.
Learning to talk is one of the most important skills children will develop. Starting school with excellent communication skills means, children can make friends, share thoughts and ideas, understand what is being asked of them; helping them to be happier and more confident. Attuned to language before they are born, much of this learning takes place before children start school.
Last year, 19% of children started school not meeting age-related expectations for speaking.
Sir, we have to change this because every aspect of learning and academic achievement relies on good language skills and research suggests that a child with poor language skills aged 5 is 4 times more likely to struggle with reading aged 11. The extent of a child's vocabulary aged five is a strong predictor of results at GCSE and beyond. 1 It sounds simple, but more children will start school with a mountain to climb, at expense to the taxpayer, if we cannot persuade parents and carers to put down their mobile phones, stop giving very small children hand-held devices to occupy them, and instead return to vocabulary rich, face to face communication with their little ones.
So what are we doing about it?
I can announce today, the States Early Years Team in partnership with colleagues across HSC and the Third sector, is hosting the first Joyous Childhood Conference for Parents and Carers on 13 th January, at Beau Sejour (children will be welcome too!) Further information about this exciting, free event, promoting the key role parents and carers play as the first and most significant educators of their children, will be available soon.
Sir, our Education Strategy commits to reporting regularly, accurately and meaningfully on the quality of education across the Bailiwick.
Our new suite of performance indicators - to be published in full in our annual report in January - shows the focus on reading initiated by our predecessor Committee and continued in earnest on our watch, is working. The proportion of our children with below average reading is less than in England, and the proportion of children with above average reading skills is 11% higher. I compare to England as it is currently the 4 th highest attaining country globally in this metric and the highest in the western world. . To obtain results for reading that are well above England's is something that our schools and educationalists can be proud of.
We remain determined to give the children whose reading is below average the right support to catch up with their peers. We have invested to increase the number of literacy and language intervention teachers in primary schools, and we are appointing a teacher to oversee and improve the already very successful work supporting of weaker readers across the Secondary School Partnership.
We now want to repeat this success in maths. Every school underwent an in-depth maths review last year and our educationalists and teaching professionals are deploying considerable energy to ensure high standards are achieved in maths. And it is working. Results at the end of the Reception year have improved by over 7% compared with 2019. At the end of Year 3, standards in maths are not dissimilar from those in England. Given the COVID disruption these children faced during their first three years of school, it is good news that their performance is on par to that of their peers in England before the Pandemic.
Standards at the end of Year 6 and Year 9 are below those in England and the weaker performance in maths compared with English is reflected in our GCSE results.
We know this is not good enough.
Secondary schools are halfway through a two-year programme to improve maths. They have a new, very detailed curriculum alongside online tutoring access for all. Primary schools have access to a range of maths training and support to improve outcomes.
While there is some distance to travel, data shows an improving picture in many schools and we expect incremental improvement via our investment in maths across all year groups over the next three years.
But we are looking way beyond maths and English. New subject-specific curriculum entitlement documents setting out the knowledge that children must be taught are being implemented.
In response to calls from our Trade Union colleagues, we have invested in an Island Wide Teacher, employed specifically to cover for middle leaders taking time out to focus on curriculum development.
TGI students' results for our 16-18 year-old learners were strong this summer, with our Level 3 learners' achievements almost 5% above the English position and the achievement rate for our apprentices is almost twice that of England's.
We had increased numbers of construction trade apprentices this month, so much so that in the absence of long awaited, new facilities we have erected a temporary structure providing additional space for them to learn their craft.
Two more very positive Ofsted inspections have taken place since my last update, taking the total to 8. The remaining 12 settings are due to be inspected by summer 2025. St Sampson's High School's very positive Ofsted follow-up visit remarked on the considerable determination and success of leaders in addressing previously identified weaknesses. Les Voies School expects a follow up monitoring visit soon and we fully expect this will show good progress since its inspection.
Of the 5 primary schools so far inspected, all have been graded as 'good' for 'Leadership & Management' and 'Behaviour & Attitudes' and at least 'good' for 'Personal Development', with 2 schools receiving the highest 'excellent' grade. Primary schools are benefitting from a period of stability which has enabled them to focus their efforts on these improvements. Still though their secondary school and TGI colleagues labour under the decade-long cloud of uncertainty over how they will be organised and what impact this will have on them.
The strain is showing. Recruitment and retention in the secondary and post-16 phase is very challenging. People will not commit to the island without stability, and they will not leave jobs elsewhere to work in inferior facilities without a guaranteed improvement plan. We need our education estate to match the high standards we expect from our staff and the aspirations we have for our learners - they are the future engine of our economy and community.
Sir, it is within Member's gift to make bold decisions next month that will put an end to this uncertainty. Members will see in the Members Room today a fly through video and presentation boards of the plans. And through you Sir, I strongly urge members to attend our presentation on 11 th October so that they come to next month's debate armed with facts to support them in their decision making.
Thank you Sir.