The Committee for Education, Sport & Culture has today confirmed which secondary schools children currently in Year 5 will attend in September 2019.
Parents and guardians of Year 5 pupils have been sent a letter confirming which of the four secondary schools their child will attend. The Committee decided to operate a 'partner school' system rather than allocate places on catchment area alone. This will allow secondary schools to work more closely with the primary schools that partner them and children will be able to maintain the friendships they have formed at primary school.
Children currently in Year 5 will be the first that will not to go through the 11+ selection process in Year 6. Instead, from September 2019, all States-run secondary schools will be taking in all-ability year groups. This will allow all children in the future to be provided with similar opportunities at each secondary school.
The partner schools for September 2019 are as follows:
School site | St Sampson's | La Mare de Carteret | Les Beaucamps | Les Varendes |
Hautes Capelles St Mary & St Michael Vale | La Houguette La Mare de Carteret Vauvert | Castel Forest St Martin's | Amherst Notre Dame |
In addition to moving to all-ability secondary schools, over the next few years the island will move from having four separate secondary schools to having one school operating in two 11-18 colleges on different sites. Before the October half term this year, the Committee will confirm the sites on which the two colleges will operate and will publish a full transition plan for all students, which will include the secondary school admission arrangements for children currently in Year 4 and below.
Deputy Matt Fallaize, President of the Committee for Education, Sport & Culture, said:
'The Committee has been determined to stick to its commitment that by the end of this school year pupils in Year 5 and their parents and guardians would have certainty about which secondary school they will attend in September 2019. This is the first year group which will enter all-ability secondary schools.
'Under the previous system parents have been used to learning which secondary school their child will attend about two-thirds of their way through Year 6. This announcement today means that parents of Year 5 children know which secondary school their child will attend around 14 months before they start secondary school.
'Before the October half term this year we will announce the two school sites which will be used for secondary education in the future and the full transition plan to move to one school in two 11-18 colleges. This will include confirming the secondary schools for pupils currently in Year 4, which will be nearly two years before they start at secondary school.'
In a limited range of circumstances parents may be able to apply for their child to attend a different secondary school. Information and guidelines on how these requests can be made, and under what circumstances they may be granted, will be published at www.gov.gg/partnerschools before the October half term this year. Such requests will not be accepted until 1st November and must be submitted by 30th November. Capacity is limited at all secondary schools and therefore it may not be possible for requests to be approved.
