Herm school closure: Guernsey deputies propose to overturn decision

Four children attend the school in Herm across three year groups. Credit: PA

A group of Guernsey deputies are hoping to overturn the decision to close Herm School.The smaller island's school only has four pupils, leading Guernsey's Education Committee to propose shutting the facility and having pupils commute to Guernsey each day as part of a one-year trial.

Guernsey's States members will now debate the issue after a requete was lodged by Deputy David De Lisle.

It has said that there are serious implications for the future of families who currently hold key roles in Herm.

It continues by saying that the parents of pre-school children have indicated that they will resign their jobs and leave Herm.

This is said to be preferable to having children reach four years old and then have to travel daily to Guernsey by ferry - including in winter months.

Herm's students currently only go to a school in Guernsey one day a week, with the Education Committee hoping that the quality of education would improve if the pupils were to make the daily trip to Guernsey.The Education Committee also estimates the change will save it between £60,000 to £85,000 a year.

De Lisle's requete says however that the one-year trial is not representative of the proposal's sustainability, as the four children partaking in the trail are aged 8, 9 and 10 years old.

It says that "sending an eight+ year old daily on a ferry is a totally different situation to sending a four year old".

A debate regarding the proposed closure will now take place when the States of Guernsey meet on 6 September 2023.

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