It should be very apparent to Islanders that our Government Finances are very stretched. That we have not been spending enough on our Infrastructure for many years and is now even more expensive to address, means that we have had to really prioritise the use of available funds. One such item has been the development of the Ozouets Campus as a central site for all Post-16 Education. This was the decision taken in 2021 to bring both the Sixth Form and The Guernsey Institute together, to enable both the sharing of facilities, but more importantly, to enable the academic, technical, vocational and professional options for study to be available in one central place. Why? Well at present, providing these opportunities is achieved from 5 different locations today – exacerbating cost certainly, but also practical delivery and certainly, in the case of the College of Further Education component – from very sub-standard premises (in itself the subject of a 2-decades long debate).
Truly a landmark achievement for the Island and a substantial investment in our future economy.
In fact, because The Guernsey Institute was also operating from the old St Peter Port School at Les Ozouets until 2023 (as well as the Delancey Campus (a fancy name for the old St Sampson’s High School) as well as the Coutanchez), Post-16 delivery was from 6 locations. Following the 2021 decision to consolidate, they managed to shoe-horn both Coutanchez and ‘St Peter Port School’ occupants into the single Coutanchez campus – in preparation for building the new one at Les Ozouets. Very recently, that old St Peter Port School building was demolished and contractors are on site finally ready to proceed with the 2021 plans which mark a step-change for Post 16 Education.
The decision to bring The Guernsey Institute into being was made during the 2016-2020 Assembly by bringing together the College of Further Education, The Guernsey Training Agency and The Institute for Health & Social Care under one umbrella organisation. The decision to also put the Sixth Form on the same campus was part of the re-organisation of Secondary Education agreed by the current Assembly. However, during this political term, the approved contractor for doing this (RG Falla) went into liquidation and plans were delayed. They were further delayed when, during the 2023 Funding & Investment Debate, the whole plan was put on hold until enough financing could be found to proceed. Luckily, in January of 2024, a further debate recognised a new contribution of £30 million from Pillar 2 taxes and together with use of some reserves, the project was given the green light. The plan now is for the Campus to come into being in 2027 as RoK Construction have been approved to quote for undertaking this.
As things stand, this should be well underway when the new Assembly is formed in June. However, as part of making this all affordable, the project was split into two phases (as was the Hospital Modernisation project), with the Sixth Form being moved temporarily to La Mare de Carteret School (whose students will have already been consolidated into Les Varendes High School) and the intended Sports Building also held over pending further funding in the new term which will have to be prioritised by the new Assembly. This means that all of the benefits from having the whole of Post-16 in one place cannot be fully realised but the majority of the problems from working in substandard premises and over too many locations will have been.
Les Ozouets Campus (when complete) will provide facilities for some 550 full time learners aged 16-20, 300 part-time young learners aged 14-16, 40 learners with high needs, 500 apprentices and 3000 part time adult learners. Truly a landmark achievement for the Island and a substantial investment in our future economy.
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