Grainville head Susan Morris, who took over from John McGuinness at the start of this academic year after he went on a two-year secondment to a school in Sunderland, says that the current system does not encourage schools to share best practice.
And following Mr McGuinness’ move to the north-east of England, she says that more teachers should be given the opportunity to spend time at a different school and that it would encourage closer ties among the Island’s primary and secondary schools.
The 45-year-old said: ‘As a small Island and a small community, we can and should collaborate more. There are lots of pockets of good practice in each school, but we don’t share enough of them.
‘I think it’s really important that other schools can see what is working so that we can work together to improve standards. The relationships between Island schools is really good, but they could be developed further, and I think that could be done by teachers moving schools.
‘If one particular department is getting really good results in one school, why don’t they share with others how they achieved them?’
Speaking about the advantages for teachers undertaking secondments, she added: ‘There are so many beneficial things that a teacher can learn from a new system and so many things that they can give in return. There is a lot to be said for creating new challenges for people. By moving school for a short time, maybe six months, it could really energise and refresh them.
‘It would require a commitment from both schools, but I think it could work really well. It wouldn’t cost the States anything and would have so many benefits for all concerned.’
MORE than 1,300 Islanders responded to a consultation about the construction of the new Les Quennevais School.
The Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny panel were told this week that Islanders had responded ‘positively’ to the invitation to voice their opinions and concerns about the new school and the proposed sites on which it could be built.
The Education Department announced earlier this year that there were three options for the site of the new building and asked Islanders to indicate which they believed would be the best.
At a public meeting at the school last month, it was clear that the public were in favour of option two – relocating the school to a number of small fields to the south of the Airport.
Education Minister Rod Bryans told the panel during a hearing on Monday that the department wanted a site which proved to be ‘inspirational for teachers, the community and students’. He also agreed that option two would be the best choice.
A report which will combine Islanders’ views on the consultation will be produced before a decision is made on which of the three options will be chosen for the building.
The panel also heard that the department had received comments from people who were concerned about the build-up of traffic in La Route des Quennevais. However, the department said that parents would not be able to drop off their children on the road. Instead, they would able to drive into the site and then exit back out onto the road.
