AIR-conditioning issues which forced a £40-million school in St Brelade to close early yesterday as temperatures soared are not due to be fixed until the summer break, according to the government.
Recently-elected Infrastructure Minister Tom Binet and Children’s and Education Minister Inna Gardiner both visited Les Quennevais School – which was built just over two years ago – after head teacher Sarah Hague wrote a letter to parents, informing them that it would ‘regrettably’ close at 1.10pm yesterday due to the lack of air conditioning in the majority of the building.
Health warnings have been issued by the government this week as the Island grapples with a major heatwave.
Deputy Gardiner said: ‘The [level of] heating during extreme weather is very high – the first priority is the safety of students and teachers.’
The news comes just weeks after Mrs Hague criticised the ‘unacceptable’ situation, which has been raised as a concern since the school was opened in September 2020 and has seen students forced to wear their PE kit on occasion to deal with the heat.
‘When the external temperatures are high, internally our building currently experiences temperatures which are difficult to manage and present significant risks.
‘I am very hopeful that over the summer holidays this issue will be resolved for us all,’ she said in her letter.
Deputy Gardiner said: ‘For me it was really important to come here [to Les Quennevais] and speak with staff directly.’
She confirmed that plans to install more air conditioning units throughout the building were due to be implemented over the summer holidays.
‘We need to make sure that the system is future-proof,’ she said.
She added: ‘A new cooling system was due to be installed at Easter, but the equipment did not arrive in time for the work to be completed before the summer term.
‘While some localised cooling measures have been installed, and further measures will be installed in the most-affected areas during the school holidays, I will continue to review the proposed improvements to make sure they function effectively, and provide an update later this month.’
Deputy Binet said he was due to meet the teams involved to ensure the issue could be solved permanently.
‘We are on the case – it has become an education problem but it is an infrastructure problem,’ he said.
The subject was also raised by Deputy Lyndon Farnham at yesterday’s States sitting, when he questioned Deputy Catherine Curtis during her election as chair of the Children, Young People, Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel.
Deputy Farnham said: ‘With a school closing because temperatures are too high, does she believe that the environment for learning that we put children into should be an area of concern for Scrutiny and that there should at least be air-conditioning and windows that open and close?’
Deputy Curtis replied: ‘I totally agree that these are basic requirements and it’s important children can learn in a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere.’
Have your say:
– Write a letter to the editor by emailing editorial@jerseyeveningpost.com
