With the start of the new term, Les Varendes High School will officially be opening - replacing the Guernsey Grammar School.
It means all of Guernsey's States schools, aged 11-16, will now deliver a non-selective system of education.
For now, it will just be the current Grammar School pupils on site. Full integration with La Mare de Carteret is planned to take place in September 2025.
Then there will be new staffing structures, with a HR process placing teachers into new roles, and a new uniform introduced in September 2024, designed by the students.
Kieran James, Les Varendes and Sixth Form Centre Principal says he looks forward to bringing the pupils together:
"We are part of the way through a phased transition, which will conclude in two years when the students at La Mare de Carteret move across to Les Varendes in September 2025, and there is still lots of work to do before that, however I am looking forward to welcoming all our students back into a new school for another year of learning.”
Last week new signs were put up across the site:
Kieran James and Verona Tomlin next to the new school sign.
The current Principal of La Mare Verona Tomlin will move across when Mr James takes on the role of principal of the separate Sixth Form Centre.
She says she is looking forward to the next few years:
"It has been a really exciting process working with the students to create an identity for the new school, and seeing new signage go up at Les Varendes is a clear reminder of how far we have come.
I can confidently say that we will be keeping the legacies of both the Grammar School and La Mare High at the forefront of our minds as we continue to develop the new school.”
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