New Name For The Grammar School

The Guernsey Grammar School will be renamed as Les Varendes High School from September this year.

The change is a part of the re-organisation of secondary and post-16 education agreed by the States in September 2021.

It will signal the start of the process to merge La Mare de Carteret High School and the Guernsey Grammar School into one 11-16 school in time for September 2025.

The timing coincides with the final selective 11 Plus student cohort, currently in Year 11, completing their secondary education. From September the school will no longer be a ‘grammar’ school.

Current students and staff at both schools have voted on the new name.  They were given the choice of  Les Varendes High School or St Andrew’s High School.

A total of 518 voted with 56.9% choosing Les Varendes High School.

Education, Spot and Culture says the two schools will begin working more closely together to support the merger.

A student and staff ‘New School Design Team’ will involve 78 students who put themselves forward to help in the process.

Their work will include designing a new uniform.

“The bringing together of our two schools presents an exciting opportunity. We are going to be creating a new culture, identifying new values, and ensuring we create a school which benefits all of our staff and students.

Of course, La Mare de Carteret and the Guernsey Grammar School already have many individual qualities so we will be drawing on all of those good things for the new Les Varendes High School.” - Verona Tomlin, La Mare de Carteret High School Principal.

“As our current Year 11 cohort – the last to enter our school through the selective system - is moving on to post-16 study at the end of this academic year, it is the right time to rename the school.

As we become fully comprehensive, we will continue to work with our colleagues and students at La Mare de Carteret High School to ensure that every member of the new school we develop will feel a sense of identity and belonging. I look forward to working with colleagues and our students across both schools.” - Kieran James, Principal of the Guernsey Grammar School & Sixth Form Centre.