Students 'very enthusiastic' about new sixth form

A teenage girl with long brown hair, a grey top and a cross around her net in the hall of an educational building.
Image caption,

A-level student Sophia praised the study spaces available in the renovated building

  • Published

Students at Guernsey's new sixth form centre have been talking about their first impressions of its new temporary campus.

Guernsey Sixth Form Centre moved to its new campus in Castel, on the site of the former La Mare de Carteret school.

A-level student Sophia said both staff and students were "very enthusiastic" about the new building.

Sophia, who is studying English, geography and business studies, said: "We're all getting used to it together, which is nice."

She said there were "some really nice study spaces as well" which were "fresh and big and open".

Two teenage boys in T-Shirts. One has a shirt. They both have brown hair and are smiling
Image caption,

Theo and Jaques are both studying A-levels including film at the Sixth Form Centre

Film, environmental science and geography student Theo had visited the school before it had been refurbished.

"It looks a lot better from when we first came here," he said.

"It was a little bit run down [before], but clearly the builders have been hard at work making it more modern for us."

A man in navy jacket and white shirt with the top button undone. He holds a blue academic diary for 2025-2026 and stands in a school hall full of desks.
Image caption,

Principal Kieran James said there was a "buzz" around the new building

Kieran James, principal, said the "whole building has been transformed".

He said students were "very positive" about the new building and there was a "buzz" around it.

It has a "feel and an ethos" that made students want to come in, he said.

"It smells fresh and clean."

Mr James said he was "very confident" in the quality of education the new school could provide as it had high-quality teachers and systems.

The feel of the place as well has become less like a school and more like a sixth form college or a university, that's what we're aiming for."

Teenagers sit at a series of picnic benches in a school playground.
Image caption,

Murals were painted on the sixth form's outdoor huts recently by local artists

Final year student Harry said he planned to join the Royal Navy as a warfare officer when he finished college in nine months time.

He said he was confident staff could help him get the grades he needed.

Harry added: "I think they've definitely done the most they could with the budget that they had."

Follow BBC Guernsey on X, external and Facebook, external and Instagram, external. Send your story ideas to channel.islands@bbc.co.uk, external.