Guernsey's autism centre to move schools over space issue

The centre will move from Amherst Primary School to Forest Primary School in September

Guernsey's specialist education base for autistic children is moving school due to a lack of space.

The Communication, Interaction and Autism Service (CIAS), currently based at Amherst Primary School, will move to Forest Primary School from September.

Jenny Jura from the service said the priority was to ensure the setting was "as inclusive" as Amherst.

CIAS helps children with communication and interaction difficulties, including autism and speech language needs.

Amherst Primary School will exceed 500 students in September, an increase of about 200 in the 18 years Ms Moore has been at the school, with average class sizes growing from 18 to 25.

Tracey Moore, school head teacher, said the move was part of a broader look at increasing and improving space, with "significant changes" to the layout of Amherst expected during the summer.

Ms Moore said: "What we needed to do was make sure that all children, that's the base children and their peers, were in classrooms that were fit for purpose."

Ms Jura said the increasing number of students at Amherst meant there was a "shortage of space" and "significant work" was needed on the service's current facility.

She said the decision to move base was to ensure "all children's needs are met".

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