Guernsey maximum class sizes to increase to 28

Maximum class sizes for Guernsey's secondary schools are to be increased.

Classes will be capped at 28 students from September, up from 26, according to an email seen by the BBC.

The move brings secondary schools in line with primaries.

The email from Education Committee president Andrea Dudley-Owen said the move was part of funding changes "to support all learners" and to help implement special educational needs changes.

The announcement follows a report which said there was "substantial" support for special educational needs in Guernsey, but provision was not consistent everywhere.

The report by the National Association for Special Educational Needs (Nasen) said the experiences of students and families could "vary significantly".

It made 18 short and medium-term recommendations to improve provision.

Ms Dudley-Owen said schools and education bosses needed to "make smart and thoughtful decisions about how we use funding across the whole system to support all learners and, sometimes, this will require us to shift the focus of our spending".

She also said the government was putting "Nasen's recommendations into practice because that's the right thing to do".

She added it did not mean primary and secondary schools would have 28 students in all classes.

The change, even if immediately implemented, would mean class sizes of "approximately 22 students in primary schools and an average class size of approximately 25 in secondary schools", she said.

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