25/08/2011 BBC Channel Islands News

Good evening, and welcome to BBC Channel Islands. The top stories

this Thursday evening: The waiting's over as our students

celebrate their GCSE result success. Plus police investigating the St

Helier stabbings begin questioning their major suspect as tributes

continue to arrive for the victims. And the sun shone as the crowds

were wowed by all that Guernsey's Today, after a long wait, thousands

of students received their GCSE results. In Jersey, the results

come months after some schools were rocked by claims they were under-

achieving. We will speak to Jersey's educational department in

a moment. First, Mike Wilkins reports on an important day for

students in Jersey and Guernsey. For some, these envelopes provoke a

flight response, with many heading off to their own corners to learn

of their academic fate. Others are happy to share the moment with

friends. You have to work for it, but as people get older,, actually,

they are easier, just because they felt they had to work harder.

got 13 A*s and one A, and he did not have to go far to find

headline-grabbing results. Us this pupil got 15 A*s, including GCSEs

in 15 -- five languages. I want to study medicine. Then I want to go

to a Third World country and be a missionary. But it was not just the

boys smiling for the cameras. There were plenty of top grades for the

girls. I will go to university and do a science degree, but I'm not

sure what I will do after that. have always wanted to do something

medical. Not a doctor unnecessarily, but along those lines. It has been

a good year for the Channel Islands. 75 % of the students achieved a

starchy C grades this year, and both Islands beat the UK figure.

Some did even better. Here at the convent school, pupils gained a 100

% pass rate. I got four as, and five Bes. You never really know

until you come out of the exam. I'm just relieved. Meanwhile, down the

road at Haute Vallee, there were also smiles all round. I am very

happy with how I did. I am going on to do art, and I got an A*, so I am

quite happy. The smiles after what has been a turbulent year for the

state school along with others in Jersey. In February, it emerged

they performed worse that -- at GCSEs than almost all UK schools.

But for the head of this scale, he says he can now retire happy.

students are very pleased. Some were ecstatic. Some were quietly

pleased. But so far I have not seen any who were unhappy. So we have a

group of happy students. So the Channel Islands are still

outperforming the UK, and were now, Guernsey has the bragging rights.

Jim Westwater joins me in the studio now a. Mike was saying their

that this is the second year in a row that Guernsey has outperformed

Jersey. Is there any reason for this? They could be several reasons.

We would have to look at the relative funding issues in Guernsey,

and the structure of their education it is different. They

still do the 11 plus. It may be looking at a different structure.

You have had a controversial year in Jersey, with the Freedom of

Information query that revealed that four state schools were

performing worse at GCSE than most of the UK schools. How have we done

the sheer? I would take a step back and say that the analysis on but is

not a good one. We would have to look at our system, and if we have

a very selective system, we will have different examination results.

It is a bit like comparing the viewing figures for two different

news programmes. But the structure favours one more than the other.

The UK has released its school results. We have not yet. Is it

because we want to focus on success rather than face criticism?

Today is about pupils and it is about their success and getting the

results out to them. What we want to do is make sure that we have

everything right before we publish them. It will take a few weeks. We

are a small department. But we do not want to be giving out results

today and changing them a week down the line. We have the outcomes to

consider and a lot of data to consider a. We need to celebrate

success today, as you say. Thank you.

So police are investigating the stabbing of six people in St Helier

are questioning a man they arrested last week. The 30-year-old was a

released from hospital yesterday when he was recovering from surgery.

One week after Jersey was shaken by six stabbings, the police are

questioning this man, Damian Rzeszowski, he was arrested last

week and has remained under guard in Jersey's General Hospital. Staff

here can now begin to rebuild after one of the island's biggest

emergencies. Those involved are being offered counselling after the

incident. It cost six people their lives, as today tributes continued

to be paid to one of the victims, Marta de la Haye. She worked for

the health service at St Saviour's hospital. Her colleagues talked

very longingly and lovingly offer, on what a good worker she was. And

highly respected by the staff. Not only the staff but patients and

families as well. As police question Damian Rzeszowski, a

Victoria Crescent Community Fund has been started for the families

of those who died. A man in Jersey has been charged

with causing death by dangerous driving after a fatal car crash

earlier this year. It happened on St Clement coast road in February.

Dita Paverniece, he was the passenger, was killed. The driver,

Niall Linden, appeared in Jersey's Magistrates' Court yesterday where

he reserved his plea. He will appear on October 5th. He was given

�10,000 bail. Guernsey police say it could take

several weeks to establish the exact cause of death of a woman

whose body was found in a flat in St Peter Port at the weekend. A man

arrested in connection with the incident has been released without

charge. Detectives say it is a complex case with many lines of

inquiry. The number of people out of work

for more than one year is rising in Jersey, one in five people are

looking for a job. That compares to one in 61 month ago. The minister

who oversees industries in Jersey says that downturn has affected job

prospects. Crowds flocked to the North Show in

Guernsey today. The event is in its 89th year.

It was all smiles and sunshine this year. A far cry from last year's

Reine event. Last year it nearly sunk us. We had two very wet days

last year, we did not get the crowds or the income. We have had

to work this year it to get the income to pay for this one. And it

paid off. Everyone had their own reasons to come. It is fun, and

there is a lot to do. I like the rides. I like the little shows they

do in the big field in the middle. These birds are wide the crowd, and

inside the tense it was like the Chelsea Flower Show. Away from the

Sun, there was serious hard work going into the floats. Beth Gabriel

was battling to get her last-minute entry ready in time. We are the

only one in our class, but it is good just taking part. I love doing

it. Soon, it was time for the off. As Guernsey's floral floats took

centre stage, they did not disappoint. A colourful end to a

colourful day. We will have more pictures of the

We will have more pictures of the Let's take a look at the weather.

More showers to come across the Channel Islands for the next couple

of days. Some of them could be quite heavy weather Risk of Thunder.

They will continue into the start of the weekend, though Sunday and

Monday will be mainly dry. At the moment, we have an area of low

pressure, very complex this, with bands of cloud and showers rotating

around it. That will be with us for most of the night and most of

tomorrow before it begins to move out of the ways. Towards the end of

the day, the low-pressure moves away. Eventually, this area of high

pressure will start to come in, although it will take its time.

Still a risk of showers on Saturday, but they will have gone by Sunday

and it will be brighter and dry a. Overnight, one or two of the

showers could be heavy with the risk of thunder. And they will keep

going right through the night to come. Temperatures down to about 13

degrees Celsius. Tomorrow, heavy showers in the morning although

they will die away from the South. Jersey will get the best of the

weather tomorrow. Further north, quite frequent showers coming into

Guernsey and Aldernay. Brisk westerly winds developing later in

the day as well. It will start off as a south-westerly and become a

westerly later. Visibility will be moderate or poor at sea. Here are

Rather at choppy surface with that breeze. Two to three feet, on

Saturday, fewer showers, they will fade away into evening. Sunday and

Monday will both be dry and a bit Finally, Beckie Herbert has been in

action again this evening in the semi-finals of the European

Championships against the Netherlands. At the moment, they