:00:11. > :00:14.Good evening and welcome to the BBC in the Channel Islands. Our top
:00:14. > :00:19.stories: Another report into Guernsey's education system - this
:00:19. > :00:23.time, primary school results are under fire. Plus, blanketed by fog
:00:23. > :00:27.- air travellers are grounded for another day, and it is not over yet.
:00:27. > :00:37.And, the farmland that is not just for growing potatoes, but will be
:00:37. > :00:45.
:00:45. > :00:47.Some primary schools in Guernsey are failing to meet key targets.
:00:47. > :00:51.That's according to the education department's first ever annual
:00:51. > :00:57.report. For the first time, parents can see how their child's school is
:00:57. > :01:00.performing, compared to others. Mike Wilkins reports.
:01:00. > :01:05.Children are tested before they leave primary school. And now, for
:01:05. > :01:08.the first time, we can see how each school performed. Overall, a third
:01:08. > :01:12.of primary schools in Guernsey failed to meet the expected grade
:01:12. > :01:21.at English, and a third failed maths last year. Today's figures
:01:21. > :01:25.reveal that some schools are doing better than others. I am not trying
:01:25. > :01:33.to be difficult here, but some parents will be thinking, why is
:01:33. > :01:36.one school so clearly better than others? Any explanation? These are
:01:36. > :01:40.narrow indicators. They are important indicators. It is
:01:40. > :01:44.important that children do well in English and maths and so on, and
:01:44. > :01:51.these are part of the individual indicators for skills. But there
:01:51. > :01:57.are lots of contextual differences between schools. All Skeels a
:01:57. > :02:00.different -- schools. Next year might be quite different. It is
:02:00. > :02:04.clear that everyone in the education service is now under
:02:04. > :02:07.pressure to perform. It is crunch time for all of us. Schools are
:02:07. > :02:11.saying how they are going to improve on their figures. Some not
:02:11. > :02:15.so good and some very good. Then we can compare have that has gone,
:02:15. > :02:18.whether they have improved or not. We are far more aware of statistics
:02:18. > :02:22.that we have been before, and so we have got to get on and improve.
:02:22. > :02:29.That is what has happened with the high schools. An awful lot has gone
:02:29. > :02:33.into the high schools, and we have to expect higher results for later
:02:33. > :02:36.this year. With a third of pupils heading to secondary school without
:02:36. > :02:39.a decent grasp of English or maths, it's hardly surprising that the
:02:39. > :02:45.secondary schools are struggling. This report will highlight the
:02:45. > :02:48.schools that need to improve the most.
:02:48. > :02:51.For the second day running, fog has meant cancelled and delayed flights
:02:51. > :02:55.at airports across the Channel Islands. Some passengers are being
:02:55. > :02:59.told the earliest they will get on a flight will be Sunday because of
:02:59. > :03:02.the backlog. Thousands of airline passengers have been stranded.
:03:02. > :03:05.Condor have been inundated with people wanting to travel by ferry,
:03:05. > :03:11.but there is now no space on any ferry leaving the Channel Islands
:03:11. > :03:16.today. But, why can't aeroplanes take off and land here when it is
:03:16. > :03:19.foggy? Edward Sault has spent the day at Jersey airport to find out.
:03:19. > :03:24.Look very closely because, believe it or not, you should be able to
:03:24. > :03:27.see the Jersey airport arrivals hall here. And, peeking through the
:03:27. > :03:32.fog, you can just catch a glimpse of what looks like the air traffic
:03:32. > :03:42.control tower. Inside, long lines of stranded passengers desperate to
:03:42. > :03:46.rescue their travel plans. We are going on a trip to America, to
:03:46. > :03:49.Arizona to stay with friends. We were supposed to leave yesterday.
:03:49. > :03:52.was supposed to travel to the East Midlands yesterday but the flight
:03:52. > :03:55.was cancelled. I have come back today and the flight has been
:03:55. > :03:58.cancelled again. So, why can't aeroplanes take off and land here
:03:58. > :04:02.when it is foggy? Well, mainly because of Jersey's size and
:04:02. > :04:05.airport location. But also because of the island's instrument landing
:04:05. > :04:08.system, which helps guide an aeroplane in to land. Pilots need
:04:08. > :04:12.to be able to see 200 feet above the runway before they can touch
:04:12. > :04:21.down. Heathrow and Gatwick have a more sophisticated system that
:04:21. > :04:25.allows pilots to make an approach and land in much worse conditions.
:04:25. > :04:28.Jersey and Guernsey have unique characteristics, being an island
:04:28. > :04:32.and there are geographic limitations. The instrument landing
:04:32. > :04:36.system that we have is the one that is best suited for the island. If
:04:36. > :04:38.we were to try and change that, it would cause significant
:04:38. > :04:46.complications for Jersey. But that is little consolation to Channel
:04:46. > :04:49.Islanders stranded at Gatwick today, wanting to travel back. We are put
:04:50. > :04:55.on the 11:25am tomorrow, and if Jersey opens I will stand by for
:04:55. > :05:01.the flight. At 7am they sent me an e-mail saying that they had
:05:01. > :05:04.cancelled this flight. As you can see, passengers are trying to put
:05:04. > :05:08.on too many of the council services today, but the message from airport
:05:08. > :05:13.bosses and whether officials is not great - they are preparing for --
:05:13. > :05:16.predicting that this fog could last into Sunday or even Monday of next
:05:16. > :05:18.week. Meanwhile, Condor Ferries has
:05:18. > :05:21.announced today that sailings to and from the Channel Islands will
:05:21. > :05:24.operate from Poole rather than Weymouth until the end of next
:05:24. > :05:28.month. It follows the closure of the ferry port at Weymouth whilst
:05:28. > :05:32.repairs are carried out to cracks found in the harbour wall. The work
:05:32. > :05:35.is expected to take around four weeks.
:05:35. > :05:37.Guernsey States has voted to adopt all of the recommendations of a
:05:37. > :05:41.committee charged with investigating the future of church
:05:41. > :05:44.funding. It means the ownership of the parish churches, rectories and
:05:44. > :05:50.associated land will in future lie with the island's parishes, and
:05:50. > :05:53.management boards will be set up to oversee their use.
:05:53. > :05:57.Jersey Telecom will publish a Channel Island wide phone book for
:05:57. > :06:01.the first time. JT says its next phone book would feature Jersey
:06:01. > :06:06.numbers on one side and Guernsey on the other. Cable and Wireless
:06:06. > :06:09.continued to publish a separate directory for Guernsey.
:06:09. > :06:12.More people are getting further education qualifications in Jersey.
:06:12. > :06:17.The latest results from the sensors showed 34% of the population have a
:06:17. > :06:22.degree or other higher education qualification. That compares to 13%
:06:22. > :06:24.10 years ago. The most highly qualified are people coming to
:06:24. > :06:34.Jersey from the British Isles, Ireland, and those returning home
:06:34. > :06:36.
:06:36. > :06:41.having left Jersey to study. You are watching the BBC in the
:06:41. > :06:51.Channel Islands. Later: the multi- million pound cycle path that
:06:51. > :06:53.
:06:53. > :06:56.requires cyclist to dismount to avoid hitting their heads.
:06:56. > :06:58.Guernsey's cricketers have won their final game in the World
:06:58. > :07:01.Cricket League Division Five tournament taking place in Malaysia.
:07:01. > :07:04.Set a target of 165 runs by the Cayman Islands, the Sarnians won
:07:04. > :07:09.easily by six wickets with forty balls to spare. The win secures
:07:09. > :07:12.their place in Division Five. Now, thanks to a generous donation
:07:12. > :07:16.left by an islander, the National Trust for Jersey has bought 50
:07:16. > :07:19.vergees of farmland in St John. The land will be used to grow Jersey
:07:19. > :07:27.Royals, but will also protect our local wildlife. Emma Chambers
:07:27. > :07:31.reports. It's all quiet now, but in two
:07:31. > :07:34.weeks' time, these fields will be the home to Jersey Royals. The
:07:34. > :07:43.National Trust has bought the land, but are leasing it out to farmers
:07:43. > :07:46.under the condition they help look after farmland birds. The problem
:07:46. > :07:51.with the Jersey's and wild coastal habitat is that there is a lack of
:07:51. > :07:54.winter feed for birds, and so the bird populations are not as high as
:07:55. > :07:59.they can be. Farmland birds have declined rapidly over the last two
:07:59. > :08:08.decades. We hope to put in crops after potatoes that will benefit
:08:08. > :08:12.the bird life like barley, oats, mustard, sunflowers. Some farmers
:08:12. > :08:16.are already doing this, so we will see a burst of colour like this but
:08:16. > :08:21.on a much larger scale. Sadly, because of the thick fog today, you
:08:21. > :08:26.can't see how fast this area is. The National Trust for Jersey has
:08:26. > :08:30.bought 50 vergees of land here, the size of 10 football pitches. So,
:08:30. > :08:35.plenty of room for the 10,000 trees that will grow here. The first will
:08:35. > :08:39.be planted tomorrow. It improves our hold on the area because we
:08:39. > :08:43.have got the land next door as well. It is a fantastic acquisition
:08:44. > :08:46.because it allows us to embark on a project which is very exciting.
:08:47. > :08:56.Public access will remain open, so not only will farmers and wildlife
:08:57. > :09:00.
:09:00. > :09:03.be able to enjoy this lasting gift The question is, will the fog
:09:03. > :09:06.remain? Good evening. It is a bit like
:09:06. > :09:10.Groundhog Day at the moment across the Channel Islands. The mist and
:09:10. > :09:14.fog is reluctant to move out of the way and as a result we will still
:09:14. > :09:19.have some travel disruption. The mist and fog may just lift a little
:09:19. > :09:23.bit more quickly tomorrow, and less of a visibility problem as we move
:09:23. > :09:27.into the afternoon. The main clearers is this weather front here,
:09:27. > :09:31.and it does not get to us. It lies to the north. By lunchtime tomorrow,
:09:31. > :09:35.it pivots around the area of high pressure. With this area of high
:09:35. > :09:39.pressure so reluctant to move, we will get little change and hardly a
:09:39. > :09:44.breath of wind over the next few days means that any low cloud and
:09:44. > :09:47.fog is difficult to shift. This evening and tonight, the cloud is
:09:47. > :09:51.that enough to give some drizzle in the wind now and then. More
:09:51. > :09:55.importantly, the fog is still around and will be quite thick by
:09:56. > :10:01.the morning. Light winds, nine degrees the minimum temperature.
:10:01. > :10:04.Tomorrow, a misty and murky start. Gradually we may get a bit of a
:10:04. > :10:14.clearance from the fog, although the low cloud will still be around.
:10:14. > :10:37.
:10:37. > :10:40.The winds again from the north-west, As for the outlook into the weekend,
:10:40. > :10:46.never too far away from us will be a fair amount of low cloud and
:10:46. > :10:51.occasionally some mist and fog. Sunday, we can expect there --