24/02/2012 BBC Channel Islands News


24/02/2012

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Good evening and welcome to the BBC in the Channel Islands. Our top

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stories: Another report into Guernsey's education system - this

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time, primary school results are under fire. Plus, blanketed by fog

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- air travellers are grounded for another day, and it is not over yet.

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And, the farmland that is not just for growing potatoes, but will be

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Some primary schools in Guernsey are failing to meet key targets.

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That's according to the education department's first ever annual

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report. For the first time, parents can see how their child's school is

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performing, compared to others. Mike Wilkins reports.

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Children are tested before they leave primary school. And now, for

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the first time, we can see how each school performed. Overall, a third

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of primary schools in Guernsey failed to meet the expected grade

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at English, and a third failed maths last year. Today's figures

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reveal that some schools are doing better than others. I am not trying

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to be difficult here, but some parents will be thinking, why is

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one school so clearly better than others? Any explanation? These are

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narrow indicators. They are important indicators. It is

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important that children do well in English and maths and so on, and

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these are part of the individual indicators for skills. But there

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are lots of contextual differences between schools. All Skeels a

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different -- schools. Next year might be quite different. It is

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clear that everyone in the education service is now under

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pressure to perform. It is crunch time for all of us. Schools are

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saying how they are going to improve on their figures. Some not

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so good and some very good. Then we can compare have that has gone,

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whether they have improved or not. We are far more aware of statistics

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that we have been before, and so we have got to get on and improve.

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That is what has happened with the high schools. An awful lot has gone

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into the high schools, and we have to expect higher results for later

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this year. With a third of pupils heading to secondary school without

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a decent grasp of English or maths, it's hardly surprising that the

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secondary schools are struggling. This report will highlight the

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schools that need to improve the most.

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For the second day running, fog has meant cancelled and delayed flights

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at airports across the Channel Islands. Some passengers are being

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told the earliest they will get on a flight will be Sunday because of

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the backlog. Thousands of airline passengers have been stranded.

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Condor have been inundated with people wanting to travel by ferry,

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but there is now no space on any ferry leaving the Channel Islands

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today. But, why can't aeroplanes take off and land here when it is

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foggy? Edward Sault has spent the day at Jersey airport to find out.

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Look very closely because, believe it or not, you should be able to

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see the Jersey airport arrivals hall here. And, peeking through the

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fog, you can just catch a glimpse of what looks like the air traffic

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control tower. Inside, long lines of stranded passengers desperate to

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rescue their travel plans. We are going on a trip to America, to

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Arizona to stay with friends. We were supposed to leave yesterday.

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was supposed to travel to the East Midlands yesterday but the flight

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was cancelled. I have come back today and the flight has been

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cancelled again. So, why can't aeroplanes take off and land here

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when it is foggy? Well, mainly because of Jersey's size and

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airport location. But also because of the island's instrument landing

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system, which helps guide an aeroplane in to land. Pilots need

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to be able to see 200 feet above the runway before they can touch

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down. Heathrow and Gatwick have a more sophisticated system that

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allows pilots to make an approach and land in much worse conditions.

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Jersey and Guernsey have unique characteristics, being an island

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and there are geographic limitations. The instrument landing

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system that we have is the one that is best suited for the island. If

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we were to try and change that, it would cause significant

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complications for Jersey. But that is little consolation to Channel

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Islanders stranded at Gatwick today, wanting to travel back. We are put

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on the 11:25am tomorrow, and if Jersey opens I will stand by for

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the flight. At 7am they sent me an e-mail saying that they had

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cancelled this flight. As you can see, passengers are trying to put

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on too many of the council services today, but the message from airport

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bosses and whether officials is not great - they are preparing for --

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predicting that this fog could last into Sunday or even Monday of next

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week. Meanwhile, Condor Ferries has

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announced today that sailings to and from the Channel Islands will

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operate from Poole rather than Weymouth until the end of next

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month. It follows the closure of the ferry port at Weymouth whilst

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repairs are carried out to cracks found in the harbour wall. The work

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is expected to take around four weeks.

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Guernsey States has voted to adopt all of the recommendations of a

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committee charged with investigating the future of church

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funding. It means the ownership of the parish churches, rectories and

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associated land will in future lie with the island's parishes, and

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management boards will be set up to oversee their use.

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Jersey Telecom will publish a Channel Island wide phone book for

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the first time. JT says its next phone book would feature Jersey

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numbers on one side and Guernsey on the other. Cable and Wireless

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continued to publish a separate directory for Guernsey.

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More people are getting further education qualifications in Jersey.

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The latest results from the sensors showed 34% of the population have a

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degree or other higher education qualification. That compares to 13%

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10 years ago. The most highly qualified are people coming to

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Jersey from the British Isles, Ireland, and those returning home

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having left Jersey to study. You are watching the BBC in the

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Channel Islands. Later: the multi- million pound cycle path that

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requires cyclist to dismount to avoid hitting their heads.

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Guernsey's cricketers have won their final game in the World

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Cricket League Division Five tournament taking place in Malaysia.

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Set a target of 165 runs by the Cayman Islands, the Sarnians won

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easily by six wickets with forty balls to spare. The win secures

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their place in Division Five. Now, thanks to a generous donation

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left by an islander, the National Trust for Jersey has bought 50

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vergees of farmland in St John. The land will be used to grow Jersey

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Royals, but will also protect our local wildlife. Emma Chambers

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reports. It's all quiet now, but in two

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weeks' time, these fields will be the home to Jersey Royals. The

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National Trust has bought the land, but are leasing it out to farmers

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under the condition they help look after farmland birds. The problem

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with the Jersey's and wild coastal habitat is that there is a lack of

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winter feed for birds, and so the bird populations are not as high as

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they can be. Farmland birds have declined rapidly over the last two

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decades. We hope to put in crops after potatoes that will benefit

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the bird life like barley, oats, mustard, sunflowers. Some farmers

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are already doing this, so we will see a burst of colour like this but

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on a much larger scale. Sadly, because of the thick fog today, you

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can't see how fast this area is. The National Trust for Jersey has

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bought 50 vergees of land here, the size of 10 football pitches. So,

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plenty of room for the 10,000 trees that will grow here. The first will

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be planted tomorrow. It improves our hold on the area because we

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have got the land next door as well. It is a fantastic acquisition

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because it allows us to embark on a project which is very exciting.

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Public access will remain open, so not only will farmers and wildlife

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be able to enjoy this lasting gift The question is, will the fog

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remain? Good evening. It is a bit like

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Groundhog Day at the moment across the Channel Islands. The mist and

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fog is reluctant to move out of the way and as a result we will still

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have some travel disruption. The mist and fog may just lift a little

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bit more quickly tomorrow, and less of a visibility problem as we move

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into the afternoon. The main clearers is this weather front here,

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and it does not get to us. It lies to the north. By lunchtime tomorrow,

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it pivots around the area of high pressure. With this area of high

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pressure so reluctant to move, we will get little change and hardly a

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breath of wind over the next few days means that any low cloud and

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fog is difficult to shift. This evening and tonight, the cloud is

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that enough to give some drizzle in the wind now and then. More

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importantly, the fog is still around and will be quite thick by

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the morning. Light winds, nine degrees the minimum temperature.

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Tomorrow, a misty and murky start. Gradually we may get a bit of a

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clearance from the fog, although the low cloud will still be around.

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The winds again from the north-west, As for the outlook into the weekend,

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never too far away from us will be a fair amount of low cloud and

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occasionally some mist and fog. Sunday, we can expect there --

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