03/05/2012 BBC Channel Islands News

Tonight we ask, should children Plus: Why diving to new depths is

helping these patients. How children are selected for

Guernsey's secondary schools is being reviewed. The Education

Department is asking the public for their views on the current 11-plus

process and if they want to change it. It follows criticism of the

system in both the Mulkerrin Reviews of Primary and Secondary

Education. This group of children in year five

will be the next to sit the 11-plus exam and if the system changes then

they will be the first to go through the new process. And like

all youngsters they have their favourite subjects. I like art and

drawing and painting and stuff like that. My favourite subject is

history. We are talking about World War II and I am interested in that

kind of thing. The 11-plus is a series of written

tests that assesses a child's academic potential and aptitude in

their last year of primary education. It is a controversial

issue that still divides opinion among parents and teachers. Some

see it as the start of a two tired - two-tier education system, where

the top quarter are offered places at the grammar or grant-funded

private schools, while others see it as crucial to maintaining high

academic standards. The Education Department has been prompted to

launch a public consultation following criticism from Denis

Mulkerrin's education review. He claims the 11-plus process is too

long and suggests reducing the number of papers from 722 -- seven

to two.The Education Department is proposing the new papers to be

multiple choice and to cover verbal and non verbal reasoning. People

might be concerned that by reducing the number of papers it could

change the results and that might not be as good as it might have

been. We have information that this new process will be equally valid.

So no English, no Maths and no creative writing. The rationale is

that this will be less stressful for pupils and will cause less

disruption to the curriculum in Year 6. If you think children are

facing too much pressure or feel that the current system is a

reliable assessment of a child's academic ability you have got until

the end of the month to let the Education Department know what you

think. A man's body's was found at the old

harbour near commercial buildings in St Helier this afternoon. A

member of the public found the man in the mud at the bottom of the wet

harbour and called the emergency services. Police say they are not

treating the death as suspicious. Jersey and Guernsey Gas say they

are in talks with unions over plans to cut jobs as part of a

restructuring of the company. It's not known how many jobs are at risk,

but the company's Commercial Director says it is likely there

will be job losses across the islands, although they will try to

minimise the impact and keep staff informed.

And you will pay more to heat your home or cook with gas in Jersey and

Guernsey next week. Jersey Gas, Guernsey Gas and Kosangas say a

rise in global energy prices is forcing them to up their tariffs.

It is thought using gas central heating will cost about 5 % more

from next Thursday, which will cost the average customer an extra �69 a

year. Semen from Guernsey bulls could be

used to cross breed with cows in China within the next few months. A

representative from Guernsey States visited Beijing to begin talks on a

trial aimed at improving the quality of milk produced in China.

Jersey's beaches are rated once again as some of the cleanest in

the British Isles. 94 % of the island's bays sampled by the Marine

Conservation Society met the highest standard of water quality.

Only St Brelade's Bay failed to qualify as Guide Standard. Cobo Bay

has been awarded the gold standard in the annual guide, despite being

blacklisted last year. It was one of 13 beaches listed in the

Bailiwick, the majority of which achieved the highest possible

rating. Imagine sitting in a pressurised

chamber breathing in pure oxygen. Does not sound pleasant, but it is

an alternative therapy that is helping people with MS in Jersey.

Multiple sclerosis interrupts signals the brain sends to parts of

the body. It is an incurable condition. But a new pressure

chamber at the MS Therapy Centre is making a difference.

Ann is retired. But she works every day to manage her condition. That

is probably one of the nasty things about MS, the feeling that you are

not in control with what will happen, but at the same time, you

have got to own your disease. There is not a magic wand going to be

waved over you. You have to be responsible for yourself. You try

and seek the help that you can seek. Ann's help comes from this diving

chamber. It is thought breathing in pure oxygen in a pressurised

environment can improve the symptoms of the disease. And now

the MS Therapy centre has been given a breath of fresh air as part

of a recent renovation. It is hoped new clients will take up the

treatment: We realised we were not having people coming back on a

regular basis. We want to attract more people with MS and other

conditions that might be helped with oxygen therapy to come forward

as well. The walls of this building may have

been transformed, but it is the positive changes in the people that

use it that are most apparent. come up here every Wednesday and

you know you can come here and relax. There is always someone you

can speak to hear. It is a good starting point for anybody, really.

You can come and find out how MS means P -- how much amass means to

people and there are ways and means to help yourself.

Flybe has a new route between Jersey and East Midlands this

winter. The low-cost airline takes over the link to the Leicestershire

airport from bmibaby, which was recently sold to BA. This afternoon

it was announced that bmibaby would be grounded from September.

You are watching the BBC in the Channel Islands. Later in Spotlight

with Justin and Victoria: Find out why the pasty tax protests

are gaining support across the Atlantic!

It has already been a massive season of sport, with our local

rugby and football teams doing better than ever before in national

leagues. But this weekend, we go back to basics. It is Guernsey

against Jersey in the rugby on Saturday, and in the football on

Monday. Tomorrow we will see how the Siam sides are feeling ahead of

the big clash, but first we look forward to a Muratti Vase face-off.

The Muratti is no doubt a mainstay in the Channel Islands sporting

calendar, and following huge successes for both Guernsey and

Jersey they are both going in to It has certainly changed things for

football in Guernsey. The same principles still apply. We will

want a result to bring back. We are on the crest of Our wave. We have

got the confidence and team spirit is high.

Guernsey manager Kevin Graham has named his 19-man squad for Monday's

match against Jersey but warns he will reduce the number to 18 at the

weekend, after looking into some injury concerns. We are still

monitoring the fitness of some of our players. We have had one

illness, an ear infection. We're going to see how it goes in the

next training session. But Jersey manager Craig Culkin is keeping his

cards close to his chest, for the time being at least. We have got a

lot of quality and the squad. From my point of view it is going to be

a headache as far as selection for places. But everyone is eager and

ready to go and we are really looking forward to it.

So anticipation is high, the atmosphere at Springfield on Monday

sure to be electric, as our football teams round off a

tremendous season of local sport and flying the flag for the Channel

Islands. And we will have full commentary on

BBC Guernsey and BBC Radio Jersey on Monday and there will be all the

pictures, analysis and reaction here on BBC Channel Islands next

week, along with a report from the Guernsey FC match against Colliers

Wood in the Premier Challenge Cup final tomorrow night.

And still with sport, Jersey badminton player Elizabeth Cann

will have to wait until the end of the month to find out if she's in

the British Olympic squad. The Badminton world rankings were

published today, putting Cann at number 48, that's up two places,

but she is still behind Scotland's Susan Egelstaff, who remained at 36.

Only one of them can be selected. The British Olympic Association

will announce their team on May Let's take a look at the weather.

It is a slightly quieter and two a week. A lot of a cloud around for

tomorrow and we will see some wet- weather over the weekend. We have

got some low-pressure moving into the North. This is gradually making

its way towards us and the weather front is making its way down from

the North so we will be close to a couple of weather fronts by

lunchtime tomorrow. Later on Friday, it is actually on Saturday that we

will see most of the rain from the weather fronts. There will be some

dry weather to come for the bank holiday. Some clearers skies

initially this evening. Some isolated showers and a bit more

cloud in the second half of the night. Not really too cold. The

winds will settle in. Tomorrow morning, at the risk of some mist

patches, and it will also be quite cloudy throughout the day. With the

cloud, temperatures will stay around 14 or 15 degrees as a

maximum, but the winds will start to strengthen tomorrow. The winds

will be coming in from the northeast. There could be some rain

For the surf, it is not huge. There could be a 1 ft cleaner way, but it

will get messy as the day picks up. It will be rather wet for Saturday

and Wednesday for a time as well. Some dry were there are round on

Sunday and some brightness on Monday, with a small chance of a

And a quick look ahead to breakfast tomorrow morning. We will be

hearing about the ministerial elections and rather the rules --