20/09/2013 BBC Channel Islands News

Good evening. Parents fight back — anger at plans to close two Guernsey

primary schools. It would have made life difficult for the children. Why

would the education give a dam? Open the door to skilled workers —

the calls from business leaders to boost Jersey's economy.

And where can you find at first hand a Skullsplitter and a Bobby Dazzler.

I will tell you later in the programme.

Good evening. Parents have reacted angrily to news two primary schools

in Guernsey could close. Under Education's plans, St

Sampson's Infants would shut next year, and St Andrews Primary the

year after. It's not the first time the schools have faced the threat of

closure, and parents intend to put up a fight again. As Penny

Elderfield reports. Lessons as usual for pupils at St

Sampson's Infants. For the parents though, it's time to start

campaigning. And if one word could sum up how many feel today on

hearing the news this school could close next September, it's...

Gutted. Not really much else that can explain it. He hasn't even done

a whole day. Why men and we told this would happen? We could have

sent him to eight different school. They didn't want people to do that

because it would make life difficult for them. Never mind making it

difficult for the children. For St Andrews Primary the plan is to shut

it gradually by 2015. It is very disappointing that we are again

facing closures. We have got to focus on the needs of our children

and continue to ensure we offer the best education possible. The problem

Education faces is that empty seats still cost money and there are more

than 500 surplus places across the Island's schools. And it's estimated

closing St Sampson's Infants, and St Andrews could save up to £800,000 a

year. But the department says it's not just about the money as there

are benefits to moving to just having bigger schools which take two

or three forms each year. If you are going to close the skills you have

to think about... If you look at the UK there are closures going on all

the time. You don't close their larger skills because for all sorts

of reasons, you actually get better outcomes. But that means looking at

the numbers — others could be in threat further down the line. Forest

Primary and La Houguette are all on the list to be looked at in years to

come. And the Island's Catholic schools could be merged. But for St

Sampson's and St Andrews this isn't the first time they've overcome the

threat of closure. So why will this time be any different? I can't

predict any more than you can. There will be a lively debate and it will

be intense. We will know the answer on the 1st of November at the

latest. Education is expecting parents to make a bit of noise about

this. And from talking to them here today, that's exactly what they're

going to get. Well lots of comment from you on

this one, as you'd expect, on our Facebook pages. Darren Lilley

writes, "This is everybody's chance who are against this to speak to

their Deputies and let's see how they listen to you." Alexander Cross

says, "You know what, when an island like Guernsey can't keep enough

schools open things are getting pretty dire!" And this one from

Josephine Reeve — "There are plenty of schools in Guernsey! Too many

really, there is so much room for rationalisation." Well, thanks for

those and keep them coming in. In other news today, EasyJet has

been in Guernsey to discuss flying to the island. The airline bought

Flybe's Gatwick slots and is starting up flights from the London

airport to Jersey. They say they've been assessing Guernsey Airport as

part of their on—going consideration of operating flights to the island.

Flybe is axing the Channel Islands to Gatwick routes next March.

A 32—year—old Guernsey man has been given a three year jail sentence for

possession with the intent to supply a class B drug. Daniel Edward Lilley

pleaded guilty to the offences at the Royal Court. Lilley was found

with a total quantity of cannabis resin with a street value of between

£33,000 and £42,000. He was arrested in March.

A new company is planning to launch a freight service between the

Channel Islands and the UK. CI Lines has announced it's launching a

load—on, load—off freight service to replace Huelin Renouf which fell

into administration. CI Lines hopes to use one of the vessels previously

used by Huelin Renouf. Business leaders in Jersey are

calling for a review of immigration controls to allow an influx of more

skilled workers. It comes as The Financial Times publishes a special

report into the island's economy. The five page spread suggests the

key to growth is to encourage different types of business to the

island. Earlier I was joined in the studio by Kevin Keen from the

Institute of Directors which is calling for this review. I asked him

what type of workers he thinks are needed? We want to see the economy

diversify. We want new sectors and editable sector is the one that

everyone is focusing on. We have to allow some new people to come in to

get that sector going. Why can't local people do those jobs and grow

those industries? Most employers, perfect get local people, they would

but then reality is they need new skills. What are the sticking points

in the current system? I think the problem as it risks being hijacked

by election year and white politicians focusing on the topline

number rather than the working population. We have an ageing

population which is part of the reason. We are all living longer

which is great news but it means that there will be less people doing

the work. If we focus on their working population rather than the

topline, that is what we need to look at. Kevin Keen speaking to me

earlier. You're watching the BBC in the

Channel Islands. Later in Spotlight with Justin and Natalie, beef and

gravy replaces raspberry ripple at this ice cream parlour which caters

for dogs. Guernsey FC's FA Cup tie with Dover

Athletic will now take place at Lancing Football Club near Brighton.

The match was due to be played in Guernsey but clashed with a Guernsey

Rugby Club fixture. Kick—off is at three o'clock next Saturday.

Jersey Rugby Club face Bedford at St Peter tomorrow. The island side will

be hoping they can improve on a 41—27 loss against Plymouth Albion

last weekend. The game starts at 3pm tomorrow and there'll be coverage on

BBC Radio Jersey. Real ale enthusiasts have the chance

to try more than 100 different beers and ciders in Jersey this weekend.

The Jersey Beer Festival attracted around 1,000 islanders on its first

day yesterday. Our reporter Amy Harris has been to find out what all

the fuss is about. Where can you find a Top Sy, a Bobby

Dazzler and a Risky Blonde? Well, they're all ales available here at

the Jersey Beer Festival. And hundreds are expected to descend on

this tented bar this weekend, including this lot who popped by for

a lunchtime tipple. I am not really a hero drinker so I have not got to

the point when I will try anything yet but I will later. I like to try

different beers from different parts of the country. Lager is quite

boring. Over 8000 people are expected to turn up this weekend.

Jon le Sueur's one of the organisers. So, Jon, what do you

think draws the crowds, it's not just a pub in a tent, is it? It is

about the choice we offer. The explosion of real ale in the UK has

led to many more brands. The beers we have here you will not see any

local pubs. Pouring the pints this lunchtime, we met Ian Ferguson. He

says despite the exotic incomers, the local brews are going down well

with tourists. They have a different market. Many overseas visitors and

it is holding its own. So whether your tipple is a Fox, a

Skullsplitter or a First Hand, the advice is to get down here early as

the favourites might run out — I might just have a little taste now

then. Could I have a keep calm please?

Let's see if those are real ale drinkers will be sheltering in the

tent or enjoying the sunshine. There will be eight good deal of

cloud around over at the weekend. It is this week and warm front moving

east words that will usher in the low clouds and coastal fog. As we

look towards Sunday at us a similar picture but Monday could turn right.

This evening, as the night wears on eventually we will see an increasing

amount of low cloud from the West. We will find that by tomorrow

morning there could be patchy drizzle about. A dam start to the

day. Tomorrow it is all about how things brighten up, or not as the

case may be. I think we will continue with a lot of Mark. At

least the cloud base shows signs of breaking from time to time to give

way to brighter spells. Temperatures tomorrow, about 18 or 19 Celsius. If

the Sun breaks through it could rise to 20. A picture on Sunday but with

drier air on Monday and Tuesday we will see more Sunday, temperatures

getting up to the low 20s. Join me again at ten 20 5pm

tonight. —— 10:25pm tonight. around 550 serving personnel and

veterans took part in the parade to celebrate the 50th anniversary of

the Naval service been granted the Freedom of the City.

At 1pm sharp, the first round of a 13 gun salute echoed across the

city. The band of her Majesty 's MAC Royal Marines led the parade from

the Royal Citadel. Today's event as a celebration of 50 years since it

was granted the Freedom of the City. It gives them the privilege to march

them with colours flying and bayonets fixed. Back in September

1960 three, 1000 spa so now exercise that right, a little over 50% were

on parade today. The Freedom of the City was given to the Plymouth

command, we are now not Plymouth command, it recognises the changing

shape. You'll notice there are Royal Marines here, it is recognising the

whole of the Naval service. The units marched down Royal Parade

and around Derry's crossed before assembling in Armada Way.

They were inspected by flag officer Ray Admiral Penn key and the Lord

Mayor of Plymouth before the presentation of a silver casket

reaffirming the Freedom of the City. It is an honour for me to accept on

behalf of the officers, sailors and Royal Marines of the Naval service

based here in Plymouth, the freedom of this great city, conferred again

some 50 years after it was originally granted to our forebears.

It is not often that we see such a big parade. They all turned out

looking so smart, just as the Navy would, we are so ploughed of them

here. I have lived here all of my life. Plymouth does it so well. I

think it is a wonderful day for Plymouth. We owe a lot to the Navy

and I think they owe quite a bit to us. The close association between

Plymouth and the Royal Navy has endured for hundreds of years, both

the city and the senior service have seen their share of tough times.

This honour may be ceremonial, it is also being raised as a signal to

those in power at the relationship is still as strong as ever.

There's a very special visitor to Torbay this weekend. HMS Protector

is anchored up and members of the public are being invited out to sea

to have a look around and see what life is like on board. But as John

Ayres explains, this naval ship is not like any other.

You may not recognise it at first glance. She is read because she is a

icebreaker. The colour makes her easily seen. The protector is the

ice patrol vessel. We primarily go to Antarctica, but it could be any

ice. Primarily, Antarctica where we are there to provide a sovereign

presence in the territories. We support the British Antarctic survey

and also conduct of research and survey to improve safety navigation.

She is anchored up here and members of the public are being invited to

go aboard and meet the crew. HMS protector is doing operational sea

training along the south coast and helping with recruiting. The ship is

a different colour and the crew were different kit. —— were different

kit. It is a bit of a change. It is hard

at first, but the community on board is fantastic and everyone is in the

same situation and in the same boat. Everyone helps each other out. In

the galley, preparations are being made a cocktail party for invited

guests. Members of the public will be able to see what goes on for

free, but it is ticket only, available from centre in Torquay.

It will be interesting. Time for the sport now and we go

back to the Tour of Britain and Dave's been at the finish of the

Devon stage at Haytor. The Devon stage was won by Simon

Yates of team Great Britain with Bradley Wiggins just retaining the

overall leadership. From Cornwall and from Devon we will be joined by

Mr Barker and Chris from team Great Britain. How did you get on? I had

an easy day, I didn't feel great and we have been doing a key role, so

Ian Wilkinson was in the break, great farce, he made sure that

everyone knows we're the race. I just wrote the finish. What was the

problem? It was too fast. I track too fast? Were the best domestic

—based team and that is a big achievement for us. Everyone is

enjoying the race. Absolutely. You are with your young son, Chris, what

was its like to day? It was a stage that I was a little apprehensive of.

I went to the stage in Sidmouth and knew what was this stage. I knew

that I looked myself there, I could be a key to the finish. I am more of

a sprinter, so I am looking forward to the weekend where we have flatter

stages. What was the king of the mountain like? We did it in training

not so long ago. It was just as bad then as it was today. It is tough.

It is a long way to the top. It makes you feel a lot hotter than it

really is. There is nothing to cool you down. We wish you the very best

of luck. Thank you for joining us. We'll Yeovil Town become the first

team to beat Queens Park Rangers this season? The championship

leaders visit Somerset with wins under their belt. The Glovers

haven't with a terrific jolt Grant goal. It'll be interesting at St

James's Park next city face Newport County who have also started well.

Plymouth Argyle have a difficult game against Scunthorpe United.

Torquay manager is desperate for his first home win of the season when

Cheltenham town provide the obstacle.

The weekend rugby kicks after night with both the Cornish Pirates and

Plymouth Albion looking to follow up their wins.

Plymouth Albion are favourites to beat Moseley. After getting their

first win of the new season, Exeter Chiefs go to London Irish on

Saturday with wealth —— Welsh international hoping to add to his

tries from last weekend. Finally, you may remember we feature

him recently in training to swim the English Channel for the children's

Hospice, he has been given the green light to go from Dover this Sunday.

The 24—year—old hopes to complete the achievement in 12 hours. We wish

her the best of luck. We certainly do, because she has

tried before, but hopefully everything will go well this time.

Good luck Jazz. What is your favourite flavour of ice cream? When

I was on holiday, I had high Nico ice cream which was very nice.

How about roast chicken with gravy, cheese and dog biscuits and beef and

gravy? No, that's does not appeal to me. ——

that's does. An ice—cream maker in Cornwall has come up with the new

flavours for dogs and as Eleanor Parkinson's been finding out, they

are lapping them up. Mabel tucks into her favourite ice

cream, roast chicken flavour, her owner came up with the idea of

canine ice cream, Mabel can choose between various flavours. The ice

cream is made by Denise's son who learned how to make it in Italy.

We wanted to have ice cream that would be gentle on the dark's

tummies, so we thought we would swap the clotted cream and the rich cream

or yoghurt. From the restaurant, we had gourmet Roast beef and they

always have a stock running of marrow and bones, so we folded that

in between the ice cream. The customers are queueing up, first in

line with this greyhound. The money race from the ice cream system to a

charity which we home stocks. We cannot thank her enough. It is

hugely not also appeals to all dog owners, but it couldn't have come at

a better time for us. It is a perfect day for an ice cream and I

am going to take this type of cheese and biscuits flavour down to the

beach to see what the dogs there think. Does your doglike ice cream?

What about cheese and biscuit ice cream? Baxter is an immediate ban.

This dog is a little wary at first, but then tucks in.

The Labrador, well, he just dives in and it gets a bit messy. Back at the

ice cream parlour, not surprisingly, the biggest fan is

Mabel. With every flavour on tap, it is a dog's life.

Lots of wagging tails there, it seemed to go down well. Let's have a

look and see if it is ice cream weather this weekend?

A lot of dry weather through the course of the weekend. There will be

some drizzle around. It is worth noting that this dry spell of the

nine high pressure is going to last for a number of days to come with

temperatures on the rise, particularly as we get into the

first part of next week. Let's take a look at the wider view as we go

through the into Saturday. Gets a hill fog

conditions and some coastal low cloud and some patchy drizzle, but

you will notice that signal and the latter half of Saturday for things

to brighten up. On Sunday, things will turn back to square one with

extensive low cloud and more particularly across the southwestern

peninsula is. Through the course of this evening, it has been a fine

enough afternoon for many of you, but that of low cloud spreads in.

You will get hill fog even over moderately high ground and some

patchy drizzle here or there. Things continue, it is going to continue

eastwards through the night and by the time we are through .Mac seven P

M —— 7am tomorrow morning. It will see 14 sources for some, a similar

story out in the Isles of Scilly. Double figures I think that the vast

majority, if not all. It will be quite a clammy start, a lot of low

cloud and coastal fog of high —— will hang on.

Some Southern district around Devon, come further around the

western periphery here, we continue with the low cloud and the fog.

Weather it brightens up will be a matter of some doubt. That will be

reflected in the temperatures. Where it does write an app, you could

quite easily be getting up to 20, maybe even 21 Celsius. Conversely,

more like mid—teens for some. That will be when you're stuck under the

dollar conditions. But you should see some fleeting brightness. We

shall see. Looking beyond that, as we go into Sunday, it is a broadly

similar pattern with dry weather. This area of high pressure into

Monday slips a bit further eastwards and interned the winds will be back.

That means drier air starting to feed in from that direction out of

France and interned that will start to lift the cloud. For a fair number

of us, it will be more generally sunny by Monday, compared to the

weekend. He is a summary. —— here is a summary. All other smaller less in

the same boat as we go through the next few days. Notice the

brightening up as we go into next week. I would be surprised if we see

some places with the low 20s. Now a chance to remind you that

we've launched our search for our Unsung Sporting Hero of 2013. Do you

know someone who voluntarily gives up their time to encourage others to

participate in sport? If you do, now is the time to nominate them for the

BBC Sports Unsung Hero Award which is in its tenth year. There are two

ways of nominating — you can either go to our website

bbc.co.uk/unsunghero or you can call 0845 308 8000 to ask for a

nomination form to be posted to you. Calls cost up to 5p/min from most

landlines and calls from mobiles may cost considerably more. Full terms

and conditions for the awards are on the website.

We will leave you tonight with a look back at the parade through

Plymouth and the band of Her Majesty's Royal Marines. Goodnight.