GSLP-Liberals-Manifesto-2019

uilt in this period will be St Joseph’s
First and Middle schools which were
developed by the GSLP between 1988
and 1996. This is a legacy which we
are very, very proud of.
THE NEW ST MARY’S
We will provide a new St Mary’s School
in the area of Town Range. We will
complete the new St Mary’s School
early in 2021. The current building is
proving too small for the purposes of
the catchment area. Additionally, it has
not been possible to stop the water
ingress problem the school faces from
water flows from the Upper Town and
Upper Rock area. It is essential that the
pupils, teachers and staff of this school
are properly provided for in a new
facility. For that reason, we have agreed
in principle to provide this school in
a plot further south on Town Range
itself. We will, in the interim, also take
all necessary steps to minimise and,
where possible, eradicate or manage
the various difficulties being endured
at this old school.
THE NEW HEBREW SCHOOL
Once St Mary’s has moved to its new
location, we will move the existing
Hebrew School out of its current site
on Bomb House Lane to the site of
a totally refurbished old St Mary’s.
The building will need to be totally
gutted and renewed, but the site is
perfect and able to accommodate the
numbers which, in consultation with
the Managing Board of the Jewish
Community, we believe we will need
to cater for in coming decades.
THE NEW ST MARTIN’S
The GSLP Liberals were the only party
committed to a new St Martin’s School
at the last election. We have already
started work on the new school. We
expect it will be completed by the end
of this year and will be in use by the first
quarter of next year. This school has
been designed with the most modern
standards and facilities in mind for the
pupils of St Martin’s. It will be a huge
step forward for a school that has now
totally outgrown its current home. The
current site of St Martin’s will become
a park for the North District.
94 ...aspire to the best Gibraltar
THE NEW BISHOP FITZGERALD &
GOVERNOR’S MEADOW
These two new schools will be ready
for occupation at the start of next year.
The demolition of the existing facilities
will have to be done sensitively to
ensure that any asbestos is properly
contained. The designs are being
delivered, as with the other magnificent
new schools we have already opened,
in close consultation with the teaching
body of these schools.
SCHOOL UPGRADES
At the same time we will upgrade
those schools that will not be moving
to the new standards that we have
set in educational establishments in
Gibraltar. This means that works will
be undertaken outside of term time at
both St Joseph’s schools to ensure that
the children who attend those schools
benefit from the same facilities as
those in the new schools. Already,
we are retro-fitting air conditioning to
these schools.
SCHOOL MAINTENANCE
We will ensure that all the schools
have a full professional maintenance
programme and facilities management
so that they remain in excellent
condition throughout their projected
lifespan.
TEACHING AND LEARNING
We will continue to evolve our teaching
and learning, incorporating aspects
of the world famous Finnish model
in order to arrive at the best possible
education system for Gibraltar, with an
emphasis on motivating children and
young people to improve and maximise
their abilities rather than compete with
their friends and peers.
PROJECT BASED LEARNING
We will build on the success of projectbased
learning and consolidate it into
our schools.
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
We will continue to promote
environmental education including
climate change education throughout
the school curriculum and will train
teachers specifically in Climate
Change.
VOCATIONAL SUBJECTS
We will expand the range of vocational
options available at the Secondary
schools and the College, providing
opportunities for non-academic
subjects and alternative vocational
routes for other subjects such as
music and performing arts and Digital
Technology.
EDUCATIONAL TRAINEESHIPS
We will provide the new educational
traineeships in a wide range of
subjects including hairdressing,
entrepreneurship, hostelry and
catering, computing, and the more
traditional trades.
TABLET BASED LEARNING
We will, within one academic cycle
complete the roll-out of the tabletbased
learning programme.
SPECIAL NEEDS
We will continue to provide for children
with special needs in an inclusive
manner, with full time SENCOs,
while having additional appropriate
learning support facilities in every
school. We will expand this provision
as necessary to be able to ensure that
all children with educational needs,
including those with high performance
capabilities, are able to attain their full
potential.
DEAF TEACHING
We will recruit and train a teacher for
the deaf and will provide a trained
Learning Support Assistant for the
deaf when required.
ARABIC & MANDARIN
We will introduce the teaching of
Arabic & Mandarin as an option at the
College and the Comprehensives.
MENTAL HEALTH IN SCHOOLS
We have added counsellors in our
Comprehensive Schools. We will
continue to build a school model for
supporting mental health, and social
and emotional wellbeing in education.
We will increase the number of
education psychologists by an
additional two posts and will increase
the number of school counsellors
from four to six. We will continue
and enhance training of teachers on
positive mental health.