Teaching pioneer honoured with blue plaque

A teacher who opened Guernsey’s first school for disabled children has been honoured with a blue plaque.

Jessie de Garis founded the Floraville School in 1948, in a terraced house next to Vauvert School in St Peter Port.

The plaque was unveiled by the Bailiff and children from Le Rondin School – the island’s current special needs primary school.

A spokesperson for the States said Mrs de Garis “transformed the lives” of hundreds of children and her “legacy [lived] on today”.

Mrs de Garis later became headteacher of Valnord school, from 1953 to 1976, before becoming Guernsey’s first full-time educational psychologist.

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