In 1949, following the school's return to the island, Melrose, a listed Georgian building adjacent to the school site was acquired and converted into a preparatory school. Following damage to the school building following a fire in 1962, the school was formally taken over in 1963 by the States of Guernsey, who approved the development of a new school building on the Grange. The foundation stone for the building was laid by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, who declared, "the modern woman needs to have the highest education available to her if she is to take her place in the modern world" and wished the school a successful future.