For almost 200 years Madras College has taught the young of St Andrews and around from its historic home in the heart of the town.
Later this month the school bell will ring for the last time at its iconic South Street and Kilrymont Road campuses, before pupils move to a state-of-the-art £55 million new building in August.
Founded in 1833 by the Rev. Dr Andrew Bell, who pioneered the Madras system of education using pupil monitors to help teachers, the school has a rich heritage.
And although it will leave behind the atmospheric architecture of its A-listed South Street campus, which sits around an arched quadrangle, and the unique features of 1960s B-listed Kilrymont campus, the school will take its history and identity with it.
Beloved features of South Street – including the quad, war memorials and an ‘Old Order Changeth’ bronze embedded in the stonework – will be replicated in the new building.
From Kilrymont, Italian handblown glass lights are to be reimagined in an art installation, triptych panels in the assembly hall will be transferred to the new assembly hall and its cherry blossom avenue will be recreated as a tree trail.
Unusual artefacts collected over the last two centuries, including an elephant skull, goat skeleton, old science apparatus and ‘various pickled and petrified things’ from the biology department are being carefully packed for the flit.
Over the past few months, pupils have also been looking back at the story of their school so they can bring it with them.
Heritage committee captain Mary Kennedy, S6, told us: “It’s something that you don’t think about so much day-to-day but as we move on from this building it’s really nice to look back at where we come from.”
As well as researching the different school departments and the achievements of former pupils, the committee explored old catacombs beneath the school quad.
It has also photographed and documented artefacts for display in the new buildings.
Fellow heritage committee captain Ailsa O’Riordan, also S6, described some of their fascinating finds, which included Kipp’s apparatus, a Wheatstone bridge electrical circuit and old chemistry funnels.
The school’s badge and motto Pro Rege et Grege – For King and People – will be retained but a new vision statement and values have been created by pupils under the lead of head person Maisie Russell, S6.
‘We are MADRAS’ stands for mindful, achieving, diverse, respectful, ambitious, successful.
Maisie said: “We wanted to keep the history of the school involved so we kept Pro Rege et Grege and the school badges and we created our new school values looking forward to the new school.”
Describing her pride in studying at Madras College, she said: “It’s unique in the sense that there is so much history in the school.
“Not a lot of people have the opportunity to walk through somewhere as old as the quad everyday to get to their classes.”
Not a lot of people have the opportunity to walk through somewhere as old as the quad everyday to get to their classes.”
Maisie Russell, S6
Other pupils also told us what is has been like to learn in such surroundings and how they feel about the new school.
Katie Bargeton, S5, said it was really good to be in such a historic environment but the new school will be a “complete change” for everyone. She said: “My subjects are mostly science-related and I’m really excited to see how they are going to modify everything in the new school.”
Rafi Reicher-Saleem, also S5, said it was “lovely” to learn in South Street but the new school would have the benefit of new equipment, making it easier to learn.
He said: “It’s going to have really nice sports facilities as well, so I feel that Madras’ sports teams will do a lot better, not having to move between the two schools.”
What will new Madras College be like for pupils?
Sofia Benssassi reckons younger pupils will benefit from having older role models around, and fellow S1 pupil Gabriel Cotter said it would be easier for teachers to be in the one building.
Jack Tasker, in S2, said he “can’t wait” to go the new school, while Max Lindsay, also S2, said he was “ecstatic”, and added: “It will be a brilliant place for us to learn and study.”
Interim rector Avril McNeill has led preparations for the move, which has included working with pupils on how they wanted their heritage reflected in the new build.
She said: “The quad will be sadly missed, maybe not in the snow and the hailstones, but the architectural aspects of the school will be hugely missed; the archways in the quad, the flagstones, just the atmosphere you get walking through the quad.”
However, she described some of the benefits of bringing the school together on one modern campus. The junior and senior schools being apart is a key reason for the current accommodation being rated as poor.
“First to sixth year being together in one building, it’s going to be a real positive in terms of whole school ethos, in terms of leadership and role modelling so that the younger pupils in first, second and third year can see what it’s like once you get into the senior phase of education.
“The biggest positive is going to be the space, the views, the brand new classrooms, the brand new facilities and I know that for the young people it will be undoubtedly be the Wifi, and it will be the digital technology that’s going to be available.”
Kilrymont campus is being sold for redevelopment, while South Street will be taken over by the university and turned into a new school for social sciences, with study and library space.
Read the other reports in our three-part special about the move to the new Madras College.
Madras College: Famous former pupils send best wishes for move to new St Andrews school
