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New Madras College officially celebrates its opening – 10 months after first welcoming pupils

Rector of Madras College Ken Currie,  PR Captain Ewan Chanter, Maisie Dury, Head Girl and Cllr Cara Hilton, Spokesperson for Education. DCT/ Mhairi Edwards.
Rector of Madras College Ken Currie, PR Captain Ewan Chanter, Maisie Dury, Head Girl and Cllr Cara Hilton, Spokesperson for Education. DCT/ Mhairi Edwards.

A little under a year since pupils first walked through its doors, the new  Madras College has officially celebrated its opening.

The £55 million campus, located on Bell Brae, first welcomed pupils last August but due to the Covid-19 restrictions no official celebration was held to mark the milestone.

Now, 10 months on, pupils and staff were finally able to host guests for a special event thanking those involved in helping the new school become a reality.

PR captain Ewan Chanter, head of education and children services Shelagh Mclean, rector of Madras College Ken Currie, Councillor Cara Hilton, spokesperson for education, and head girl Maisie Dury. Picture by Mhairi Edwards/DCT Media

Madras College was previously divided across two sites, with S1 to S3 pupils at the Kilrymont campus and S4 to S6 at South Street, in the heart of St Andrews.

The Bell Brae campus, however, is home to all year groups and pupils of all ages took part in the opening ceremony.

The audience were treated to the junior drama group preforming a mix of scenes from  Shakespeare plays, as well as musical performances from the school’s senior choir and percussion ensemble.

The Madras College senior choir perform. Mhairi Edwards/DCT Media

Head girl Maisie Dury helped host the event, as well as performing a scene from George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion.

She said: “I think we’ve had a really successful day. I’m glad it’s finally happened after just under a year (since we moved in).

Head girl Maisie Dury performs in the Advanced Higher Drama Group. Mhairi Edwards/DCT Media

“We are not used to having everyone all in the same building but once we were all settled it was really good having the two schools together.

“I would say it’s definitely more of a school community having everyone here and it’s been a long time coming!”

Stuart Monks and Thomas Robertson perform a cello duet. Mhairi Edwards/DCT Media

The school’s PR captain Ewan Chanter also helped host the opening ceremony and joined Maisie in the performance of Pygmalion.

He spoke of the changes the pupils faced moving into the new campus and the benefits the brand new school has brought.

The junior drama group performing a Shakespeare Mix. Mhairi Edwards/DCT Media

Ewan said: “It was definitely a big change at the start. We were used to only having three year groups in the building at any one time.

“It’s different from what we were used to but having the younger years here, we have learned how to be role models.

“The equipment we have here is beyond what we could have imagined before.”

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