The long-awaited new Madras College campus is on schedule to welcome staff and pupils in August despite a Covid-19 outbreak.
Fife Council has released drone footage which reveals the progress made on the new £58m St Andrews school.
Building on the Langlands site, which will replace current campuses in South Street and Kilrymont Road, had been paused at the weekend following a series of coronavirus cases.
BAM Construction, who are building the state-of-the-art school to accommodate 1,450 pupils, confirmed two members of the management team tested positive and an on-site worker had also produced a positive test.
One manager had not been on site since Friday, it is understood. Several members of staff have been asked to quarantine and the school has had a deep clean.
Mark Slattery, spokesman of BAM Construction, said: “There is one case of a person in our supply chain on site at Madras College who had a Covid-19 test. As a result of that a few others in the same team were told, under test and protect, to self-isolate.
“In addition two of our management team tested positive last week – one having not been on site since the previous Friday. This person believes they may have shown symptoms following shopping last weekend. The rest of our management team has been asked to test themselves.”
On schedule
However, work on the eagerly anticipated school is ongoing and still on track to open after the summer holidays.
The three-storey building will have all-weather pitches and new access routes including a footpath and cycle path.
The bird’s-eye view from the drone footage shows the scale of the work completed since construction started in July 2019.
Construction of the school building had faced previous setbacks from the pandemic as work was temporarily halted last March before restarting in June.
Fife Council has said building work such as brickwork walls, external doors, windows and roofing is expected to be complete by the middle of February.
Work at Buchanan Gardens, which includes a new footpath, has now been complete alongside the installation of toucan crossings at Hepburn Gardens and Buchanan Gardens.
The installation of fixed furniture and the fit out of classrooms has also commenced.
Safety precautions
Mr Slattery also said all Covid-19 protocols and safety measures were being adhered to by construction staff.
“Madras College is operating in line with standard operating protocols for Covid-19. This includes working from home whenever possible, social distancing, sanitising, using deep cleaning, continuously cleaning communal areas, and adopting one-way systems for example.
“We are paused work on the site for one day for a further extended deep clean and over last weekend; a proactive action on our part.
“We maintain ongoing checks on how sites are operating, ensuring that they are in line with industry guidelines, tracking the numbers of people who may have coronavirus and liaising with health bodies as required. The site team reinforces these procedures at repeat safety briefings held frequently.”
Shelagh McLean, head of education and children’s services at Fife Council, confirmed last week that the local authority was aware of the positive cases.
The new campus is part of the £250 million Building Fife’s Future Programme which has seen five secondary schools, including Madras, and two primary schools built in the region over the last 10 years.
4/4 👀 Looking into the sports hall @Madrascollege There are viewing galleries from the first floor. #Madras2021 pic.twitter.com/J2AkW2fofQ
— Madras College (@Madrascollege) October 6, 2020
