Motto | Ad vitam ("For life") |
---|---|
Established | 1877 |
Type | Independent day and boarding school |
Headmaster | Dr Michael Carslaw |
Founders | Professors from the University of St Andrews |
Location |
The Pends St Andrews Fife KY16 9QJ Scotland 56°20′20″N 2°47′25″W / 56.3390°N 2.7904°WCoordinates: 56°20′20″N 2°47′25″W / 56.3390°N 2.7904°W |
Local authority | Fife |
Students | 550~ |
Gender | Coeducational |
Ages | 5–18 |
Website | www.stleonards-fife.org |
St Leonards School, formerly St Leonards and St Katharines School, is an independent school founded by the University of St Andrews in the nineteenth century. It is located in St Andrews, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland, today situated on one site in private grounds, just south of the town's historic cathedral and within the walls of the medieval Priory. Although originally established in 1877 by University of St Andrews professors and their wives amid the increased demand for women's education, the school is now fully co-educational, taking boys and girls aged 5 to 18, with the option of boarding from age 12. In 2005, The Sunday Times named St Leonards its "Scottish Independent School of the Year".
St Leonards has approximately 530 pupils between the ages of 5 1⁄2 and 18 St Leonards was one of the first schools in Scotland to offer the IB Diploma Programme and is the only one in the country to have an all-IB Sixth Form.
The school was established in 1877 by the St Andrews School for Girls Company. Madeline Daniell, the educationalist and campaigner for women's right to higher education, was one of two founding secretaries of the Company.
Dame Louisa Lumsden was appointed the School's first Headmistress in 1877. The belief of the School was that "a girl should receive an education that is as good as her brother's, if not better." In 1999 St Leonards Sixth Form and St Katharines Prep School opened their doors to boys for the first time; the school soon became completely co-educational.
St Katharines School was the original prep school of St Leonards, making full use of the campus and facilities while retaining a degree of autonomy. In March 2002 it was announced that the prep school would be relocated to the main building and renamed St Leonards Junior and Middle Schools. Following a further announcement in March 2005, St Leonards junior and middle schools merged with New Park School, also located in St Andrews, operating as one unit under the name St Leonards-New Park. In June 2011 it was announced that the junior school would be known in future as St Leonards Junior School. At the same time, work commenced on a £2.5m redevelopment of the junior school.