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| Motto | Ad Vitam |
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| Established | 1877 |
| Type | Independent Boarding School |
| Founder | Louisa Lumsden |
| Headmaster | Michael Carslaw, BSc, PhD, MBA |
| Location | St Andrews, Fife, Scotland |
| Website | www.stleonards-fife.org |
St Leonards School and Sixth Form College, formerly St Leonards School for Girls, 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.
Although originally established in 1877 by Dame Louisa Lumsden amid the increased demand for women's education, the school is now fully co-educational, taking boys and girls from from the ages of 4 to 18, with the option of boarding from the age of 12.
In 2005, The Sunday Times named St Leonards its "Scottish Independent School of the Year".[1]
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Overview
St Leonards has approximately 450 pupils between the ages of 4 and 18.[2] Pupils are assigned to one of the four teams, which replaced the traditional house system. Each team is named after a Scottish Hebridean island:
| Harris | Lewis | Mull | Skye |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yellow | Red | Green | Blue |
The Sixth Form College was one of the first in Scotland to offer the IB Diploma Programme.
History
St Leonards and St Katharines School for Girls was founded in 1877 by Louisa Lumsden in the belief that "a girl should receive an education that is as good as her brother's, if not better."[3] 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 and St Leonards-New Park
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. However, 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.[4] Following a further announcement in March 2005 [5], 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.
Lacrosse at St Leonards
The school is believed to be the first in the world to have played women's lacrosse.[6]
St Leonards Governing Council
The school's administration is overseen by a group of citizens (some of whom include business leaders and British nobility.) This Council makes primary financial and major personnel decisions (headmaster/headmistress.)
Current Members of the Governing Council
Mr James Murray, MA LLB (CHAIRMAN)
Mr Hamish Allridge, MA Dip Ed Cert Ed
Mr Robert M Burns
Mr Roy de C Chapman, MA
Mrs Philippa Davie, BSc
Lady Fraser of Carmylie, MSc
Mr Bruce Johnstone CA
Dr Brian Lang, MA
Mr James Ogilvy, MA MBA
Mr Martin Passmore, MA FRSA
Mrs Carol Smith
Mr Aubyn Stewart-Wilson, BSc
Headmistresses and Headmasters
For the first 124 years, (when the school was an all-girls school) the Head of St Leonards was always a woman.
- 1877 – 1882 Dame Louisa Lumsden
- 1882 – 1896 Dame Frances Dove
- Mrs Bentinck Smith
- Dr Janet Macaulay
- Miss Martha Hamilton
- 1988 – 2000 Mrs Mary James[7] (Married to Mr Lawrence James)
- 2001 – June 2003 Mrs Wendy Bellars
- August 2003 – April 2008 Mr Robert A J Tims [8]
- April 2008 – Dr Michael Carslaw[9]
Curriculum
St Leonards has largely followed the English, rather than the Scottish education system. Pupils take GCSEs rather than Scottish Standard Grades. Sixth Form College students follow the International Baccalaureate Diploma programme.
St Leonards is an IB World School, one of only three schools in Scotland to have attained this status.[10]
Notable seniors
- See also St Leonards Seniors.
Former Pupils of St Leonards are known as St Leonards School Seniors[11], as is the style at the sister schools Wycombe Abbey [12] and Benenden School[13].
- Betty Archdale[14] – early barrister; pioneer of women's education in Australia
- Elspeth Barker – author of "O, Caledonia!", formerly married to poet George Barker
- Wilhelmina Barns-Graham – leading abstract painter, based in St Ives, Cornwall
- Hazel Byford, Baroness Byford DBE – Shadow Minister for Food and Rural Affairs
- Susan Mary Dobson – pioneering businesswoman and entrepreneur
- Betty Emslie-Smith – late Headmistress, Oxenfoord Castle School, Oxenfoord Castle, Midlothian
- Martha Fairlie – BBC Scotland education correspondent
- Jackie Forster (Jacqueline Moir Mackenzie) – actress, TV personality, feminist and lesbian campaigner
- Louisa Garrett Anderson – medical pioneer, social reformer, suffragist
- Fiona Gaunt – television actor, mother of Genevieve Gaunt
- Gillian Glover – restaurant reviewer with The Scotsman
- Kitty McKane Godfree – Wimbledon Ladies' Singles Champion, 1924 and 1926
- Margaret Haig Thomas (Lady Rhondda) – founder of political magazine Time and Tide
- Betty Harvie Anderson (Baroness Skrimshire) – Conservative politician and peer
- Anji Hunter – former Director of Government Relations, 10 Downing Street
- Rev Dr Mary Levison (née Lusk) – pioneer of women's ministry, Church of Scotland
- Lindsay Mackie – journalist with The Guardian, married to Alan Rusbridger
- Kathleen Ollerenshaw DBE – mathematician and educationalist
- Tessa Ransford – founder of the Scottish Poetry Library
- Jane Renfrew (née Ewbank) – archaeologist and author, married to Colin Renfrew
- Rosabelle Sinclair – honoured in U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame, Baltimore
- Dr. Alice Stewart (née Naish) – pioneering epidemiologist
- Stella Tennant – supermodel
- Penny Thomson – film producer and former Director of Edinburgh International Film Festival
- Fiona Watson – UN official killed in the Canal Hotel bombing, Baghdad
- Freda White – peace-campaigner, journalist, travel-writer
See also
References
- ^ Scottish Independent School of the Year, Sunday Times, November 20, 2005
- ^ ISBI Profile
- ^ Tatler Schools Guide 2006
- ^ Prep School Plans for the Future
- ^ St Andrews schools to merge, The Courier, March 2005
- ^ History of Lacrosse at St Leonards, official website
- ^ Crawford, Stuart. "Stuart Crawford Associates Publications, St Leonards". Retrieved on 2007-08-04.
- ^ Rankin, Mike (10 May 2007). "ST LEONARDS HEAD TO RETIRE NEXT YEAR", St Andrews Citizen. Retrieved on 2007-08-04.
- ^ School ready to welcome Carslaw family
- ^ Case study of St Leonards School, United Kingdom, International Baccalaureate site
- ^ SLSS,official website
- ^ Wycombe Abbey School Seniors Association
- ^ Benenden Seniors
- ^ Review: The Suffragette's Daughter: Betty Archdale, API Network
External links
- Official homepage
- Tatler School Profile
- Sunday Times Profile
- Good Schools Guide 2005
- The best days of their lives?
