Campus update – five years on

A Preparatory School student places a flower on the earthquake memorial at the five years on service.

The recent earthquake memorial held at St Andrew’s gave us time to pause and reflect on how the events of 22 February 2011 impacted on us as individuals, families, the College, our communities, and the wider region. While the sad memories from the disaster are still keenly felt, there are positive memories and new growth and developments to have come from it too. We can take pride in the fact the College is stronger than ever before. We have new buildings such as the boarding houses and Gym 2 to enjoy, with construction of the stunning new Chapel on track for its September opening. Historic Strowan House has been returned to its former glory after significant strengthening and rebuilding works. At St Andrew’s we were fortunate to lose only a few buildings, and have been able to maintain a strong campus throughout the recovery. Safety has been the biggest focus of the repair, strengthening and replacement programme. This is evident in the incredible amount of ground improvement works undertaken to ensure the longevity of the new boarding houses, Gym 2 and Chapel. Some of the other major projects completed over the last couple of years include construction of the new Askin Pipe Band Centre, Outdoor Education and maintenance buildings and new counselling offices; the creation of a Dance Studio upstairs in the existing Gymnasium; repairs and renovations to the Music Suite incorporating a new recording studio; the conversion of the MiniGym to a Fitness Centre; and the construction of sports offices alongside. Landscaping works between the two gymnasiums and through to the quad are now well underway and two additional netball/ tennis courts will also be built on campus this year. There are many other exciting projects in the planning stages such as the new Junior School and Pre-school development due to commence construction later this year. Planning will soon get underway on stage two of the Sports and Cultural Centre, the next in a long line of highly anticipated projects. St Andrew’s is committed to providing safe, robust, high quality facilities, which enhance students’ learning opportunities and also give them a feeling of reassurance and security.