Final piece of East Renfrewshire’s nursery expansion complete

Overlee Family Centre, in Clarkston, welcomed children through its doors last week as the last of six new nursery facilities to open.

The state-of-the-art facility, which will operate for 50 weeks of the year, provides large play rooms, a quieter rest zone area, a baking area for the children and dining space.

The facilities also allow children to take part in a range of outdoor activities, with a boot room, toilets accessible from the outside area and plenty of outdoor spaces to explore, as well as the wider opportunities provided by being located within Overlee Park.

With a capacity for up to 120 local children, the new facility also has an area for use by the community and changing rooms for community sport, which replaces the dilapidated park pavilion, which has now been demolished.

Councillor Alan Lafferty, convener for Education and Equalities, said: “We have made a significant investment in providing these fantastic new facilities, which will now provide local children with access to a wonderful learning environment.

"Our expansion plan is much more than just facilities though, as we have also invested heavily in our staff and training to ensure that everything is in place to offer a truly excellent experience for all..”

Overlee Family Centre head teacher Anne Marie Castro added: “It’s so exciting to be at Overlee Family Centre right from the very beginning.

"I’m passionate about early years education and I love seeing children develop at this very earliest stage of their learning journey.

"The new facility will provide us with fantastic opportunities for learning, with the woods right on our doorstep and, of course, the bat house – which I’m sure the

children will be fascinated with.

"The extension of hours across early years will give us more opportunity to really get to know all the children and provide activities to really stretch their imaginations.”

In addition to the Overlee facility, the new nurseries which previously opened are a replacement for Glenwood Family Centre, two new centres within the grounds of

Busby and Eaglesham primaries, a new nursery class at Cross Arthurlie Primary and Crookfur Family Centre.