Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Aberdeenshire Council launches nursery expansion to accommodate near doubling of childcare hours

Laurence Findlay, Aberdeenshire Council's director of education and Gillian Owen, education committee chairwoman, with children at the new Fishermoss School nursery.
Laurence Findlay, Aberdeenshire Council's director of education and Gillian Owen, education committee chairwoman, with children at the new Fishermoss School nursery.

Scores of refurbished or newly-built nursery facilities have opened across Aberdeenshire amid a dramatic expansion of childcare.

As children across the north-east enjoy their first day of the new school term, many are beginning their learning journey at one of the local authority’s 70 revamped or new buildings.

The works coincide with the so-called 1140 expansion of early learning and childcare (ELC).

From this week, the statutory childcare entitlement in Scotland increases from 600 hours a year to 1,140.

30 hours a week statutory childcare

This equates to 30 hours a week if taken during term time.

The near-doubling of hours was originally intended for August 2020, but was paused to allow local authorities to focus on responding to the pandemic.

The expanded hours are available at both council settings and funded providers, such as private nurseries, childminders and playgroups.

Fishermoss Primary School in Portlethen is one of four Aberdeenshire Council schools to benefit from a brand new nursery building.

The new facility cost £1.8 million. It meets the highest standards of ELC worldwide.

Fishermoss nursery kids Lucas, Kevin and Darcie.

Fishermoss head teacher Margaret Ferguson said: “We’re really looking forward to welcoming the children back to school and nursery as the new term begins.

“The state-of-the-art nursery is a fantastic place for children to learn and play, and for staff to work in.”

As part of the design process, a dedicated project team looked at examples and research from across the globe.

40,000 Shire kids back at school and nursery

Laurence Findlay, director of education and children’s services at Aberdeenshire Council, liked the work.

He said it was “brilliant to see children now enjoying these facilities.”

He added: “We are really pleased to be welcoming more than 40,000 children and young people back to our schools and early years settings today.

“The Aberdeenshire Primary School Building Brief has set a standard for all new primary school building projects across the local area. It is an ecited as xample of best practice across Scotland.

“This work builds on that, with specific emphasis on ensuring our early years settings provide the best possible environment.”

‘World class’

Gillian Owen, chairwoman of the council’s education committee, said: “Colleagues across our early years settings have been raring to go with the 1140 expansion of early learning and childcare.

Wynter, Darcie, Charlotte at the new Fishermoss School nursery.

“It is fantastic to see it in action now, right across Aberdeenshire.

“The facilities here at Fishermoss are second-to-none and testament to our world class estates team and their close working with staff, families, contractors and of course feedback from children themselves.

“We’re really pleased with all of the work done through this extensive programme. This will continue to benefit children across Aberdeenshire for generations to come.”

Brand new buildings have also opened at Gordon Primary School Nursery, New Machar School Nursery and Dales Park School Nursery.

A host of refurbishments have also taken place, with transformational upgrades at Strichen, New Deer, Clerkhill, Portsoy, Portlethen, Banchory, Ellon and Kellands school nurseries among others.

More from the Schools and Family team

‘Life is for living’: Cancer survivor waves son off for first day at school

Back to school: Huge Lossie family prepare for big day

Pupils could be in used PE kit all day under Covid rules

This article originally appeared on the Evening Express website. For more information, read about our new combined website.