With the school summer holidays fast approaching, the council last week showcased five of its newly refurbished Early Years establishments.

Early Years classes at Springside, Annick, as well as St Bridget’s in Kilbirnie, St Peter’s in Ardrossan, and Gateside, have been refurbished and extended in time for delivering 1140 hours of Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) from August 2021.

The £5.4m refurbishments and extensions include large, modern indoor and outdoor play areas with free-flowing access to the innovative outdoor spaces. The unrestricted flow from indoor to outdoor offers the children the freedom to safely access and use both areas where high quality learning experiences are available for all.

North Ayrshire Council’s ELC capital programme has 42 projects, including 27 refurbishments, 14 extensions, and 1 new build provision. The Council plans will create additional capacity at 41 facilities through its indoor/outdoor learning model and design brief. The approach to undertake refurbishments or extensions across all of our ELC facilities is unique in Scotland and means that children attending all North Ayrshire Council early years establishments benefit from an enhanced learning environment.

So far, 28 of these projects have been completed, 5 at construction stage and 7 further projects are on site or planned for summer works.

After the summer holidays, the Council is set to deliver 1140 hours of ELC in all Council and funded provider centres across North Ayrshire.

To deliver the full 1140 hours for all three and four-year-olds, eligible two-year-olds and to meet the needs of families and carers in North Ayrshire, there will be three models of delivery available.

These have been developed to ensure a range of choice, particularly for working parents, and to provide the option for parents to use more than one childcare provider.

The three models of delivery are available in each locality across North Ayrshire. Model 1 settings are open form 8am to 6pm full year, Model 2 settings from 8.30 to 4.30 over term time for morning and afternoon sessions and Model 3 settings 9.00am – to 3.00pm over term time.

Cllr John Bell, Cabinet Member for Education, said: “It’s fantastic to see the newly refurbished early years classes and centres. The improvements to the facilities are welcomed on time for the full roll out of expanded hours to early years, allowing all eligible children to benefit from almost double the number of free childcare hours currently available.”

As a result of the programme, it is anticipated that there will be in the region of 28 new employment opportunities created.