Owen O’Donnell
EAST RENFREWSHIRE COUNCIL LEADER
THE new Neilston Learning Campus opened to pupils for the first time on March 19.
This was an exciting day for the pupils, parents and all who live in the village of Neilston.
The landmark building incorporates Neilston Primary, St Thomas’ Primary and the Madras Family Centre – each with their own separate entrances and identity.
It has been designed to accommodate two streams per year for Neilston Primary and one per year for St Thomas’ Primary, giving us a combined school roll capacity of 630.
In addition, the Madras Family Centre has been designed to accommodate 95 of our youngest learners.
I was delighted, together with other ward councillors, to get a sneak preview of the facility just before it opened its doors and it really is a fabulous place.
This campus has been many years in the planning and has been the biggest capital project in our schools’ estate for the past seven years.
It has been designed using the best practices we learned from building the Calderwood and St Clare’s joint campus, together with modern approaches to delivering the curriculum in and out of the classroom.
Having a combined site gave us financial economies of scale but, more importantly, it allowed us to incorporate features which can be shared by pupils in all three environments, which would be difficult to justify for a standalone school.
The sports hall is larger and able to be quickly converted to a theatre-style auditorium through clever design and storage of seating.
Other community groups in Neilston and elsewhere will see a real benefit for their own activities.
I am looking forward to seeing the first nativity plays and drama shows using this space.
There is also a dedicated learning space for science, technology, engineering and maths, an art room and a drama and music space.
When walking through the campus, you get a real sense of light, space and thoughtful design, with the outcomes for our children being at the heart of the design philosophy.
Now that the children have moved into the new campus, work to demolish the former St Thomas’ Primary and Neilston Primary, as well as the old family centre, can get started.
An all-weather football pitch and multi-use games area will be created on the Neilston Primary site.
This work will complete the campus and create a great asset for the village for years to come.
Given the location and scale of this construction, there has unfortunately been some disruption to the daily lives of the neighbours of the campus and I thank them for their patience through the construction phase.
Work on our education estate never ends and this administration is focused, despite the financial constraints we face, on delivering the best learning environments for all our children.
Work in 2024 includes the construction of two new classrooms at Isobel Mair School and additional capacity at both Mearns Castle High and Maidenhill Primary.
I am sure all the pupils, parents and staff will make the Neilston Learning Campus a happy and inspiring place to grow and learn.
I wish them every success.
This campus has been many years in the planning and has been the biggest capital project in our schools’ estate for the past seven years