Official Opening

Was at the official opening of Cathkin Community Nursery’s new building today. Its situated in a Campus with Rutherglen High and Cathkin High and its just a great place to visit. The children were marvellous, singing, dancing and smiling and the staff were pretty great at all of that too! Inspiring is the word to describe the nursery. One of the parents who is also the nursery’s chaplain gave a vote of thanks and summed up all our thoughts about what a great place it is. He made me grin when he said he didn’t know what Karen and Liz the Depute and Head would have done with their lives if they hadn’t worked there, because they just fit the place so well. And isn’t that when real magic happens, when appointments and establishments just fit? Councillor David Bailley unveiled the plaque and he was full of praise too and emphasised the importance a good nursery start has on a young person’s future chances. A conference I was at recently showed some interesting stats which showed that pound for pound the biggest value we get and the biggest difference we can make is when we spend the money in the early years. If we look at how we spend money in education do we ask the question often enough about how much we spend and how much importance we put on early years education in comparison to other sectors? Certainly here the resourcing and importance put on Cathkin Community Nursery will be affecting the children, parents and carers in ways we will never be able to fully measure in the future, but I know the team are making a real difference to real people’s lives.

Its been a hard few couple of weeks but getting in about the children today made it worthwhile. And as I always do when I leave this nursery I had a little sniffle. If I could bottle what they do here I’d make a fortune.