The sod-cutting ceremony is a major milestone in the project, which will bring Neilston Primary School and Madras Family Centre and St Thomas’ Primary School together on a shared site.

Contractors Heron Bros, the company responsible for recently building five new nursery facilities across East Renfrewshire and the joint faith campus which includes St Clare’s Primary and Calderwood Lodge Primary and Nursery Class in Newton Mearns, has started initial enabling works and construction will begin over the summer.

The new facility is being built on ground within the site of the current Neilston Primary, allowing the existing school to continue running during construction.

Once the new school and nursery facility is completed, the current Neilston Primary and Madras Family Centre will be demolished to allow an all-weather football pitch and multi-use games area to be created.

Owen O’Donnell, East Renfrewshire Council leader, said: “This sod cutting event officially marks the start of a new educational chapter in Neilston. The village has always enjoyed fantastic learning opportunities from the wonderful staff at Neilston Primary, St Thomas’ Primary and Madras Family Centre, but once this amazing shared campus is complete it will take things to the next level.

“From the Digi-Zone to the dedicated space for science, technology, engineering and maths and the fabulous outdoor spaces which will be created - this really will be a learning campus which will fire the imaginations of the children and young people who come here.”

Councillor Andrew Anderson, convener for education and equalities, added: “It is fantastic for this project to be getting started and I can’t wait to see it starting to take shape in the months ahead. Creating quality learning environments for children and young people across East Renfrewshire is so important in supporting their educational development. This new campus will also become a real focal point for the community and will be an asset for the whole village to benefit from.”

As part of a separate phase of regeneration works planned for Neilston, proposals are still being developed to create a new leisure centre in the village.