SIX Oxfordshire nurseries and pre-schools are to share a pot of more than £1m in funding.

The money from Oxfordshire County Council is to be spent on replacing unsuitable or poor quality buildings and providing for extra places for under-fives.

Sunningwell Pre-School, near Abingdon, has been awarded £168,000 for new buildings attached to the village’s primary school.

Manager Vicky Donnelly said: “It means everything to us and it saves us from closing down.

“We’re going to combine the early years and foundation stage with the school, so that children will stay with us right the way through.”

The total cost of the extension will be about £250,000, with the pre-school and primary school raising the rest of the money.

Mrs Donnelly said: “The areas of learning will be improved a lot. We will be in a bigger building and we will have more access to equipment being in with the school, so it will improve the quality of learning.”

There are currently 31 children on the pre-school roll and up to 16 can be catered for per session.

The new buildings will allow 24 children to be taught at a time, an increase of 50 per cent.

Lydalls Nursery School, in Didcot, will receive up to £200,000 for an extension to its premises, meaning it will be able to open for two-and-a-half extra hours each week.

Headteacher Claire White said: “It will make a dramatic difference.

“We’re already rated outstanding by Ofsted, but to keep that rating we had to develop the building and offer this increase in services and hours, so it’s fantastic to get this funding.”

The money is part of £7.7m being spent by the council on early years provision, funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

The other schools to benefit are:

* Southmoor Pre-School, near Abingdon, which will get up to £362,000 for new accommodation on the site of John Blandy School.

* Clanfield Pre-School, near Bampton, in west Oxfordshire, which has been promised up to £200,000 for new accommodation at Clanfield Primary School.

* Lord Williams’s School Day Nursery, in Thame, which will get up to £150,000 towards an extension.

* Grimsbury Family Association Playgroup, in Banbury, which is in line for up to £60,000 for an extension Small grants of up to £5,000 were awarded to 43 other early years providers for outdoor facilities, such as sandpits and play equipment.

Maggie Smith, Oxfordshire County Council’s strategic lead for early years provision, said: “Over the next two years, thousands of young children in Oxfordshire will benefit from improved buildings and outdoor space and a more stimulating early learning environment.”