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Iwade Primary School, School Lane, Iwade, set to expand

A village school looks set to expand.

The go-ahead has already been given by Kent County Council to increase Iwade primary’s entry form from two to three starting September 2015 due to it being popular and oversubscribed.

It means an extra 30 children will be admitted each academic year taking its total capacity from 420 to 630 places.

But this is subject to planning permission being granted to increase the size of the building to accommodate them.

Iwade primary school
Iwade primary school

The proposal is to erect a two-storey building to the north east corner of the existing one, an area which is currently used as a play space by pupils, so an extra eight new classrooms can be created.

There would also be a new access point off School Lane, parent drop-off and pick up facilities, additional parking spaces and hard and soft landscaping.

It’s estimated it will cost in the region of £3.5 million to build with the money coming from the local authority’s education, learning and capital skills budget.

The deadline for people to comment on the proposal is July 11 and KCC’s planning committee is expected to discuss the application when members meet at County Hall in Maidstone in August.

On June 1, the school, originally known as Iwade Community Primary, along with Bobbing Village Primary, which it is federated with, was granted permission to convert and become the Timu Academy Trust.

Iwade primary school
Iwade primary school

During the consultation to transform the parish council, residents and parents held the view that over the next three years (September 2015 to September 2017) the admission criteria for Year R pupils should be altered to ensure children from the parish have priority over those from elsewhere.

It is consulting with the public on this change. The deadline for comments is August 1.

The catchment area will be defined by a map which will be drawn up by KCC for September 2015.

It has already been agreed ahead of the expansion, that this September the site in School Lane will admit an additional 19 pupils who currently reside in the village who would otherwise have been allocated a different school outside the area.

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