A Douglas primary school could soon have a new look as well as improved facilities for the children if plans for a major upgrade go ahead.

Permission is being sought to improve the external appearance of St Mary’s Roman Catholic Primary School by using external cladding. It will also get a new roof, windows and doors.

There will also be extra classroom space and more room inside the school hall as well as extra storage.

Some pupils are currently housed in prefabricated classroom blocks and these will be replaced, though one is to be moved further away from the building and will temporarily accommodate pupils whose usual classrooms are being worked on.

The changes will mean not just more classroom space but better disabled access, and a bigger school hall meaning it can be divided allowing it to be used for a range of different activities by more than one group of children at once.

A two-storey extension would add four more classrooms as well as a shared activity space. The school was built to accommodate 275 pupils but usually has more than 300 on the school roll.

The plans also offer better parking facilities at the school. Access will be improved by changing the profile of the turn into St Mary’s Road.

The estimated cost of the work is £3.8 million and the work, with the approval of planning and Tynwald, could begin next Easter and be finished by August 2019.