Education chiefs have received just two formal objections to a proposal to move the island’s only Church of England primary school.

The Department for Education, Sport and Culture has drawn up plans to move St Thomas’s in Finch Road, Douglas, to the site of Scoill Vallajeelt, in Meadow Crescent, Douglas.

The proposal would see the schools share a single site, but both would remain separate schools with their own names, identities, headteachers, teachers and governors.

The current St Thomas’s school building, which dates back to 1875, has out-of-date facilitiesn.

The town centre site is surrounded on all sides, making redevelopment or expansion difficult and expensive.

The department has now published its response to the two objections, setting out how the concerns raised have already been addressed. The department will seek approval for the co-location under the Education Act 2001 at next month’s sitting of Tynwald.

The co-location has the support of both schools’ governing bodies.

The two objections raised concerns about separation of those with religious beliefs; the loss of an inclusive school environment at Scoill Vallajeelt; limitations with the Scoill Vallajeelt building; traffic concerns; secondary school catchment areas; costs of the relocation; and a desire to integrate the two schools.

Minister for Education Graham Cregeen MHK said: ’The department’s response to these two objections clearly sets out that the issues raised have already been considered and addressed.

’Co-location at the Scoill Vallajeelt site makes use of an existing, relatively new but underutilised school, enabling us to provide a modern and appropriate learning environment for pupils at St Thomas’ Primary School, which is simply no longer fit-for-purpose.

’This means better educational facilities for pupils and represents value for money for the taxpayer.’

In its response the department made a number of points:

The two schools will continue to operate as they do now albeit they will share a site

Pupils from both schools will have times through the day when they will mix together such as break times and lunchtimes

There will be dedicated classrooms and facilities for each school to use

The dining room, halls and outdoor areas will all be shared

Scooil Vallajeelt has room for 350 pupils however there are only 200 currently on the roll giving space to accommodate the 61 pupils at St Thomas’s with capacity for future growth of either school

A traffic survey was undertaken when Scoill Vallajeelt’s capacity was extended from 142 to 350 with an extension in 2005 - this showed that the peak flow anticipated was manageable

There will be some money expended to adapt the building so that it can accommodate two separate schools, some of which will be met from the sale of St Thomas’ site.

If approved by Tynwald, the two schools would share the Scoill Vallajeelt building from the beginning of the 2018/19 academic year.