A decision to move a school year from one building to another has sparked complaints from nearby residents.

Scoill yn Jubilee, a primary school in Douglas, plans to teach pupils in year three (aged seven and eight) at its Ballaquayle site rather than its site at Murray’s Road.

That means an extra 25 to 30 pupils will attend the Ballaquayle site on Stoney Road, which will entail the construction of a mobile classroom.

The Department of Education, Sport and Culture received a number of complaints from residents about the effect the additional attending the school would have on traffic in the neighbouring Thorny Road area.

Scoill yn Jubilee currently holds 176 pupils from reception to year three and across both campuses employ 50 teaching and support staff, nine of whom are at the infant school site in Ballaquayle.

A new travel plan has been drawn up by Highways Mann Transport Consultants and will look to encourage modes of transport other than driving to be used for the school run, including walking, cycling, carpooling and public transport.

The infant school campus currently houses the reception class, as well as years one and two, with the remaining students being taught in the junior school campus.

The mobile classroom (planning application 22/00325/B) was first proposed in March.

Estates director for the department Richard Collister said the propose of the mobile was ‘to improve the learning opportunities for all children, at both sites of Scoill yn Jubilee, by making better use of the indoor and outdoor learning environments’.

The planning application also includes plans for the school to build a play structure where the mobile classroom currently is, with a view to adding a music classroom/library to the junior school campus in the future.

The original planning application was put forward due to the rising number of pupils attending the school predicted for the 2022/23 academic year.

It is estimated in the travel plan that approximately 44 pupils enrol each year at Scoill yn Jubilee, following the reallocation of the catchment area from 2020 to 2022.

The planning application is still pending consideration following the amendments made to the travel plan for the updated capacity of the school.