Peterborough primary school applies for mobile classrooms as it struggles with increased demand for places

Eye Primary School says that it is currently unable to keep up with the growing demand for places from within the village and is seeking permission to install a modular building, which will include two full time classrooms, ahead of a proposed building project.

The school has a capacity of 420 places, and consists of 14 permanent classrooms for its 15 classes (two in each year group and three in year six) and as of April this year, there were 422 children enrolled.

The school has said that it is unable to accommodate all children from within its catchment area and currently has a waiting list of 27 children.

As for the September intake, the school planned to increase its intake to two and a half forms of new school starters but still its admission number of 60, with 12 children within the catchment area having to be placed on the waiting list.

It is forecasted that that number of children living within the school’s catchment is to increase from 461 in January 2020 to 479 in January 2026, therefore the school has said there is a clear basic need for additional places.

The application states that the classrooms would remain in place until the end of August 2026 and are contained inside a modular building, that is owned by the local education authority, and would be transferred from another school where it has been in use for several years.

The building has seven bays, is 21m (long) x 8.9m (wide) x 3.8m (high) and contains two full time classrooms, one fully accessible/staff toilet, boy and girl toilets for pupils, an entrance lobby, a small store in each teaching area and each classroom area has its own fire exit.

It is proposed that the building will be placed next to the KS1 classrooms at the far-end of the school as that is ‘the only feasible position.’

The plans have been submitted to Peterborough City Council for approval. For more details, visit the council’s planning portal.