‘Bear with us’.

That’s the message from Iwade’s head of school Caroline Mariner while work to extend the building continues.

Kent County Council gave the go ahead last year to increase the primary’s entry form from two to three due to it being popular and oversubscribed.

Planning permission was then granted to increase the size of the building to accommodate them.

Contractor WW Martin arrived on site in February but it’s only in the last three weeks that the metal frame for a two-storey building to the north east corner of the existing one went up.

“It really makes it three dimensional now,” said Mrs Mariner.

“Before it was just a hole in the ground.”

Once completed, it will allow an extra 30 children to be admitted each academic year as of September, taking its total capacity from 420 to 630 places.

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

The cost to build it is £2.7 million, with the money coming from the local authority’s education, learning and capital skills budget.

Mrs Mariner added: “Work is excepted to finish in December/January ready for the third academic term of 2016.

“Once finished there will be eight new rooms – seven of which will be for Year R to Year 6, plus a staff room.

“It will be four rooms on top of four rooms with a stairwell and lift in the middle. There will also be an extra eight toilets.

“The old part of the building will remain.

“At the moment we have 14 classrooms and one Year R group are in the former staff room. There’s only 19 children in that class.

“We weren’t meant to take them until this September but they came in because they were Iwade children wanting an Iwade school so we thought let’s get ready for business.

“They’re our trailblazers really.

“There’s a mobile staff room in the car park so there’s still a facility for them.”

The extension is being built on an area which was used as a play space.

As a result the lunchtime break has been split with one at 11.45am and the second at 12.15pm so the pupils can use the playground usually used by Key stage 2 children.

Mrs Mariner added: “There will be a new playground once it’s built and it’s not taking any of our field so we’re very lucky.”