PLANS to relocate a Dorchester school to Poundbury have gone on show.

Parents and members of the public filled the hall at Damers First School to view plans from Dorset County Council to move the school to Prince Charles’s model development.

The council plans to open the new school, which will cater for 600 pupils, in September 2016 and the event gave people the chance to get a first glimpse of what the facility will look like.

The exhibition also included plans on the proposed hall that would serve as the new home for the Dorchester Community Church, as well as being used by the school and local community.

Damers headteacher Catherine Smith said it was ‘exciting’ to see the new plans but admitted that at the same time it would be hard to say goodbye to the current school.

She said: “It’s exciting for us and I think it’s been a long time coming for our school community.

“One thing we always say here is the school is not just about the building but we do think this building holds a real spirit.”

Mrs Smith said that leading up to the move the school will be holding events to say goodbye to the old building.

Commissioning manager for premises for Dorset County Council’s children’s services Paul Scothern said he was pleased with how many people had turned out to see the display.

He said: “We have got a lot of people here.

“It’s been a long time coming for some of them.”

Mr Scothern added that there were forms for people to fill in and leave their comments about what they thought about the plans.

Damers parent Theresa Schnorr will see her son Zak, six, spend a year at the new school while his older brother Robin, seven, will have already moved on by the time it opens.

She said she was impressed by the plans but was concerned about the loss of the swimming pool pupils currently enjoy at Damers. She said: “Currently they can swim once a week, which is fundamental where we live.

“But they could do with a more modern school.”

The plans will be going on show again on Saturday in the unit next to Waitrose at Queen Mother Square in Poundbury.

They will be on display from 10am to 5pm and representatives from Dorset County Council will be on hand to discuss any questions between 11am and 1pm.