A SCHOOL is celebrating the welcome return of extra-curricular activities following the cancellation of clubs due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ulverston Victoria High School is beginning to return to its 'pre-Covid' state, says assistant headteacher Richard Butler, after school activities finally made their long-awaited return.

Pupils made a phased return back to the classrooms in early-September in the hopes the new school term will not face disruption from the Covid pandemic once again.

The coronavirus crisis has caused a huge disruption to education over the past year - and the Government’s scientific advisers have warned the return to schools could lead to a spike in Covid cases.

The warning comes after continuing debate over whether all older children should be offered a Covid vaccine.

Mr Butler said the school was still implementing measures against the virus, such as hand sanitising stations and one way systems.

Unlike the majority of pupils across England who heading back to school in September, pupils at UVHS had a staggered return to the classroom to ensure year groups have all undergone Covid tests upon their arrival.

Mr Butler, who is also a subject leader in performing arts at UVHS, described the phased return to school as 'very smooth'.

He said: "The phased return to school went exceptionally well and ran very smoothly.

"Yet again we relied on a very committed group of community volunteers who came in for seven days to deliver and process all of the LFD tests alongside our own staff.

"Without this fantastic support (once again) from the community we could not have got through all of the tests – nearly 2,500 in total."

Mr Butler added that a number of measures are still in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19, such as social distancing and hand-washing.

“It’s great to be back," he said.

"We’ve been told from the Government to relax some of the restrictions in place lie the bubbles and it’s not compulsory to wear a face mask anymore.

“But we’re still maintaining our full hygiene routine of washing hands and using hand sanitiser between classrooms.

“There will also still be a one way system in buildings.

"We would hope as the year goes on we hope all these measures won’t be a necessity but it may be the right thing to do in the long-term to reduce bugs and sickness outbreaks.

“Hopefully we won’t see as much online learning this year and exams can return back to normal."

Mr Butler has also welcomed the long-anticipated return of extra-curricular activities such as performing arts and PE.

He said: "School is beginning to look a bit more like it did pre-Covid, but with quite a few health and safety interventions still in place (sanitising stations outside ever classroom; pupils asked to wash hands throughout the day; one-way systems maintained in buildings).

"The big change is the very welcome return of extra-curricular activities across the school and, from my perspective, in the performing arts and PE in particular.

"It has been wonderful hearing all the bands restarting, seeing drama and dance rehearsals taking place, seeing sports activities resume and fixtures getting under way, sampling the produce from cooking club, getting students enthused in engineering club, and many many more.

"They are a massive part of the school experience which also help boost emotional and mental health.

"A lot of students are overjoyed to be able to get back into enrichment activities, and many are gearing up to show this off at our open evening today."

The school also celebrated huge success stories earlier this year after GCSE and A-Level students received their much-anticipated results.

Year 11 and Sixth Form pupils excelled in their subjects and have been praised by the school's headteacher for their resilience over the past 18 months during the pandemic.

Matthew Hardwick, headteacher, at UVHS congratulated students on their results after a 'very difficult' 18 months.

He said: "In what has been a very difficult 18 months for the whole world, this cohort of students have shown themselves to be extremely resilient.

"Throughout all of this the whole cohort conducted themselves in an impeccable manner, and they should be very proud of themselves as we, the staff, are of them.

"We are very proud of them and wish them all the best in the future."