PERFORMING art schools are set to reopen, some four months on from the start of lockdown.

Helen Leek, principal at Academy Theatre Arts which is run from Infirmary Walk in Worcester, said: “It’s been hard working with the children online and some of them don’t take to Zoom.

"We just can’t wait to open our doors to teach the lessons in person on July 28.

“We started a big clean up yesterday, outside and in.

“We’re bringing in parents socially distanced to help with the preparations from today.

"I have a rota for weeding and cleaning outside for senior students -no more than four and one adult at a time

“All teachers have completed Covid-19 courses and we’ve already got our risk assessment in place. It means that when we open, we will only be opening to very limited numbers to keep the students more than two meters apart.

"Even with the huge restrictions, we can’t wait to start. "Some lessons will continue online of course until we can have more people in.

"We just hope things will be a bit different for our new term in September.

“The financial impact of this is enormous.

"Even though we have had help from the Government, this has only helped cover our rent and expenses to date. "The worry is how we can continue in September, when the support has finished, and we still can’t teach the numbers of pupils that we usually do.

"Many families have struggled through this time and simply don’t have the available finances for the dance lessons anymore.

"We are trying to support those families, but we are aware that we won’t have the same enrolment in September as we had in March.”

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Harlequin Stage School in Worcester, will continue with online lessons before reopening in September.

Paula Dymock, principal at the school, in Droitwich Road, said: “Zoom lessons are going well - I wasn’t a fan at first but they are good to offer one-on-one support to students - we are trying out different things to not let this pandemic stop us. When we reopen, we’ll limit class sizes and have space in between classes."