WATCH: Students across Harrogate and the Yorkshire Dales head back to school
Thousands of pupils made their way back to the classrooms after almost ten weeks away
Last updated 8th Mar 2021
Thousands of children across Harrogate and the Yorkshire Dales have been bursting with excitement as they headed back to school after nearly ten weeks.
Staff and students were due to go back at the start of January but when the country was put back into a national lockdown that meant schools had to remain closed.
Seven-year-old Tabitha Redmond went back to Brackenfield Independent School today. She told Greatest Hits she "couldn't wait" to see her friends.
"I've been Facetiming my friends but I'm very excited to see them in person.
"I'll get to do playtime with them and catch up and see how homeschooling has been. We usually talk a lot."
Suzanne Redmond, Tabitha's mum, has been balancing working from home and keeping her daughter focused on school work.
She said: "I've been lucky enough to be quite flexible with my work. It's just a case of getting juggling.
"It's a sense of relief knowing they're going back to school because that's where they're supposed to be."
Joe Masterson is the Headteacher at Brackenfield Independent School, he told us it's been "a long time coming".
He said: "This morning more than anything else I was just so proud of the children and their happiness coming back to the school. Just the sheer joy on their faces.
"It's been quite a while and we're willing to accept the children may find this quite difficult.
"We talked about all our plans for the new term and then we had to leave them and get ready for remote learning again.
"The eighth of March became our date to aim for and now we're finally here."
Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the return as an important first step towards a "sense of normality".
Longer school days and shorter holidays are being considered by the government to help pupils catch up.
Secondary schools are now running regular Covid testing, with pupils taking three tests in school before switching to being tested twice a week at home.