Drive-by celebration to celebrate end of dance school year

Students at the Vicky Grant School of Dance took part in a “drive-by” celebration to mark the end of a year hit by the coronavirus crisis - with some queueing for more than an hour to see their teachers.

More than 200 cars took part in the drive-by at One Leisure, St Ives, where classes are held, in a session lasting two hours.

Students at the school had already missed going through their paces in their annual show, which should have taken place in May, but was cancelled because of the pandemic.

Classes had been cancelled since March and the school wanted to find a way of marking the end of the year while following the social distancing regulations, so the idea of students driving past staff was launched.

Scott Grant, whose wife runs the school, explained that Vicky and the teachers parked at the leisure centre and the students drove past them in a convoy which stretched all the way along Westwood Road as far back as Ramsey Road, some waiting for more than an hour to see their teachers.

Mr Grant said: “I thought it would be touch and go at first and wasn’t sure if people would turn up but they did.

“It was a very emotional time and everyone was overwhelmed by the amount of people who turned up. Quite a few tears were being shed.”

He said: “Vicky was visibly emotional as she greeted senior students who were in their last year at the school and will now move on to various colleges and schools of performing arts.”

Mr Grant said the drive-by session gave students and parents the chance to chat to teachers they had not seen since the lockdown started, some for the last time as they moved on to the next level.