North East Derbyshire school reschedules Year 11 prom to ensure students ‘still have chance to celebrate’

Eckington School will now host an end-of-year prom for it’s Year 11 leavers on July 19, following an announcement by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday in which he extended the final stage of easing lockdown restrictions in England by a further four weeks.

The school, on Dronfield Road, had originally planned to celebrate with students on June 25 – just days after restrictions were first due to be lifted – and said the rescheduled date would not have been possible without help from the prom venue.

It comes as some other schools across Derbyshire, such as Heritage High School and Shirebrook Academy, have decided not to host one at all, leaving parents and families to fund their own celebrations.

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Nick Melson, principal of Eckington School, said: “With the delay to opening announced this week, we unfortunately had to cancel our original Year 11 Prom on June 25.

"However, we really appreciate what a tough couple of years our Yr11 students have had, so we were really keen to ensure that they still had a chance to celebrate their time at Eckington School in a suitable way.

"Luckily the venue we are using, Van Dyk in Clowne, have been fantastic and they swiftly offered us a further date, in the final week of this term. Therefore, as long as the country opens up once more as planned, and Van Dyk is able to continue to safely run events, we will be holding our Year 11 Prom on Monday, July 19 - the day of lockdown lifting!

He added: “As a school that believes in achieving excellence, I have to say I am incredibly proud of our students – they have taken the various lockdowns, in-school Covid measures, cancellation of exams, and Centre Assessed Grades, in their stride, and have shown such resilience and character in how they have faced these issues, that it is only fair that we do whatever is possible to help them celebrate their time at Eckington School.”

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