STUDENTS in year 11 at The Gryphon School in Sherborne received a huge surprise as BBC’s The One Show threw them a virtual prom.

Izzy Fraiz-Brown, a student at the school, had spent a lot of her time in lockdown helping home school her foster siblings and her parents nominated the school as a result.

Steve Fox, head of year 11 Steve Fox said: “When it was announced that schools were shutting on March 20 it was a really sad end to Year 11.

“I think we all sensed that it was coming but when it did it felt like the students had been cheated in some way, out of an important stage in their lives”.

The One Show stepped in to organise an online prom for them on Zoom, giving many students the first chance to see each other in four months.

Activities included ‘would your teacher lie to you?’ where students were told stories about their tutors and had to guess if they were true or false.

Another student, Paris, sang ‘The Climb’, whilst photos of the students’ years at The Gryphon School were shown on screen.

There were also a number of celebrity appearances, with messages from singer Anne-Marie and DJ Scott Mills.

Students voted in a number of categories for who they thought was most likely to become prime minister, save the world, start their own business, and become a teacher amongst other things.

Celebrity guests then revealed the answers, including Tim Peake, Dr Ranj, Deborah Meaden, Ellie Goulding and Ed Balls.

Headteacher Nicki Edwards said: "I thought this was a brilliant opportunity as the students had been disappointed to miss out on their prom.

“It’s amazing that a small North Dorset school has gotten this privilege and has really been a silver lining to the pupils in all of this."

Students were delighted, with Izzy saying ‘everyone enjoyed it so much’.

Her tutor Charlotte Kelley said: “This has been a really big boost for year 11 in what has been a really trying end to their time at school.

"I thought the whole thing was brilliant, and we are so grateful to The One Show for making this happen”.