WORKINGTON Academy will have a 'staggered' reopening next month when Covid-19 restrictions ease, says the school's headteacher.

In an online announcement on Tuesday Des Bird said: "Many of you would have seen prime minister Boris Johnson's announcement about a return to face-to-face education from March 8.

"That's really exciting news and we are delighted about it.

"There is a lot of measures in place to make sure you're safe when you return.

"One of them is lateral flow testing, so any student that comes back into school will have to have a test to make sure they are not carrying Covid-19.

"That means in order to do the testing we will have to stagger entry back into school, that in turn means not all students will be back on March 8 but will be back in during the first three or four days."

Mr Bird also announced other safety measures will be in place for students and teachers such as mask wearing.