O'Grady Drama School students are back learning face to face and are gearing up for an on-stage spectacular at the end of the year.

"The students were so happy and so joyous to be back together and be able to perform together again," the school's principal Ben Mettam said.

"Everyone is super excited."

And that includes the parents too, who had been asking about a return to classes.

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Mr Mettam said he also missed the kids while they were in isolation.

The O'Grady Drama School operates out of the Tamworth Community College, which was shut down during the COVID-19 crisis.

Mr Mettam overhauled the curriculum for O'Grady so activities could still be run online. He made the best of a bad situation and taught the kids how to perform to a camera rather than an audience.

But, he's "started fresh" in Term 3 with about 60 students on deck at the centre and pupils who range in age from Kindergarten to high school.

He said the atmosphere of in-class learning just can't be recreated.

"They love getting the reactions from other classmates and they love the feedback from the audience," Mr Mettam said.

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The school has picked up new enrollments for Term 3, which Mr Mettam puts down to people exploring new paths and talents after isolation left them wondering.

"When everything was shut down, children had time to pursue other things they might be interested in," he said.

Mr Mettam is now preparing a show full of budding performers to take the stage later this year at the Capitol Theatre in Tamworth.

"We're developing skills like vocals and stage sense and then Term 4 will be all about script work ... and we will perform in Week 10," he said.

He said he took his school-wide play to the theatre last year for the first time, and the "sheer joy" on the kids' faces made him want to do it again.