NOT so long ago she was struggling to make it through a whole day of classes, but now little Rubi-May Mason has put serious illness behind her and is enjoying after-school dance sessions.

Rubi-May, five, was diagnosed with a rare form of kidney cancer and spent months undergoing treatment in 2009, spending lots of time in hospital or at home.

But last year she returned to Wood Ley Primary School, in Stowmarket, and managed to get back into the swing of life in the classroom.

So much so that she has even taken part in weekly dance classes run by the Cara-Lea Dance School and last month passed her latest exam.

Rubi-May lives in Stowmarket with her mother Maxine, 36, and father Paul, 37.

Mrs Mason said it was fantastic to see her brave daughter making such a strong recovery and dancing away with her friends under the watchful eye of dance teacher Cara-Lea Beesley.

She said: “It has been brilliant. Cara is a friend from school and has been a big part of bringing back Rubi-May’s confidence. It’s something totally away from being in hospital.

“She’s getting better and cheekier every day. We have really got her back now. She’s still having her three-month scans but everything so far is going well and she is off medication and has got her whole life back to how it was.

“Dancing was something she did before (she fell ill) and she was desperate to get back to it.”

Rubi-May said she was really pleased to be back at school as she loved playing with her friends and learning lots of new things.

She said she loved dancing and singing and her favourite performers were Pineapple Dance Studios star Louie Spence and top girl group The Saturdays.

Rubi-May said she was really enjoying her dance classes and was pleased to have passed her exam.

She said: “I like the lady that does it (Cara) and I like dancing because it makes me happy.”

Mrs Mason added: “She started dancing again in September and Cara thought that she was ready in November and she did the exam and got 94%. She just loves dancing and singing and because she has to wear splints during the day, it’s a bit of freedom for her because she can take them off when she dances.”

Rubi-May has to wear splints because during her chemotherapy treatment her tendons in her legs tightened up and are slowly returning to normal.

Mrs Mason said the family also enjoyed a wonderful trip to Lapland over Christmas thanks to the Make A Wish Foundation.

Rubi-May said: “It was amazing - we got to meet Santa Claus, Mrs Claus and even the elves.”