Four months on, and finally schools are back in around Brisbane.

The last school to re-open after the January floods was the Milperra State High School and Premier Anna Bligh and Education Minister Cameron Dick greeted students as they made their way back to class this morning.

Vivien von Drehnen reports.

TRANSCRIPT

Queensland’s flood recovery took a giant step forward today with the opening of the Milperra state high school.

$3.5-million has been spent on repairs and rebuilding to have the school ready to welcome back its students.

The opening has been fast tracked – the school wasn’t expected to be up and running before the end of June.

Anna Bligh, Qld Premier: “So it’s great to be here and welcome home the staff and students of Milpera State school, they’re a very important part of Queensland’s education system, they do a terrific job and now they’ve got totally renewed classrooms that have all had a facelift to do that work in.”

Ninety-two state schools were affected by the floods earlier this year. The Education Minister took time out to thank those that had worked at Milperra – a very special school.

Cameron Dick, Education Minister: “This school does very special things in our education system reaching out to some of the most disadvantaged students in Queensland.”

Both the staff and students were happy to finally return home.

For many of the students, the interruptions to school was just another hurdle they had to overcome.

Adele Rice, Principal: “I think resilience is somehting they understand very well, because in the refugee component, there are about 26 students that I know of that have neither mother or father in Australia who have experienced very traumatic journeys to get to Australia and who are coping with issues of grief and loss while learning a new language and so on.”

The school has taken on a number of new enrolments but even for existing students, today marks the beginning of a whole new year.

Vivien von Drehnen QUT News.