Main Image: Flooding in and around Milton State School (Marie Strevens/Paddington, Milton, Rosalie 4064 Residents Facebook).
Education Minister Grace Grace has praised the hard work that’s gone into helping schools recover from the floods, confirming that only 6 state schools were unable to fully open today (Monday 7 March), and will instead have alternative learning arrangements in place.
The 6 schools are:
- Milton State School
- Rocklea State School
- Milpera State High School
- Aviation State High School
- One Mile State School
- St Helens State School
Minister Grace said the effort involved to get schools reopened had been outstanding.
“This was a very dramatic and very serious weather event,” Ms Grace said.
“On Monday last week there were more than 600 state schools closed for a variety of reasons related to the floods, including water on site, power outages, access issues, road safety and fallen trees. To get that down to just the six is absolutely remarkable.
“I want to thank our principals, our school staff and school communities, our department staff, transport teams for their work on the roads and access, and of course QBuild who have been doing so much clean up on the ground.
“I cannot commend all their efforts highly enough.”
Minister Grace said the schools unable to open fully for a longer period of time had individual plans in place to support students and ensure continuity of learning.
“Unfortunately, we have 6 schools that experienced much more significant damage that will take weeks to repair,” she said.
“I visited Milton State School and Aviation State High School earlier this week and saw first hand the devastating scenes, but also the incredible spirits of those school communities and their determination to reopen as soon as possible.
“They are being supported by the department to find local solutions that suit their school communities.
“Flood impacted schools’ individual management plans will vary, but options include remote learning, temporary buildings, and the use of other local schools. Those 6 schools are in direct contact with parents and carers about what the coming weeks will look like for them and their students.”
Non government schools and early childhood centres will be providing updates directly to parents and carers. Any information shared with the department will be updated at the school closures portal.
Details on school and early childhood closures can be found at https://closures.qld.edu.au/