"I think under the masks there's lots of smiling faces."
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All regional Victorian students are now back at school, with the secondary and P-12 schools on Monday joining the standalone primary schools that ended remote learning last week.
At Wodonga Middle Years College, campus principal Maree Cribbes and assistant principal Steve Fouracre said the teachers were thrilled to be back.
"They did the best you can to connect with the kids but there's nothing like the classroom," Mr Fouracre said.
Mrs Cribbes said the first day had been very settled, everyone quickly getting back into their routines.
"Our staff have been ringing parents constantly throughout remote learning to make sure that they're OK and to help them transition back into school," she said.
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Wodonga Middle Years College has nearly 1000 students across the Huon and Felltimber campuses and the Flying Fruit Fly Circus School.
About 50 to 60 students continued to attend the sites during the latest remote learning period, which began early in term three owing to Victoria's second wave of COVID-19 cases.
Year 9 students Halle Moore and Annika Barton, both 15, said they enjoyed being able to work independently in their own time at home but even so...
"I love being back at school," Halle said.
"Coming back and seeing all your friends, teachers, just checking up with everyone basically."
Annika said school life hadn't changed much, despite the masks and hand sanitiser.
"It hasn't been too different, we're still learning at the same pace, pretty much. It's way easier to learn seeing the teachers."
When remote learning first began, she had felt a little worried about keeping up.
"But it was fine, we were able to connect with the teachers and get all the work done," Annika said.
