However, school leaders believe they are well prepared with whatever curveballs Omicron may throw at them.
Pupils and teachers throughout the country begin the school year this week, with the Omicron outbreak threatening to cause further Covid-related disruptions for the sector.
Schools, alongside early learning services and playgroups, can open under the Red traffic light setting, but both teachers and children in year 4 up must wear masks.
Woodend School principal Adrienne Simpson says there was some nervousness from parents prior to sending their children back to school this week.
"We have quite a few parents who are quite anxious understandably," she said.
Five to 11-years-olds were confirmed as eligible for a special paediatric dose of the Covid-19 vaccine a fortnight ago.
"They seem to be more anxious around the five-to-11-year-old vaccination," Simpson said.
"It’s not something we will be administering or promoting, that’s a parental choice."
Amuri Area School in Culverden, which covers years 1-13, began term one on Wednesday, and principal James Griggs was confident with the systems it had in place for the school’s 350 pupils and staff.
"We’ve been planning for this for quite some time," he said.
"I think we’re as ready as we’ll ever be.
"Nobody really knows how things are going to go over the next few weeks, we just hope that we’ve planned appropriately."
However, he said there was a mix of relief to be back, paired with trepidation.
Staffing remained an "obvious concern" for the school, should a teacher contract the virus, a scenario which would dismiss them from the classroom for nearly a month.
"When staff go off sick, they usually go off for a day or two and then come back - 24 to 30 days is a different story altogether.
"I’d say there would be an element of concern because things are so unpredictable. We have a contingency plan which we’ll implement when we need to."
-By Adam Burns
Local Democracy Reporter
