West Australian students and teachers have returned to a much more normal term two after a disrupted start to the school year.
Just days after term one began, COVID restrictions started to bite, stopping parents from walking their child to the classroom and cancelling assemblies and camps.
Families also started to feel the impact of close contact rules as the virus spread, with some sent in and out of isolation multiple times.
There's also no longer the risk of a classmate sending their peers into isolation, thanks to the latest close contact rules.
And while the first day back from holidays is always a bit of an adjustment, parents say it's a relief to see the end of the toughest restrictions.
State records eight COVID deaths
It comes as Western Australia recorded eight COVID deaths and 6,711 new cases on Tuesday.
Seven of those deaths were historical, dating back nearly a month, and include people aged in their 70s, 80s and 90s.Yesterday's death was a man in his 80s.
As of 8pm on Monday night, there were 249 people with COVID-19 in hospital, including 11 in ICU — the highest that figure has reached.
There are 44,305 active cases in the state, a slight drop on yesterday's number after climbing over the previous days.
Restrictions made parents feel 'isolated'
Sam Maisey is the president of the Highgate Primary School P&C and said a lot of parents felt isolated by the rules last term.
"Particularly the new parents haven't been able to meet anybody on campus, not been allowed to have the catch ups that we usually [do]," she said.
"Being able to have the P&C meetings in place should be able to bring a lot of those new parents back into the school community a bit more."
In-school events larger than a classroom can go ahead, as can single year-group assemblies.
Parents have also been welcomed back to indoor and outdoor sporting events, performances and other inter-school events as long as they wear masks and practice social distancing.
And with close contacts now limited to household contacts, a positive case in the classroom can no longer send dozens of students into isolation.
All very welcome changes, according to Ms Maisey.
"I think people are pretty relieved really, and ready to get back to a bit of normality even though we've got to be cautious," she said.
School camps are back
School camps will also be allowed to go ahead, after being canned last term.
It's welcome news for Year 5 student Luna O'Halloran with a camp on the horizon.
Her mum Julia said she felt now was the right time for the other changes to be made too.
"I'm not worried about them going to school and getting COVID," she said.
"If we get it, we'll probably be OK."
Olena Yukhymets was supportive too after missing the chance to walk her daughter to the door of her Year 1 classroom last term.
"There was a bit of a disconnect with teachers as well," she said.
"We couldn't have much access to them, but as long as it's changing it's definitely positive.
"It's going to help us feel more at home at school."
