The school has about a dozen international students enrolled from China but most were back in Australia before travel bans were implemented and spent two weeks in self-imposed quarantine with their host families before returning to school in the second week of term.

Mount Clear College principal Lynita Taylor said two boys remained in China and were doing their schooling online.

"We do have a year 11 boy and a younger student that have not come out (of China) yet but we are working through that with the education department and their guidelines on how we get them here," Ms Taylor said.

"Lots of our program is online and they have been accessing their work through our online learning platform and are in contact with their teachers," she said.

In recent years the school has had as many as 45 Chinese students enrolled.

Ms Taylor said many of the students who arrived back in Ballarat prior to the travel ban had self-isolated to avoid any chance of passing on the virus.

"We worked with our fabulous home stay families to make sure everything was right there and they were comfortable with everything. For most families it wasn't a problem.

"None of our students came out of the main area. We were super cautious and the kids were super cautious - they didn't want to infect anyone, they were keen to keep themselves away," she said.

"But we've never seen kids so excited to get back to school."

Last weekend the government announced it was loosening restrictions for Chinese students enrolled in year 11 and 12 to return to Australia and get back to class.

These students will be able to apply for an exemption to return to Australia if they pass health checks and self-isolate for 14 days on their return.

The spread of the virus has also forced Mount Clear College to postpone a Young Leaders to China trip, which was planned for departure the last week of this term.

YOU MIGHT LIKE: Ballarat Swap Meet: People come in early for southern hemisphere's biggest swap meet

Several dozen year nine students were read to spend six weeks living and studying in China, taking part in leadership and teamwork activities, visiting high schools, taking part in a homestay with a Chinese family and exploring the cities of Qingdao, Chongqing, Nanjing, Beijing and Shanghai.

"We are monitoring this (situation) closely and keeping our family informed. We won't do anything to put any child at risk or the community at risk," Ms Taylor said.

Have you signed up to The Courier's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.