 Due to the fear of a Japanese invasion, the Queensland Government closed all coastal state schools in January 1942, and although most schools reopened on 2 March 1942, student attendance was optional until the war ended.Major alterations, renovations and additions to most schools in Queensland halted and New Farm State School undertook only necessary maintenance until the war ended in 1945.The post-WWII period was a time of enormous population growth Australia-wide and was accompanied by a shortage of building materials.