Twice as nice: Laquoiya and Litonya Motlap, Avalon and Faith Southers-Snape, Aaron and Cameron Grant and Brandon and Dylan Shakespeare are ready for their first big day at school.

TEACHERS at Freshwater State School will be seeing double this year with four sets of twins enrolled to start prep.

The Shakespeare, Motlap, Grant and Southers-Snape twins will head off to school today for their first day.

Their nerves and excitement will be shared with about 1450 children in Cairns off to prep classes at "big schools" for the first time.

Another 700 children across the Tableland and 400 from the Torres Strait have also enrolled in prep at state and private schools this year.

And while it might only be their first day of formal education, the twins already know what they want to be when they grow up. "I want to be a palaeontologist," Brandon Shakespeare said. Brother Dylan has his heart set on being a
designer.

Blonde-haired cuties Avalon and Faith Southers-Snape cannot wait to run around the playground and make friends but Avalon also wants to study hard to be a doctor.

Her twin sister Faith hopes to be a world-famous golfer.

About 35,000 primary and high students in the Far North will head back to school today.

In time for the new school year, a $5.5 million expansion of Weipa's Western Cape College has been completed, along with the $4 million second stage of development at Redlynch State College.

Eight new airconditioned classrooms will also be opened at Hambledon State School, and Whitfield State School now has a specialised music block and more classrooms.

This year, 2700 students will enrol at independent schools in Cairns.