Images of escalating violence in Aurukun were seared in the minds of many Australians as riots in the remote community made national headlines in 2015.

The violence ultimately led to the evacuation of teachers from the local school on safety concerns the following year, but now community leaders say much has changed.

Mayor Dereck Walpo said the embattled community in far north Queensland wanted to be known for the good that was being done rather than the negativity of the past.

"There was a lot of angst at that time, a lot of negativity," Cr Walpo said.

"But I think the community said, 'Let's not keep going this way, let's change for the better for our kids and make sure our kids are going to school'."

Helping kids find love of learning

Teacher Noel Waterman runs the Flexi School for disengaged kids in Aurukun. ( ABC Far North: Anna Hartley )

One of the ways the children of Aurukun are being encouraged to go to school is through a new flexible learning program run by veteran teacher, Noel Waterman.

Mr Waterman started the Flexischool, run by Education Queensland and the Indigenous Knowledge Centre in Aurukun, at the beginning of this year.

He said there were 14 students in the program, which takes kids out of the classroom and into the community.

"They come in for literacy and numeracy support and some more flexible approaches to learning and more social and emotional support as well," he said.

"A lot of these kids haven't been good attenders, they don't respond well to tight structure so a lot have crashed and burned when it comes to mainstream schooling.

"They still get behind a desk with pens and paper but it's less regimented.

"Traditional culture is very strong in their lives, you need to be sensitive to their rhythms and ways of learning."

Aboriginal elder Peter Peenuggina is teaching the students how to build a dugout canoe. ( ABC Far North: Anna Hartley )

Mr Waterman said whether it was letting the kids take a nap in the hottest part of the day or getting them exploring the outdoors, the Flexischool encouraged students to take the lead when it came to their own education.

"It's a little bit more organic but also supporting those kids who struggle with discipline," he said.

"We've transitioned a couple of these kids to boarding school and the mainstream secondary school where they weren't really in that state to be able to do that before."

The students are being taught how to make a dugout canoe by Aurukun elder Peter Peenuggina.

Mr Peenuggina said it not only taught the children how to work hard, but also connected them with their history and culture.

"If you teach them, it keeps the kids out of trouble," he said.

"Here they learn more about how to make things just like in the olden days. It makes them happy and they are going well."

Mayor Dereck Walpo says the community of Aurukun is slowly changing, with a new education program getting more kids into school. ( ABC Far North: Anna Hartley )

More kids going to school

Since the events of May 2016, the Queensland Department of Education conducted a review of Aurukun school and made 27 recommendations to improve the lives of students and teachers.

One of the goals set out by the State Government in the review was increasing community connections with programs like the Flexischool.

Other recommendations included establishing a Parents and Citizens' Association, launching an attendance strategy, working to attract teachers, and boosting security.

A spokesperson from the Department of Education said attendance had risen 6 per cent over two years, with just over half of the community's children now going to school.

Cr Walpo said the fact children were taught in their native language of Wik Mungkan when they first started school, before transitioning into English as they got older, was also helping more kids engage with education.

"It's so the kids can have a better understanding of both worlds," Cr Walpo said.

"We've done a couple of cultural camps on country with the Indigenous rangers. That never happened in the past, so it's good to see kids are learning their own culture now."

Call for more support

Mr Waterman said he would like to see more government and public support for programs like the Flexischool.

"Since 2016 the school has undergone an intensive improvement program under Education Queensland to get attendance up and to try to address the complex nature of this particular community, culturally and historically," he said.

"The program is the result of people wanting people to see things done in a better way for kids, so more staff and support would be great.

"There's a lot of great hope. Wik people are resilient, they are heartfelt in their understanding of what's important, their hearts are very strong and loving in hope for the future."

The Flexi Students are working on a dugout canoe that they will eventually use in Aurukun. ( ABC Far North: Anna Hartley )

Police, council, teachers and elders are working together to tackle problems.

Cr Walpo said alcohol was the cause of many problems in Aurukun, as was the case in many remote communities.

"Sly grogging was the essence of it all but now we've got a rotation of police in the community, more kids are going to school, and more kids are getting an early night's sleep, so I commend the work the police are doing," he said.

"I think the challenge is engaging with our parents and telling them that you have to get these kids to school, because education is the key."

The Mayor said while there had been progress, more needed to be done to connect with the 46 per cent of kids who were still not attending school.

"I see kids walking to school sometimes [at] seven in the morning and I think, 'Wow, these kids are eager to get to class', which is a good sign. That wasn't happening [two years ago]," he said.

"But there still are challenges.

"The time will come when these kids are leaders. They might be tradespeople, they might be where I'm sitting, they might be where my CEOs are sitting, they might run the bank, you never know, but we have to encourage and nurture these kids."

Flexischools have been growing across Australia for the past decade, researchers say. ( ABC TV )

Mainstream should take leaf out of Flexischool book

Flexischools, in different forms, are being run across the country for Indigenous and non-Indigenous children.

Teachers tailor lessons to the things that interest their students most.

Australia's largest provider, Edmund Rice Education Australia, operates Flexischools in 19 locations.

Director Dale Murray said the schools had been so successful there were plans to build more next year.

"There is about 2,000 young people that we work with on a daily basis," he said.

"If you're thinking about young people who weren't at school engaging in education, that is a really good measure of success."

Mr Murray said literacy and numeracy were important, but a child's education was about more than that.

"In terms of other ways of talking about success, there are young people who have gained 20 points on their Queensland Certificate of Education," he said.

"There are young people learning how to be better parents, young people from a mental health perspective feeling well again, and there are young people heading off to apprenticeships."

Sorry, this video has expired Ken Wyatt says three of the seven Closing the Gap targets are set to be met in 2018.

Getting creative in education

Griffith University School of Education senior lecturer Glenda McGregor has studied the methods used by Flexischools and said she had no doubt they worked.

"We've had kids say if I wasn't here I'd be dead, or on drugs or in youth detention. They are very aware of the path that might have been if they hadn't come across a Flexischool," she said.

"We've got to get creative in terms of how we organise schools. We're stuck in a bit of a 19th to 20th century model in terms of how schooling is done.

"Getting creative will assist in catering to the needs of different groups of young people."

Dr McGregor said she hoped state and territory governments would see what was happening in Flexischools and change their approach to school education.

She said while the program could help kids of all backgrounds, the benefits for Indigenous students had the potential to be huge.

"The disconnect for Indigenous youth people is even greater in mainstream school, so the possibility of setting up Flexischools where their needs can be met in a culturally appropriate way is exciting," she said.

"Because clearly the recent Closing the Gap report shows what we're doing now isn't working, so we have to look for other solutions."