St Joseph's School Stanthorpe eNewsletter

At last Thursday’s school assembly, our QISSN (Queensland Independent Secondary Schools Netball) team members were officially presented with their team bags and gear in front of the school community. The moment marked the beginning of an exciting journey as they prepare to represent our school at the prestigious QISSN tournament.

The team will depart this Sunday, ready to compete in the week-long event, which brings together schools from across Queensland for a celebration of skill, sportsmanship, and school spirit. The tournament kicks off on Monday and will run throughout the week, featuring high-level netball competition and opportunities for students to connect with peers from other schools.

We wish our QISSN team the very best as they head off to compete. We know they will represent our school with pride, determination, and teamwork. Go team!

This week has seen the Primary Field Events get under way, with students showcasing their skills, determination, and sportsmanship across a range of athletic disciplines. It’s been fantastic to see such enthusiasm and participation from our younger athletes.

Looking ahead, the Secondary Field Events are scheduled to take place in Week 1 of Term 2, setting the stage for more exciting competition and school spirit.

The highlight of the athletics calendar, the P–12 Athletics Carnival, will be held on Thursday 24 June. We look forward to a day filled with energy, encouragement, and community as students from Prep to Year 12 come together to celebrate sport and teamwork.

The school has decided that at this year’s Athletics Carnival (24 July 2025) Year 3’s who are in the 8-year-old age group will attend the carnival for the whole day. This is a change to past practice. This change will allow all Year 3’s, both the 8-year-olds and 9-year-olds, to attend the carnival together.

The reasoning behind this is as follows.

The first competitive age group is 9-year-old (the younger ages are non-competitive). Competitive age groups receive points towards the award of an age champion (and runner up). These competitive age groups coincide with the district sport age groups. That is why, up until this year, we have had Year 3’s in the 9-year-old age group attend from the start of the day, while the other, younger, 8-year-old Year 3s stay back at school until later.

Note that we keep the younger students back at school until later in the day because they are not competing for places at the carnival and get tired quickly – a full day is a bit much for many of them.

This year, at the carnival the 8-year-olds and 9-year-olds Year 3’s will race in separate races, with ribbons being given to place getter's in each age group. For example, first three 8-year-olds get ribbons for 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd, and the first three 9-year-olds get ribbons for 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd. Prep to Year 2 students don’t receive ribbons for places. They all get a participation sticker.

There will only be an age championship awarded to the the 9 year-olds.

Note that for the field events that are happening this week, the 8-year-olds and 9-year-olds Year 3s compete together as a group, with places are awarded separately to both year groups.

In terms of points for the House Championship, all Year 3s who compete will be given participation points (2 points per student), with the place getter's for the 9 year-year-olds receiving 12, 10, 8 points respectively towards their house.

We believe that this change will be more inclusive by allowing all Year 3s to participate fully with their classmates.