Community & Business
23 September, 2025
Stories of success
EDUCATION on the Tablelands is flying high after two local schools placed first and second at the Queensland State Readers Cup Challenge in Brisbane recently.
St Jospeh’s School in Atherton took out the top spot in the Year 5/6 division, winning by a narrow margin of just a quarter of a point. There was only 3.5 points separating first and sixth place, showing just how tight the competition was.
A Year 9/10 team from St Stephen’s Catholic College were defending their school’s State title win from last year but were ultimately edged out by just half a point, further highlighting the event’s competitiveness.
The St Joseph’s team was made up of Matilda Bowe, Ruby Quadrio, Alex Rose, and Tess Seawright, and they were accompanied by Mrs Andrea Taylor-Kehoe. The young students had to read and study five novels and were quizzed over four rounds of 10 questions.
The little school from Atherton competed against 17 other schools in Queensland who were regional Readers Cup winners and they took out first place by a mere quarter of a point.
“I am extremely proud of the effort every member of the team put in,” Mrs Taylor Kehoe said.
“They had all been working tirelessly in the lead up to the competition – reading all the books, making up their own questions from the books, testing each other using their questions and even getting their family members to ask them questions.
“The whole school community and I could not be prouder of the amazing results these students achieved.”
The students were thrilled to be state champions and they all agreed that one of their favourite parts about the trip was the author talk with Carla Fitzgerald.
“It feels absolutely amazing. I’m proud of myself and our team,” Matilda said.
“It feels like the team accomplished something… being a state champion is something I’ll be proud of forever,” Ruby added.
Tess added: “It felt amazing to bring back the trophy and pride to our school.”
“It was lots of work but lots of fun, I loved representing my school. I feel very proud,” Alex said.
The school would like to thank their sponsors – Tablelands Regional Council (Excellence Grant), St Joseph’s P&F and JNT Accounting – for their support.
The Year 9/10 St Stephen’s team consisted of Pepita Prettejohn-Nouhaud, Grace Folino-Gallo, Macy Durrand and Jem Williams.
They were defending the school’s State title win from the previous year and showed great depth of knowledge of the books they studied, but also teamwork.
Although they fought valiantly to reclaim the title, they were edged out by just half a point to finish as runners-up.
“We’re extremely proud of the efforts our students have put in. The result is a reward for their time and effort,” deputy principal Simon Vaughan said.
“To come so close for the second year is testament to the team’s commitment to this competition.”
