Naplan results 2023: How Southern Downs and Goondiwindi region schools performed

The nail biting wait is over for Queensland schools that participated in NAPLAN testing in 2023, with exclusive data revealing which of the Southern Downs and Goondiwindi region schools performed best. SEE THE RESULTS.

Jessica KleinReporter

2 min read

December 15, 2023 - 1:00AM

Why you can’t compare 2023 NAPLAN results to previous years

Warwick

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The nail biting results for Queensland schools are finally in and have revealed St Joseph’s School Stanthorpe and Applethorpe State School were Southern Downs’ top performing NAPLAN schools for 2023.

The news of the region’s academic success comes as no surprise with the recent awards nights saw dozens of impressive young students recognised for their outstanding achievements.

An independent analysis of newly-released 2023 NAPLAN results has revealed the schools which performed the best in the year 5 and year 9 tests.

Applethorpe State School had the best primary results out of any other school in the Southern Downs, scoring an average of 520.4 this year.

St Joseph’s School Stanthorpe was the second best for the region with an average score of 514.8, while Ballandean State School was the third best with an average score of 507.0.

The top performing secondary school was St Joseph’s School Stanthorpe, where the average result was 580.0.

Killarney P-10 State School was the second best for the region with an average score of 575.4, while Assumption College in Warwick was the third best with an average score of 566.6.

St Joseph’s School Stanthorpe principal Andrew Kendall OAM said the school was incredibly proud of both its students and teachers in receiving such excellent NAPLAN results.

“As a Visible Learning certified school, developing literacy and numeracy skills that provide the critical foundation for learning is an essential part of learning at St Joseph’s School,” Mr Kendall said.

“The school is proud of the success of our students and their teachers in NAPLAN this year, this has been a constant theme with our data over many years.

“It is also important to understand that NAPLAN is a helpful indicator of progress, however, it is one aspect of the school’s assessment and reporting process and does not replace the extensive, ongoing assessments made by teachers about each student’s performance.”

St Joseph's College Stanthorpe school captains Taylah Organ (L) and Hannah Widderick (R) with principal Andrew Kendall OAM at their awards night. Photo: Supplied

Fourth place is a major feat for Inglewood State School secondary students who scored 547.6.

Inglewood State School principal Jacqui Coleborn said the school was incredibly proud of their 2023 NAPLAN results, having a strong focus on reading.

“Reading has been a major focus for our school for a number of years and our results reflect this with over 52 per cent of our students receiving a ‘strong’ or ‘exceeding’ grade,” she said.

“Our school prides itself on providing targeted teaching and learning together with high expectations to assist our students in achieving great results.”

The average across the school for writing was 61.85 per cent and 59.9 per cent for numeracy.

To determine how each school performed in 2023, the scores for all five test subjects for the student cohort (year 5 or year 9) were combined and the average found.

Special schools, schools with fewer than 20 students enrolled, and schools that did not report any results for NAPLAN subjects were excluded from the analysis.

The figures were independently compiled from the Federal Government’s MySchool website.