On Friday 3 March, students from Years 1 to 12 impressed the judges in the Junior Cattle Judging Competition. With more than 30 entrants from regional schools, St Catherine’s team were prepared rain, hail or shine to showcase their Charolais, Limousin, Hereford and Angus cattle.

With leads in hand, students donned their akubras entering the competition with high standards. Students were not afraid of a microphone, as they proved they certainly know their facts when it comes to cattle, especially why some animals are more worthy of a blue ribbon. The students judged cattle based on their conformation, muscle tone, structure, breed characteristics and carcass quality, demonstrating a strong passion of the rural industry.

“The students are presented with a class of four heifers and two classes of four steers and have to place them from first to fourth based on specific characteristics. They are then asked five questions based on their observations. If they succeed, they go through to the next round where they provide an explanation to the judge and audience of their choice”, said teacher Joanna Towers.

 “This event was the first show exhibiting cattle for our new team members. Our students love to participate in the competition as it allows them to gain more hands-on experience in the live assessment of cattle along with the opportunity to exhibit steers that we are preparing for the Sydney Royal Easter Show”, said , Mrs Towers.

Outstanding achievements were received by the following students:

Primary School Team

• Amelia Sternbeck (Year 5), Max Sternbeck (Year 1) and Jaslin Boyd (Year 5) won first prize in the Junior Judging Competition

• Cade Stevenson Byrnes (year 1) won 2nd prize in Individual Junior Judging with Max Sternbeck coming 3rd

 Secondary Team

• Matilda Sternbeck, Olivia Lambkin and Ben Cook won third prize in the Team Junior Judging

• Isabel Empson won her Paraders class in her age group, with Isabella Circosta coming 2nd (16 years and older)

• St Catherine’s also won Best Presented School

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