Western Cape College’s Weipa and Mapoon campuses have been crowned winners of their respective 2025 Try for 5! Leaderboard Challenges, recognising a year of outstanding commitment to school attendance across the Western Cape.
To celebrate the achievement, Cowboys ambassadors surprised students at both campuses with large framed jerseys signed by the North Queensland Cowboys NRL squad.
The awards recognise more than strong attendance results. They reflect a decade-long partnership between Western Cape College and the Cowboys Community Foundation, bringing together students, families, teachers, community organisations and Cowboys role models to build stronger attendance habits and support student success.
Supported by the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) and Rex Airlines, the Try for 5! program has helped lift Western Cape College’s combined Weipa and Mapoon campus average attendance rate from 73.4 per cent in 2024 to 75.4 per cent in 2025 – four times the state-wide average improvement across Queensland state schools.
The impact has been even stronger among Indigenous students at Western Cape College, with attendance rates increasing from 62.5 per cent in 2024 to 65.7 per cent in 2025 – the equivalent of students attending an additional day of school every six weeks.
Western Cape College Principal Dan Tonon said the program’s consistent messaging from schools, Cowboys ambassadors and community partners was helping build stronger attendance habits among students and families while supporting long-term success.
“Attendance means that kids are at school, kids are learning and kids are succeeding,” Mr Tonon said.
“If we can get them in the school gate, we can do our work from there.
“Schools do a lot of work trying to promote good attendance, but when that message is also being heard from Cowboys role models, then families are hearing it in a range of different ways.
“That’s the benefit of this program – we’re all singing from the same song sheet about attendance being everything.”
Cowboys Community Foundation Programs Lead Tahlulah Tillett said the leaderboard wins reflected years of commitment from students, staff and the wider community.
“I think what we see here in Weipa and Mapoon is that while they are small communities, there are lots of people willing to have a positive impact,” Ms Tillett said.
“The staff, teachers and local community are constantly driving attendance every day – calling home, assisting with food, helping with transport and doing all those little things that really help get kids to school.”
Ms Tillett said Try for 5! had become embedded in the culture of both school communities.
“Try for 5! is part of their daily language,” she said.
“You walk into classrooms and see the attendance trackers and posters straight away. Every Monday they celebrate the students who are at school and continue pushing that Try for 5! message throughout the week.
“The wider community is really on board with the program and making sure their kids are coming to school.”
Ms Tillett said the program was creating impact beyond attendance statistics.
“For me, the real impact is hearing that kids are more confident in the classroom, more engaged and improving their learning outcomes,” she said.
“That’s the genuine impact that Try for 5! and the North Queensland Cowboys are having across communities.”
The improvement in Western Cape College attendance rates was sustained throughout the 2025 school year, with stronger attendance recorded across Terms 2, 3 and 4 compared with 2024, reflecting more consistent student engagement and stronger attendance routines.
The data also showed attendance improving as students progressed through year levels. One cohort improved from 69.7 per cent attendance in 2024 to 74.0 per cent in 2025, highlighting the long-term impact of positive attendance messaging and consistent community support.
The program’s Most Valuable Player initiative also delivered strong results in 2025, with six students recognised for attendance improvement. Five of those students recorded significant increases in attendance, averaging a 9.6 percentage point improvement from the previous term, equivalent to attending almost an additional half day of school each week.
Early 2026 figures suggest the positive momentum is continuing, with overall Western Cape College attendance averaging 78.3 per cent following Term 1.
