Students in all year levels participate in daily PE. This takes place in the first 10 minutes of the school day (8:50 –9:00 AM).

The main activity during this time is endurance running where students attempt to complete as many laps of a designated oval in the time available. This is done through both jogging and walking. Distances are recorded and students presented with certificates when they attain certain distances (50 km, 75 km etc). By Year 7, students have been known to have run over 1000 kilometres.

Apart from endurance running, daily PE also includes other activities such as skill circuits and aerobics.

If you were to ask members of our school community to name a sporting highlight of the school year, the vast majority would choose our Inter-House Athletics Carnival. It is a day enjoyed by staff, parents and students and generates far more interest than any other sporting event including our interschool athletics carnival and representative sport.

Students are placed into one of three houses when they enrol at the school. The three houses are:

· PALMERSTON – colour red – named after Christie Palmerston the explorer. He is credited with pioneering a track from Innisfail to Herberton in 1882 in twelve days. It was considered to be his most notable achievement and this feat is recognised with the naming of the track as the Palmerston Highway. The animal featured on the Palmerston flag is the cassowary.

· JOHNSTONE– colour green – named after Sub-inspector Robert Johnstone who in 1872 was credited with discovering the Johnstone River while searching for survivors of the brig “Maria”. He returned in 1873 with the explorer Dalrymple to fully survey the river. The animal featured on the Johnstone flag is the crocodile.

· GERALDTON – colour yellow – named after the name originally given to Innisfail in 1883. In 1910 the name of the town was changed from Geraldton to Innisfail following the confusion with the town of Geraldton in W.A., when a Russian ship arrived on the wrong side of Australia. The animal featured on the Geraldton flag is the taipan.

Students in Prep will be placed in the same house as their older brothers and sisters. Students who do not have siblings at school are allocated to houses late in Term 1 so as to maintain a balance of numbers, gender and ability levels.

Students who transfer from the school and then return in subsequent years will be placed in their original house.

Throughout the year students in years 4 - 7 participate in interschool sport with schools from the surrounding district. Interschool sport involves students travelling as teams to various venues around town. Because of our excellent sporting facilities many of the teams from other schools travel to us to participate. Inter school sport is played on Friday afternoons.

Students participate in the following sports:

Term 1 – Foundation Cup rugby league competition for Years 6 and 7

Term 2 – soccer, league tag, touch and netball

Term 3 – interschool athletics carnival held at our school

Term 4 – modified cricket, AFL, kanga cricket, t-ball and softball.

By participating in interschool sport students can gain selection in district teams which play in the Peninsula trials throughout the year. From this students can be selected to represent the region at state titles.

Learn-to-swim classes are part of the Physical Education Program during fourth term and are offered to all students in years 1- 4, and non-swimmers in years 5, 6 and 7.

Students in years 1– 4 participate in five consecutive lessons over a period of two weeks. Non-swimmers in years 5, 6 participate in ten consecutive lessons over a period of two weeks

Students are instructed by the school’s physical education teacher assisted by class teachers, teacher aides and volunteer parents. Without the help of volunteer parents most swimming classes, particularly in Years 1 –3, would not be possible