Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Leadership Changes

With the departure of Chris Capra there have been some further leadership changes to support the backfilling;

• Cameron Williams Deputy Principal - Year 10
• Loren Skyring to move to Acting Deputy Principal - Year 11
• Tanya Mason to Acting Head of Department – The Arts and CAX
• Mitch Kennedy to Acting Principal – Junior Secondary but will continue to manage Year 12

Maximising Learning Days

The Qld Department of Education has a renewed focus on maximising learning days for students. Part of this agenda is focused on rethinking how schools respond to behaviour that breaches student code of conducts. At PBC we have high expectations, at all levels, within our school community and so in working with our department to achieve their improvement agenda, we will continue to place these expectations at the top of our mind and maintain our strong reputation for upholding community values. This term we will be trialling the use of Saturday morning detentions to replace short school suspensions in circumstances where appropriate. This decision has not been taken lightly and six months of planning has gone into developing processes to support it. I broached this change with the P&C at the June meeting and it was met with support, so I am hopeful that our broader school community will feel the same way, that students to continuing their learning should be a priority alongside reflection on choices to hopefully change behaviour in the future. I understand that this change will impact families and staff asked to work on these mornings but the school leadership team is confident this is going to better support the student code of conduct and learning. More information will be provided to families following final school planning stages this week.

QParents

From 2024 PBC will begin phasing in more extensive use of QParents. Some of our parents are already accessing this feature and many of our local primary schools are using it to for operations.

The QParents web and mobile application provides a more convenient, easier way for parents and legal guardians to interact with the school including:

• Academic report cards
• Class timetables
• Viewing unpaid invoice details, payment history, and making payments online
• Viewing and updating personal student details, including medical conditions and address
• Positive Behaviour information
• Excursion Permission slips
• Enrolment details

QParents will assist both staff and parents in sharing and responding to information in an efficient and effective way.

The benefits of QParents:

Convenience and time savings for parents; Parents can view or update their child’s details, pay invoices and report absences without having to call the school or come into the office. Improved administration efficiencies for schools; Allows schools to streamline their administrative processes and cut down on printing.

From 2024 Year 7 and all Excellence program permissions and program fees will be administered via QParents. More information will be available at the Year 7 2024 General Information Night on 26 July. Further details for all Excellence program families will be shared during this term.

Anita Sgalippa
A/Executive Principal