Thankyou to all families for their support across the first month of school. All students are reminded that attendance in Senior Schooling is of the highest priority and in all instances to explain any absences as quick as you can. We look forward to celebrating with invited families at our OPTIMA Awards Ceremony recognising outstanding Semester 2 2023 achievement this coming Thursday. 

Assessment 

• Assessment Calendars for Years 10, 11 and 12 have been uploaded to the school website https://pbc-shs.eq.edu.au. Click on the curriculum tab and then under testing and assessment. This information will be useful for parents and students when planning their study timetable. 
• Please note that some Year 11 assessment will be finalised in Week 8 of Term 1 (March 11 onwards) and then occur after each 7-week block of teaching. All Year 10 and 12 assessment will be finalised in the last week of each term (week 10). 

Year 10  

Year 10s are also reminded that they can commence School based apprenticeships and traineeships (SATS) in Year 10. These courses provide students with paid employment and work skills, 8 QCE points (equivalent of 2 subjects) and a Certificate 3 qualification which may provide tertiary options. 

Year 11 

Year 11 students will be very busy in 2024 as Units 1 and 2 are completed across the first 3 terms. Students than commence Unit 3 (Year 12 work) in term 4. 

In the QCE unit credits are banked into each student’s learning account at the end of each unit The implication for this is that students who are not engaged in learning and perform poorly in a number of subjects could find themselves ineligible for the QCE as early as week 5 term 2 (May 20). Students have been reminded of this and will need to ensure that they are actively engaged in all classes at all times. 

Many students will have completed traineeships and higher VET certificates before they sit external exams in November of 2025. This will provide students with extra QCE points and help ensure that they get the QCE even if they have a poor external exam. Please see Ms Shreeve in Y block to register for a traineeship. 

Year 12 

Year 12 students have completed their first summative assessment item from Unit 3 at the end of last term in most subjects.  

This is a very important term for Year 12s; by the end of this term they will have completed 50% of their Unit 3 and 4 assessment in all subjects except Maths and Sciences so it is important that they are prioritising their time appropriately. 

All ATAR eligible students are again reminded that they must pass their English subject at the end of Unit 3 and 4 to be eligible for an ATAR . 

Students are again reminded that all students need to be eligible to for a Queensland Certificate of Education to remain enrolled in Senior Schooling. For students in year 11 and 12 this means they must be passing at least 5 of their 6 subjects (regardless of whether or not they are completing a traineeship). All students who are doing VET subjects must be up to date at the end of each term. Time will be allocated during shutdown to ensure that these students are up to date. Students who do not complete their competencies will have their enrolment reviewed. 

Useful websites 

The Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority has a website specifically for students and parents. ( https://myqce.qcaa.qld.edu.au/index.html ). This is a great source of information on the Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE), Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR), Senior Education Training (SET) Plan, future pathways, subjects and assessment. 

Year 11 and 12 students have been emailed details on how to register for the Student Portal on the myQCE website. This is the portal where they can access their results and QCE. 

All Year 11 and 12 students should be in the process of completing an online QCAA Academic Integrity course via this student portal (htttps://myqce.qcaa.qld.edu.au/). This is going to become a compulsory pre-requisite to attain the QCE. 

Study Skills 

There are a suite of resources available for students to access on the school student portal to support them in developing their skills of study and long-term retention of knowledge.  

A collection of these have also been added to the school website for parents to access in order to support the students. These can be found under Curriculum, Testing and assessment; Guides.