Congratulations to all students on a great start to 2024, with the completion of Term 1 very much in sight. We'd like to take this opportunity to wish all students the best of luck with final assessment, including Exam blocks across Year 10 and 12 and all families a safe and fulfilling Easter break.

A special mention must be reserved for all students and staff responsible for the outstanding show that was our 2024 musical, "The Wedding Singer". All students across the cast, crew, backstage, lighting and orchestra are to be congratulated for their professionalism, time, and joy they bought to our wider school community across a run of 5 shows. This group continue a fine tradition of outstanding PBC musicals stemming back decades. Thankyou also to all parents and guests who managed to catch the show.

Next Steps Survey

The Next Step Year 12 Completers survey opens on 18 March. All Year 12 completers from 2023 are invited to complete this 5-minute survey about what they are doing now in terms of work and/or study. We ask parents, siblings and friends to encourage our graduates to complete the survey to help our school improve senior programs for future students.

As a thank you, participants have the chance to win one of 5 MacBook Airs. Graduates will receive an invitation by mail and may be contacted by phone. For more information about Next Step, visit  http://www.qld.gov.au/nextstep.

Assessment

Year 11 students have now completed mid Unit 1 exams and have regular classes for the remained of term. They do not have a shutdown and attendance remains compulsory.

Year 10 students commence shutdown exams on Monday of week 10 of term (March 25 to 28).

Year 12 students commence shutdown exams on Tuesday of week 10 (March 26).

The timetable for senior assessment and the school assessment policy has been published on the school website below:

https://pbc-shs.eq.edu.au/curriculum/testing-and-assessment

All students need to be aware of the date, room, and time of their scheduled exam. During shutdown students only have to attend school for scheduled exams or study sessions.

All assessment tasks are due at 9:00am on the due date not during class time. Students who are absent for an exam will need to provide a medical certificate and apply for a change of date with their HOD on the next day they are at school. Similarly, students who are applying for an extension or special consideration will need to download an extension/change of date form from the school website and submit to their relevant Head of Department at least 48 hours before the due date.

Year 12 Essential Maths and English students will also have to complete the statewide Common Internal Assessments (Exams) for these classes early in term 2. Essential Maths is scheduled for Friday April 19 and Essential English is scheduled for Tuesday April 23.

Due to the different timings of assessments and the nature of year 10 term reports and Year 11 and 12 Unit reports; reports will be emailed to parent on the following dates;

Year 10 Term 1 report: Week beginning Monday April 29

Year 11 Unit 1 report: Week beginning Monday June 3

Year 12 Unit 3 report: Week beginning Monday May 6.

Other senior schooling news:

Year 10s and 11s are again encouraged to register for School based traineeships and apprenticeships (SAT) in Y block. A SAT will give students paid employment, work experience and a Certificate 3 qualification which gains extra QCE credits, and also opens up a tertiary pathway. Please contact Ms Shreeve in Y block for more information.

Students in Year 10 are reminded that their academic performance in Year 10 semester 1 will determine their pathway options in Year 11. Students wishing to complete an ATAR pathway need to achieve Bs in English and Maths.  Students wishing to study a senior science course in year 11 and 12 also need to achieve a B in Year 10 Science. If students would like to discuss their academic pathways further, they can come to Y Block for assistance.

A reminder that all students in year 10, 11 and 12 are required to register for their QCAA learning account via the myQCE website https://myqce.qcaa.qld.edu.au/your-qce-pathway/student-portal-and-learning-account . This is the portal that students will use to access their results and qualifications once they have completed school as well as to check on their progress towards the QCE. Students are also required to complete the Academic Integrity course in the Online Learning section of their portal. This will become a pre-requisite course for the Queensland Certificate of Education.