Welcome back to our students and parents entering the exciting (yet at the same time daunting) senior years of schooling in 2020. Senior administration, support staff and our wonderful team of teachers, coaches and mentors are excited once again to be working with our young people again this year, helping your student achieve their best and in the process, helping them to become the best version of themselves.

This year we are fortunate as well to be working alongside some outstanding student representatives – with 18 Year 12 students forming the Senior Student Council, led ably by our School Captains Lilli Wyatt and Connor Hartley. These students have already commenced several initiatives throughout the holidays that they are passionate about and look forward to improving the PBC experience for every member of our large community.

We look forward to another year of success at PBC and wish our students the best in their every endeavour this year. Thankyou already to our parents and students who attended the Year 11 Information Evening on Thursday 30 January – taking the time to familiarise themselves with the year ahead and how students can best navigate the waters of what can be a challenging academic year.

As PBC grows we endeavour to ensure we are providing students with the support they require to achieve their potential. To this end we have created a team to specifically work with the Year 9 and 10 students as they transition from Junior Secondary to the Senior Secondary curriculum.

Year 9/10 Team

Ruth West (arwes0@eq.edu.au) 
Deputy Principal for Years 9 and 10.

Sharon Hillcoat (shill242@eq.edu.au)  
Dean of Students for Years 9 and 10

Jarrod Wells (jwell166@eq.edu.au)
Year 10 Coordinator

Ryan Jesser (rjess5@eq.edu.au)
Year 9 Coordinator

Kellie Pedemont (klped0@eq.edu.au)
Administrative support for Years 9 and 10

This year sees the Year 12 cohort become the first group of students to complete school under the new QCE and ATAR system of tertiary entrance. This system incorporates external exams in all General subjects.

Assessment Policy

All students and parents need to be aware of the Assessment Policy at the school to coincide with the new QCE system. The policy has been published on the school website under Testing and Assessment tab. As per the previous policy, assessment such as assignments etc. are due at 9:00 am on the due date and teachers must make a decision on the evidence which has been submitted at that time. Late assignments will not be accepted. Students requiring extensions need to apply to the relevant Head of Department at least 48 hours before the due date. This policy has some changes in regards to special provision, which has had a terminology change to Access Arrangements and Reasonable Adjustments (AARA); please refer to the published document for more detailed information.

Response Length

Please note that all syllabuses in the new system have a minimum and maximum length of responses (either words for assignments or time limits for presentations). The QCAA has developed policies regarding Managing Response Length. At PBC this will mean that teachers will only mark up to the maximum word length or time length for each assessment response. Students need to ensure that their assignments and presentations comply with these word/time length.

Assessment Calendars for Years 10, 11 and 12 will soon be uploaded to the school website https://pbc-shs.eq.edu.au. Click on the Curriculum tab and then under Testing and Assessment. Students can also download this information from the K drive on the school’s network. This information will be useful for parents and students when planning their study timetable.

Please note that Year 11 assessment will be finalised in Weeks 7 and 8 of term to accommodate the new system. All Year 10 and 12 assessment will be finalised in the last week of each term (Week 10).

The dates for assessment blocks for each year level have been published on social media over the last 6 months and are available on the school website under Curriculum/Testing and Assessment.

Subject changes have now been finalised. Students will have the opportunity to change classes at the end of the semester or Unit.

Useful websites

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

All Year 11 and 12 students have been emailed their Learner Unique Identifier (LUI number) and instructions regarding logging onto the Student portal. Year 12 students should be able monitor their progress towards the QCE and see the credits they have accrued from Unit 1 and Unit 2.

All Year 11 and 12 students should be in the process of completing the online QCAA Academic Integrity course via this student portal (htttps://myqce.qcaa.qld.edu.au/)

Year 10 students

Year 10 students are again reminded that their results in Semester 1 will determine their pathway and subject availability in Years 11 and 12. To study an ATAR pathway students need to be achieving at least a B level in English and Maths. If students wish to study senior Science subjects they also need to be achieving at least a B level in Year 10 Science, (Academic Excellence students will have slightly different cut offs).

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 III qualification which may provide tertiary options.

Year 11

Year 11 students will need to have very good time management in 2019 as the units for each subject are only 7 weeks in length including assessment.

In the new QCE unit credits are banked into each students learning account at the end of each unit as opposed to the end of Year 12 in the old system. 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 as Week 5 Term 2 (20 May). Students have been repeatedly 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 2020. 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 (excluding English and Maths which is due in Week 2 and 5 respectively). Students will be emailed an interim Unit 3 report in Week 3.

Students are again reminded that all students need to be eligible 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.

Year 10 Behaviour and Welfare Update

Welcome back to our Year 10 cohort! The students have turned up looking fabulous in their Senior Secondary uniforms, ready to embrace the rigours of this new phase of their learning.

As Year 10s, students will find that they are both given, and are expected to have, greater responsibly for their choices and actions every day. As Dean, my mantra this year is ‘Make a life of choice, not chance’. Making the best of all of the learning opportunities at PBC means that young people will maximise the choices they have when they leave school. Naturally, students with outstanding effort and behaviour are most likely to achieve the best outcomes. We look forward to our students attending every day, on time, and fully engaging in the learning process. Should you have any concerns for your child beyond the curriculum, please feel free to contact your Year 10 Dean: shill242@eq.edu.au

Work Experience

Congratulations to the 220 Year 10 students who, in their final week of Year 9, undertook work experience. Many are using their time in the work place to formalise traineeship agreements, while others will have used it to learn informally and widen their understanding of the world. Ninety-five percent of the students have reported very positive experiences. Some student feedback includes:

The work experience overall was a great opportunity.

I think it is a very worthy program to attend

It was a task but I enjoyed it due to the people I was surrounded by.

Thanks to all of the parents who supported their students to find work experience placements, and to those parents who provided placements to students in their workplaces.