Recently, assemblies were held to honour our OPTIMA Award recipients. At PBC, every child has the potential to earn an OPTIMA award, be it through excellence in their academics, sport or cultural pursuits, their participation in Community Service, their consistent high standards of effort and behaviour, or their improved results. While this has been an interrupted year, we hope to see further students aspire to these awards throughout this term.

We have already reached the mid-point of Term 3 and students are currently receiving formative and sometimes summative feedback on their performance in classes. Has your student set goals for the term in each of their subjects? Are these recorded in their Student Planners? Are they on track? If not, what is it that they might do differently in order to achieve their goals? 

Parents should also be aware of the assessment dates for their students to assist in planning at home. These dates are on the school website at: https://pbc-shs.eq.edu.au/curriculum/testing-and-assessment 

Gold Coast Junior Council

Our representatives this year on the Gold Coast Junior Council are Liam Comerford, Jessica Trewin, Isabella Edge and Lilly Suttle. Whilst this year has been challenging with only one physical meeting being held back in February, this week we got the opportunity to participate in a live streamed and interactive meeting via Mircosoft Teams.

Donna Gates welcomed the students to the meeting and explained the importance of our Gold Coast youth in helping to keep our community safe during COVID19. We listened to a presentation from MCCGC – Multicultural Council Gold Coast – led by Kevin, on how the GC supports our diverse multicultural population, including a Pop Up Harmony Day in August. The support is provided via many different community led activities including social media, sport, music, food and school based presentations regarding cultural awareness.

The current Gold Coast Junior Mayor spent time outlining the opportunities for Gold Coast Youth – ages 12-24 – within the Gold Coast Council. The Youth Plan 2020 for the Gold Coast was revealed which includes facilities and programs such as after-school support provided by the Wesley Mission, (such as our local Thrower House on Thrower Drive), libraries, Aquatic centres, several environmental initiatives, active travel, Arts centre, scholarships, active and healthy program and the  Green Amy project to name a few. To gain more information on these events and programs please visit City of Gold Coast website where you will fine events calendar, community directory, and the many social media outlets that they disseminate information through.

The students then participated in an activity where they had to design a youth based well-being event for the Gold Coast with a budget of $5000.

Great work team as you are representing PBC with pride and learning life-long collaborative skills.

Year 10 Subject Selection Information Night

Thanks to the many parents and Year 10 students who attended the Subject Information Night on Tuesday. Please remember to take the next important steps to confirming your young person’s pathway through Senior Schooling: 

• Peruse the 2021 Year 11 Subject Selection Guide
• Review the paperwork already emailed or the hard copy provided to your child, showing recommended levels of Maths and English for the student.
• Select either an ATAR pathway, or personalised Pathway
• Select six possible subjects, and rank these in order of preference
• Book in for your child’s SET Plan Interview, on Tuesday 18 Wednesday 19 August, 2020. At that meeting, an expert teacher will guide you through the selection process.

We look forward to supporting students and parents at the SET Plan Interviews.

Year 10 students are again reminded that they are much better off commencing a school-based apprenticeship and traineeship (SAT) in Year 10 than in Year 11. Year 11 is a very busy and demanding year for students selecting an ATAR pathway. Please see Ms Shreeve in Y block for more information regarding SATs.

The PowerPoint presentation and video from the Senior Subject Information Evening has been placed on the school website under Senior Secondary tab. 

Year 10 students will have shutdown exams on the last 3 days of this term 16 to 18 September. The timetable will be published on the school website in the coming week.

Year 11

Year 11 students are in the middle of Unit 2 and will finalise this Unit in shutdown during Week 10 of this term 14 to 18 September. The schedule of these exams will be finalised shortly and published on the school website.

Moving forward Year 11 students will commence the summative units for ATAR in Term 4 of this year and will have their first assessment for Unit 3 in the last week of Term 4. This will be a full shutdown in the week of 23 to 27 November.

In 2021 Year 12 and Year 10 students will have their exams and assessment due in the last week of each term (Week 10). 

A reminder that all students must have passed a Unit of English and Maths by the end of Unit 2. Students that do not meet this requirement will have to complete a VET certificate that meets the requirements of the QCE. This course will have a cost of $300.

Year 11 - Year 12 Jerseys 2021

Due to the challenges of COVID, the process for ordering jerseys for 2021 has been adjusted. All Year 11 students have been issued with order forms to complete (along with sizing and payment information - $80) to be paid either online or in person at Student Services by Friday Week 8 (4 September). Due to overseas order this timeline is tight.

Earning the right to wear a PBC Senior Jersey is something we take seriously. As the future leaders of our great school we expect students to represent core school values of Nil Sed Optima in all they do.

In past years we have monitored students attendance, lateness, truancy and presentation prior to ordering. This will be done after the orders will be placed. Students may not receive their jerseys in 2021 unless they have maintained an excellent level of attendance, presentation and engagement in school.

There are no guarantees orders placed after this date will result in the jerseys arriving before this time next year. 

Year 12

All Year 12 students recently attended the Year 12 Pathways information session and students had the opportunity to meet with a range of tertiary providers, training organisations and employment agencies. A copy of the presentation and video from the night is on the school website.

A reminder for students interested in apprenticeships to register with Ms Shreeve in Y block as a number of agencies have vacancies now. This database is also shared with future employers that contact the school with opportunities for school leavers.

Our Year 12 students will have important assessment in Week 9 and 10 of this term as they attempt to maximise their results to improve their post schooling pathways.

The school will conduct Mock exams for General subjects and finalise assessment for Applied and VET subjects during this time. All students have been emailed the timetable for these exams.

Students also have access to another practice exam for all General subjects on the QCAA website. This should be used in preparation for both the upcoming Mock exam and the External assessment. As an example, the practice External exams for General Maths and General English can be located on the following links:

https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/senior/senior-subjects/english/english/assessment

https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/senior/senior-subjects/mathematics/general-mathematics/assessment

It is expected that all students complete these practice exams for their General subjects in preparation for their External Assessment.

Parents and students should be familiarising themselves with the myQCEwebsite and its link to External assessment: https://myqce.qcaa.qld.edu.au/external-assessment.html.

This page is very useful as it:

• Explains the changes to assessment due to coronavirus
• Has links on how to prepare for External assessments
• States the equipment allowed to be taken into all exams and the specific equipment including type of calculator permitted for each subject
• Includes the Directions to Students document which explains the behavioural requirements for all External exams
• Includes the External Assessment timetable

This site also has some good tips on effective study skills and preparing for external assessments in the section Preparing for Assessments.

Year 12 Formal and Graduation Ceremony

Year 12 students have recently been addressed regarding the upcoming Graduation Ceremony and Formal Dinner, to be held at the Gold Coast Convention Centre on Thursday 19 November, 2020. Despite ongoing border restrictions and adjustments due to COVID-19, the plan and timings for our event remain the same at this point, in accordance with the Convention Centre's COVID-19 Safety Plan. Adjustments to be made include:

• Parent arrival from 4:45pm - immediate ushering into Arena
• Student arrival via red carpet from 5:15pm - live streamed video into Arena
• Graduation Ceremony to commence at 6:00pm - 8:00pm
• Formal Dinner to commence from 8:15pm - 10:45pm

We will continue to communicate with our school community as information regarding COVID-19 restrictions change, however we are confident that despite these changes, the event will continue to be a wonderful celebration of student achievement.

Deposits for student tickets are now overdue, with $60 to be paid to Student Services ASAP. The total cost per student tickets is $120 p/student.

Guests tickets (at this stage limited to 4) will go on sale at Student Services from Term 4.

The QCAA is currently advertising for Community Invigilators to assist with External Assessments during term 4. Applicants must have their Blue Card, email accounts and access to technology. For position descriptions and the application process please see the link below:

https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/senior/assessment/external-assessment/qcaa-invigilators