Senior Secondary Update
The ‘busy end’ of the Term is upon us. It is a good time to check in with your student to see how they are feeling about their achievements so far this term and how they will meet the challenges that remain. While it will include subject assessment, demands might also include sporting finals, musical or drama performances and club activities, not to mention family and social events.
You can support your young person by helping them map out their final few weeks – their commitments, deadlines and plans for revision and study. You can access your child’s assessment calendar at the link below. Breaking large tasks – such as preparing to write a History essay under exam conditions – into smaller tasks – maybe half an hour of practising writing out essay plans – can reveal how achievable the job ahead actually is. This in turn can reduce stress for students – and their parents.
Year 12
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.
Arrangements for Year 12’s attendance from this point until the end of the school year have been communicated to students and parents via email. Below is a summary of those arrangements:
|
|
Non- ATAR (Student only does applied and VET courses) |
Non-ATAR with General (Student does a mix of applied/VET + up to 3 General subjects) |
ATAR Student (Student does 4 or more General subjects) |
| Term 3 | Attends all classes as normal until the end of Term 3. | Attends all classes as normal until the end of Term 3 * unless they are in a Mock Exam. |
Attends as normal until Tues Week 9. Attends only for Mock Exams from Wednesday Wk 9- Wk 10 |
| Term 4 | Only attends in Term 4 if assessment pieces are outstanding or if wanting to do extra qualifications. | Attends only for General Classes Weeks 1-2. Studies at school or at home for Week 3 (class teacher available for individual consultation at normal class time if needed). Attends Exams as relevant from Week 4 onwards |
Attends only for General Classes Weeks 1-2. Studies at school or at home for Week 3. (class teacher available for individual consultation at normal class time if needed) Attends Exams as relevant from Week 4 onwards |
The extra qualifications available for our Year 12’s in Term 4 include Construction White Card, Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA), First Aid and Safety training, Basic Barista course, Basic Bar course and Responsible Service of Gambling (RSG). All courses will have fees and limited numbers. To register for a course students should contact our Industry Liaison officer Ms Shreeve in Y block ( sshre6@eq.edu.au ).
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.
The school website has a section which contains all the details regarding upcoming External Exams
https://pbc-shs.eq.edu.au/curriculum/testing-and-assessment .
Parents and students should also be familiarising themselves with the myQCE website and its link to External assessment:
https://myqce.qcaa.qld.edu.au/external-assessment.html.
All Year 12 students have been emailed their LUI number and should by now have logged onto their QCAA learning account in the QCAA student portal. This is accessed via the myQCE website https://myqce.qcaa.qld.edu.au/index.html. Students need to ensure that they use a personal email to register, as they will not have access to their school email at the end of the year. Student results will be published by the QCAA directly into their learning account on 19 December.
This is the first year of ATAR scores which will be calculated and published by QTAC. All ATAR students that wish to have their ATAR sent to them on 19 December need to register with QTAC, again using a personal email https://www.qtac.edu.au/atar/ .
Year 11
Year 11 students will finalise Unit 2 in shutdown during Week 10 of this term 14 to 18 September. The schedule of these exams has been published on the student curriculum drive and the school website https://pbc-shs.eq.edu.au/curriculum/testing-and-assessment. The school Assessment Policy is also on this link. A reminder that all assignments are due at 9:00am on the due date and that teachers are instructed to make a judgement on the evidence, which is available at this time. Late assignments are not accepted.
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.
We wish all Year 11’s who are undertaking the school leadership application process the best of luck over the coming few weeks as they undertake speeches and interviews.
Year 10
Thanks to all of the parents and caregivers who have supported their young people to complete the SET Plan process in a timely manner. The school is currently processing students’ requests, to develop a timetable to best meet the needs of Year 11 2021. In the meantime, students should be working to develop their skills and knowledge as best as possible, to provide strong foundations for their work habits next year.
Year 10 students are again reminded that they are much better off commencing a school-based apprenticeship and traineeship (SAT) in Year10 than in Year 11. Please see Ms Shreeve in Y block for more information regarding SATs.
Year 10 students will have shutdown exams on the last 3 days of this term 16 to 18 September. The timetable has also been published on the student drive and the school website. https://pbc-shs.eq.edu.au/Curriculum/Testingandassessment/Pages/Testingandassessment.aspx