Transition Day Year 7 2021

Monday 7 December will have seen PBC welcome over 400 enrolled students to the PBC Community. Transition Day supports the 2021 Year 7s as they move from their primary schools to secondary school. On Transition Day, we welcomed students, assign them to their core classes, had them experience some lessons with next year’s teachers and introduced them to their Houses.

Transition Day also welcomed parents to the PBC family. Parent Meetings and morning/afternoon tea presented ideas for supporting young students through the change to high school, and introduce key staff who can assist in the process.

Term 4 Reports

Term 4 reports will be emailed or posted home on Wednesday 9 December. This is a full report with detailed comments. Please be sure to share the report with your child, so that they can receive important feedback on their work this year and set goals for 2021. 

2021 Core Classes

The 2021 timetable has been constructed to provide maximum opportunities for students across PBC to study courses of choice, in our large and diverse school. Year 9 core classes are driven by electives that have been chosen and there is little flexibility. Parents should be aware that, with the exception of Academic Excellence classes, their child will be with a different group of students next year, and prepare to support them through this change. Coping with changes such as these are important for building resilience – a significant quality for success in life. While there is no opportunity to swap classes due to friendships, the usual range of support will be available to all students and their parents to help them through this change. 

Good Luck Year 9

Farewell to our Year 9 cohort who are transitioning to the Senior Secondary Phase of Learning. Our very best wishes for continued success!

A special thank you to our Optima team:

• Dean of Students Ms Cardinal Year 7 and 8 and Ms Hillcoat Year 9 for the many Restorative programs to support student being reflective and setting aspirations for future positive behaviours
• Year Coordinators Ms Condon Year 7, Mr Williams Year 8, Mr Jesser Year 9 for your continued diligence in supporting school attendance, uniform compliance and positive behaviours
• Wellbeing team led by Ms Willis, Mr Catterall ‘Chappy’ and other external support team members.

Final Week

The final week of school will see Junior Secondary students participate in an alternative program. Students will work on curriculum related activities within their English classes. Absences will be tracked as normal with rolls marked each day. Students should continue to wear full school uniform, bring a hat and water bottle and should bring lunch as although the canteen will be open it will have reduced stock being the last week. The canteen will be closed all day on Wednesday 9 December.

Seasons Greetings

In this, the last newsletter of the year, I would like to wish all readers and the Junior Secondary students a safe happy holiday. It continues to be a privilege for me to work this fabulous, energetic and positive group of students and staff.