Year 7s Welcome

Our new Year 7 cohort have settled really well into high school life at PBC. Some of my key messages were around how to set up healthy routines with laptops at home. Part of our parent induction was a session in the Hall where we encouraged families to support an hour of screen free time before bed as well as setting up a family charging station in a common area so that devices and laptops are out of bedrooms during the night. An hour a night on the laptop for homework will be enough time for most weeks for most students in Junior Secondary. Games cannot be downloaded on devices however an educational version of Minecraft is on there. Please encourage your child to take care of their device. If you have any questions about the laptops please contact us on the parent support email and we will direct your enquiry to the right person.

Supporting your child

One of the best ways you can support your child at school is to encourage open communication about what is going on at school, from school work through to friendships. Getting them to start talking about their day can be hard to get going but once you make it a regular part of the day you’ll continue to strengthen this great habit. Some things that will help is scanning the Newsletter or our social media pages for some conversations starters or planning together the week using the Student Planner/Diary. As much as we are trying to develop independence and self-motivation many 12-14 year olds still need organisational support. That doesn’t mean doing it for them but it could look like talking through what they need for the next day or what needs to be finished by when and simply asking if they need a hand with any part of that.

Rules and Routines

Mobile phones

Our rule is no phones in use from entering school gate till departure at end of day. We are encouraging the development of personal social skills and active play by asking students in Year 7, 8 and 9 to not use mobile phones or laptops in the playground. Quiet individual activities on laptops can be done in the library at breaks. Thank you to those parents who have been in contact about how supportive they are of this.

Uniform

PBC SHS is a uniform school and all students enrolling here are expected to accept and support these standards of dress as determined by the Executive Principal and supported by the PBC P&C. This policy is an integral part of our school security program and support the Department of Education, Training and Education Workplace Health and Safety policy. The full uniform code is available from the school website (www.pbc-shs.eq.edu.au).

In Junior Secondary our focus is on:

• correct polishable black shoes
• compulsory PBC red socks
• Jewellery is simple- small discreet earring in each ear, a wrist watch is optional