A huge thankyou to our Senior School community for your support in some significant Senior School events in recent weeks. Over the past fortnight alone we have had the opportunity to celebrate the successes of our Year 10's, 11's and 12's through the Mid-Year OPTIMA Awards. We hope both recipients and parents alike enjoyed the changes to the format of these awards and it was wonderful to get together to acknowledge some wonderful achievements. Thanks also must go to all parents and students who attended both the Year 12 Pathways Information Evening and Year 10 SET Plan process. Both of these processes are vital to ensuring the success of all of our students and align their study path with their chosen field outside of our school gates.

A special mention and good luck to all of our Creative Arts students - many of whom are participating across multiple disciplines in the Gold Coast Eisteddfod commencing this week. We have a rich and proud history of success in the Arts and look forward to watching you represent our school with pride.

Senior Exams & Shutdown Timetables

Exam timetables and schedules for Years 10, 11 and 12 will be published on the school website shortly: https://pbc-shs.eq.edu.au/curriculum/testing-and-assessment

Term 3 assessment calendars are already available on this page.

Main points are:

• Year 12 full shutdown all of Week 9 and 10 (September 5 to 16) for Mock exams and Applied assessment.
• Year 11 full shutdown Week 10 (September 12 to 16)
• Year 10 full shutdown Week 10 (September 12 to 16)

Note that as External exams will commence at 9:00am, PBC will have the same start time for Mock exams. For consistency and due to the vertical nature of Care roll marking the following arrangements will occur:

• All end of Term 3 exams will commence at 9:00am for Years 10 to 12
• Senior Care Roll marking classes will not run in Weeks 9 and 10 of term 

SET Plans

All Year 10 students should by now have completed their subject selections for 2023 and 2024. This involves an interview with a senior teacher to ensure that students are on the appropriate pathway in Year 11. If you have not completed this please attend the allocated catch-up session as published in the students notices.

Year 10 students are reminded that they are much better off commencing a school-based apprenticeship and traineeship (SAT) in Yea r10 than in Year 11. Please see Ms Shreeve in Y block for more information regarding SATs.

Senior Study Skills – Year 12 students 

Week 7: External assessment Study Skills workshop

This session will be delivered by Griffith University and will focus on providing strategies and skills to support students in preparation for their external assessments and mock exams. 

This session will run on Monday 22 August - 1:55pm- 3:05pm, where students are encouraged to remain at school to attend.

QCAA Login - Year 12's

The QCAA no longer mails out certificates and results to students at the end of the year. On 18 December they will provide a digital copy of results into each students’ QCAA learning account.

All Year 12 students 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.

Please check that your student has completed this. They have been reminded on many occasions and sent emails regarding this but we can see that there are still some students that have not yet registered. 

Upcoming dates:

22 August – Year 12 Griffith University presentation on Study Skills for External exams (1:55 to 3:05pm in Trade Training Centre)

24 August – GC5 Cluster sport day – Year 12 First Aid and Safety course

26 August – Gold Coast Show Holiday

2 September Student Free day – Year 12 Connect Education sessions for English, Biology and Legal Studies

Help with External Exams

To access the External Assessment timetable please visit the myQCE website:

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

Year 12 students also have access to 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.