As Term 3 draws to a close we wish to acknowledge the efforts of all Junior Secondary students across the range of disciplines our school offers. Congratulations to all students who have represented PBC in the Arts, sports, academically and via community service opportunities. We look forward to celebrating those individuals specifically at our Term 4 OPTIMA Awards. To all of our students – thankyou for your dedication and commitment to our school and for grabbing the opportunities that exist with both hands, we are very proud of the representatives you have become.

Year 9 Work Experience 2022

This week, our Year 9’s head out into the real world to experience the various forms of employment that is out there.  This is a great opportunity to explore what the running of a workplace is like and hopefully find something they enjoy and maybe something with which they may want to pursue in the future.  Some of the places our students will be doing work experience at include Queensland Police, Hairdressers, Pet Stores, Pharmacies and even a Tattoo parlour.  We wish all of these student the best of luck and hope they get the full experience and enjoyment they are hoping for.  Last year some of our students showed how amazing they were and were given employment opportunities while on work experience. We hope they all have a good experience and we’ll see them all again next term. 

Optima Code – Optima Credits Menu

By following the Optima Code of ‘Be Safe, Be Respectful and Be a Learner’ students can earn Optima credits by exchanging their Optima slips and/or postcards at D Block Student Services. The Optima credits program was implemented at the start of the year to provide students with an incentive to engage in positive behaviours. To date, teachers have given out 1900+ Optima slips to students who have then exchanged them for a range of different prizes from zooper doopers, tuckshop vouchers and Hoyts vouchers. During week 10 of each term, students can also exchange 150 credits to be provided with a FREE pizza lunch. To register, and exchange credits, for this terms pizza lunch please go to D block Student Services by Wednesday 14 September to secure your spot!

Young people can spend or save their Optima credits over the three years they are in Junior Secondary. Therefore, if students do not have enough credits for this term, semester or year, they can continue to work towards their ultimate prize the following year.

House Camps

The chance for your young person to be involved in the end of year house camps is closing soon! Instead of four separate camps as initially organised we are now merging the Athenian and Viking camps, and the Phoenician and Spartan camps to create more inter-house competition whist at camp.

   

Phoenicians and Spartans will be going to Camp Kokoda. Woven throughout the camp adventure is the timeless ideology of Kokoda Spirit – Endurance, Courage, Sacrifice and Mateship. Camp Kokoda offers a series of physical and mental activities to develop and practice teamwork, problem solving, courage, endurance and leadership skills. Camp Kokoda activities included: flying fox, abseiling, giant swing, hiking and navigation, canoeing, high and low ropes, free fall, sugar glider, and crate stack.  For more information about Camp Kokoda please watch this short YouTube clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lqNp2AmDQg

     

Vikings and Athenians will be going to Emu Gully and participating in The Challenge program. The Challenge is an exceptional leadership and team building program based on the character values of Courage, Mateship, Sacrifice and Perseverance. The Challenge program is divided into two main activity categories of introductory and core activities. Introductory activities may include, but are not limited to The Charge, No Man’s Land, Hoop, Minefields, Skippy, Blanket Volleyball, The Swinging Log, Commando Cable Crossing and Escape from Colditz. Core activities include the Western Front, Siege of Tobruk, Bridge over the River Kwai, Tunnel Rats of Vietnam, Hellfire Pass, The Kokoda Track and the Night Walk. This camp is fully catered with dormitory style accommodation and is great in building teams, overcoming obstacles, enhancing communication skills and developing leadership capacity. For more information about The Challenge Camp at Emu Gully please watch this short YouTube clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zB0FUbFz6pw

Early next term, we will be holding a few camp meetings to organise sleeping/cabin arrangements and to provide extra information about ‘what to pack’ for camp. As student numbers are limited the payment due date is 16 September 2022.

Student Absence

Students are expected to attend every day, be punctual, and must be present for roll marking at the beginning of every class. The school attendance target is 92%. For full day absences, parents / caregivers must notify the school and provide an explanation of a student absence by 9:00am on the day of absence.

SEND TEXT:  0426 305 728 – Example – ‘John Smith Y8 03/06/22 Sick” or

EMAIL:  absences@pbc-shs.eq.edu.au – provide student name, date and reason for absence

Due to the size of the school it is important when recording student absence to only use the TEXT and EMAIL options as outlined above.  You can follow up with an email to class teachers once our absence administrator has been notified.