Senior Secondary School

Senior School Mid-Year OPTIMA Awards

On Friday 8th August we will hold our OPTIMA Awards recognising outstanding student achievement across academia, sport, cultural and community service pillars across Semester 1. This assembly is invite-only, with award recipients and parents the audience for this special ceremony. Please keep your eye out for invites to both parents and students via email in Week 1 for this event. Congratulations to all of our Senior students for their efforts across all aspects of schooling in the first half of this year.

Senior Assessment Calendar  

We are pleased to publish the Term 3 Year 11 & 12 Assessment calendar on our website, and it is downloadable below. We encourage families to regularly refer to this calendar to see upcoming assessment dates including assignments and exam periods. The associated Senior School assessment policy is published on the school website, and we urge students to ensure their compliance with this including the submission of all work by the due date. If any further clarification is required for specific subjects, we encourage discussion with class teachers or for general enquiries reach out to the Head of Department for Senior Schooling Mr Mick McDougall located in Y Block.

YEAR 10

Year 10 - Set Plan Night

Year 10 students have now reached the point in their Senior Schooling where we are asking them to plan their pathway, including subjects, for Year 11 and 12. This is called SETP Planning.  

To help in making the best possible choices we strongly encourage you and your student to attend an information evening for all Year 10 families. The aim of the evening is to receive essential information on Senior Pathways as well as have the opportunity to tour our faculties and speak directly to subject teachers about the subjects on offer. In addition, a variety of representatives including Griffith Uni, Southern Cross Uni, Gold Coast TAFE, Gold Coast Trades College, the Australian Defence Force and Prestige Training Services will be available to answer any questions you have regarding a wide range of certificates and courses on offer.   

Please monitor your emails as a range of resources and invites will be emailed to year 10 parents and students in the coming weeks.  

YEAR 11

Student Leadership  

Our Year 11 Students next term will begin the process of nominating for 2026 Student Leadership. Students were addressed at assembly about the upcoming opportunities, and we encourage parents at home to have conversations with their young people of whether this is something they’re interested in. PBC has a proud tradition of building excellent leaders, and we can’t wait to work alongside the upcoming group. Enquiries can be made via the Head of Department Mr Ryan Jesser in Y Block. 

Year 11 Academics  

Due to the compressed nature of the Year 11 curriculum many Year 11 students will have assignment tasks and exams to study for over the holidays. Students will have assessment in some subjects such as English in week 2 of term 3. Year 11 subject changes are now closed as students are currently well into Unit 2. Unit 2 concludes with a full week of shutdown exams in the last week of term 3 (September 15 to 19). Year 12 and Unit 3 work then commences in term 4 and this is the last juncture that students will have to change classes. If students are ever need of assistance with planning for assessment or managing study schedules, we welcome them to Y block to see our wonderful Guidance Officer, Mr Steve Jones.  

YEAR 12

Year 12 Futures Night

Fast approaching is our Year 12 Futures Night, an event for parents and graduating students of Year 12 to be held on Tuesday the 12th August. This event is the final opportunity for students to engage with a range of tertiary providers including all local universities, TAFE, Defence Force, RTO’s and apprenticeship providers. Information around university applications, scholarships and ATAR advice through QTAC will also be delivered. It is an event not to be missed by any of our graduating Year 12’s as they sure up their post-schooling plans. Again, keep an eye out for a formal invite early this term.

Upcoming opportunity to do First Aid Training  

Year 12 parents and students have been emailed a letter regarding the opportunity to complete a First Aid and Safety qualification later this term. This course also attains 2 QCE points and is highly recommended for students that are at risk of failing a subject.