Senior Educational Pathway (Year 9 – 12)

Years 9 and 10

[Year 9 Course Guide 2020 Year 10 Course Guide 2020]

Students in Years 9 and 10 have a core and elective program. All students in Years 9 and 10 study:

• English (5 lessons a week)
• Mathematics (5 lessons a week)
• History (2 lessons a week)
• Geography (2 lessons a week)
• Science (3 lessons a week)
• Physical Education (2 lessons a week)
• Life Skills (1 lesson a week)

Students in Years 9 & 10 also choose three of the following elective subjects and study each one for 3 lessons a week over the two-year period of Year 9 & 10:

• Visual Art
• Health and Physical Education
• Business Studies
• Food Technology
• Digital Technology
• Music

Making Choices

In making choices for your elective curriculum, it is important to consider subjects which:

• you enjoy
• reflect your ability and or aptitude
• reflect your interests
• provide appropriate challenge and engagement
• develop skills, knowledge and attitudes useful throughout life.

It is also important to keep in mind that the subjects you choose will not limit or affect your future career as the compulsory subjects you undertake keep your options open.

Career Planning

In Year 10, students need to consider their career aspirations and possibilities. They should explore pathways to achieve their goals and formulate their Senior Education and Training Plan (SET Plan). The SET Plan is usually completed by Year 10 students within the Enhanced Learning Opportunity program in Term 3. Students and parents formulate and develop their plan, which can be reviewed and revised during Senior Schooling within parameters of the QCE and other constraints. Career information should continue to be gathered by the student throughout their senior years of schooling.

Camps Year 9 – 12

The purpose of camp for Senior students is to provide learning opportunities such as problem solving, teamwork skills, environmental awareness and physical and social challenges in a different setting. Many of the activities enrich the curriculum in subjects such as Science, History, Health and Physical Education. Activities are varied depending on the camp location, but may include snorkelling, archery, kayaking, abseiling, bushwalking, high/low ropes and varied team building exercises.

Years 11-12

The Senior Educational Pathway at Peregian Beach College has consistently ensured that students have achieved their desired educational goals. Since our cohort is small, there are advantages upon which we can capitalise. The staff/student ratio is beneficially low and we are able to offer special attention to our students both in terms of staff/student interaction and personalised tuition.

Subjects offered at Peregian Beach College follow Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) syllabi and enable students to gain an Australian Tertiary Administration Rank (ATAR) score and a Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE). The College also facilitates school-based traineeships.

QCE

The Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) is a Queensland’s internationally recognised senior secondary schooling qualification. To be issued a QCE students need to accrue the set amount of learning, at the set standard, in a set pattern, while meeting literacy and numeracy requirements. These requirements are aimed at ensuring students complete their senior schooling with the knowledge and skills they need for success in life beyond school. The QCE is issued to eligible students when they meet all requirements, usually at the end of Year 12 (Student Learning Accounts are closed after nine years).

External Assessment

The assessment program for all general subjects will include external assessment that is:

• common to all schools
• administered under the same conditions, at the same time and on the same day
• developed and marked by the QCAA according to a commonly applied marking scheme

External assessment will be conducted annually in Term 4. The external assessment results will form part of the final subject result for students in conjunction with three internal assessment results. In General Mathematics and Science subjects, the external assessment component will contribute 50% to a student’s final subject result. In all other General subjects, it will contribute 25%. (Applied subjects do not have external assessment)

Standard Delivery (General English & General Mathematical at PBC)

Typically, it is expected that the learning program in the senior years is completed over two years – Year 11 and 12 – with Units 1 and 2 undertaken before Unit 3 and 4 for General syllabuses.

Alternative Sequence Subjects (All other PBC Year 11 & 12 subject options apart from General English and Mathematical Methods)

Alternative sequences have the same objectives, underpinning factors, pedagogical and conceptual framework as the parent syllabus but may reorganise subject matter and assessment requirements to ensure comparable complexity across Units 1 and 2 and Units 3 & 4.

Subjects Year 11 and 12

[Senior Course Guide 2021/2022]

The College determines the variety of courses available for study based on student choices and facilities available, and in accordance with the guidelines of the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA).

At Peregian Beach College, Year 11 students are expected to enrol in six subjects each semester. All students are required to study English, Mathematics (Recommended) and 4 elective subjects.

Permission may be given for students to enrol in fewer than six subjects. This permission is usually given where a student is undertaking an extension program. It may also be desirable to enrol in only 5 subjects where a student is involved in a traineeship or is enrolled in an external course such as Dance, Drama or Language Studies.

LEARNING OPTIONS available at PEREGIAN BEACH COLLEGE

General Subjects (QCAA):

• English (Mandatory)
• Mathematical Methods (Recommended)
• Business
• Music
• Biology
• Visual Art
• PE
• Legal Studies
• Psychology
• Digital technologies (Applied)

General Subjects via Distance Education

General subjects, other than those offered at the College, may be studied through Distance Education upon negotiation with the College. Those subjects offered via that mode would be subjects that students are required to study to meet university entrance. The cost of the first subject (approximately $1500/subject/year) would be paid by the College provided that the student ‘passed’ each semester of the course.

School-Based Traineeships

The College will support students undertaking school-based traineeships (SBT) and apprenticeships. SBTs allow students to train and do paid work in their chosen area (usually for one day a week) while still attending school the rest of the week. The training may occur at work or at a TAFE or a private training organisation. Please note that a training agreement needs to be signed. This is a contract committing the trainer, College, student, parent and employer to the traineeship or apprenticeship. It may be completed after Year 12.

Students interested in pursuing an SBT should do the following:

• Find out what school-based apprenticeships and traineeships there are to choose from.
• Talk to people working in different jobs to find out about the skills they use and where they work.
• Talk to people at school who can help with advice – for example, relevant teachers
• Get experience in the areas you are interested in through volunteer, part-time or holiday jobs or through work experience.

Tertiary Prerequisites/Recommended Studies

All Year 12 students will be issued with a Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre (QTAC) ‘Choose the Future’ booklet from QTAC in Term 3. This is a summary of selection criteria for entry to Universities, TAFE QLD and other tertiary institutions.

Prerequisite subjects for courses to be offered at the respective universities are listed in the booklet referred to above. However, the following general points should be noted.

1. Each institution has its own list of prerequisite subjects and these may differ between institutions for similar courses.
2. A Satisfactory in General English is a prerequisite for many degree level tertiary courses. At PBC General English is pre-selected since it is a requirement to be passed (C or better) to obtain an ATAR score.
3. Mathematics and Science subjects are most commonly listed as prerequisites for Engineering and Health Science courses, however, a variety of other subjects are also mentioned as prerequisites.
4. While some subjects are not listed as prerequisites, progress at University will be significantly less demanding if they have been studied in Years 11 and 12.
5. Recommended studies and ‘Assumed Knowledge’ schemes have replaced formal subject prerequisites at many universities. To get into most courses, you must have studied and passed specific Senior subjects. The most common subject prerequisite is English (Units 3 and 4, C). To meet this prerequisite, students must have completed a General English subject at Unit 3 and 4 level and attained a grade of C or better overall. Not all courses have subject prerequisites. Instead, some courses have assumed knowledge and/or recommended study. Students who do not have the ‘Assumed Level of Knowledge’ are not prevented from receiving an offer but may encounter difficulty with their studies. The university will assume, or recommend, that you have the subject knowledge.
6. Some courses – creative and performance arts programs, for example – have interviews, portfolios or auditions that must be passed.