20 June 2025
Our School Values
Our School Values –
I am RESPECTFUL
I am RESPONSIBLE
I am RESILIENT
From the Principal
Dear Helensvale State High School Community
As ‘One Community’, partnering with our families and external providers brings us one step closer to achieving our vision of ‘aspiring for each and every student to reach their full potential’.
We value open and respectful parent/carer communication, to support your child’s learning and engagement, and to build a positive school culture. The Department of Education has designed guidelines to help parents/carers understand the types of information they can expect to receive from state schools and appropriate contact channels. Over the course of the next few newsletters, I will share with you the resources and guidelines made available by the Department.
Communicating with your child’s school
Our school is committed to open, respectful, and positive communication with parents and carers, as a vital part of supporting your child's learning, wellbeing and development.
To strengthen partnerships with families, we continue to celebrate student achievements, share learning progress, respond promptly to important concerns, communicate absences, manage consent and payments, provide regular school updates, and invite your feedback and involvement.
To support positive communication between schools and families, a new resource has been developed by the Department that outlines shared expectations around what, how, and when schools and families communicate. This resource is designed to help foster mutual understanding and proactive collaboration. The guidelines outline:
- What you can expect schools to do
- What you should not expect
- When to contact your child’s school
- How you can help or support the school
- What to do if you are unhappy about something that has happened at school.
If you don’t get a chance to read the guidelines, I ask that you at least read this section of the newsletter.
You can expect schools to:
- recognise and celebrate your child’s achievements
- report on your child’s academic progress
- communicate about your child’s learning, wellbeing and development
- inform you of any serious issues concerning your child
- alert you on the same day if your child is absent without a reason
- forward requests needing your consent or payment
- provide regular school updates and notify you of school events
- offer opportunities and ways to give feedback
- offer parent/carer-teacher interviews twice per year.
You should not expect:
- an immediate response to non-urgent inquiries - it may take a minimum of 2 or more business days
- on any given day, our staff may be absent from school for various reasons, including, but not limited to illness, family responsibility, on excursions or participating in professional learning on or off-site, or may have an urgent matter that requires immediate attention.
- staff to return calls or reply to emails outside standard business hours (including evenings and weekends)
- Both the Department and Queensland Teachers’ Union are committed to ensuring a reasonable workload for our staff. Well-being is also a key priority.
- a response from staff to social media messages from their personal account
- as per Departmental policy, staff may only communicate via their EQ email address
- access to teachers’ personal phone numbers or emails
- teachers to discuss school matters when not at work (e.g. if you see a teacher outside of school hours in the community)
- meetings with staff during the school day without an appointment
- just like many organisations, staff always have a calendar of events and timetable they must attend to. Staff are not always available when you want them to be, so please make appointments in advance.
- to be allowed on school grounds if you have been aggressive or harassed staff or students.
- Principals have the right to limit access to parents or carers, or request they leave the school grounds, where parents or carers may become hostile. Please ensure that you report to the Administration office when entering the school grounds.
Find out more about these guidelines in Queensland state schools:
Whole school House events
This year, with the introduction of our Houses, there has been a shift in culture and focus at our whole school events. In the past, the swimming carnival, cross-country and athletics carnival were designed for the more athletic students. Whilst some events are still targeted at identifying students for Broadwater or South Coast sport, there is more of a focus on fun, participation and school spirit.
Each whole school event has something for every child to enjoy. This was strongly evidenced at our swimming carnival in term 1, with a fun atmosphere and every child having the opportunity to jump in the pool, whether it was for a novelty event, dancing to the music or competitive racing. It was clear that the students and staff all had an enjoyable time.
With another carnival event to be held on the last two days of this term, we will have something for everybody to enjoy. DJ Phil is going to be there, Zooper Doopers will be handed out and a positive recognition BBQ will be put on for our students at no cost by our Positive Behaviour for Learning team. There will be novelty events and fun activities to cater for all our students.
Unfortunately, our rate of attendance at these days decreases. I ask that you encourage your child to attend school on these days and do not give your consent for them to stay at home. These events are a great way to have positive interactions with peers and staff, build house spirit and strengthen a sense of belonging for our students, staff and families - factors that ultimately contribute to student success. I hope to see as many students attending as possible.
Parents and Citizens Association update
Over the last year and a half, I have been keeping you up to date on the status of our P and C Association. Due to not being able to secure a P and C Executive or enough members to have a quorum at meetings as per the constitution, the P and C has now been dissolved. The school community may have the capacity to create a P and C Association in the future.
At our most recent School Council meeting, the following decisions were made:
- That Helensvale SHS continues to offer a Student Resource Scheme in 2026.
- That the Student Resource Scheme Terms and Conditions as per Department of Education are adhered to and not amended in any way.
- That the Student Resource Scheme fees for 2026 remain as:
Junior Secondary (7-9) $395
Senior Secondary (10-12) $435
The Student Resource Scheme fees have remained the same since 2021 to support families through COVID, natural disasters and cost of living. The majority of subject fees have remained the same, with minimal increases for a select few.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for supporting our school to continue to be a school of first choice for our local community and beyond. Every action we take, every decision we make is in the best interests of your children – our students.
Have a great end of term break.
Kind regards
Karen Lindsay
Principal, Helensvale State High School
Legal Studies
Year 11 Legal Studies recently visited the Queensland Supreme Court, where students observed live court proceedings and gained firsthand insight into courtroom procedures, legal roles, and the justice system in action. The excursion helped reinforce their classroom learning by allowing them to see real-world applications of legal principles.
ILO News
Holiday Programs
Southern Cross Open Day
Link and Launch
It’s an exciting time of the year for our Grade 12’s here at Helensvale State High School!
It’s Link and Launch time!
Our Link and Launch co-ordinator Elaine Braniff will be organising face to face interviews with our Grade 12’s very soon to discuss their plans for leaving school – whether that’s getting a job – part time whilst they’re studying or full-time, commencing an apprenticeship or traineeship or engaging in further study pathways. We recognise that for some students leaving school can be quite daunting and its sometimes difficult to take that ‘next step’.
Some students, after 13 years of making their way through school, might not have any idea what that ‘next step’ can look like for them. And guess what? That’s totally ok and that’s why this program was developed by the Department of Education/Queensland Government to assist graduating Grade 12 students – and it’s free.
Elaine can assist with:
- Career planning/guidance
- Career assessments
- Skilling Queenslanders for Work and Trade Taster programs
- Assistance with job applications, resume writing and interview preparation
- Alternative entry to university
- Additional support with further training via TAFE or other accredited training providers
- Whatever the individual requires……………….
Where can you access Link and Launch?
Elaine can be contacted on:
Mobile: 0401 127 905
Email: ebran61@eq.edu.au
2nd Floor, Karangbah
Dolly’s Dream
10 Steps to Deal with School Bullying and Cyberbullying
- Recognise that bullying matters – because it hurts in the short and long term. It’s everybody’s responsibility.
- Be clear about what bullying is. It is an ongoing misuse of power in relationships through repeated aggressive verbal, physical and/or social behaviour online or offline, which intends to cause physical and/or psychological harm, distress or fear. Bullying almost always occurs alongside cyber bullying.
- Bullying is not mutual conflict between equals, single acts of nastiness or aggression or social rejection or dislike unless it is deliberate, repeated and intended to cause distress.
- Watch for the following signs because many children will rarely say what is happening to them (trouble at school, drop in academic performance, sleep and/or eating disorders, withdrawal from social activities).
- Never ignore a bullying or cyber bullying situation. Respond to it as a parent or teacher with respectful listening, noting down the particulars of the situation and how the young person wants it resolved. Usually they are not interested in punishing the person who is bullying them; they just want it to stop.
- Encourage young people to tell someone who can help and not to ignore bullying; it will not go away on its own.
- Explain to young people that retaliating physically or aggressively will usually make things worse.
- Strategies young people can practise to cope with bullying include walking away, acting unimpressed, or pretending not to notice. Online strategies can include blocking, strategic ignoring of the behaviour and saving evidence via screenshots.
- Encourage young people to have diverse friendship groups. It’s too easy to be excluded or sidelined if you only have a couple of friends.
- If bullying or cyber bullying is particularly serious (physical or deeply personal), the Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioneror the police can be contacted. Before then, you might want to contact the Dolly’s Dream Support Line on 0488 881 033, Kids Helpline on 1800 551800 or Lifeline on 131114.
Qparents
Enjoy convenient and streamlined engagement with your child's school.
QParents offers a convenient, safe and private app to help parents & caregivers manage important details of their children's journey.
Support Staff
As part of our Learning and Well-being framework, we have created a Well-being Hub for students and parents, which can be accessed through the Helensvale State High School webpage. The hub includes links to other websites and apps which can help to support student well-being, as well as provide information on career pathways. To access these ‘well-being hubs’ c go to the HSHS website
We Would Like to Thank Our Sponsors
Acknowledgment of Country
Helensvale State High School as one community, acknowledges the Kombumerri Peoples, the Traditional Custodians of the land on which our school is built. We respect their long history, ancestry and culture. We pay our respects to the Elders, past, present and emerging for they carry the memories and traditions of past times.
We would also like to extend our acknowledgment to other First Nations Peoples: those hailing from the Torres Strait Islands and those belonging to other Aboriginal Language Groups.
We acknowledge the strength and resilience of Kombumerri peoples. We respect their enduring connection to the local wetlands and the cultural responsibility they uphold to preserve wildlife. Together, we go forward, learning in the spirit of these values.
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