23 March 2017

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Thoughts

We are excited and proud to announce that one of our AFL Academy coaches, Selina Priest will be playing with the Brisbane Lions women’s team in the AFL Women’s Grand Final. The game will be played at Metricon Stadium this Saturday, starting at 1pm. The game is free to attend so we urge as many Helensvale High Community members to get to the game and cheer Selina and the Brisbane Lions team on!!

Block Exam Timetables

Please be aware of the year 11 and 12 Block Exam times.

Commonwealth Day

Last Monday the 13th of March was Commonwealth Day. This made it the perfect day to unveil the official commemorative coins for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Helensvale State High School Captains Kimberly Wong and Nathan Goble, were present on this momentous occasion, alongside the Hon Kate Jones, Minister for Education, and Acting Mayor Donna Gates, to officially present the coins to the public for the first time. They also had the opportunity to help display Commonwealth flags from across the globe. We are getting very excited for the 2018 Commonwealth Games!

GIPSA 2017 up and running……..

The GIPSA competition started on Friday March 10 and was a great success. Many staff and students have reported back positively in regard to the level of competition and sportsmanship shown across so many different sports. Our staff have prepared well and this ensured the season got underway smoothly. Students were well presented and participated with great enthusiasm and they should all be commended on this. Please remember that GIPSA round 2 is on Friday March 24. Students are reminded to be organised, wear appropriate uniform and to represent the school to the best of their ability.

Helensvale E4E

No team can reach its potential without effective communication. Recently our Teenpreneurs explored what happens when communication goes wrong and also learnt the difference between ‘push’ and ‘pull’ communication strategies.

Students learnt that when people are ‘pushed’ they will instinctively resist and that it is much easier to persuade or convince someone to do what you need them to do.

The activity below shows Chloe and James attempting to draw replica pictures based solely on the instructions of their teammates. The task highlighted how important clear, concise and accurate instructions are between team members when working together to achieve objectives.

This next phase of the course introduces students to the field of Neuroscience. By understanding how the brain works, how people learn, the mindset of successful people and how to be innovative, students will have a good base to start generating and developing their own business ideas.

Hayden Volzke
Teacher

Shave for a Cure

On the 13th March, Helensvale State High School joined thousands of extraordinary Aussies by getting sponsored to shave or colour their hair for the Leukaemia Foundation’s World’s Greatest Shave. We had an outstanding response with 3 male teachers and 7 male students, including our 4 male captains, shaving. Every day 35 people will be diagnosed with a blood cancer. As a school we decided it was our job to help raise funds for such a great cause. So far we have raised a total of $818, but with a proposed crazy sock day and hair spraying days coming up, we hope to see this number sky rocket over the thousand-dollar mark. Thanks to everyone who has helped by donating as every dollar counts as we raise money to fight cancer.

Stella de Geest on behalf of the Community Prefects

National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence

The National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence, March 17, is a day for schools, students and the community to say Bullying. No Way!

CYBER BULLYING

It seems that on a daily basis we hear about bullying in the community in one form or another. Many incidences of cyber bullying have been raised in the media recently. Bullying of any kind has the potential to cause great damage to all concerned – including the perpetrator. There are steps that parents can take to protect their children. Following are some useful websites which contain tips, strategies and real life stories of incidents that have occurred to children and teenagers. Please take an opportunity to check out these websites and discuss this important issue with your children.

Please contact school administration if you have concerns about bullying at school.

Image from: https://www.facebook.com/ChloesVoice/

Studio Village Mural / Year 9 Art Excellence 2016

Time moves a little slower

“Time Moves a Little Slower Here” is a simple, bright, bold and interactive mural that uses design elements of pattern, shape and colour to reflect a simple but meaningful message. The mural encompasses a timeless and enjoyable artwork in an outdoor setting. Our aim was for the mural to be a backdrop whereby people could take a photo in an outdoor setting. The objective was encouraging people to use the backdrop as an interactive artwork while enjoying the outdoor environment. It is a growing trend that in our current day and age, younger generations are reliant on technology, which leads them to missing out on experiencing the great outdoors. Gone are the days where children are out climbing a trees and enjoying a game of tag. With this in mind, and our reliance on the 'fast paced¹ technological lifestyle, the outdoors does move a little slower but that¹s not always a bad thing.

A big thank you to the artist, Catherine Booth, who took the initial concept and design and painted on the scorching hot days of last summer. Also a massive thank you to Chantal Warren, Project Officer from Gold Coast City Council, for offering students an opportunity to transform their knowledge from Art Excellence and transfer it into a real-world task.

If you are around the Studio Village Park please engage and record your experience with the mural!

Helensvale SHS Musical

Mathematically Speaking

The Maths department has been extremely busy this term. The team has started preparing for the new assessment system that will be introduced in senior subjects in 2019. The first cohort to encounter the new system will be our current Year 9. In preparation, the Year 8 and 9 exams are being written to reflect the new, external, un-seen exams they will then experience in Year 11.

We have been extremely busy in Maths tutorials as well! Maths tutorials are a great way to help students improve their achievement levels in Mathematics. Every Thursday afternoon from 3:00pm to 4:00pm a group of experienced Maths teachers are available to help all interested students. Due to their experience they are able to assist students with their studies across all Maths subjects. Our team is happy to help with homework or exam revision. All students are invited to come along to SM07 (years 7-9) and SM08 (years 10-12). If you cannot make it on Thursday afternoons, check with your Maths teacher - many of our staff run lunchtime tutorials and would be more than happy for you to join them!

HUMANEITY NEWS

A Collaboration Project that commenced in Sept 2016 started its latest phase today.

Mathew Walters from HMJ Trailers in Morayfield, Brisbane has produced the first part of the trailer for the Helensvale State High School Tiny House project - pictured with Humaneity CEO, Mark Philpott.

Mathew said today, ' It will take me about a week to finish the trailer by the time I receive the remainder of the parts'.

Nestled away in a small industrial estate on the north side of Brisbane, Mathew is becoming a bit of a 'guru' on Tiny House trailer building. He calmly explained to us today the differences between dual and tri axle trailers and the importance of weight distribution for Tiny House building.

Mathew's customers come from near and far. He is sees an increasing trend of people wanting to build their own 'house on wheels'. After the widespread appearance of television shows featuring tiny houses coupled with many peoples' ambitions to create more affordable housing solutions the Tiny House market in Australia is predicted to explode much like it has in the USA.

The Helensvale State High School project that is being managed by the Australian headquartered not-for-profit organization, Humaneity is the first of its kind in a high school in Australia. Humaneity Founder and CEO Mark Philpott says, 'We are extremely grateful to all of the commercial partners who have jumped on board to collaborate with us on this project. We have over thirty wonderful companys partnering with us to ensure that the tiny house we are building will be of the highest quality and standards.’

The Tiny House Project began as a community collaboration project with a vision to connect school students to businesses so they could adopt real life skills while exploring potential pathways to employment opportunities.

Once HMJ trailers has completed the building of the trailer it will travel to Helensvale State High School, which is located at the north end of Australia's Gold Coast.

The remainder of the tiny house will be constructed at the school where students, parents and local community members will come together to create a true positive impact for the community.

It is intended that the tiny house will be used for a community purpose to offer some kind of transitional housing for those in need.

Any enquires on the Tiny House Project should be sent to the Humaneity project team at collaborate@humaneity.com

Uniform Shop News

Entertainment Book Fundraising for Helensvale SHS

It is that time of the year again; the Entertainment Book for 2017 is available for purchase. This book is just $60, but comes with over $20,000 worth of value! They can be purchased by visiting:

If you buy a book online, come to the administration office with your proof of purchase and collect it. If you purchase the digital book, this means you will have all of the vouchers accessible on a handy app.

In addition, 20% of the funds raised go towards fundraising projects within the school. Buy before Thursday the 30th March to take advantage of the early bird offer and receive an additional pack of vouchers absolutely free!!