16 February 2018

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Thoughts

Dear Helensvale State High community members,

As I reflect on the first three weeks of the new school year, I can honestly say we have started on a very positive note due to the organisation and commitment of a hard working staff and the support of our dedicated parents and carers.

All hands were on deck checking rolls and contacting families in the lead up to Day 8, our official day for informing the Department of our enrolment numbers for resourcing purposes. We have started the year with 2574 students, a slight increase from last year, as we welcomed new families into our catchment area.

One Student, One Community, Many Futures.

Helensvale State High School’s mission is to create a school experience for each and every student.

One Student - Creating a ‘school for one’ by catering for the learning needs, interests and aspirations of each and every student. Preparing our students for the future by creating literate, numerate, motivated, creative, sceptical, respectful, responsible, ethical, healthy and resilient learners.

One Community - Our school community with an unrelenting focus on, and a commitment to, the learning of each student

Many Futures - ensuring every student transitions from our school with a viable pathway to the future because together we delivered on our ‘qualification guarantee’.

Throughout this newsletter you will find numerous examples of how our One Student, One Community, Many Futures philosophy is enacted in the school community on a daily basis.

Celebrating Student Achievement

Last Friday we came together as a community to recognise and celebrate the outstanding achievements of our students at the Junior Secondary ACE parade. This Friday we will be recognising further student achievements at our Senior Secondary ACE parade.

The ACE parades are about recognising and celebrating students who are excelling academically and/or have shown the high levels of dedication, self-belief, determination and a willingness to improve through upholding our values of respect, responsibility and resilience.

We encourage all students to continue working hard, to persevere and make the most of the opportunities the school affords them.

Parents and Citizens Association

The P & C Association sponsors the scholarship recipients for the ACE parades, providing $150 per recipient to contribute to the costs of the Student Resource Scheme or uniforms. This year we have 10 scholarship recipients – 4 in Junior Secondary and 6 in Senior Secondary.

The P & C Association supports student learning and well-being in a number of other ways. Most recently, the P & C Association provided $50 000 for the upgrade of two of our kitchens into industrial kitchens, with stainless steel benches, new floors and upgrades to equipment.

RTI Will – starting next week!

What is RTI Will?

Helensvale SHS is committed to ensuring success for EVERY student. Through collaborative teacher teams, we answer five critical questions:

1. What is it that EVERY student must learn?
2. How will we deliver instruction effectively?
3. How will we know if EVERY student has learnt it?
4. What will we do for students who have not learnt it yet?
5. What will we do for students who have already learnt it?

Answering these questions requires consistency and commitment. It is our aim to ensure that your child succeeds, however we need your support. We are working on a school wide system of interventions to assist our students.

We will be looking at how we intervene to address learning for all students however we will be addressing this for Years 9, 10, 11 and 12 this term by:

• Ensuring that we expect success for EVERY student in passing which will involve collaboration between parents, students and classroom teachers.
• Continuing to address learning needs through differentiation within classrooms.
• Addressing students who do not submit assessments/ drafts or who have poor attendance preventing their learning by participation in compulsory “catch up” sessions to be held on MONDAY AFTERNOONS from 2.15pm -2.55pm. If students do not engage in this session or require more intervention, they will then be required to attend compulsory lunch time sessions also. Parents will be notified if their student is required to attend the Monday after school session.

We want your child to succeed and together we can make this happen. We ask your support in ensuring your child’s attendance if required at these sessions.

This is simply an information letter however please feel free to contact Janelle Dickman at any time for more information on jdick39@eq.edu.au

Learning Prefects 2018

Cows for Cambodia

The 2018 Year 12 Community Prefects have been given many challenges to face throughout the year! Cows for Cambodia is a non-profit organisation that is dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty in Cambodia. Cows for Cambodia is essentially a “Cow Bank” which loans families a pregnant cow who are then given the task of looking after it and making sure it remains healthy during its pregnancy. Once the cow has had the baby, they get to keep the calf and the organisation takes their cow back. This systems works alongside families to provide an opportunity to break the cycle of poverty. Their long term goal is to have 1,000 cows at their farm, to make Cows for Cambodia one of Asia’s biggest agricultural charity projects. The Community Prefects are helping fundraise to meet this goal. As a school we would like to raise $2000 throughout the year. We will be hosting a range of events to meet this goal so keep your eyes and ears out for this amazing charity opportunity!

From the International Department

Bond University Welcome function

Our new International Students were officially welcomed to the Gold Coast in a formal ceremony at Bond University.

Our students were part of a group of approximately 250 students at the ceremony from eleven different International Schools across the coast. It was wonderful to see them connecting with friends and making new friends from other school.

It was great that our International Students were given the opportunity of meeting the Commonwealth Games Mascot, Borobi, who will be flying the flag for Australia.

The student representative from Helensvale State High was Eva-Maria Schneider from Austria and our student Saitharn Ketpan from Thailand was the lucky winner of a $100 shopping voucher for Pacific Pines Shopping Centre. All students were presented with a certificate.

International Highlight

Year 10 student, Mayu Okahara, from Japan participated in the Swimming Carnival last week and proudly came third in the 50m Freestyle. Well done Mayu!!

We celebrated Vincent Deng’s 18th Birthday. Congratulations Vincent!

We have said goodbye to our first Study Tour of the year, Bailino from China. We hosted 20 students of different ages for a week and we thank all our ‘Buddies’ for showing our visiting students the “Vale” way. They took part in regular classes with their ‘Buddies’ along with specialised classes of drumming with Long Bradley and Indigenous Art with Tony Gordon. It was a great week of fun and new friendships with all students having a farewell ceremony and bush dancing at the end of the tour.

From Humanities

‘You hold in your hands the future of the world’ - French President Raymond Poincare January 1919

This great quote sums up the moral imperative of Helensvale State High School Humanities teachers. Humanities teachers strive to create a learning environment that stimulates your child’s thinking so that they can critically analyse information - a skill that students will take into their adult life to help them make wise decisions.

Humanities in Semester 1 focuses on History. All year 7-9 students are currently studying History and some year 9 and 10 students are studying Geography. In Semester 2, year 7-9 students will focus their Humanities study on Geography.

As we are 4 weeks into Term 1, many year levels are approaching assessment time. It is essential that students attend school so they are able to take advantage of the teacher’s support during this assessment period. If, after discussing the assessment with your child, you have further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher. If your child needs an extension, then they will need to see me, provide a valid reason and fill in the required paperwork.

Thank you to all the teachers and students who have made my move to Helensvale State High School a very easy transition. I have been warmly welcomed and supported.

Liz Benson
Humanities HOD

Junior ACE Parade

The Helensvale State High School ACE Parades are held to recognise, acknowledge and celebrate Academic Excellence and our three learning values: Resilient, Respectful and Responsible.

The Academic Gold Award is based on a student achieving at least an A level in 6 subjects for Semester One 2017. They have also exhibited outstanding application and diligence to personal academic performance.

Academic Awards are based on students achieving all As & Bs in their subjects for Semester One 2017. They have worked hard and made every effort to achieve at a high level.

The other 3 Awards centre on our learning values.

Since their last full academic report students receiving the Resilient Learner Award have shown personal drive and motivation to improve their overall academic performance and grade point average.

The Respectful Learner Award is presented to students who have displayed exemplary behaviour and effort during Semester One.

Students awarded the Responsible Learner Award actively demonstrate “It Is Not OK to be Away” and have fully committed themselves to attending class, participating in camps, excursions, representative sport performances, School Based Traineeships and a host of other enrichment and leadership programs.

SWELL

The SWeLL staff are pleased to announce the commencement of Chat and Chill.... with a purpose. The purpose being - providing a time and space to get homework and assignment help!

Visual Arts Workshop

Wingara Mura - Bunga Barrabugu translates to “a thinking path - to make tomorrow” in the Cadigal language and is the name of the University of Sydney’s strategy which commits us to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation, engagement, education and research. The program offers a multi-layered approach to support the academic and personal preparation of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for higher education. This includes opportunities for students to experience university life, engage in fun, educational activities in a supportive and inclusive environment at our on-campus events and week-long residential Summer and Winter programs. This year, two of our students, Holly Rawlinson and Ngapurata Matoe, were chosen out of many applicants to attend the WMBB Visual Arts summer program where they had the opportunity to stay on-campus, access world-class facilities and “test drive” University life in the oldest campus in Australia.

NRL Indigenous Youth Summit

Ngapuarata and Zayden from Year 11 spent last week in Sydney with 70 other students from across the country and New Zealand attending the NRL Indigenous youth summit. They visited many sporting landmarks, met legends of sport, learned about culture and engaged in leadership activities. The summit ended with an election and Zayden was voted 2018 NRL Youth Summit Ambassador. Well done Zayden!

2018 Ski Trip

2018 is here and the snow at Perisher is calling us. I have just started organising this year’s ski trip and already I am excited about the prospect of taking another 30 students to the slopes of the Snowy Mountains in September. In the weeks to come, I will be organising a meeting for any year 11 & 12 students who are interested. All the information you will require will be handed out at that meeting. Students need to keep an eye on the student notices to find out when the meeting will be held so they don’t miss out. Cheers, Paul Armitage

From the Physical Education Department

Swimming Carnival 2018

Our school swimming carnival was held on Thursday 8th February at the Palm Beach Aquatic Centre, with Year 7s, 8s & 9s in attendance, and selected students from Years 10-12 who had nominated to attend.

Whilst the day started off overcast and showery, the sun soon came out and the competition heated up, with several records being broken. Participation and behaviour from students was excellent throughout the day as they battled for supremacy in Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke and Freestyle. While the Year 12 Dean, Mr Gurney cooked a barbecue to raise money to support the Year 12 Formal, students barracked for their house mates and enjoyed the music playing from the speakers.

Thanks must be given to all staff for their help on the day to ensure the day went swimmingly, especially the HPE staff who displayed exceptional teamwork and set up early and remained behind after everyone had left, to pack up. Special mention must be made of Mr Finnis (Sports Coordinator) and Ms Williams (HPE Teacher Aide) for their tireless efforts in planning the day. It was a great start to the sporting year and we look forward to future carnivals.

From the School Based Nurse

Sleep and teenagers

Sleep and sleep patterns start to change during adolescence. But your teenage child still needs to get enough good-quality sleep. Simple, healthy daytime and bedtime habits can help your child get the sleep they need.

Why teenagers need sleep

Your teenage child needs sleep to:

• maintain a healthy body
• keep their immune system working well
• boost thier energy levels, learning and concentration
• store things in their long-term memory.

Lack of sleep can make it harder for your child to behave well, regulate emotions, pay attention and do well at school, and get along with others.

How much sleep do teenagers need?

Teenagers need 8-10 hours of sleep each night. This means teenagers still need more sleep than adults to be at their best during the day.

And it’s not just about how much sleep teenagers get. It’s also about how well they sleep, and how much deep sleep they get. Deep sleep is the most restful phase of sleep.

It’s very common for children in the early teen years to begin to want to go to bed later at night and get up later in the morning. This is because they start to secrete melatonin later at night than they did in earlier childhood, which affects their circadian rhythm. Also, as their brains mature during puberty, children can stay awake for longer.

Helping teenagers sleep better

Routines

• Encourage your child to go to bed and get up around the same time every day. Keep wake-up times on school days and weekends to within two hours of each other. This can help get your child’s body clock into a regular rhythm and keep it there.
• Encourage your child to get out of bed when they wake up, rather than trying to go back to sleep.
• Allow plenty of time (for example, 40 minutes) for your child to wind down before bed. Good wind-down activities are warm baths, warm milk drinks, writing in a journal, reading a book or magazine, and listening to quiet music.
• Encourage your child to keep daytime naps to no more than 20 minutes and make sure the nap is in the early afternoon. Longer and later naps can make it harder to get to sleep at night.

Your child’s sleep environment

• Turn off loud music, mobile phones, computer screens and TV at least one hour before bedtime. Late-night phone calls, text messages and social media use can mean broken sleep, so encourage your child to connect with friends during the day instead.
• Check your child’s sleep space. A quiet, dimly lit space is important for good sleep.
• Ensure your child feels safe at night. Praise and reward any signs of bravery if your child is fearful. Avoid scary TV shows, movies, computer games or books. Some children with major bedtime fears sleep better with a night light or a personal alarm under their pillow.
• If your child is ‘clock watching’, encourage them to turn their clock around or move it to where they can’t see it.
• If your child has trouble going to sleep sometimes, suggest they get up and do something relaxing like reading. When they feel tired, they can go back to bed.

Good health and nutrition

• Make sure your child has a satisfying evening meal at a reasonable time. Feeling hungry or too full before bed might make them feel alert or uncomfortable. This can make it harder to get to sleep.
• Encourage your child to get as much natural light as possible during the day, especially in the morning. This will help their body produce melatonin at the right times in their sleep cycle.
• Make sure your child has a healthy breakfast. Tired adolescents are less likely to eat, but even a light breakfast helps to kick-start the body clock. This helps the body feel ready for sleep at the right time at night.
• Encourage your child to avoid caffeine (in energy drinks, coffee, tea, chocolate and cola) – especially in the late afternoon and evening.
• Encourage your child to do some physical activity during the day, but not too late at night. Extra stimulation and body heat can make it harder to get to sleep.

Worries and anxieties

If your child has worries that keep them awake at night, try talking about them together during the day. You could work together on a problem-solving approach  to worries.

Encourage your child to write anxious thoughts in a journal, which might help them to clear their head. They can think about solutions the next day.

From the Canteen

Please see attached our new menus for the canteen. We have had a major overhaul and are offering some exciting new items including protein balls, muffins - savoury and sweet, quiches, salads (from Salad Sensations), sandwiches and much more.

All profits from the canteen and uniform shop are spent back on our students and facilities, on agreed priority projects approved by school management and P and C.

Advertising

The newsletter also has a sponsorship section which provides a great opportunity for local businesses to engage with our parent community. If you would like to be a part of this, please contact Schoolzine:

Phone Jude 07 5414 2363
jude.dawson@schoolzine.com.au