27 April 2018

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Thoughts

Dear Helensvale State High community,

Welcome to Term 3. I trust that you have had a fantastic holiday and your children are re-energised ready for another term full of learning and opportunity. Speaking of opportunity, the Commonwealth Games saw a number of staff and students volunteering at the Games and being part of the opening and closing ceremonies. For instance, our Volleyball team, supported by Mr Hinds and Mrs Skennar gave their time to officiate at the Volleyball. I am sure you will agree that they certainly looked the part in their volunteer uniforms.

New Construction

On the second last day of last term, The Honourable Grace Grace, Minister for Education, visited the school for the ‘Turning of the Sod’ ceremony, marking the start of the construction of our new $14.7 million 3-storey complex.

Minister Grace was joined by South East Regional Director, Mr John Norfolk, representatives from the Regional Infrastructure Team, project developers Evans Built, facilities staff and student leaders.

The construction that sees part of the ground floor of Discovery Place converted to two classrooms is near completion. This space has previously been used by students for handball, so we are constructing a covered shelter near Discovery Place, which will provide another area for handball and other such activities.

ANZAC Ceremonies

On Friday 20 April, we held two ANZAC Ceremony parades where we came together as a school community to show our respect to the men and women who have fought and given their lives serving for their country in the many military conflicts in the history of Australia and New Zealand.

We were privileged to be joined by special guests, Mrs Melanie Annand and Mr Mathew Ardly from North Gold Coast RSL, Mr Mark Boothman State Member for Theodore, Councillor for Division 2 William Owen-Jones and Mr Long Bradley, School Chaplain.

We also had a contingency of students and staff who attended the ANZAC Day Dawn Service held at Club Helensvale on Wednesday 25 April. We are proud to have had our Drumline group march in the Southport RSL March. I am sure many more students and their families attended one of the many ANZAC ceremonies held across the Gold Coast and to support the ANZAC tradition.

Have Your Say on Cyberbullying

Many parents and teachers are concerned about cyberbullying within our school community. It is a serious problem that can hurt young people, families and school communities. Cyberbullying is also a complex problem that is often invisible to parents and teachers.

In February the Premier appointed a group of Queenslanders who are passionate about stopping cyberbullying of young people. The Queensland Anti-Cyberbullying Taskforce is chaired by well-known author and commentator, Madonna King, and includes members with knowledge and expertise in education, youth health and wellbeing, law, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, disability and families.

The Taskforce needs your help to develop a framework for Queensland to help reduce cyberbullying of young people. They want to hear from parents, carers, students, teachers and other experts in schools. In particular, the Taskforce wants to hear about your ideas to:

• prevent or reduce cyberbullying
• support people affected by cyberbullying of young people.

How to have your say

Email the Taskforce at antibullyingtaskforce@premiers.qld.gov.au

Upload your ideas as a submission on the Taskforce website

Come to a public forum in 12 Queensland locations including Brisbane, Cairns, Rockhampton and Charleville. For information about forums visit

Everyone can be part of the stand against cyberbullying. Ms King and the Taskforce members look forward to hearing from you.

Parents and Citizens Association

Would you like to contribute to the school but are unsure how? Would you like to learn more about what is happening in the school? Are you interested in learning more about the educational matters that may impact on your child?

If you answered yes to any of the above, then come along to our next Parents and Citizens’ Association meeting on Tuesday 1st May, from 7pm to 8pm at the school. We value parent and community input and would love to meet you.

English Department News

Debating

It has been an extremely exciting and productive start of the year for debating at Helensvale S.H.S. The first term saw enormous interest amongst the student cohort for the upcoming season, with teams in all divisions being filled. All teams performed exceptionally well in their first round debates and students are very eager to begin preparation on their next topics for round two. The motivation and dedication the students have shown throughout the preparation period for their first round of debates has been exceptional!

Debating is not only an excellent opportunity for students to engage in a rewarding extra-curricular activity, it is also an outlet for some of our outstanding students to hone their critical thinking and oral language skills, while also building essential leadership qualities. These skills are an invaluable asset to have as they move forward with their education and career aspirations.

The future is looking exceedingly bright for debating at Helensvale S.H.S!

Dane Miles
Debating Coordinator

Inspiring our students – Can you help?

At Helensvale S.H.S our chosen pedagogical framework is IMPACT. The acronym IMPACT stands for INSPIRE, MODEL, PRACTISE, APPLY, CONNECT and TRANSFORM. It is a dynamic set of evidence based teaching strategies that provide teachers with a common language for learning across all disciplines. As well as focussing on information processing, thinking skills and creativity, IMPACT’s desired goal is to develop students’ attitude, effort and ‘grit’ to be successful learners.

This term, our Year 8 students are studying the impact of natural disasters and will become aspiring journalists detailing a disaster through a feature column. We would love your help to INSPIRE our students to be empathetic to the experiences of those affected. If you have been personally affected by a natural disaster, and would be willing to share your story either in person or through email with our students, we would love to hear from you.

Our Year 7 and 9 students will also be honing their creative writing skills through writing narratives and myths respectively.

To CONNECT our aspiring writers by encouraging a personal, social and global connection to learning, we would also like to share the experiences of any parents/guardians who have experience in future pathways relevant to their studies. Perhaps you have a career in writing, media or communication fields and would be happy to share your experiences and craft with our talented students. Please email Tracey Eaton (Head of Department – Junior English) on teato19@eq.edu.au if you would like to contribute to our students’ learning experiences in English this term.

Tracey Eaton
Head of Department – English (Junior)

What’s happening in Senior English?

It’s been a busy start to the year for our Senior English students. In particular, our Year 12 English Communication students participated in a mock job interview with members of local industry as part of our Work Readiness unit. This was an invaluable life experience for our students and the interviewers were impressed with the presentation, maturity and attitude of our students. Definitely a real world experience!

As we prepare for another busy term of assessment and exams, it is timely to remind our students that extra help is available if needed. We run English tutorials every Wednesday afternoon in SWELL from 3-4pm. This is a great opportunity for students to come along and get help with their homework and assessment.

Many of our students are reading novels this term for their assessment. We always encourage students to try and read a chapter or two each night. You might like to check in with your student and ask them about what they’re reading.

Tara Byrne
Head of Department – English (Senior)

Reading @ Helensvale 1

Reading is such an important life skill and in secondary school, our focus is on teaching students to authentically engage in a text and to make meaning from it that they can apply to new or old learning. We have been using a particular tool to support students in making meaning from texts. As a school, we developed an ‘Annotation Key’ which students use when reading the text for the first time.

Students will be using the Annotation Key in all their subjects. We have already begun implementing the bookmark and feedback from students has been that it helps them to understand what the text is saying.

YEAR 9 DANCE ACADEMY

Mrs Riches’ Year 9 Dance Academy students presented their lyrical dance routine on Junior and Senior ANZAC Day parade this year showcasing their wonderful skills. Students were guided by guest choreographer Zakk Beasley from “The Studio” and will continue to refine the routine for the Gold Coast Eisteddfod later this year.

Tutoring Help

Is your student in need of extra assistance with their work? Did you know Helensvale SHS offers tutoring sessions?

Chat and Chill, run by school staff 3-4 Mon, Wed, Thurs.

Science Tutorials Monday Lunch times in CB04

English Tutorials Wednesday 3-4 in SWELL

Maths Tutorials Thursday 3-4 in S306 + S307

Hogwarts at the Vale

This term we have decided to transform SWELL in Hogwarts in order to attract more students into the library, to provide them with fun, and educational experiences, and to provide a safe environment for them to express themselves and their enjoyment of the Harry Potter.

Mrs Sue Wright, a staff member at Helensvale S.H.S , has spent a great deal of time and energy transforming SWeLL into an inviting Hogwarts learning space. There will be Harry Potter related activities happening throughout the term, so watch this space! So far the students have enjoyed being sorted into Helensvale Hogwarts houses – no, not everyone can be Gryffindor! We have been making ‘Wanted’ posters, participating in colouring competitions and writing letters for owl delivery. There has also been a bit of Potter decorating with glitter face painting. It has been wonderful to see the students so engaged. We hope that your students enjoy and share the experience with you.

Donations for the Homeless

We have been busy freeing many a house elf here in the SWeLL, but it was suggested by one of our students that maybe we should also “clothe a house elf”. So, staying in Hogwarts theme, we are ‘Clothing a House Elf’ and are looking for donations of warm clothing and blankets that will then be passed on to our lovely Chappy Long Bradley to distribute to those in need this winter. There will be a box in SWeLL to leave your donations. Thank you in advance for your donations.

Student Achievement

Netball Reps

Congratulations to our students Leah Pue, Reilly Batcheldor and Kirstyn Lole in winning bronze at the National Under 17s netball tournament in Adelaide. What a fantastic achievement to have 3 Helensvale S.H.S students in the elite team, and perform so successfully! Well done ladies!

Bryan Hourigan

Bryan Hourigan competed in tennis at the National State Games in Adelaide with the Special Olympics Australia in the last week of the holidays. He played doubles with partner, Aman, as well as singles. He and Aman won Gold in the doubles. Well done Bryan!

Bryan has trained hard with his coach Glen Bowe for last 6 months. Glen has coached Bryan and other athletes with disabilities within his positive energy program.

We are all super excited, Go Bryan and Go Queensland.

Marcella Scarcella

Maddison Scarcella is a year 12 student who was also in the Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony, as one of the home mandala dancers with the whale, Migaloo. Marcella trained for 2 months prior. Maddison was also in the closing ceremony carrying the country flag for Guernsey.

Entertainment Book

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From the Guidos

Beyondblue launches a new guide to help children learn resilience

New research from Beyondblue released on the 22nd of January 2018 has found that building resilience in adults starts from an early age. The research was used to develop a practice guide and evidence-based strategies for people working with children and tips for parents.

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