19 October 2018

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Thoughts

Dear Helensvale State High community,

Student behaviour and well-being is inextricably linked to learning. That is an undeniable fact. It is also why we are a positive behaviour for learning (PB4L) school. PB4L is an evidenced-based, whole school approach to promoting positive behaviour across the school.

In a whole school approach, the school community (students, parents, carers, staff and community members) work together to reinforce the expectations for behaviour, which are articulated through our three learning values of Respect, Responsibility and Resilience. Many of you would be familiar with the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child”. As a Helensvale State High School community, this translates into our learning mission, ‘One Student, One Community, Many Futures’.

The focus during recent assemblies and futures lessons has been to re-visit why we are a positive behaviour for learning (PB4L) school and what it means to be Respectful, Responsible and Resilient learners. By explicitly teaching these values our students know what is expected of them.

Whilst the majority of students know, understand and practise appropriate behaviours consistently, some students require additional support to learn the expected behaviours. Our PB4L focus for each week is determined through analysing our OneSchool behaviour data and through weekly observations of student behaviours.

This semester, in response to school-based evidence, we are conducting two very significant reviews. Both reviews go hand in hand in promoting a safe and supportive school environment that promotes positive learning.

The first review is of our behaviour management practices. The review has been conducted with input from all stakeholders and has resulted in a number of recommendations which we are currently working through. These recommendations will determine how we move forward as a learning community in 2019. However, we are not waiting until 2019 to address some of the inappropriate behaviours our Year 7 and 8 cohort in particular are displaying at the moment. We have designed a campaign which will occur over a fortnight period to address topics such as respectful relationships, bullying and the right to say no. We will be targeting specific programs for some groups of students who are experiencing negative relationships and need support to build the resilience required to deal with certain situations. We are also targeting those students who are having a negative influence on our school culture so they are able to better regulate their behaviours.

The second review is of Junior Secondary (Year 7 to 9). From 2015, Year 7 became the first year of secondary school in Queensland. This reform was known as Flying Start. There was a significant body of research and consultation undertaken in the lead up to Flying Start to ensure the best transition possible for our young teenagers. Under six guiding principles, we determined how best to provide a challenging and engaging education within a safe, supportive environment for these young adolescents. The six guiding principles were: distinct identity; quality teaching; student wellbeing; parent and community involvement; leadership and local decision making.

Since 2015 there have been many technological advances and a new focus on the 21st Century Thinking Skills that are re-shaping our future. At a recent seminar, Tony Cook, Director General of the Department of Education summed it up when he said, “We know that we cannot predict with certainty what the world will be like for today’s students, we know that the skills we teach in schools over the next 10 years will need to prepare students to be innovative global citizens who can navigate the challenge and opportunities they will encounter in their working lives.”

The purpose of the Junior Secondary review is to ensure that our practices as a learning community continue to support student engagement, well-being and learning in a rapidly changing world.

Yours truly

Karen Lindsay
Executive Principal

Parents and Citizens Association

REMINDER – Two P&C meetings this term.

The first P&C meeting is on Tuesday, 23 October, commencing 7pm in CB04.

At this meeting the 2019 subject levies will be tabled.

The second and final P&C meeting for the year is Tuesday 27 November.

By attending the P&C you are able to hear about what is happening in the school as well as have input into your child’s education. We look forward to seeing you there.

Ms Lindsay looks forward to sharing with you the recommendations of our reviews which we will be actioning commencing 2019.

ENCORE 2018!

It’s that time of year again where we celebrate the amazing work of the dance students and staff at the annual Helensvale State High ENCORE event. The night showcases the amazing talents of our 7-10 Dance Academy students, our Senior Authority and Certificate students, as well as our Vale Performance Team. Join us for a variety of performances including hip hop, jazz, musical theatre and contemporary. The department have been fortunate enough to have amazing guest artist throughout the year and the night will also showcase some fantastic student choreography.

Come along and enjoy all the energy and talent of the Helensvale State High Dance Department!

When: Friday, October 19
Time: Doors open at 6pm for a 6:30pm start
Where: Helensvale SH SAC
Entry: Purchase your tickets from Finance for $5 (no tickets sold at the door)

Under the Northern Skies

Come one! Come all!

The ARTS Department presents UNDER THE NORTHERN STARS Showcase is on this Friday 19th October in the Northern Campus. Come along and see Drama performances, Music performances from our Bands and Ensembles, Oscar worthy films from our FTV students and an Art Exhibition from our Art, Photography and Design students. Starting from 4pm-6pm. Arts Awards will be announced at 5.30pm.

Food and Drinks on sale to support our Yr 12 students. Come along and see the Arts 2018 Under the Northern Stars showcase.

Senior Ski Trip 2018

You could say it was epic! 2018 saw the Annual Senior Ski Trip enjoy another year with Perisher delivering the goods yet again with spring skiing conditions matching and exceeding the previous 40 years. Fantastic snow, fabulous company, amazing students, incredible fun- It doesn’t get any better!

Massive shout out to Paul Armitage, who for the first time in 25 years was unable to attend, yet still able to pass his passion and enthusiasm to the Helensvale community and students who have experienced the snow for the first time or reigniting the thirst for more.

Pictures can tell thousand words…. Till next year!

Vicki Wilson Cup and Shield Teams

Congratulations to all our superstar Netball Academy players. The seniors made it to number 2 in Queensland in Vicki Wilson Cup. The juniors achieved number 5 in Queensland in the Vicki Wilson Shield. You played wonderfully ladies, and Helensvale is proud of you!!

Drumnoize

Every Friday at first break a group of students come together to make a whole heap of noise! And it’s encouraged. Chappy Long Bradley has been running lunchtime drumming groups, both at Helensvale High and Helensvale Primary for many years. Some of the students have been drumming with Chappy Long since they were in Year 4. We have about 6 students who come regularly and a few staff members when they are able to. The group even had the opportunity to perform at a recent Chaplaincy Fundraising Dinner in front of about 100 guests, as well as perform on all 3 school assemblies.

New members are always welcome. NO drumming experience and NO musical knowledge necessary. It’s a lot of fun. We sometimes have a good laugh. We make mistakes, but at the end of the sessions we all feel great! I look forward to seeing more students joining us.

Chappy Long

International Secondary Schools Culinary Competition 2018 Gold Success !

During the September holidays, Ronan Bacon and Jenna Sundstrom represented Queensland, Australia in the Paul Krantzcke International Secondary Schools Culinary Challenge 2018. They worked as a team to prepare and present four al la carte meals, in one hour, in a live hot cooking performance. This was judged by ten professional chefs, the competition was of an extremely high standard. Ronan and Jenna displayed outstanding skills, techniques, bench organisation, workflow and teamwork to produce a modern dish full of flavour which would take pride and place in any fine dining restaurant.

Congratulations to Ronan and Jenna as they won a Gold medal and ‘First’ place in this International Hospitality competition!

RESULTS:

Ronan and Jenna can be very proud of this achievement. The competition was extremely close with only one point between each country who won gold medals. Both students showed strong dedication and commitment toward the numerous hours of practice sessions and their efforts are to be congratulated. A sincere ‘Thank You’ is also extended to our mentor chef Glenn Bacon (Executive Chef – RACV Royal Pines Resort) whose expertise and guidance assisted the students to reach such a high level of success.

The overwhelming support and sponsorship from our local community businesses has assisted the students in this ACF International Culinary competition. ‘Thank You’ is therefore extended to:

Study Gold Coast
Club Helensvale
McDonalds Helensvale
Gold Coast Holiday Park
Blueprint Career Development
Tasklake Pty. Ltd.
Southern Stainless
Sharp Plywood Pty. Ltd.
QCC Hospitality Supplies
Commercial Kitchen Company

This support is recognised and truly appreciated as Ronan and Jenna move forward in their journey as promising young chefs of the future.

Helensvale State High is certainly very proud of this Hospitality success, especially on an International platform. Well done Ronan and Jenna!

Stephanie Wright
Acting HOD Home Economics / Senior Business

VALE ARTS FILM AWARDS

The 5th annual Vale Arts Film Awards will be held Thursday 25th October 2018 at the Helensvale Cultural Centre, showcasing the film production work of Film, Television & New Media students from years 10, 11 and 12. This year the students have continued to impress with their creative, expressive and thought-provoking films, operating with the media fields of music video, short film, documentary, film trailer, representational film, and alternate cinema production. The night will feature awards within many different categories in relation to technical skills such as cinematography and editing, acting in lead and supporting roles and narrative expression as well as clips from winning films and other performances.

Nominations are out and those students and families have been contacted but we invite all FTNM students, friends and families to attend this event. Contact Colin Burnim (cburn70@eq.edu.au) for more information and tickets.

2018 Yearbook

We are taking orders for our annual Year Book, Discovery, which is a full colour pictorial and text record of the events that shape this year both within the curriculum and covering all extra-curricular events. It also includes year level photos of our students. Here are the details:

Year 12 graduating students receive a complimentary copy of the year book (providing all outstanding fees are paid and exit requirements met). No payment/further action required!

The cost for students in all other year levels is $15.00

The deadline for Year Book orders and payments MUST be finalised by close of business Wednesday 31 October!

If paying electronically you must put the following in the reference field – your child’s student ID (found on their ID card and school timetable) as well as the letters YB so we know what you are paying for.

BANKING DETAILS:

BSB: 064430
Account Number: 00091174
Account Name: Helensvale State High School

THERE IS ONLY 1 PRINT RUN – so please make the deadline!

(More than happy for you to drop in and I can show you or your child our 2017 Year Book to help your decision making).

Mrs Carr – IT Manager

From The Guidance Department

STAYING SAFE ONLINE AND HOW TO DEAL WITH CYBERBULLYING

Cyberbullying is the use of technology to bully a person or group with the intent to hurt them socially, psychologically or even physically. Many young people are being cyberbullied at the present time.

Cyberbullying occurs when a person uses digital technology to send, post or publish content with the intent of causing harm to another person or group. Cyberbullying acts include:

• abusive texts and emails
• hurtful messages, images or videos
• imitating others online / fake accounts
• excluding others online
• humiliating others online
• nasty online gossip and chat.

If your child is being bullied on line, some tips that might help are:

• Stay calm: Your child needs to be able to talk to you and know that you’ll be calm, thoughtful and helpful in your response.
• Evaluate the situation: It’s important to know exactly what’s going on before you can work out what to do next. Is it a few off hand remarks, or is it something more serious?
• Understand how your child is being affected: If your child is upset about a situation, let them know that you understand and it’s OK to be upset.
• Don’t take away the technology: Taking away your child’s laptop or mobile phone can alienate them from their most important support network – their peers.
• Work through a plan together: you can get cyberbullying material removed either by contacting the social media service it happened on or by reporting it to the Office of the eSafety Commissioner

How to get cyberbullying material removed:

• Social media services should remove cyberbullying material that is reported to them. Most social media services have a reporting area on their website. For more information about how to report material on various services go to

• Collect evidence of the cyberbullying material. Depending on where the cyberbullying material is posted, you might need to do this first, before you report it to the site. A simple way to collect evidence is taking a photo or screenshot of the material. If you do submit a complaint to the Office of the eSafety Commissioner about the cyberbullying material, you will need to provide this evidence.
• Report cyberbullying to the Office of the eSafety Commissioner. If the social media service fails to remove the material within 48 hours of you reporting it to them, you can make a complaint to the Office of the eSafety Commissioner. You can do this at:

• Block the person. Block or unfriend the person upsetting you so they cannot keep upsetting you while the material is being removed.

Actions you can take yourself to deal with cyber bullying:

Social media

Understand how to block, unfriend and report content on the various social networking sites and teach your child how to use these features. You can also update privacy settings on social media to limit who can see what you / you child posts (and then encourage them to do the same). If you’re not sure how to do this, you can look it up on the social media services (visit the safety centres of the social media platforms). It is also possible to disable comments on posts and videos on Instagram and YouTube.

Mobile Phones

You may want to block phone numbers that are sending bullying or abusive messages. If you aren’t sure how to do this, you can find instructions for blocking numbers on your phone by searching online (google “how to block phone numbers” and add the model of the phone you are using in the search”. You can also contact your service provider for help.

Contact the school

If the bullying is happening at school, or involves students at the school you can contact school to talk about the situation and options available to resolve things.

How to be awesome at self-care

Learning to look after yourself will build your self-confidence and help you give out positive vibes. It’s not always easy to get into the habit of self-care, so here are a few ideas to get you started.

This can help if:

• you're not looking after yourself at the moment
• you want to get ideas for how to practice self-care
• you want to establish more positive personal habits

1. Take time for a mood booster
   Setting aside time to do something you really enjoy can help lift your mood. If you’ve got a busy schedule, an occasional 15-minute break will energise you. Spend that time listening to a few of your favourite songs, make a cup of tea, or watch some of the endless supply of fail videos the internet has to offer. Or, we hear baking is a pretty delicious self-care activity. Practicing mindfulness as you follow the recipe, taste-testing, the smell wafting through the house - what’s not to love?
2. Pump up the positive vibes
   It’s so easy to get caught up in every little thing you’d like to change about yourself. But that’s not always the most productive use of your energy. Instead, take a break from thinking about what you’d change, and instead focus on what you love about yourself. At first, you might feel embarrassed doing this, but no one but you needs to know. Write down some of your achievements or the personal traits you’re proud of onto post-it notes and stick them on your mirror. Make sure you read them every morning. That way, you can start every day with a smile.
3. Log out to chill out
   Look, we’re not going to tell you to delete social media and go live in a cave. Staying connected is a great way to keep in touch with friends and family, and to know what’s happening around the world. But keep in mind that social media is just a snapshot of a person’s life. And often those snapshots are heavily filtered. If you find you’re comparing yourself to insta-models, close the app and go for a walk, or call a friend and have a good chat. Then go back to point 2 and remember all the great things about you.
4. Take yourself on a date
   Date with yourself = no awkward small talk. If you’re not keen on having an entire dinner by yourself, grab some ice-cream or a coffee and just enjoy your own company without the added pressure of an actual date. You could bring along a book or magazine if you think you’ll get bored.
5. Write it down
   Writing things down is a great way of staying motivated and seeing your progress. Use a diary to keep track of the personal goals you’ve been setting and meeting, and update it regularly. Be sure to include both your big and small goals. This will help you to feel good about all your achievements. If you’re not so into goals, use your diary to write about your day - you could try writing what was challenging and what you’re grateful for.

This information was taken from Reach Out online:

Student Services Information

Notification of Student absences

Helensvale State High School has a dedicated line to receive messages regarding student absences and late arrivals.

Please note this line is for SMS only, not voice messages.

Please send an SMS to 0450 478 277 in the following format:

• Students full name.
• Date & duration of absence, or expected time of arrival.
• Reason for absence/lateness.

Please use this as your preferred method of notification and add this number to your contacts. The School will continue to request advice from parents/carers for unexplained absences if you have not notified us. Notifying the School will minimise the need for these investigations.

Alternatively you can advise us by email: 2184_studentabsences@eq.edu.au

Late arrivals:

Parents/guardians should advise the school if their student is going to be late, prior to their arrival, by sending an SMS to 0457 478 277 or by giving them a note. The students MUST sign in at student services upon arrival at school or they will be marked absent.

Please note: If the student does not have a note, or we have not received a phone call, they will automatically receive a lunch time detention.

Early departures:

Students should not leave school grounds without first signing out through the Student Services Counter. In the case of an emergency, we need to know the whereabouts of ALL students.

• If you know your student has an appointment, please send him/her to school with a note. This should be brought to student services before school or during break times to receive a leave request. Students will not be allowed to leave class, without a leave request
• Students are unable to leave class, unless previously organised, due to the impact these interruptions have on individual and class learning time. If unforeseen circumstances occur, we are happy to contact students during break times to issue a pass, enabling them to be released from class.
• The student must be collected from student services by a parent/guardian or someone listed as an emergency contact, from the student services office only

For your information, we can attempt to contact students during the following break times:

Monday

• 10.05am – 10.20am

Tuesday – Friday

• 11.20am – 12.05pm
• 1.15pm – 1.45pm

Students unwell during school time:

• If a student feels unwell during lesson time, they MUST NOT contact their parent/guardian directly. They must report it to their teacher who will then send them to sick bay.
• The parent/guardian will be contacted to collect their child as a matter of urgency. If we are unable to make contact with the parent/guardian the student will be allowed to rest for 15 MINUTES before returning to class.
• It is vitally important that your contact details are up to date and you check your phone for messages. Please be aware our number appears as a private number if you miss our call, but we will leave a voice message where ever possible.

General Information

• Please collect lost items and report any missing items at Student Services.
• If your child has forgotten something and you are required to bring it to school, please take it to Student Services and advise your student to collect it from there.
• Medication can be held by Student Services, only if it is prescribed by a G.P Student Services have paperwork that also must be completed, signed by the parent, and returned to Student Services before the medication can be administered.

Newsletter Sponsorship

We are pleased and excited to inform you that we’ll be producing a new eNewsletter with Schoolzine. The move to this new format will enable us to communicate with the school community across multiple channels. It will promote and enhance our engagement with parents, students and the wider community.

We believe you’ll find the eNewsletter highly engaging, as it will provide us with a more efficient and effective means of connecting with you. The new format will allow the inclusion of video, photo galleries, online bookings, mobile app, feedback forms, calendars and so much more.

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.

1300 795 503
http://www.schoolzine.com.au/advertisers.html