5 December 2018

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Thoughts

Dear Helensvale State High community,

Throughout the various celebration and recognition events held this term we are able to measure how successful we are in achieving our mission of One Student, One Community, Many Futures.

One student - Creating a ‘school for one’ by catering for the learning needs, interests and aspirations of each and every student.

One community – Together as a community we demonstrate an unrelenting focus on, and a commitment to, the learning and well-being 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’.

Whilst there were many outstanding achievements across the year in our four pillars of academia, sport, arts and community, sharing just a few with you will provide an idea of just how successful we have been this year as a school community.

Thirty-eight of our Year 12 students have already received direct entry into either Griffith, Bond or Southern Cross University. Another twenty-five of our students have gained direct entry to TAFE to study various diploma courses. Sixty-six students in Year 12 are graduating with a Diploma qualification. Every Year 12 student will leave with at least one qualification.

Student achievements in Maths and Science have been outstanding. Our students competed against 1454 schools globally in the Education Perfect World Maths Series, coming first in Australia and third worldwide. One of our student’s efforts were outstanding. Julian is the third best student in the ‘World Maths Series’, and fourth best in the world in the ‘All Subjects World Series’. Julian is also second in the world in History and Japanese. What an amazing achievement.

Twelve of our Junior Secondary students received high distinctions in ICAS, an international science competition. Three of our junior secondary students, Arabella, Tahlia and Lily, also won first, second and third in the Griffith University STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) Cup Challenge.

And speaking of STEM, this year, Helensvale State High School and Excite teacher Miss Shay Young were awarded the Kaleidoscope Award from Griffith University for Most Engaged Gold Coast School, providing wonderful opportunities for our students in the area of STEM.

Our Year 11 biology students, Genevive, Chelsea and Julia, took out first, second and third at the Griffith University Gold Coast Science awards.

Again this year we entered two of our hospitality students, Ronan and Jenna, into the Australian Culinary Federation Competition. These students won at state level, then at a national level, then represented Australia at an international level, where they took out gold. There were tears of joy from hospitality teacher, Ms Wright at this announcement. What an amazing achievement and an experience these two students will never forget. Thank you to Glen Bacon, Executive Chef – RACV Royal Pines Resort, for mentoring our students to such success.

And more gold for Thomas, achieving first place in the prestigious QTIC Salute to Excellence Award for Food and Beverage. These hospitality students have accepted offers of jobs and apprenticeships in the hospitality industry.

Our Arts students have had many successes again this year showcasing their talents at a school, regional and state level. The Drama Academy students received multiple awards at the Intermediate Drama Festival. Year 12 senior Art students have received Creative Generation Awards for Excellence in Visual Art. Thomas’s artwork was so outstanding that it was exhibited in the Gallery of Modern Art as part of Creative Generations.

Not to forget the amazing achievements of our instrumental students:

• State Honours Ensemble Program
• Australian Honours Ensemble Program
• Wind Symphony receiving Gold at Fanfare

And what an experience - Performing with the Australian Navy Band in Sydney and with the Music Lecturers at the Australian National University in Canberra.

Our U15 AFL boys were state champions and our junior and senior netball students were state indoor champions. Our Touch 13 year girls were National Champions. There were many, many more sporting achievements at a local, national and international level – too many to mention in a newsletter.

The Northern Collegiate Australian Business Week was once again a fantastic week showcasing collaboration, creativity and entrepreneurial skills at its best. We had success at the Mayor’s Telstra Tech Awards, as well as the Gold Coast Legal study essay competition.

Whilst our student and school achievements are regularly posted on Facebook and included in our fortnightly newsletters throughout the year, it is not until you stop and reflect on the year’s achievements at our Term 4 celebrations do you truly get a sense of how great we are as a school community in providing so many opportunities for our students and just how much our students excel.

I hope you were able to attend at least one of our recognition events to gain that real sense of purpose, ‘One Student. One Community. Many Futures.’

As this is the last newsletter for the year, on behalf of the staff at Helensvale State High School I wish you all a safe, restful and happy holiday. Start-up procedures will be communicated to families prior to the commencement of the 2019 school year.

Yours truly
Karen Lindsay.

IPS Consultation

If you haven’t yet done so, we would please encourage community members to register for a consultation session or complete the online survey as soon as possible.

Register for a consultation session

View the details and register for the Principals and school staff sessions or Parent and school community members’ sessions .

Online survey

Please complete the survey to provide feedback on the IPS evaluation recommendations. The survey closes Friday 7 December 2018.

Congratulations to Gold Coast Recipients

From the Bulletin Saturday 1 Dec! Congratulations to Noah Goldring.

Year 9 Writes

Sydney Weymouth has produced this amazing piece of poetry about the environment for year 9 English.

Baseball Achiever!

Congratulations to Tyler Salmon-Patrick from year 7, who attended the Queensland sports awards in Brisbane last night, with his baseball team. The team had been nominated for Queensland Youth Sports Team of the Year…. they won the award! It was a great night spent along sporting greats like Mal Meninga and Anna Meares. Well done Tyson and his team!

Year 12 Dance Graduation

Congratulations to all the HSH Certificate II and Authority Dance students for a wonderful performance at Graduation last week. The students performed a beautiful contemporary piece choreographed by Jacob Gabain which was performed before the final video farewell created by Mr Burnim. Many of these students have studied through the Dance Academy program at HSH and have developed so much over their time at the Vale. Mrs Riches and Miss Kelly are so proud of their achievements and hope their time in the Arts Department has provided them with everlasting memories.

Arts Academy 2018

It has been a wonderful year of curricular opportunities for the HSH Arts Academy students with excursions, workshops, competitions and team building activities that align with our subject outcomes all prepared by our amazing Academy staff. Our Academy students have been held accountable to the expected minimum standards, with many students reflecting on their reports and seeking support and guidance to better their progression in our programs and their general classes. The department has also congratulated those students who have consistently maintained these standards and represented the school with pride. We are excited to welcome our 2019 Year 7 Arts Academy students to HSH with again, many exciting classroom experiences lined up for the new year. If parents and students would like to provide feedback about our Arts Academy programs, please email Director of Arts Academy, Mrs Lauren Riches at lrich225@eq.edu.au

Year 7 Football Academy - Schools Premier League Round Robin Day

The Year 7 Football Academy boys had an opportunity to demonstrate their learning against some high calibre footballing schools. The Yr. 7 SPL Round Robin Day is held to showcase the development attained by Yr. 7 students throughout 2018.

The lads performed really well as a group, finishing the day with two wins and a draw. Results were 3-1 against Kelvin Grove SC, 2-0 against Marsden SHS and 0-0 against Cleveland SHS. Additionally, the behaviour and attitude from all students was equally as impressive.

Great work today gents.

Keeping healthy over the Christmas school holidays

• For some young people, this time of year can be challenging. It can feel as though you've been taken away from your usual routine of school or work and you may not get to see your friends, teachers or workmates as often as you would like to. This can leave you feeling stressed, isolated, unsupported, upset and sometimes anxious. It’s important to stay healthy and look after yourself. There are a number of ways to help you do through this time:
• Eating well and healthy. A good balanced diet with less junk food/lots of sugars and more vegies, fruit, whole grains and plenty of water will help the body and brain function well.
• Sleep Well. Developing a sleeping routine can help you sleep much better. Try to wake up around the same time each day, get out of bed when you wake up and go to bed around the same time each night.
• Be socially active and connected. Stay connected with friends especially those who help you feel good about yourself.
• Take time out for you. Even though Christmas is usually a time jam-packed with family visits and activities, it’s worthwhile making sure you have time just to relax and have your own space. Time out may include: going for a walk, phoning a friend, finding a quiet place to relax, or putting in your headphones and listing to the music that makes you feel good.
• Manage your expectations. It is hard to escape media and movies at this time of year that show images of happy families, thoughtful gifts, reunited friends and smiling faces. Try not to expect too much – aiming for the “perfect” Christmas or assuming that everyone will be on their best behaviour may not be realistic.
• Keep in mind: Parents, carers and family often get stressed about things at this time of year and might not realise how hard it is for you. Take them aside and let them know if you're struggling or need support.

• If you feel things are getting too much there are services open throughout the holidays:

EHEADSPACE offers free online and telephone counselling for ages 12-25 from 9am-1am, 7 days a week.

Call 1800 650 890 or go to the link below:

YOUR DOCTOR (GP) can provide support. Many doctors and medical centres are open over the holidays

IN AN EMERGENCY, if you are really worried about your wellbeing and don’t think you’ll be safe, CALL 000 or go to the hospital emergency

References:

Holiday Programs

Wellbeing

As part of our Learning and Wellbeing framework, we have created a wellbeing hub for students and parents, which can accessed through the Helensvale State High School webpage. The hub includes links to other websites and apps which can help to support student wellbeing, as well as provide information on career pathways. To access these ‘well-being hubs’, click on the links below, or go to the HSHS website see link below, scroll down the page and click on the relevant icon.

Student Link

Parent Link

Do you need to talk to someone?

• Lifeline – phone 131 114
• Kids Helpline – phone 1800 551 800 for young people aged 5-25
• Parentline – phone 1300 301 300 for support, counselling and parent education
• eSafety Commissioner -

complaints about cyberbullying

complaints about image-based abuse