17 May 2019

Newsletter Articles

Our School Values –

Reminder of what’s coming up

May

20 - 24 Year 11 ATAR Exams
20 Bill Turner Cup
23 Small Group Parent/Carer Discussions
23 Year 12 PED Orienteering
25 Veto Trophy Open Girls Knockout
25 Veto Trophy Open Boys Knockout
25 AFL School’s Cup v Narangba
27 May – 6 June Nara Gakuen Study Tour
27 May “Shave for a Cure”
28 Creative Generation
28 Athletics Day – Nominations only
29 Whole School Athletics Day

For more info please see

From the Principal

Dear Helensvale State High Community,

Our Learning Values of Respect, Responsibility and Resilience

During a recent assembly I spoke about our value of RESPECT in the context of respecting our environment. I shared with the students this photo, which is of a bandicoot found by one of our groundsmen in our school grounds with a plastic lid around its neck. We have named the bandicoot Bruce, after the groundsman who saved him. Bruce the bandicoot has become our environmental mascot, as the students and staff really relate to his story. Watch this space to see how Bruce the bandicoot is encouraging us to respect our environment.

The 2019 ‘Vale Way

In the last newsletter I spoke about the newly revised 2019 ‘Vale Way, specifically referring to our student expectations. Each fortnight, staff are focussing on one or two of these expectations, with the Executive Team and Deans conducting learning walks regularly to support teachers in ensuring students are following these expectations. During this fortnight, the focus has been on following our mobile phone and earphone expectations. Whilst there is an ongoing debate about mobile phone policies in schools, I thought you might be interested in this recent email one of our staff members received from a staff member in another school.

One of our technology teachers ran an interesting experiment today with his Yr.7 class to demonstrate and discuss how phone and social media usage impacts learning during a lesson.

The teacher asked all students to turn their phones off silent. He didn’t let them use their phones for anything – but did ask them to record a tally on the board every time they got a notification. The notifications were categorised and discussed at the end of the lesson. The results:

A Yr.7 class of 20 students received 173 notifications in 60 minutes!

Whilst from a school perspective the question needs to be asked what impact this has on student learning, the question also needs to be asked what potential impact the amount of time children spend on phones and other devices may have on friendships, health etc. There is no easy answer or solution unfortunately, but we need to continue to work together as a community to support our students, your children, to ensure technology is being used responsibly and not impacting negatively.

One Community

On behalf of our staff and students, I sincerely would like to thank the many, many parents, carers, students and community members who continue to promote our school as the great school it is.

Thank you to those parents and carers that attended our recent Parent Teacher Evening. Both the teachers and parents / carers have commented about how valuable these meetings were in supporting the education of our students.

A reminder that there are a number of other events that are happening this term to promote our learning purpose of ‘One Student. One Community. Many Futures.’

Our next Parents and Citizens Association meeting is Wednesday 12 June commencing at 6pm.

There are weekly opportunities to be part of a small group meeting with the Principal. Reminders of the day and time will be posted on the school’s Facebook page.

The first Cyber-Safety and Anti-Bullying Parent/Carer Forum is fast approaching. Please see the details below and register your interest.

Athletics Carnival

A final reminder for students wishing to compete in Tuesdays Nomination day for athletics which is in week 6, this is the last week that we will take nominations for this day of competition. If you do not nominate by this Friday you will miss out. An email has gone out to add your details online.

Also Wednesday week 6 is our full school athletics day and you do not need to nominate for this. Also Wednesday’s theme for the carnival is decades where students are encouraged to come dressed in clothes that represent their favourite decade eg. The 80s and tie it into their house colour.

Nomination pdf

Sausage Sizzle

Sausage sizzle and drinks available on the oval athletics carnival. Both Tuesday (nominations only) and carnival day. Sausage with onion $2.00, water $1.00, soft drinks $2.00. Don’t forget to dress up in your favourite decade.

From the Deans

PB4L WEEKLY FOCUS

EVERY DAY COUNTS – SCHOOL ATTENDANCE

Every Day Counts! Did you know that even missing one day of school per fortnight equates to missing over a full year of learning over 12 years?

School attendance is so important to being a successful student. If students attend school every day, they will not miss any learning opportunities and will become a confident student.

Congratulations to the Year 7s with the highest attendance, very closely followed by the Year 12s. We challenge the other grades to take the lead. If there are any concerns keeping your child away from school, please speak with the appropriate Year Level Dean who may be able to support your family. We look forward to seeing the students each and every day.

STAFF MEMBER OF THE WEEK!

This term, we have introduced the Staff Member of the Week! This is an initiative to see students nominating any staff member (whether it be a teacher, teacher-aide, Chaplain, cleaner and more), to show their appreciation. We have received hundreds of nominations so far, which have been shared with the staff members. Our winner in week three was Mr Yates with a beautiful message stating;

“Mr Yates’ teaching technique encourages our class to learn effectively.”

The nomination boxes are located at Discovery, SWELL and the Dean’s Office.

Entrepreneurship Studies

ENT09 & BST09 Joint Class Activity

Entrepreneurial skills are generic skills that are transferable across different jobs, activities and career paths. They have been found to be as powerful a predictor of long-term job success as technical knowledge. Teaching of entrepreneurial and business skills can lead to skilled young people creating new jobs and innovative companies.

Both ENT09 and BST09 classes have joined together in another collaborative activity. This week’s activity introduced students to specific objects to achieve a certain goal. They worked in groups to preform the task through brainstorming on butcher paper, discussing their ideas and the strict requirements. Lastly, they then had to work together to produce the desired structure. With a lot of noise students were able to make the largest tower, with only the use of butcher paper, 25 x spaghetti pieces, sticky tape, a marshmallow and a prawn cracker. Resilience, determination and out of the box thinking got them all through.

Mrs Anna Perry & Ms Trinelle Schrader

Dear Parents/Caregivers – The school is collecting Woolworths Earn and Learn stickers again this year. Thank you for your support last year which enabled us to choose sporting equipment that all students have access to. The SEP Unit was also given equipment which is vital to enhancing student movement. Please take stickers to the front office or to Sharon Skennar in the HPE Office near the SAC.

Uniform Shop News

Girls Formal Shorts are now available in the Uniform Shop to purchase.

The girl’s shorts can be worn with the senior or junior blouse

All sizes are available the cost for these are $45.00.

Dance T-Shirts & Tights on SALE

Now at the Uniform Shop

Dance ¾ black tights - $7.00
XXS, XS, Small, Medium, Large available

Dance stirrup flesh tights - $10.00
Size A, B, C & D available

Dance T-shirts – OLD STOCK FOR SALE (as per below images front & back)
Small and Large sizes only
Only $5.00

Music Block

Storage Solutions Needed

Expression of interest to any Helensvale State High School parents/families that have experience with storage solutions. Our Music Block is in desperate need for some ideas.

Please contact Mrs Bonita Winters (Head of Department – The Arts) at bwint19@eq.edu.au if you can be of assistance.

Your support is greatly appreciated.

Mrs Bonita Winters
Head of Department – The Arts

Host Families Required for Japanese Sister School Students

Helensvale State High School will be hosting students from our Sister School, Shiraoka High School, from Friday July 26th until Thursday August 1st (6 nights). We are looking for families to take care of our Japanese ‘brothers and sisters’ during this time

Hosting an international student is an excellent opportunity for your family to learn about the culture and language of another country and to make some new international friends.

Host Families will be required to supply three meals per day, transport to and from school (bus travel is acceptable) and a warm, friendly home environment. This reciprocal exchange experience has been going strong for over ten years now due solely to the generosity of families both here and in Japan. While this is a volunteer homestay arrangement and as such does not provide any remuneration, the experience itself is priceless.

If you are interested in hosting a student during this period, please contact Mr Brett Middleton via email (bmidd32@eq.edu.au). Thank you for your support of Helensvale’s International Sister School Program.

Tutorials and Assistance at School

Coming into assessment time students may find they need some extra assistance. We have a number of avenues open to them -

Chat and Chill – Monday 2.15 - 4pm, Wednesday and Thursday 3.00 - 4pm – a drop in session where there is staff and fellow students on hand to help with school work.

Science Tutorials – Monday both lunch breaks in CB05.
English Tutorials – Wednesday 3.00 - 4pm in SWeLL.
Maths Tutorials - Thursday 3.00 - 4pm in S306/S307.

If students are unable to attend these, and need help, please be aware they are able to ask their teachers, who are more than happy to assist.

Parent Tools for Cyberbullying

Please see the Australia Government eSafety Commissioner website for tips and tools to assist your child.

From the Guidance Officers

Celebrating Guidance Officers

From 29 April to 10 May we are highlighting the important work of our guidance officers!

Guidance officers are highly valued members of our school community, forming strong and productive relationships with staff, students, parents and external support agencies.

Bringing a broad range of skills and knowledge to the role, guidance officers respond to a variety of complex issues in our school.

Support offered by guidance officers includes providing advice and counselling on educational, behavioural, vocational, personal, social, family, and mental health and wellbeing issues.

Let’s celebrate our guidance officers Elaine Sears, Jordana Kelly, Tomoko Nakanishi and Tina Meni for the support, guidance and inspiration they provide!

Support Staff

As part of our Learning and Well-being framework, we have created a Well-being 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 well-being, as well as provide information on career pathways. To access these ‘well-being hubs’, click on the icons below, or, go to the HSHS website, scroll down the page and click on the relevant icon.