28 February 2020

Newsletter Articles

Our School Values –

For more info please see

From the Principal

Dear Helensvale State High School Community

Our ‘One Student’ philosophy is certainly alive and well at the ‘Vale. One of our priorities this year is to further engage our students through student voice. Last year I was approached by a student who said to me, “Miss, wouldn’t it be good to have a theme each year in the school that we could celebrate as a school community?” I ran this idea past other students and staff and we all agreed. So we decided that our theme for this year is Be Extraordinary. Every assembly, every event, every day we are promoting and celebrating the extraordinary efforts of our students, staff and community members, and we are exploring ways we can be an extraordinary school.

design by Ethan, Yr 12 student

And speaking of our students being extraordinary…

Last week we held our Celebration of Success Awards evening, recognising the achievements of our students from Semester 2 2019. Students were recognised for their outstanding academic achievements and for upholding our learning values of respect, responsibility and resilience. Four hundred and ninety five awards were presented across Year 8 to 12 in the following categories:

Academic Gold awards, achieving six As in all core and elective subjects
Academic awards, achieving all As with a maximum of one B.
Resilient Learner awards, for significant improvement in academic performance.
Respectful Learner, for outstanding behaviour and effort
Responsible learner, for outstanding attendance and participation.

Scholarship winners, achieving 12 As in all core and elective subjects for the 2019 school year. Thank you to the P & C Association for sponsoring our 21 scholarship winners. Each of our Scholarship winners received $100 to put towards their Student Resource Scheme or uniforms.

This year we are also growing our student leadership program. We have 104 students from Years 7 to 12 in formal leadership positions - many more than previous years. The students are also establishing a Student Council, one purpose of which is to encourage student voice. Our student leaders are definitely a very enthusiastic team who are very keen to get the school community involved in a range of activities throughout the year. Of course all students have leadership qualities and we encourage all students to get involved.

Please follow this link to watch the Be Extraordinary video that was presented as part of the Celebration of Success evening.

Yours truly
Karen Lindsay.
Executive Principal.

Junior Secondary

Over the last four weeks we have welcomed our new Year 7 cohort as they embark on their journey through secondary school. We have also welcomed many students, in other year levels, to our school for the first time. It has been a wonderfully exciting time for both students and staff. Transitions can also bring about some nerves and stress, all of which is perfectly normal. Some students, both new and those continuing with us, may still be feeling a little unsettled in their transition. It can take some time to adjust to new teaching styles, form relationships with teachers and students in their classes and adapt to the change in their routine once again.

In Week 1, our Year 7 students engaged in O’ Week – an orientation program designed to help students familiarise themselves with the secondary setting and minimise stressors so that their transition is an enjoyable experience. In this time, students have met their teachers as well as students from their classes and found their way around the school through a scavenger hunt. They have learnt about our values of Respect, Responsibility and Resilience, navigated a timetable for the first time, and have been welcomed by our Wellbeing Team who are on hand to support their needs in adjusting to the responsibilities and demands of high school.

If your student is continuing to struggle with settling into high school, please let us know so that we can offer them support and strategies.

Tracey Eaton
Deputy Principal – Junior Secondary

Year 7 Transitions

Congratulations to the hundreds of Year 7 students who completed their few weeks at Helensvale State High School. During this time students have meet new teachers, made new friends, navigated our large campus, been introduced to new policies and procedures, and learnt about Learning at The Vale.

As well as your child’s classroom teachers, staff helping to support the transition of your child into high school include:

We look forward to sharing the Year 7 achievements and adventures during the year ahead.

Wendy Chambers
Head of Department Junior Secondary Transition

Football Academy

The Brisbane Roar FC recently provided coach education to coaching staff of all Premier League schools. Helensvale SHS would like to thank Warren Moon and the Roar for supporting the future planning and vision of our Football Academy.

Senior Schooling Tips

Improving QCE Vocabulary – A Beginner’s Guide

By Lauren White in QCE

4th of March 2019

You know that feeling when your vocabulary lets you down, and you’ve got a word on the tip of your tongue but can’t quite remember it? There’s a word for that! It’s called lethologica, and with the exception of some kind of spontaneous brain combustion, it’s one of the worst things that can strike in the middle of an exam.

Flash forward to this year’s end-of-year assessment, and I guarantee there’ll be students suffering the woes of lethologica in spite of thorough preparation. They’re confident, they’ve slept well, they had an awesome breakfast, and now they’re in the middle of the exam hall, pen poised, halfway through a paragraph… and… they’ve hit one of those dreaded mental roadblocks.

Then there’s the awful dilemma: do you sit there and wait for that epiphany – perhaps compromising precious time that you could be spending on other ideas, or do you just move on and hope that the teacher marking your work pays no attention to your mediocre QCE vocabulary?

Like it or not, you’re going to be in this position at some point. You could swallow entire dictionaries and rote learn all the best thesauruses, but you’ll still inevitably find yourself wondering which word best conveys your point. The aim is not to learn all the words, though. That would be time-consuming and ultimately pointless. After all, there are plenty of words like ‘peristeronic’ or ‘erinaceous’ which, whilst delightful, are probably not going to be very useful to you.

How do you know which words are best? How can you train your brain to give you the right words at the right moment? How can you stop this lethologica in exam conditions before it even happens?

Well that’s what this guide is going to take you through.

Reading widely

I’m aware that I’m quite biased in this regard because I will readily force books upon unsuspecting strangers, but reading is one of the best things you can do for your brain. Not only can it expose you to new ideas and perspectives, but it also has a variety of more covert benefits. You may not realise it, but reading also helps you acquire new phrases and sentence structures, and that by-product can be a huge advantage in boosting your writing ability.

In terms of vocabulary though, it can sometimes take more deliberate effort to improve. Part of this is due to the fact that it’s pretty easy to infer meaning (i.e. making an educated guess) for unfamiliar words.

For example, let’s take a sentence like ‘Smoking causes irreparable damage to the lungs.’ Even if you didn’t know what ‘irreparable’ means, you could kind of assume it was sort of like ‘permanent’ or ‘serious,’ which is pretty accurate. For most people, they end the process there and just keep reading, but if you go to the trouble of documenting those kinds of words, you’ll find it much easier to start employing new QCE vocabulary.

And unlike those dark pre-internet days when you’d have to crouch amongst library shelves to find reading material, your computers, phones, and tablets grant you access to so much good stuff. It doesn’t have to be stuffy classic novels either – even keeping up with your favourite magazine subscription or online news publication can help. The trick is to read just slightly above your level so that you’re still learning new stuff, but you’re not totally overwhelmed. So if you’re interested in politics, perhaps read through some current affairs pieces and editorials, but don’t go trawling through official party documents or dry press statements that are bogged down by jargon and nonsense. Those easy-read young adult novels that have very little challenging vocabulary in them probably won’t be as effective, but you have to know your own limitations before seeking out reading material. If your teachers have pointed out issues with your sentence construction or clarity, then it might be a good idea to angle for more accessible material. Or, if you’re a fairly confident writer looking to take your skills to the next level, then more complex texts might be the place to look.

Then, once you’ve found some sophisticated or unfamiliar words, you can begin to document them.

Keep track of new vocabulary

A running tally of all the QCE vocabulary you acquire is going to be pretty central to your success here. It’s highly unlikely you’ll remember every word perfectly the first time you check the meaning, so you should endeavour to keep track as you go. Otherwise it’ll be ‘in one ear and out the other,’ so to speak, and all your effort will be wasted.

The typical way to do this would be to write down a ‘New Words’ or ‘Good Vocabulary’ list on a page at the back of an English workbook, but this is kind of flawed in that you don’t often look at the back of a workbook. This means you probably won’t be continually revising your knowledge of those words – they’ll just sit there for days on end, unloved and lonely. Compare this to, say, a phone or a tablet that you check and use multiple times a day. Clearly you’re going to get more exposure to the latter.

I’d recommend getting one of those sticky notes apps, if you haven’t already, and keep your word lists there. Try to get into the habit of flicking through these whenever you’re bored or waiting for a bus or procrastinating. You might even swap out your wallpaper for screenshots of certain bits of your word lists so that you’re exposed to them every time you turn on your screen. It may seem small, but these little contributions can make the process of acquiring vocabulary far simpler and more efficient than pure rote-learning.

Learn by association, not memorisation

Speaking of which, if you want to game the system when it comes to remembering new information, you should prioritise association as opposed to just forcing stuff into your head. We’ve all had those moments of desperation where we sat hunched over a textbook, willing our brains to somehow absorb what’s on the page. But truly effective learning involves latching on to stuff you already know, and just building upon it.

For instance, if you know that ‘extol’ is a synonym for ‘praise’ (as in, ‘the author extols the virtues of the American Dream,’) then you’ll be more likely to employ that word in future. But if I just told you that ‘impetus’ means ‘something that makes a process or activity happen or happen more quickly,’ then it’ll be a bit more difficult for you to harness that word. Sure, you know what it means, but it probably won’t come to mind when you need it.

Your internal QCE vocabulary isn’t just one big table of words and definitions – it’s more like a spider web of nodes and connections spiralling all over the place, so acquiring words is as simple as forging new links and adding more silk to the web.

Even in your tally of new and sophisticated words you should aim to create associations to make things easier on yourself. So rather than having a long list of words – some you know, and some you constantly forget – make mini-lists based on similar meanings. For instance, you might have a collection of adjectives to describe the different kinds of tone that an author might employ. Another one might contain all the positive characteristics that a character might exhibit, and another could chronicle the different synonyms for your high-use words like ‘important,’ or ‘says.’

Know your roots

This is a more optional step, but it’s one that you’ll probably end up doing by accident anyway. Almost all words have ‘derivation,’ meaning they derived from some previous word form in either English or another language. For instance, the word ‘prejudice’ comes from the Latin ‘prae’ meaning ‘before or ahead of’ and the word ‘judicium’ meaning judgement. So if you didn’t know what ‘prejudice’ was, but you knew the root ‘pre-’ and the base word ‘justice,’ then you’d be able to guess that it had something to do with making judgements in advance – which is exactly what the word means! The same can be done for a lot of words in English: the word ‘asymmetrical’ means ‘not symmetrical,’ and ‘atheist’ means ‘someone who doesn’t believe in a deity,’ so when you see a word like ‘asynchronous’ and you know that ‘-sync-‘ usually has something to do with being in time or on the beat (e.g. ‘I tapped my foot in sync with the music’) then you’d know that ‘asynchronous’ refers to sounds or things that don’t occur at the same time.

Again, some of this is based on intuitions that you will acquire automatically, but if you go to the trouble of looking up the most common Latin and Greek root words, or the high frequency prefixes and suffixes in English, you’ll significantly cut down on the amount you have to memorise.

Use technology to your advantage

We’ve already spoken about how you can use your devices to keep track of QCE vocabulary, but there are many other ways technology can boost this process of learning new words. Many apps like dictionary.com have a ‘word of the day’ feature, and some even let you ‘favourite’ words by adding them to customisable lists. Even the more game-based things like 7 Little Words is a great tool for enhancing your QCE vocabulary in small doses.

The aim is to make this process feel distinct from those awful look-say-cover-write-check exercises done in primary school years. You shouldn’t have to do drills with words or cram hundreds of definitions into your head to reap the rewards of good QCE vocabulary. Instead, you can use all sorts of aids to your advantage.

In fact, there are entire sites dedicated to improving your QCE vocabulary and expression. Some will let you add your own pre-existing word lists and will create flashcards or mini-quizzes if they help you learn, whereas others will provide you with words targeted at a certain reading level (pick a ‘high school à university/college’ level category if you can). The best ones will operate via association, so they won’t just give you a word and its definition – they’ll provide synonyms or sample sentences to help you see how a word works in context. And if you’ve got a competitive streak, you might even opt for a program that sets daily goals or challenges as a means of incentivising yourself to learn more.

Learn little and often

Unfortunately, it’s easy to get overwhelmed though. Once your word list starts hitting the triple digits and you’re getting a bit complacent with your efforts, it is extremely tempting to quit and assume that what you’ve done so far will be enough.

But improving your QCE vocabulary should be too taxing a process. If you start thinking of it as a chore or a dull obligation, you’re probably doing it wrong. It should just be an extension of your regular study habits; not some horrid, time-consuming distraction.

Try not to overestimate what you can handle. Printing of an array of sophisticated word lists is a great start, but if you’ve got thousands of words and no plan to tackle them, you’re unlikely to get very far. Don’t set yourself a hundred-word-per-week target, or any other arbitrary goal that will only frustrate and demotivate you. Because what will end up happening is you’ll have occasional bursts of improvement every few weeks when you can be bothered, but your skills and knowledge will deteriorate in the meantime. Instead, do smaller exercises more often. And rather than thinking of it as learning X amount of words per day, try and see the process as a more gradual form of improvement. You’re building a ramp, not a set of stairs! Improvement should be so continuous that it’s barely noticeable. Until, that is, you get to the end of the year and realise just how far you’ve come.

Active usage is better than passive acquisition

Finally, we reach the implementation stage whereby you get to put what you know into practice.

Acquiring words is one thing, but if you don’t know how to actually use what you know, you’ll still be at a loss in assessment tasks. As such, you should be using and reusing what you learn as often as you can.

This can start all the way back in your documentation stage if you want. Having a word bank that incorporates sample sentences is a huge help if you struggle with transferring abstract knowledge into more practical situations, and it will likely make the whole process more efficient for you. But don’t forget that you’re creating a study tool here too. When it comes to writing practice essays or extended responses, you should keep your word lists handy so that you learn to apply all that QCE vocabulary where appropriate. What’s more, you’ll start creating mental links between those words and the content you’re studying. That way, when you’re in exam conditions, your brain is more likely to think ‘hmm, I need another word for ‘unnecessary’… OH! Last time this happened, I used the word ‘superfluous,’ so I can use that one again!’

This, ultimately, is the best way to overcome that foul demon of lethologica. Instead of letting it get the better of you and allowing your temporary frustration to impede the quality of your work, you can use that mental spider web to get you out of any jam. Even if you don’t have the perfect word in your head, a strong QCE vocabulary will allow you to do the best you can with what you have, and that’s all the assessors really expect of you.

Tutorials at school

Do you know that Helensvale SHS offers after school tutorials?

We also offer:

Chat & Chill (homework club), run by school staff, Mon, Wed, Thurs 3-4pm, SWELL

Student Services/ Hub

Student Services has been redesigned over the holidays and is now the Student Hub. The Student Hub is now for the exclusive use of students, therefore all students will now need to be collected from the Administration office and not the Student Hub.

Please see below for updated procedures:

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 0457 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 the Student Hub (formally Student Services) upon arrival at school or they will be marked absent. If accompanied by a parent/carer they must sign in at Administration.

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 Administration office. In the case of an emergency, we need to know the whereabouts of ALL students.

• Please be advised that there are no phones in classrooms to contact teachers and/or students so the only way a student will be permitted to leave class early is by prior arrangement with the Student Hub.
• If you know your student has an appointment, please send him/her to school with a note. This should be brought to the Student Hub 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 attempt to contact students during break times to issue a pass, enabling them to be released from class.
• The student must be collected from the Administration office by a parent/carer or someone listed as an emergency contact.

Please note we are unable to do “call outs” for students when Block Exams are taking place.

GIPSA/Wellbeing Days

On GIPSA/Wellbeing days, students do an alternative program and are not in their timetabled classes. Therefore, we are unable to locate students for early collection so this MUST be pre-arranged.

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 in Student Services
• If a student feels unwell during break time they must go to Sick Bay.
• The student will be assessed and if necessary, the parent/carer will be contacted to collect their child. If we are unable to make contact with the parent/carer, 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.
• If a parent/carer is asked to collect their student that is unwell they must be collected from the Administration office.

General Information

• Students should collect lost items and report any missing items at the Student Hub.
• If your child has forgotten something and you are required to bring it to school, please take it to the Administration office and advise your student to collect it from the Student Hub.
• The Student Hub can hold medication only if it is prescribed by a G.P and is I the original packaging with showing the pharmacists label. Medication should be brought to the Administration office and the relevant paperwork must be completed, signed by the parent/carer before the medication can be held.

Administration Office Hours

Monday and Friday: 8am – 3:30pm
Tuesday – Thursday: 8am – 4pm

Finance Hours

Monday – Thursday: 8am – 1:45pm

Uniform Shop Hours

Monday – Thursday: 8am – 12

Cubby House For Sale – 2 Styles

STYLE 1.

We currently have for sale 4 Cubby houses which our year 12 Building & Construction classes have built. They are 3.4m long x 2.4m wide and are constructed to be put directly on the ground or elevated so a slippery slide can be attached.

The Style 1 Cubbies are designed to be flat packed and can be easily transported on a car trailer (a trailer that you transport a car on). They are too big and heavy to be transported in a ute, tray back or regular trailer. They are superbly built and would be a great outdoor play feature. The Cubbies are priced at $1500 which is well below the material cost.

STYLE 2.

PLEASE NOTE – Style 2 cubby house is to be transported as a “whole house” and cannot be flat packed. It is strong and sturdy and designed for the open doors with good wide windows and front door. It has a pitched roof with gable ends and a cute front verandah. All cubby houses are left in natural timber, so you can paint them to your choice of colours.

Please contact Stephanie Wright (swrig35@eq.edu.au or 55738553) to find out more or to organise a viewing of a Cubby, it will be worth your while.

Please see the school finance department to make payment for the cubby houses

Kids Help Line

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.