1 May 2020

Newsletter Articles

Our School Values –

From the Principal

Our Leaders

Introducing the 2020 Student Leaders

As we are in an unusual situation it was thought to make the best of this quieter than normal situation and introduce to you some of our student leaders. All of our current leaders were invited to introduce themselves, here are a few of our amazing cohort.

Year 12

Hannah Newble

Hello everyone, my name is Hannah Newble, one of Helensvale’s Year 12 Prefects and I thought I would take this time to talk about myself and why I became a leader.

I chose to become as leader to help my school community and to make changes to any events run so they are as fun for the whole school as possible. I hope to leave an example for future leaders of Helensvale, helping students and teachers achieve the best they can, despite everything that is going on as well as building the community of our school and representing us positively to the community outside our school.

Outside of school I enjoy drawing or reading, anything that is calming. I like going to arcades with my friend group or watching a good TV show with my family members. After I finish school I would like to attend university to study psychology (specifically child psychology) as I want to help people live happier. To help people in any way I can is what I want to do, to help carry the burden of other people and make their lives easier appeals to me and maybe help younger people by being a stable figure in what would maybe be a chaotic life.

I enjoy being a leader at Helensvale because I get to meet all these different people in our community that I believe I wouldn’t have ever met without becoming a leader. I enjoy supporting my fellow students and teachers and that idea that we are building and making long term changes to the school that will be followed after we have left.

Rayah Arthur

Hi my name is Rayah Arthur and I am one of the School Captains at Helensvale High School 2020. This year I have the privilege of being one of the Mayor’s Student Ambassadors for 2020 as well. I hope to soon be able to go back to school and achieve the highest ATAR I can. I hope to be able to build stronger relationships with both the students and teachers. This global pandemic has really shown me how grateful we should all be to live in a blessed country like Australia. I would love to graduate with all my peers and their families and will continue to hope for this to happen.

Aaron Nagata

I chose to become a school leader because I love helping people and contributing to the school in all sorts of ways and it would benefit my leadership characteristics for work and as a person.

This year we, as a leadership, hope to support every student we possibly can by considering every opinion and perspective upon the school to achieve greatness. We also aim to bring joy and positivity by organising fun new events and activities that will inspire younger leaders to follow our footsteps.

Outside of school I involve myself in fitness activities such as the gym and beach runs. My aim after school is to study medicine at Griffith University, to become a dentist, not just because my mom told me to, but because I don’t want to be a doctor or lawyer. Jokes aside, I found interest in Dentistry at Griffiths Open Day and I’ve been determined to attain this goal ever since.

I enjoy being a leader at Helensvale because everyone is supportive, not only the students, but the teachers that guide us really know how to understand our young teenage perspectives and can feel the way we do. They represent leadership more than anyone, and this helps us be successful leaders.

Jesse Delvers

I chose to be a leader because I wanted to help the Helensvale community and to help around the school. I also wanted to finish my last year of schooling with no regrets and to step out of my comfort zone. This year I would like to grow as a person, but to also be able to help staff and students and always make people smile and to keep positive even through tough times.

Outside of school I like to hang out with my mates and spend as much time outside as I can. Also enjoy family time. In the future, after school, I would like to go off into university to study law or nursing and to travel around the world.

I like being a leader at Helensvale because it gives me so many opportunities within the school and also outside of school. So far my confidence has grown. I like talking to my peers. The school has made me grow as a person and looking forward to what the school has to offer in my last year of schooling.

Tarah Jones

I chose to be a student leader for the school in my final year of high school to help and encourage students to always do their best and leave a lasting impression on the school. This year I hope to do well in all my classes, pushing myself out of my comfort zone. I want to better the school and ensure a positive impact is left on the school.

Outside of school time I enjoy shopping for anything and catching up with friends. I’m still not 100% sure what I would like to do in the future but I’m interested in medical things.

I enjoy being a leader at Helensvale because I love seeing the impact I have on other students and making a positive impact on the school

Daisy Sullivan

I chose to be a school leader because I would like to have a positive impact on the school community. I would like to push myself out of my comfort zone and learn more about myself and my peers in order to become the best leader possible. This year I hope to become the best version of myself possible and learn new skills.

Outside of school I enjoy reading and painting, as well as various other crafts, as well as being with friends and family. In the future I would like to work in the medical field, nursing and occupational therapy interest me the most.

Being a leader at Helensvale has been a very enjoyable experience as the people around me are very welcoming and all strive for the best. I enjoy the sense of community that is experienced when being a leader here at Helensvale.

Penelope De Gavelle De Roany

I chose to be a school leader as year 12 was my final year of high school, and I wanted to have an impact in the school. I wanted to enjoy my final year as much as I could and push myself out of my comfort zone. This year I hope to do well academically and additionally I want to leave a positive legacy behind after I graduate. I want to help better the school and come up with new ideas to make existing and new events fun and exciting.

One of my biggest activities outside of school is figure skating and I spend a lot of time with my friends outside of school. In the future I would like to work in science, either medical or scientifically research, biomedical engineering or medicine.

I enjoy being a leader at Helensvale because everyone is given a voice, whether you are captain, vice-captain or prefect you will be given a voice to propose your ideas. There are so many events to be involved in as well, and everyone always makes sure to help each other out so we don’t overload ourselves which is really nice. Overall, it’s just such a supportive environment and I love it.

Mikaela Nesbitt

I chose to become a leader at Helensvale because I wanted to have more responsibility and more involvement in my final year and help the development of our school. This year I hope to finish my secondary education with high marks and make a difference in somebody's life.

Outside of school I enjoy spending time with my friends and at my favourite community theatre. In the future, I would like to complete tertiary education and make an impact on people’s lives. I am yet to determine how I will achieve this.

I enjoy being a leader at Helensvale because it allows me to engage with my school community in a different way and help to make decisions that impact my own schooling as well as others.

Mica Robinson

I chose to be leader as I wanted to be able to represent my school with pride and passion as well as being involved in meetings to help make the school a better place for everyone. This year, I hope that together we can make everyone’s school year as good as it can be considering, these unusual conditions, as well as being a supportive network.

I enjoy playing football and hanging out with my friends outside of school and eating food!! In the future I’m not 100% sure on what I want to do but I want to go to University and hopefully continue to play football.

I enjoy being a leader because I feel like I have another group of friends, the leadership team is like one big friend group who don’t necessarily hang out at lunchtimes. I also enjoy representing the school and really being involved in various activities.

John Paul

When left with the familiar enigma ‘Why did I choose to be a school leader’, I realised that one of the main reasons why I wanted to be a leader for the school was to fight the status quo and fight against issues that affect students and staff alike and attempt to address these issues to find possible solutions with a similarly minded student cohort. In short, I want to make a difference at Helensvale state high school by taking actions within our community.

In short, this year I want to be able to gain a better insight of my strengths and weaknesses when interacting with other people and improve my ability to work with others in a team setting and to also enhance my ability to inspire others to achieve like-minded goals.

When outside and away from school, I tend to gravitate to both indoor and outdoor activities, such as cycling and trekking, to DIY mini crafts such as assembling a Pepakura Mjolnir powered assault armour from Halo and listening to music.

When taking a glimpse at the future, you must first realise that there is no greater pleasure in our life that compares to overcoming and surmounting difficulties that we encounter – from grinding that last-minute assignment and barely submitting it to being able to solve a mathematics problem that has been bothering us for quite some time (we have all been there). Because of this, I would like to become a potential teacher from all the challenges provided for the work.

Simply put, I enjoy being a leader at Helensvale as I enjoy the challenges encountered and respect the commitment made by others in our leadership group when attempting to overcome these difficulties.

Seanna Hosier

I chose to be a school leader to reinforce an equal voice for the school. This includes students, parents and staff. This year, I hope to achieve a sense of unity between the different year levels and ensure close bonds with our younger students.

Personally, outside of school I enjoy playing volleyball and painting. After leaving school I want to study Biomedical Science at UQ and become a Nanotechnologist.

I enjoy being a leader at Helensvale as it gives me a sense of pride knowing I have the opportunity to have my voice heard.

Rhian Youngson

I am Rhian, a prefect at HSHS and I chose to be a leader in 2020 to benefit and support our school, as well as having a say in activities and events we partake in. My goals for this year are to achieve an ATAR that meets my goals, while also having a fun senior year making memories. My goal is to become a teacher and study my bachelors of education in university. Being supported and uplifted by the other leaders has been a real benefit to the role.

Year 11

Jordi Machin- Smith

Hi! My name is Jordan, and I'm one of Helensvale school leaders. Now you might read this and go 'ew, school leaders, teachers’ pets,' am I right? Well, as much as you may think it’s like that, it’s not. Personally, I chose to be a school leader because I wanted to implement positive change within the school, make it a better place for those who feel oppressed and unheard. Make it a safe place, where students feel comfortable to be themselves. Honestly, being a part of the leadership team at Helensvale is a way for me, and many others, to bridge the gap between school, and what they want to do in the future.

School leadership helps a lot in building confidence and ultimately, is actually a lot of fun. You get the chance to create new friendships and become better acquainted with Helensvale teachers, and the way Helensvale is run. The leadership team gives me the chance to begin to have the confidence to voice the issues that I want addressed and gives me the drive to continue to do that in the future. By the end of the year, I'm hoping, that even just a little bit, the students at Helensvale begin to feel more comfortable and happy within themselves.

Amaya Liyanage

I chose to be a school leader this year because I wanted to share and improve my leadership skills and also because in previous years I have enjoyed preparing for events like H-factor, helping Valentine’s Day preparations and student wellbeing day. I want to help the school this year in any way I can. This year, I hope to achieve good results and to successfully finish year 11.

Outside of school, I enjoy reading, baking and cooking, cycling and playing badminton. In the future, once I have finalised my subject of interest, I'd like to go to university, or perhaps even overseas to continue my studies.

I enjoy being a leader at Helensvale because I get to share my ideas, and work with such a wonderful group of fellow students and teachers whom are always open to new ideas and challenges with a passion to help the school.

Keiran Harris

I chose to be a leader because it is something I enjoy doing and it allows me to help out with school events. I hope to be able to stay on top of my subjects and maintain my work/life balance throughout the year.

Outside of school I like hiking, fishing, playing guitar and watching movies. In the future I would like to go backpacking.

Being a leader at Helensvale is a really good experience, you get to surround yourself with great people and help out with different events that take place throughout the year.

Jake Fuller

I chose to be a school leader to make the school a better place and volunteer to help out. This year I hope to achieve good grades, a shuttle-run test score of 12 and improve my relationships with my friends.

Outside of school I enjoy participating in track and field, sports, playing games and astronomy. After I leave school I plan on joining the military as an infantry soldier, then after a few years become a police officer and hopefully move up to a detective.

I enjoy being a leader at Helensvale because it allows me to share my ideas with a large group of students with the same goal of making the school a better place for everyone.

Kirra Fitzgerald

I chose to be a school leader because I enjoy organizing activities and always want to make sure that the student voice is heard. This year I hope to have a good foundation for my future, in terms of grades, physical fitness and a new kind of happiness and freedom that comes with getting your P’s.

Outside of school I enjoy exercise, particularly boxing (especially with the right sound-track). Once I leave school, I plan on being an Armament Engineer for the Royal Australian Air Force.

I enjoy being a leader at Helensvale because of all the fun things that happen ‘behind the scenes’.

Olivia Burke

Hello, my name is Olivia Burke and I am one of your year eleven senior leaders for 2020.

I joined leadership as a challenge for myself to see what impact I could have around the school and on individual students. I wanted to better understand the way that decisions are made within the school and was surprised to see the amount of group work that is required to formulate some decisions that we make at Helensvale State High.

Although somewhat limited, my time within leadership has provided me with important experience and understanding that I did not have prior, I have learned conversational skills, as well as strategies for efficient group work and decision making throughout the many leadership activities the school provides. This is why I enjoy my leadership role; I not only get to learn skills that have helped me enormously throughout my daily life, but also get to have my say within various different decisions made around the school. When sharing my thoughts, I wish to represent the voice of the student body and create change within our leadership system to best represent the needs and desires of individual students, as well as the greater community.

In the future, I wish to implement more ways that students can anonymously express their opinions and ideas about the future of our school, so we can better reflect this within our system. I look forward to a year of new activities and opportunities within the leadership team.

Molly Ormsby

I enjoy helping people, and hoped that as a leader, I could try do this. I also want to expand on my public skills. This year I want to try and join in as many things as I can, and just have fun doing them. I also want to try and keep up good grades. But honestly, my main goal is just to enjoy this year, and try not to get too stressed. My favourite thing outside of school is cadets. I have a minor leadership role there, but my favourite part is going out field and having practical lessons in navigation, or learning about first aid. There's nothing better than being stuck out bush for days, forgetting that anyone outside of cadets exists, sleeping under the stars and being surrounded by nature. I also really enjoy painting in my spare time.

In the future I'm planning on joining the army in medical science. I want to do this for a good few years, but after that I'll probably change roles to either intelligence, police force or some other medical discipline (e.g. bio-medicine, or wildlife veterinary care). I've met some people that I may not have ever really talked to through leadership. We've shared ideas, and worked well as a team. It's just a really enjoyable environment, mostly because of the people. It feels good to be participating more at school, with a really good team.

Year 10

Briyana Rodger

My name is Briyana Rodger and I am a year 10 student leader for 2020. I am very passionate about my studies and wish to become a surgeon. I like to play AFL. As a student leader I take pride in our school and providing all the students with their voice. I look forward to what the rest of 2020 holds for us all.

Year 9

Mathilda Bester

I chose to be a school leader because I want to help the school be united. I hope to assist my year level express their opinions, so we can help improve the school. By being a leader I can bring in a student’s voice to the school, as well as lead our school even from a younger grade.

This year I hope that our school can be united more than ever in these strange times and can be there for each other. Outside of school I love doing sports and running. As well as this I love spending time outdoors and with my family and friends. In the future I would love to find a job that accommodates all my passions - public speaking, leadership and sport sciences.

I like being a leader at Helensvale because I can take that step further to try and achieve to make our school a more enjoyable place for students and staff.

Keely Kable

I chose to be a school leader to learn new skills and become more educated on how proper issues get discussed and solved with a large number of people

Some goals I have set to achieve this year includes; becoming more organized regarding studying, be more active and involved with other activities out of school and to train harder in my sport.

I enjoy training with my karate club outside of school as well as doing Tik Toks 😊 I still don’t know what I would like to do in the future, but think I would like to do something regarding the community and the council.

I enjoy being a leader at Helensvale as I get to learn different skills that you usually don’t learn in a classroom

Cooper Milham

I chose to become a leader because I wanted to help improve the school. I like to spend time with the other leaders, as well as meet and talk to other students.

Outside of school I like to ride my bike and play basketball. This year I made the Queensland basketball team and was going to Tasmania. We are going next year now.

Year 8

Caitlyn Rachow

I chose to be a school leader because I love helping out and being a part of making school events. This year I hope to achieve good grades in all subjects and help out in a lot of school events and fundraisers.

Outside of school I enjoy playing hockey, cricket and netball. In the future I would love to play hockey for Australia and speak fluent Japanese.

I enjoy being a leader at HSHS because all the students and staff are lovely and it makes me feel like I am doing something important for the school.

Isabella Reyes

I chose to be a leader to create more opportunities for me in the future. It teaches pupils to lead appropriately and provides chances to help others, such as being able to work at the sports events. I hope to achieve a level of comfort when talking to other people that I would not normally associate myself with. I hope that I can represent the school in activities outside of school, whilst maintaining the schools three values; respect, responsibility and resilience.

Outside of school, I enjoy running/playing with the dog, swimming, playing volleyball, cooking, reading and shopping, (because who doesn't?). In the future, (if we are talking about finishing school), I hope that I can professionally study marine biology, become a swimming prodigy and become an anaesthetist for a career/physiologist/brain surgeon.

I enjoy being a leader at Helensvale because I can socialise with people outside my grade, I can promote ideas to help the school improve and get credit and it opens opportunities for me in the future.

Cooper Chisholm

I chose to be a school leader because I wanted to take on the challenge and try something new. This year I hope to implement new sports ideas to the school.

During time outside of school I like rugby league, the beach, spending time with my family and playing my ps4. After school I would like to join the navy and try some of the courses they have then go to university and study.

I like the leadership role and I like making Helensvale a safer place.

Lily-Beth Morgan

I chose to be a leader to make a difference. I also hope to make this strange time more comfortable for students.

Outside of school I enjoy drawing and making art, skateboarding and studying herbal medicine.

In the future I would like to get a veterinary degree, and also work part time as an artist.

I love being a leader at Helensvale because it is such a big loving community and there are so many great opportunities.

Year7

Caitlyn Donnelly

I chose to be a school leader because I like helping and getting involved in the school and being able to make choices on what happens to the school.

This year I hope to gain heaps of friends and get good grades at school. I wish to be brave and confident with who I am.

Outside of school I enjoy skateboarding and doing art. I also do girl guides (scouts but for girls). In the future I'd be a vet or marine biologist but maybe some sort of music writer.

As a leader at Helensvale SHS I love helping out and making the school a better place.

Javan Barnard

I applied to be a leader because my time as a leader in year 6 was so much fun and helped me to improve as a person. It gave me confidence that helped my transition into high school and made it not so daunting. I love to be able to help people and make them feel comfortable in high school. I also enjoy communicating problems so I can help the school continue being the great school it is.

I hope I by the end of the year that I will be able to talk to the older students in the school. This can be hard sometimes as it is a big difference from being the oldest in primary school. This issue can cause me to be closed off to meeting new people. I would love to continue building my confidence to help me get to know the student body including the leadership cohort.

I love exercise and enjoying my time outside especially playing basketball. At home I have water fights with my younger brother in the back yard on hot days. I also appreciate being able to spend time with my family playing board games or being creative and baking, both of which end up in hilarious messes. However, I also enjoy doing stuff by myself as well, like chilling in the sun reading a book and listening to some music.

In the future I would like to continue with my passion for basketball and maybe turn professional, which would be a dream come true. I am very interested in forensic science. I have always loved the idea of this since I was young. Overall, I would like to be happy with what I do in future and the decisions that I make with my life.

I enjoy being a leader at Helensvale because of the opportunities I have been given. It has been a pleasure to work in such a big cohort even though it has been difficult as it is a big change from primary school. I like to be able to communicate my ideas in front of many people and help communicate theirs. It has been great to be able to help with fundraisers, talk on stage, attend leadership meetings, complete fun opportunities like photoshoots and everything else that comes with the position. But what I love the most is helping people and being able to participate in such a great school and have a great team of teachers, leaders and students that also help me when I need it most.

Nikea Powell

I chose to be a school leader so that I can help other students. At this point I hope that we can all get back to school and sports very soon.

I enjoy playing netball, running and spending time with family and friends. I want to be a professional netball player. I hope to play for the Diamonds one day.

It’s a great environment, I think everyone is there for the same reasons, we all want to work together helping students and work on different ideas to help our school.

Kiara Hall

Hello, my name is Kiara Hall and I am a year seven junior leader for 2020. The reason I wanted to be a leader this year is that I have had leadership roles in primary school so I knew it would not be too different from what I have done in the past years. What I hope to achieve this year is that I will be more confident speaking to large audiences and to improve my leadership skills even more.

Outside of school, I like to bake, cook, draw and read books in my spare time. What I hope to do in the future is to spread kindness everywhere I go but to also help my fellow community.

I enjoy being a leader at Helensvale because I am surrounded by people with the same like minds, as we come up with brilliant ideas to help the community I feel as if we all have something in common, that is we all want to help the community in any way we can and being a leader is how we are doing it.

Olivia Briggs

I chose to be a leader because I like to help people and learn about ways to do this. I hope to do the best of my ability and help the school in becoming better this year.

I enjoy playing basketball, learning new songs on my saxophone, reading and playing with my dog. I would like to become a primary school teacher when I finish high school.

I enjoy being a leader at Helensvale because all the other leaders wants to do the same thing as me and make the school a better place.

Emma- Jade Penney

Hello, my name is Emma-Jade Penney and I am one of the year 7 school leaders for 2020. I chose to be a school leader because I love giving peers a helping hand whenever needed and I always strive to work at the best of my ability. I am passionate in helping Helensvale high in any way I can, assisting with fundraisers or sharing ideas. Outside of school my hobbies are dancing and assistant teaching, these I have been doing for years and loved every step of the way.

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.