12 February 2021

Newsletter Articles

For information on upcoming events please see the school calendar

From the Principal

Dear Helensvale State High School Community

Welcome to the first newsletter of the 2021 school year. It was great to see the students returning from holiday and to welcome our new students to the school. The key messages that I delivered on the year level ‘welcome back’ assemblies in the first week of school focused on:

• Our learning vision: As a school community we aspire for each and every student to succeed;
• Engaging with our learning purpose of ‘One Student. One Community. Many Futures’, as this will set the foundation for a supportive environment conducive to learning;
• Goal setting and what students would like to achieve this year; and
• Reminding students of our high expectations as a school community in terms of their learning, attendance and behaviour.

Helensvale State High School – Home of the Hawks

The assemblies also provided an opportunity for me to announce that, after much community-wide consultation, the Hawk was voted in as our school mascot. I shared the initial images of the Hawk, as well as a draft story. Both the images and the story behind the Hawk mascot will be refined throughout the year, so what you see below is in its draft stages.

Along with the Hawk mascot, I introduced the theme for the year. Last year our theme was ‘Be Extraordinary’, which was very fitting considering the events of 2020. This year our theme is ‘Be Courageous’.

Helensvale Mascot Soars Towards Success
(excerpt from draft story)

At Helensvale State High School, anything is possible.

Helensvale has created an environment that supports and empowers students to soar towards their chosen career path.

Beyond the solid education Helensvale provides, students are taught the importance of determination and resilience – qualities essential to achieving in any post school pathway.

Inspired by these valued traits, HSHS is proud to announce the hawk as its school mascot.

The hawk represents strength, courage, stamina, power and, of course, determination and resilience.

As author Charlie Wardle says: “A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because its trust is not on the branch but on its own wings.”

Choosing a mascot that embodies strength, power, resilience and intelligence will serve – we hope – as a symbol and inspiration for all of our students to soar – and succeed.

If your child is finding it difficult to settle into the school environment, please contact your child’s year level Dean or Guidance Officer in the first instance, as they are always on hand to provide individual support to our students.

Deans

Guidance Officers

If you wish to raise a concern about other matters, please refer to the ‘Raising a Concern’ procedure and interactive charts that will help you find the most appropriate person to contact depending on your query, which can be found on our website at the following link:

Year 7 Transitions

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

As well as your child’s classroom teachers, staff available 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

Northern Collegiate Camp

Last week, eleven of our Year 10 students participated in the Annual Northern Collegiate Camp. This camp is held on a yearly basis for students who then become Northern Collegiate Student Leaders.

All six schools in the Northern Collegiate attended, thus allowing our students to work closely with student leaders from other schools. Students commit to a community or charity and work to raise awareness of these.

The Camp was held in Currumbin Valley at the Education Queensland Farm School. Ms Moore is our Northern Collegiate Student Leadership Co-ordinator. Ms Moore expressed her pride in our students for the respect and resilience they showed at the camp. The photo shows students completing trust exercises whilst kayaking.

Students thoroughly enjoyed the camp and their learning experiences and even did a digital detox – there was no mobile service!

Academy Information Evening

Humanities Tutorials and Homework Help club.

• Do you have an assignment or exam coming up and need a little extra help to understand the content?
• Have you been away and would like to catch up on what you missed?
• Maybe you would like to improve your skills in analysing sources or constructing a clear paragraph.

Open to all students who are studying humanities in year 7-8 or History and Geography from year 9-12. Our amazing Humanities staff will be available to help and give you extra support.

Humanities tutorials will start in week 3 on Thursday the 11th of February. Come find us in DG33.

Maths Tutorials

Science Tutorials

Chat n Chill

Representative School Sport 2021

Helensvale has a rich history of students representing Broadwater, South Coast, Queensland and Australian School Sport.

Students nominating to trial in any district or representative sport are required to:

• have experience in the sport they are nominating for;
• satisfactory behaviour and effort grades;
• be up to date financially with their school fees (student resource scheme); and
• have over 85% school attendance.

If the student fails to meet these requirements, they have the potential to not be eligible to trial.

Any questions please contact Mr McKean in the SAC Staffroom.

Communication

Just a quick explanation of the various communication channels used at Helensvale SHS.

Website

Our website is the main source of whole-school information and is your first point of call. The website should provide you with the information you require. All enrolment information, various policies, staff contacts and permission forms can be found here, as well as current school news and the school calendar. If for some reason the website does not provide you with the information you are looking for, it will direct you to the information source. We do endeavour to keep the website as current and relevant as possible.

Emails

Parents / carers and students may receive important information through this communication channel from administration and teaching staff. Parents are advised to regularly check their junk email if they are not receiving school emails. It is important that the school is advised when email addresses are changed, so vital information is received.

Facebook/Social Media

Facebook is a snapshot of good news stories and celebrations, as well as for short notice announcements. This information is available to parents, students and community. If you have any queries please be sure to check the website in the first instance as this is where we communicate much of our information.

Newsletter

The Newsletter is an avenue where we are able to share information and stories in greater detail. We attempt to get numerous photos of events etc. that we cannot include on Facebook.

Face to Face

There are opportunities throughout the year to meet with staff face to face. We have two Parent-Teacher meetings per year, regular Parents and Citizens Association meetings and many open events where students are able to share their learnings with parents.

Local Sporting Clubs

From the Guidance Officers

Support Staff

As part of our Learning and Well-being framework, we have created a Well-being Hub for students and parents, which can be 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 below, scroll down the page and click on the relevant icon.