26 February 2021

Newsletter Articles

For more info please see the link below:

From the Principal

Dear Helensvale State High School Community

FAREWELL MR LONG BRADLEY

Last Friday afternoon, a community celebration and farewell was held for our beloved Chaplain, Quang-Long Bradley. Division 2 Councillor William-Owen Jones, together with Scripture Union, Helensvale State High School and Helensvale State School came together with our community to pay tribute to Long, a remarkable, caring and humble man who has devoted more than three decades of his life to supporting the Helensvale and Gold Coast community.

Long has been such an integral part of our community, supporting our families in need in any way he could. Long has always put other people first. It is now time for Long to move to Brisbane to spend more time with his unwell Mum. This has been a difficult decision for Long, as he is so passionate about his chaplaincy work and has made remarkable connections with staff, students and families.

Long was appointed as Chaplain to Helensvale State High School on 17 December 1999. The story of how Long came to us from Vietnam is remarkable in itself. He has shown true courage in times of adversity.

It is not goodbye yet. Long’s intention is to be with us for the remainder of this term, which gives us plenty of time to pay tribute to this extraordinary man in our own special way.

Long is well known for connecting with students and staff through his drumming.

SCHOOL COUNCIL

School Council Membership

The School Council is calling for nominations from a parent to fill a recent vacancy on the School Council. The purpose and functions of a School Council are very different to that of a Parents’ and Citizens’ Association, with the one exception being that both bodies act in ways that achieve the best learning and well-being outcomes for our students.

The School Council has the following functions for guiding the broad strategic direction of the school:

• Monitoring the school’s strategic direction;
• Approving plans and policies of the school of a strategic nature and other documents affecting strategic matters, including the annual estimate of revenue and expenditure for the school;
• Monitoring the implementation of the plans, policies and other documents mentioned above; and
• Advising the school’s Principal about strategic matters.

School Council Composition

The School Council has a membership of 12, comprising of:

• 2 Official members - the P & C President and Principal
• 3 elected staff members
• 3 elected parent members
• 2 appointed members (members of the public)
• 2 elected student members (one Year 11 and one Year 12 student).

Notice of Election

The election will be held by secret ballot at the first P & C meeting for Term 2, the date of which is Wednesday, 5 May, 2021 commencing 6pm. The P & C meeting is held at Helensvale State High School and is generally 1 to 1 ½ hours in length.

To be eligible for election as an elected parent member, a person must:

not be an official member;

not have been convicted of an indictable offence, unless the Minister gives approval under the Act; be the parent of a child attending the school.

Nominations can be made:

In person, by the Nominating Members, at the P & C meeting on 5 May

If the Candidate cannot be present at the relevant meeting, by giving the Secretary, before the meeting, a nomination in writing signed by the Nominating Members and the Candidate

If there is only one nomination for a position, the Candidate will be elected to the position if the Candidate receives the votes of a majority of the members at the meeting

If there is more than one nomination for a position, the Candidate who receives the majority of the votes will be elected to the relevant office.

By completing the attached nomination form and emailing it to pandc@helensvaleshs.eq.edu.au by Tuesday 27 April. Alternatively, you may mail the nomination form or deliver it in person to the school, marked Attention: P & C Secretary.

Yours truly
Karen Lindsay

Farewell from Chappy Long

Dear Helensvale Community

As most of you may have heard, I am finishing up at the end of Term 1 due to family circumstances and will be moving back to Brisbane where I hope to be able to find another chaplaincy role. I am very sad to have to leave this community which I have grown to love!

I want to thank all the families and students who have allowed me the privilege of sharing your Helensvale State High School journey and wish you all the best in the years ahead.

I want to acknowledge the incredible support of our Executive team and the office staff in providing practical support and encouragement, the teaching staff in allowing me to access their students during class time when necessary, and of course the Student Support Services Team in working so hard to ascertain and refer to the appropriate support to provide the best student outcomes. I thank all staff for their acceptance of my role and their friendship.

I also want to thank the many current and previous P&C Association members for their support of chaplaincy, their friendship and their encouragement of me.

I have felt very much a part of the Helensvale SHS community and treasure you all deeply; I wish you all the best for all that lies ahead for you.

God Bless
Chappy Long

Junior Secondary

It’s midway through the term and our Year 7, 8 and 9 students will have a good idea about the happenings in their classes and will be working towards assessment.

I would encourage you to ask your child about what they are working on at school and the upcoming assessments. They will know by now!

Here are some simple daily questions you can ask your child to assist in you engaging with their learning. These questions demonstrate that you value their learning and their persistence.

5 Questions Parents Can Ask Their Children (From the work of Lyn Sharrattt:2019)

1. What did you learn today?
2. How did you do?
3. What did you do if you didn’t understand?
4. How can you improve on your learning?
5. What are you most proud of?

Wendy Chambers
Head of Junior Secondary

Academy Programs of Excellence

Applications are now open for our selective entry Academy Programs of Excellence for Year 7 2022.

Our Academy Programs of Excellence offer students a unique opportunity to pursue their passion in the areas of Academia, Sport, Japanese, Education for Entrepreneurs and the Arts. As members of the Helensvale Academy, students engage in challenging learning experiences that foster elite skill development, critical and creative thinking, quality collaboration and effective communication skills. Our expert teaching team are committed to nurturing each and every student to realise their full potential and achieve success in their chosen field. Applications for our Academy Programs are considered in three parts including the written application, academic effort and behaviour and the exam or trial. Trials will take place between Monday 22 March and Saturday 27 March.

We invite applications from both within and outside our catchment. Further information and application forms can be found at

Sports Academy – Netball, AFL, Football Sports Academy Application Form

Arts Academy – Visual Art, Dance, Drama Arts Academy Application Form

Academic Academy – EXCITE, Education 4 Entrepreneurs, Japanese Academic Academy Application Form

Round 1 Applications close Friday 12 March.

Senior Leaders

Valentine’s Day fundraiser:

Some of our Student Leaders ran our annual Valentine’s Day stall during week 3 to great success! We raised $500, delivering over 300 gifts of cards, balloons, lollipops, and wooden roses to students and staff on Monday 15th February.

World’s Greatest Shave 

Celebrating 23 years of World's Greatest Shave!

In 2021, the Leukaemia Foundation will celebrate 23 years of the World’s Greatest Shave campaign, making it one of Australia’s longest running and most loved fundraising events.

People of all ages channel their inner superhero and shave, colour, or wax the hair – supported all the way by proud family, friends, colleagues and classmates.

Some will have a personal connection to blood cancer, while others take part simply to have fun, tick a bucket list box and raise money for a good cause.

More than 2 million Aussies have taken part over the past two decades, with an estimated 37,500 kilograms of hair removed!

This year we already have students growing their locks in preparation for the shave on March 15th, but we are always looking for more volunteers! Anyone interested can see Ms Rauchle in the science staff room (CSR1).

If you would like to sponsor one of our brave shavers, please visit our team page at the link below:

Swimming Carnival Results

Broadwater Trials

Well done to the following students for making the 2021 Broadwater Swimming Team.

Good luck at your upcoming South Coast Swimming Trials.

Joshua Kearney
Nathan Snowden
Toby Vickers
Robert Yates
Samuel Gould
Brooke Gill
Isabella Reyes
Holly Shore
Sienna W
Mikaela Smith

Year 7 school vaccinations happening soon!

The Gold Coast Public Health’s immunisation team will be providing vaccinations to all year 7 students on Tuesday 30 March.

You should have received an email from admin.immunisegc@health.qld.gov.au to the address you have nominated with the school (please check your junk mail folder).

If you haven’t received this email you can contact Gold Coast Public Health’s immunisation team on 1800 940 750 or drop into the school office to collect a hard copy form.

News from Industry Pathways:

New exciting traineeship opportunities are available Year 11 students.

The Opportunities Board outside Ms Bellamy’s office will be regularly updated with new positions. You can get paid while gaining a qualification when doing a school-based traineeship, as well as earn up to 8 QCE points!!

The links below list many school-based traineeship vacancies; please ensure you are on a Vocational Pathway before applying and if you need help to create a Resume email Ms Bellamy lbell138@eq.edu.au

Ignite Education:

Aurora Training Institute please visits their vacancy page:

Prestige Training Services vacancies, Please visit this link for more opportunities

School Leavers should check the following links for fulltime employment opportunities:

Love your current casual job? Would you like to turn it into a traineeship? Come and see Ms Bellamy to see if we can create a traineeship for you in your current role.

External Course or Traineeship Participants

If your student attends an external course or a traineeship each week, please read important information below:

• If they are not attending the external provider/work on their allocated day, they must see me first thing in the morning to amend attendance – this is crucial for accuracy of attendance.
• If they are sick and are not attending their course/work place, they MUST still call their external provider/employer to let them know as they would with school, and then email me on lbell138@eq.edu.au
• Please keep in mind if they miss too many college/work days they may not complete their certificate in time, which then will compromise their achievement of QCE points.
• If they are having problems completing their units for their traineeship or struggling with their course work, please have them come and see me to discuss so we can come up with some solutions.

Thank you to parents and students for your co-operation with the above.

Ms Bellamy
Industry Liaison Officer
Karangbah Building – Office KS10

From the Guidance Officers

We are here to help your child succeed

They say it takes a village to raise a child and our school is an important part of that village. We want to work with you to give your child the support they need to engage and thrive at school.

To do this, we need to work together. Make a time to talk to your child’s teacher, their year level coordinator or our school guidance officer. Our team is here to help your child with their educational, behavioural and wellbeing needs.

The Spark their Future website has tips on how to contact your school and this video talks about how to reach out so we can work together to achieve success and happiness for your child.

Visit the Spark their Future website for more

7 Simple Parenting Strategies That Work

If you’re a parent, then you are likely interested in finding ways to interact with your children that create a strong relationship, foster positive behaviour, and helps you respond to behavioural problems.

Take a look at any bookstore and the shelves will be full of advice. But figuring out which strategies are actually effective can be a challenge. The American Psychological Association was asked about the best research-based parenting strategies that showed effectiveness in improving behaviour, strengthening the bond between parents and children, and helping parents react to behavioural problems that arise.

The following seven empirically tested parenting strategies were the result.

1. Praise. Studies have shown that the behaviour that gets attention is the behaviour that you’ll get more of. Attention to undesired behaviour — often in the form of reprimands or punishment — will increase undesired behaviour. At the same time, specific, labelled praise of desired behaviours increase that behaviour. Parents should not offer praise indiscriminately. Instead, parents should give specific feedback on exactly what the adolescent did that the parent liked.
2. Ignore Minor Misbehaviour. If a misbehaviour is minor and not dangerous, ignore it. Ignoring when an adolescent slams a door, while responding with attention when they ask nicely or express their feelings appropriately teaches the young person that good behaviour is a reliable way to get attention.
3. Understand Child Development. Understanding developmental milestones can help a parent attend to and praise steps towards that milestone. Understanding that young teens typically have concerns about body image, looks and clothes might make it easier to ignore all that extra time spent in front of the mirror.
4. Do Time-Outs Right Along With Quality Time-In. Brief and immediate time-outs have been shown to work best, particularly when paired with parents who are also modelling positive behaviours and praising good behaviour. Keeping calm — often a real challenge at the moment a misbehaviour is occurring! — and praising compliance makes time-outs more effective.
5. Focus on Prevention of Misbehaviour. Paying attention to when a teen gets tired or hungry can prevent a large portion of meltdowns. Planning ahead and anticipating potential problems and teaching them ways to cope with problems when they arise can even eliminate the need to use time-out. Talking to your adolescent helps.
6. Take Care of Yourself First. Young people are negatively affected by parental stress, with 86 percent of adolescents reporting that parental stress bothers them. It can seem nearly impossible when you’re busy with the demands of parenting, work and life, but it is essential to take time to exercise, maintain hobbies and connect with friends and partners.
7. Take Time and Do Nothing. Spend time with your young person (experts recommend 1 hour a week per child) doing nothing but being with them, acting interested in them, and expressing positive thoughts and feelings to them. Avoid teaching, inquiring, correcting or offering alternative perspectives.

At times, parenting can feel like you’re in in an airplane in turbulence in a thunderstorm and the oxygen masks have dropped. As with on a plane, when parenting it’s important to remain calm, put your oxygen mask on first — before you help your children and give specific instructions of what to do, with lots of positive feedback for good behaviour.

Dr Ramesh ManochaIf, 2012

Happy Parenting!
Guidance Officers

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?
• Would 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

STUDENT SERVICES INFORMATION

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 prior to arrival if their child is going to be late by sending an SMS to 0457 478 277 or by giving them a note. The students MUST sign in at the Student Hub upon school arrival 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 notification of their late arrival, 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. The only way a student will be permitted to leave class early is by prior arrangement with the Student Hub.
• If your child 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 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.

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 from the Administration office.
  - 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.

General Information

• Please 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 in the original packaging 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 - Friday: 8am – 3:30pm

Finance Hours

Monday – Thursday: 8am – 12:45pm

Uniform Shop Hours

Monday – Thursday: 8am – 12pm

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. 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 from administration and teaching staff via email. Parents are advised to regularly check their junk folder 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 short notice announcements; this information is available to parents, students and the community. If you have any queries please always 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 for information and story sharing. We attempt to show 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.

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.