17 September 2021

Newsletter Articles

For more info please see the school calendar

From the Principal

Dear Helensvale State High School Community

The school has a clearly articulated vision of what it wants to become: ‘for each and every student to succeed’.

The school’s purpose is stated clearly and is focused on engaging young people in the highest quality learning: ‘One Student. One Community. Many Futures’.

The school has three learning values that drive the behaviour of staff, students and parents: ‘Respect, Responsibility and Resilience’.

In my previous newsletter article, I discussed how we engage students as learners in thinking classrooms. I revisited our three learning values and how our students are accountable to their learning environment, as articulated in our ‘Universal Expectations’.

So how do our three learning values drive the behaviour of staff and parents / carers?

Staff

Staff establish positive relationships, classroom practices, expectations and clear procedures, that are aligned to these values, ensuring a positive and productive learning and teaching environment.

As a staff, we regularly revisit our three learning values in an extensive range of forums, including but not limited to, staff meetings, staff professional learning sessions, induction programs and early years teachers’ programs. We explicitly teach these learning values during assemblies, Futures lessons, in our daily classrooms and in interactions in the playground.

Staff recognise those students who display our learning values through hand written postcards, allocating Positive Behaviour (PB) points and through our various celebrations of success.

Parents

It is an expectation that parents and community members also demonstrate our learning values of being respectful, responsible and resilient. At the recent School Council meeting, the school’s Parent and Community Code of Conduct was endorsed. The Code has been adapted (from the Department’s template) to incorporate our ‘One Community’ philosophy and reinforce our three learning values of respect, responsibility and resilience. I would ask parents and carers to familiarise yourselves with the Code, which encourages positive and cooperative relationships between staff, students, parents and the broader community.

2021 School Magazine

As you would appreciate, to produce the school magazine each year is an enormous undertaking, with key staff volunteering their time after hours, on weekends and during holiday time to ensure the magazine is ready to issue, with no cost, to every year 12 student prior to their exit. Students from years 7 to 11 in the past have placed orders only if they would like a magazine. With over 1800 students in these year levels, less than 300 actually order a school magazine. With the amount of work put into the magazine for little uptake, it is not viable or sustainable to continue producing the magazine in its current format.

I raised this issue at P & C, and followed the advice of the P & C to seek student voice on this matter. All students were surveyed on options that would be viable. The outcome was:

• All Year 12 students will continue to receive a hard copy of the school magazine, at no cost to them.
• All students in Years 7 to 11 will receive a free PDF version of the school magazine. No cost and every student receiving an electronic version struck a chord with our students.

As this is the last newsletter of the term, I wish you a safe and happy holiday and I look forward to students returning on Tuesday 5 October, with the Monday being the Queen’s birthday public holiday.

Yours truly
Karen Lindsay
Executive Principal

GIPSA Sport

GIPSA is now over for 2021.

Please ensure your students returns their washed uniforms to the uniform shop.

A charge of $50.00 will be added to your account if they are not returned by the end of Term 3.

Excite Academy Exceptional Achievement Awards

Last week, our Junior Secondary HOD, Ms Chambers, and Academic Academy Director, Mr Middleton, recognised the outstanding academic achievement of many Excite Academy students.

These students achieved extremely high levels of achievement in all of their core academy subjects, as well as most other subjects, and demonstrated exceptional effort and behaviour in all of their subjects. Together they have set a standard to aspire towards and are all inspirational role-models to their peers.

Unfortunately, we were unable to present their certificates at an assembly. However, we did visit each of their classes to congratulate them on their efforts. We look forward to seeing their continued progress in their studies as well as the improvement of other Excite Students this semester.

Excite 7A – Pascal, Mariya, Bethany, Siani, George, Tiasha, Hayley, Dominique
Excite 7B – Emma, Olivia, Izabella
Excite 8A – William, Charlotte, Mia, Lucy, Abby
Excite 8H – Monique, Caitlyn, Mia, Aisha
Excite 8M – Chloe, Sienna, Ella, Caitlin
Excite 9A – Jessica, Taylor, Riley, Isabella
Excite 9B – Matthew, Ryan, William, Ashley, Sienna
Excite 9C – Ella, Kirra, Ruby, Kira, Brianna

Student Hub Information

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 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 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.

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 Hub
• 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.

Media Arts

Enjoy these artworks from Ms Hastie’s Media Arts students who produced them as part of their assessment this last week! There are two are Y12 artworks about their generation, and two Year 9’s DVD/Game cover design responses. Also included are some from Y10, their Protest unit and Y11 the Advertising unit.

Media gallery

Holiday Programs

Helensvale SHS Farmers Markets

Don’t forget to support our local farmers.

From the Guidance Officers

We are offering parents a wonderful opportunity to gain an insight into Anxiety and strategies to support your child through the teenage years. Dr Kate Owen- Clinical Psychologist is presenting a 1 hour webinar for on the 14th October at 5.30pm via zoom, the link will be e-mailed to parents nearer the time.

Student Health and Wellbeing

In line with Helensvale State High School’s philosophy of ‘One Student, One Community, Many Futures’, we partner together with the community to improve student learning and wellbeing. As the use of vaping is becoming a growing concern, not only in our school, but in our broader community, it is our collective responsibility to educate and support our students whilst maintaining high standards of behaviour.

E-cigarettes, more commonly known as vapes, are increasing in popularity in our society and disturbingly among our youth. Resembling a USB, ‘e-cigs’ are battery-powered devices that deliver liquid nicotine and other substances (such as propylene glycol and flavourings) as an aerosol that is then inhaled.

Under Australian Law, Nicotine is considered a Schedule 7 poison and therefore it is illegal to: buy, possess or use liquid nicotine for vaping; for children under 18 years to purchase cigarettes and e-cigarettes; and to smoke on school grounds at any time.

Helensvale State High School has a ZERO TOLERANCE policy for the possession and use of all illicit substances including e-cigarettes, with all matters dealt in accordance with our Student Code of Conduct which states: “Inappropriate use, possession, supply of intoxicating substances and/or utensils (including but not limited to illegal drugs or illegal drug implements, alcohol, vape pens, paint, glue, prescription medicine etc) may result in permanent exclusion from Helensvale State High School.”

One proactive measure we are making is to educate our students, providing them with the information so that they can weigh up the pros and cons of certain behaviours, allowing them to make an informed decision.

We are currently negotiating with the Queensland Police Service to provide an educational assembly to students around the legal implication of vaping.

Here is what we know so far:

• Nicotine is highly addictive and can impair adolescent brain development.
• Liquid nicotine solutions vary in concentrations (from 2%-10%). It is rapidly absorbed through the skin, and fatal toxicity can occur from exposure to just one teaspoon.
• Harmful chemicals are found in over 75% of flavoured refill liquids.
• Propylene Glycol is a solvent that reacts with many flavours, specifically vanilla, cherry and cinnamon, to create entirely new chemicals that lead to inflammation, cell death and irreversible lung damage.
• Additional information can be found here: https://www.qld.gov.au/health/staying-healthy/atods/smoking/devices

It’s important to remember that young people may turn to substance use for many different reasons (e.g. stress, family conflict, financial concerns, relationship issues, etc.). We encourage our students to access support if they are going through a challenging time, and some of these support options may include:

• Guidance Officers
• Deputy Principals
• Chaplains
• School Based Youth Health Nurses
• Deans
• Adis (24/7 Alcohol and Drug Support) – 1800 177 833
• Kids Helpline – 1800 55 1800

To support the health and wellbeing of all the Helensvale State High School community we ask you to discuss the health and legal implications of vaping with your child.

Thank you for your anticipated support with this and together, let’s continue to prioritise the health and wellbeing of your child.

Helensvale Fundraising

We are fundraising with Entertainment. For a limited time only, purchase a Single City Membership and get a FREE upgrade to Multi City! Discover more everyday with offers across dining, travel, activities, shopping & more. Begin exploring and saving across 21 cities and regions in Australia and New Zealand at nearly half the price today.

Support Helensvale State High School and unlock your free upgrade:

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 in year 9 to 12. Our amazing Humanities staff will be available to help and give you extra support.

Come find us in DG33.

Maths Tutorials

Science Tutorials

Chat n Chill

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, scroll down the page and click on the relevant icon.

Acknowledgment of Country

Helensvale State High School as one community, acknowledges the Kombumerri Peoples, the Traditional Custodians of the land on which our school is built. We respect their long history, ancestry and culture. We pay our respects to the Elders, past, present and emerging for they carry the memories and traditions of past times.

We would also like to extend our acknowledgment to other First Nations Peoples: those hailing from the Torres Strait Islands and those belonging to other Aboriginal Language Groups.

We acknowledge the strength and resilience of Kombumerri peoples. We respect their enduring connection to the local wetlands and the cultural responsibility they uphold to preserve wildlife. Together, we go forward, learning in the spirit of these values.