Dear Parents and Caregivers,

End of term

It has been a busy end of term with Parent/Teacher Interviews, Easter activities and the Ballgames & Long Run Carnival. Thank you to parents who attended the interviews and supported the various events. Thanks also to the LIS staff and the Student Council for their organisation of the Easter and sporting activities. 

School Camps and Trips

With the reduction of Covid 19 cases and relaxing of restrictions, the school will restart its camps program for 2022. Planned camps are:

• Year 8/9 (postponed in 2021) NGI/ POM  – Week 2 Term 2
• Year 5/6 Local and Provincial Government – Term 3
• Year 10 Transitions – Term 4

More information will be sent closer to the dates of the camps. All year 8/9 permission forms should have been returned this week. 

Wishing all families a safe and happy Easter. Students resume for term 2 on Tuesday, 19th April. Please see the link for the Term 2 Parent Overview below.

Regards,

Mr Greg Neville

Thanks to the parents who attended our Ballgames & Long Run Carnival on Wednesday. It was great for students to participate in sporting activities again.

Congratulations to all winners in the Long Run and well done to all students who joined in and tried their best. The points from the Ballgames Carnival will be added to next term's Athletics Carnival points and a champion athletics house will then be announced.

Regards,

Mr Simon McKeiver

IIn line with company policy, good hygiene and social distancing practices will continue to be implemented in the school during Term 1 2022. Please read the points below carefully. Thank you to all members of the STM/LIS community for your patience and commitment in ensuring that we keep our children and island safe.

1. It is imperative that parents and carers do not send their children to school if they are sick or showing any symptoms of a cold or flu. If your child is sick, please keep your child home and seek appropriate medical attention. Children who display any signs of sickness will be isolated under supervision in the school's sick bay and parents called to come and collect them.

2. Entrance to school for students and parents / carers will be via the Aginas Oval gate only, which will open at 7.45am. Students who arrive before this (which is discouraged) are to wait in the carpark undercover area until 7.45am. Students should be at school by 8.00am, ready to start the day at 8.10am.

3. On arrival all students are to wash their hands at the wash station and then proceed to the undercover area. Parents will be permitted to escort their children to the undercover area / classroom and pick them up at the end of the day. Parents will also need to wash their hands after entering school. If parents need to go to the office or see a teacher, they are permitted to proceed to the wash station and are then to make their way straight to the school office or to the relevant classroom. Parents and High School students are to have a face mask ready to use when social distancing is not possible

4.  Students will be required to wash their hands in the mornings, before school and before and after recess/lunch.

5. All desks, door handles, playground equipment and other high contact equipment will be sanitised twice daily or after use by cleaning staff.

6. Social distancing will be employed in classrooms through desk arrangements. Social distancing markings have been painted on cement areas where students line up and in the undercover area for recess/lunch eating times. The school will implement staggered lunch and recess breaks between the primary and high school to reduce the number of children in the eating area at one time.

7. High School students will each be issued with a reusable washable mask. Students will be required to use these masks for activities where social distancing is not possible.

8. Students will need to bring a packed recess and lunch each day - there is to be no dropping off of lunches by parents, siblings or haus meris. Students are also asked to bring a water bottle to school that they will refill. 

10. In Term 1 on Mondays, separate primary and high school assemblies will be held in the basketball court, employing social distancing measures. On Fridays, there will be a whole school assembly on the basketball court that parents are welcome to attend. Social distancing measures will be  employed.

Thank you to the Student Council for organising some fun activities for the end of term.

Students participated in the Easter Egg Hunt and Easter Colouring and Drawing Competition, which saw a lot of colourful entries from students. 

The frosty Monday was a hit! A great way to cool down the day with yummy ice-cream after foraging through the school grounds for Easter Eggs.

Our last activity for the term was a free dress day on the last day of term. Students were to bring K2 to wear free dress. 

Thanks to all who participated in and supported our Student Council activities.

Term 1: 31st  January – 31st March 

Term 2: 19th April – 16th June 

Term 3: 11th July – 15th September 

Term 4: 3rd October – 1st December 

Parent/Teacher Interviews

Thank you to parents who attended the recent parent/teacher interviews. It was very pleasing to see the high level of attendance. These interviews are important times for teachers and parents to discuss student progress and term 2 learning goals.

Student folios

We ask that all student folios be returned in week 1 of term 2 if they have not already been returned.

Year 8 and Year 10 Mock Exams

Last week, students in Year 8 and Year 10 sat their first round of Mock Exams. Staff will use this data to identify and plan for individual and cohort learning needs for term 2. Students will also begin their Saturday morning study sessions with STM staff. Some sessions will also be held on Sunday mornings. More information will be shared with parents early next term.

NAPLAN parent meeting

Next term, students in years 3, 5 and 7 will sit the Australian National  Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests in Week 4. On Thursday afternoon of week 2, I will hold a short parent information session for parents of year 3, 5 and 7 to share further information about the tests and so parents can see previous exam papers. Parents can also access the website https://www.nap.edu.au/.

Happy Easter

Wishing all of our LIS community families a safe and happy Easter holiday break. I look forward to seeing everyone next term.

Kind regards,

Ms Langusch             

This Thursday, we welcome the New Ireland Province Secondary School Principals for their Principal’s meeting at STMC. Thank you to Ms Patricia Yip for assisting with preparations for their welcome.

Over the weekend, the first of our DWU Lecturers will come to site for delivery of Semester 3 of our DWU Bachelor of Primary Education Upgrade Program. This Saturday we welcome Mr Peter Kelaki for delivery of the first of these subjects next week and in the second week of holidays, we welcome Dr Lynus Yamuna for the face-to-face lectures for the second subject.

Our first Trupla Principal program will be delivered the first Friday back after the holidays on Friday 22 April. 

The next Work Ready Program Trainees have begun on-boarding, ready for the commencement of the next program 25 April. We look forward to welcoming them and seeing them develop throughout the program.

Our FODE students and Elementary Teachers from across Lihir continue to work on their distance education with the support of our STMC Staff.

We have finalised participants for our Academic Support Program with Lihir Secondary School and hope to meet with these students and parents and start working with them at the start of next term.

Please note the Kisim Save Library is open for use by all Newcrest Employees and Townsite Residents. Please email SchoolToMineCampus@newcrest.com.au to book a time to come.

Regards, 

Mr. Kevin Collins