Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Library and Text Books

There have been some incidents of careless and unnecessary damage to school library and text books when they have been taken home. It is very costly to source and supply students with these resources on Lihir. We ask parents and carers to keep an eye on these school resources when used at home. Parents and carers will be charged replacement costs for damaged or lost books.

School Council

The annual General Meeting of the School Council was held on Thursday, the 2nd of March 2023. At this meeting, new parent rep. nominee Mrs Rebecca Daimol-Matson was endorsed. We thank Rebecca for taking up this position and for the service of Mr Richard Toisiat, who vacated the position.

Reminders

• The chewing of Beetle Nut is prohibited on school grounds
• Parents are asked to refrain from bringing dogs into the school grounds
• Parents are free to deliver lunch to their children, however sitting with your child and/or feeding them during lunch is not encouraged.

Regards,

Mr Greg Neville         

Soccer and Basketball sessions continue on Monday afternoon for Primary and High school students. These sessions will run for six weeks with Saturday matches commencing this Saturday, 4th March, from 8.00-9.00am. Saturday matches will run through to Week 7. 

All students are reminded to bring along their school hat and water bottle.

Thanks to Ms Saua, Mrs Exzil, Ms Savitas and Mrs Laien for supervising these sporting sessions.

Tabloid Sports

Student Council (and supervising teachers) will continue running after-school Tabloid Sports on Weeks 6 and 8 Thursday afternoons, from 3.10-4.00pm. Participation is voluntary. Out-of-town students need to ensure they have organised transport to collect them at 4.00pm if they wish to participate. Tabloid Sports is for students from Prep-year 10.

This year, at the end of term 2, LIS will be staging a whole school dance and drama musical production titled – ‘Travel into Space on Apollo23’. This production will involve all classes, Prep to Year 10, as well as the LIS/STM staff. It is a musical drama about the Solar System that not only involves dance and drama but planning and preparation as well.  Apart from it being fun and entertaining, being part of a production is an activity that boosts students’ confidence. This will be a great experience for our LIS students.

Thanks to Ms Patricia Yip for being our production director.

Term 1 Monday 30 January to Thursday 30 March

Term 2 Monday 17 April to Thursday 22 June

Term 3 Monday 17 July to Thursday 14 September

Term 4 Monday 2 October to Thursday 7 December 

Afternoon activities:

Monday: Basketball (High school) with Mrs Laien and Ms Savitas: 3.15-4.00pm

Monday: Soccer (Primary school) with Ms Saua and Mrs Exzil: 3.15-4.00pm

Tuesday: Swimming lessons at the pool with Ms Hannah Ilave (times as per lesson schedule)

Wednesday: Homework Class: High school with Mrs Laien, year 4 with Ms Tukata and year 5/6 with Ms Langusch from 3.15-4.00pm

Thursday: Tabloid Sports led by the Student Council from 3.15-4.00pm (Weeks 6 and 8)

Friday: STEM Club for year 5/6 students with Ms Langusch from 3.10-4.00pm

Saturday: Soccer and basketball games with Mrs Laien, Ms Savitas, Ms Saua and Mrs Exzil from 8.00-9.00am

Year 8/10 Exam Preparation and Remedial Sessions

This Saturday, students in years 8 and 10 will commence weekend exam preparation lessons and after-school remedial session for selected students commenced on Monday and Tuesday afternoons. Thank you to the STM staff for facilitating these sessions. A note has been sent home to parents advising session times. Please contact Ms Yip if you have any questions about year 8 and 10 exam preparation.

NAPLAN

Year 3, 5 and 7 students will sit the Australian Literacy and Numeracy tests (NAPLAN) in Week 7 of this term. Usually these tests are held in term 2, however there has been a change of date to bring them forward to term 1. Students will sit tests for Writing, Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation (Language Conventions), Reading and Comprehension and Numeracy. 

Testing will be in Week 7 of this term from Tuesday – Thursday with any catch-up tests on Friday. Students will not be sitting on-line tests as per Australian schools but will complete paper tests. Teachers have been working with students to prepare them for testing. No additional preparation is required by parents. We want to remind parents that these tests are not a need for concern for you or your child but are another measure to gather information about individual and class learning progress.

Why do students do NAPLAN?

NAPLAN assesses the literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through the school curriculum and allows parents/carers to see how their child is progressing against national standards and over time. NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process. It doesn’t replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance, but it can provide teachers with additional information about students’ educational progress.

How is NAPLAN reported?

Reporting for NAPLAN will change in 2023 from previous years. Individual student performance reports will have four levels of achievement:

·         Exceeding

·         Strong

·         Developing  

·         Needs Additional Support

Reports will also continue to show the national average, the range of achievement for the middle 60% of students in each year level, and a dot placement for the student comparing their achievement against these measures. Student reports are expected to arrive in term 2 and will be distributed on arrival to school.

How are NAPLAN results used?

Students and parents/carers may use individual results to discuss progress with teachers. Teachers use results to help identify students who need greater challenges or extra support. Schools use results to identify strengths and areas of need to improve teaching programs, and to set goals in literacy and numeracy.

For further information please visit https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/for-parents-carers or please do not hesitate to see your child’s teacher or myself.

Kind regards,

Ms Cathy Langusch             

This week, we have been finalising arrangements for the delivery of the Trupla Elementary Tisa Program with the Local Provincial Education Office. We look forward to hosting this workshop for Elementary teachers from around the island next Friday.

Our FODE and Work Ready Trainees are continuing to progress well. Next week, our trainees are looking forward to visiting the mine and process plant to gain an understanding of each area and an idea of possible careers for their future.

STMC staff are continuing to work closely with the Local Provincial Education Office to finalise new Lihirian Teachers' enrolment in the DWU Bachelor of Primary Education, ready for commencement of the program in April. Unfortunately, the Master of Education Leadership has been postponed until September.

Next week, our first cohort of Bachelor of Primary Education Upgrade will attend their graduation at Divine Word University in Madang. We congratulate all of the teachers on this achievement and wish them all safe travels; in particular, our graduating LIS teachers Ms Tukata and Ms Romaso-Daimol.  

Regards, 

Mr Kevin Collins