Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Students in years three, five and seven will sit the NAPLAN tests next week. This process involves testing of Mathematics and all aspects of Literacy and forms an important part of our licensing agreement with Education Queensland International. More importantly, NAPLAN provides us with valuable learning data of individual students, student cohorts and a reflection of whole school performance.

 NAPLAN complements the existing range of assessment methods we use at Lihir International School and while it is important for students to do their best in these tests, it is also important that they are not overwhelmed by the experience. Due to this, teachers have prepared students for the type of tests they can expect to undertake next week.

 School Council

This term’s School Council meeting will be held on Thursday 17th June at 6pm in the 9/10 classroom.

Independence Day

The school Independence Day celebrations will be held next term. In preparation for this yearly event, a committee has been formed to take lead. We are seeking volunteers for this Saturday, 7th of May 2022, to sort the old Independence Day costumes from the storeroom at 10.00am. Please see Mrs. Romaso-Daimol if you would like to assist.

Year 8/9 Camp

Last week the year 8/9 students went on their long awaited camp. I hope everyone enjoys the camp pics and student reports in this Toksave. The students are to be congratulated on their behavior during the week. Thanks to Mr Collins, Ms Yip and Mrs Laien for giving extra time to accompany the students.

Regards,

Mr Greg Neville

When we arrived at Tokua Airport, we went to KVR (Kokopo Village Resort) where we would be staying for the next 2 days. First. we had lunch then we went on the bus to our first destination, the Bita Paka War Memorial.

At the memorial, we paid our respects to those fallen soldiers who died for us in the battle of Pita Paka. It was sad to learn that so many young men were drafted to the war and died at such a young age.

After Bita Paka, we went to a World War 2 museum where we saw some really interesting weapons and artillery, including a mini tank that could somehow fit three grown men. We also saw a random crocodile, just chilling inside a small cage. After that, we went back to our home away from home, had dinner and went to bed.

The next day, we went to a Japanese bunker where we went into some cool chambers with maps and Japanese text on the walls. The place was very spooky and dark with lots of small tunnels connected to it but luckily no one got lost.

After the bunker, we went to the New Guinea Club where we saw some old World War II artefacts and weaponry. We even saw a plane with bullet holes in it hanging on the roof. The New Guinea Club had quite a few huge holes in the walls because of the many times it got bombed.

When we were done looking around at the New Guinea Club, we got on the bus and went to Mt Tavurvur where we had a look at the hot springs and even boiled an egg in it! There was people there who were selling souvenirs and jewellery and some kids bought really nice necklaces.

When we had finished looking around and taking photos, we went to the volcano observatory. It was amazing! It had advanced technology and graphs that are used to monitor the volcano in ENBP as well as in other parts of the country.

Our next excursion was to the underground war hospital, at another Japanese tunnel in Kokopo. It was really scary and there were a lot of nails sticking from the roof.

Right after the Japanese tunnel we headed back to KVR and had dinner. Then we packed our gear and went to sleep, ready for the next stage of our camp -  Port Moresby. We really enjoyed our time at Kokopo.

by Zephaniah Gurra (Year 8 student)

In 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.

After our weekend at Kokopo, it was time to travel to Port Moresby for the next exciting part of our camp. When we arrived at Jackson’s airport, we hopped on our transport which was a Guard Dog Security bus. This was how we travelled during the time we were there.

We went straight to Tutu Beach Retreat (Dame Carol Kidu’s place). Dame Carol spoke to us about many interesting things, including her time in Parliament.

During the five days in Port Moresby, we visited some very interesting sites and attractions. On Tuesday we visited the museum which had lots of artefacts from all 22 provinces in Papua New Guinea. The carvings that they had each of its traditional story behind it and some were kind of scary but interesting. 

On that same day, we visited Parliament House which was very interesting. After having a looking through Parliament House, we went up and sat at the speaker’s chamber. We went for lunch with Mr Morgan who told us about how Parliament operates. We also saw the biggest butterfly in the world there that can only be found in Oro.

We had the opportunity to visit the Bomana War Cemetery which was interesting. It was sad to learn that in the war there were a lot of teenagers. We also went to the Nature Park and enjoyed seeing the animals there.

We had some time to do fun activities such as going swimming, playing ten pin bowling and a visit to Vision City. 

We would like to thank our teachers: Mr Neville, Mr Collins, Ms Yip and Mrs Laien for taking us on our trip and looking after us. It was a fantastic trip and we have many special memories.

by Katie Kamong (Year 8)

Term 1: 31st  January – 31st March 

Term 2: 19th April – 16th June 

Term 3: 11th July – 15th September 

Term 4: 3rd October – 1st December 

Friday Assembly

A reminder that parents are welcome to attend our Friday assemblies. This week, the Prep class presented and next week, it will be our Year 1/2 class.

NAPLAN 

Students in years 3, 5 and 7 will sit the tests in week 4 from Tuesday 10th May - Thursday 12th May, with catch-up tests on Friday 13th May.

NAPLAN assesses literacy and numeracy skills with students completing tests in Language Conventions (Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation), Writing, Reading and Comprehension and Numeracy. Students are well prepared for these tests as these skills and concepts are taught through our everyday curriculum. Student reports of results will be distributed to parents on arrival to school - usually in term 3. These results are used for future teaching and planning purposes - they are not used to collate end of semester reporting grades.

Parents may access further information at  https://www.nap.edu.au/.

Year 8/10 Exam Preparation

Weekend remedial classes for students in years 8 and 10 will commence this Saturday. Thank you to the STM staff for facilitating these sessions. A note has been sent home to parents advising sessions times for Saturday classes. Students who cannot attend on Saturday will have sessions on Sundays as per the schedule.  After-school support lessons will continue for identified students as per last term’s schedule.

Kind regards,

Ms Langusch 

Last week we welcomed our new Work Ready Program Trainees. The 15 young Lihirians who started the program are already showing great potential and improvement after a very short period. Please lookout for our Trainee Profiles, introducing our trainees, which will be included over the coming weeks.  

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

This week STMC staff will meet with students and parents from Lihir Secondary School who have been invited to participate in the Academic Support Program. Having met students and parents, we look forward to commencing activities in the coming weeks.

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