TOKSAVE - Lihir International School

Please read carefully the 'New Normal' requirements for Term 4 below. These practices continue to be in place to keep our children and island safe.

2021 Classes

I am currently in the final stages of organising classes for the 2021 school year. If you know your child / children will not be attending Lihir International school in 2021, and you have not yet informed me, please let me know as soon as possible so that year level numbers and class organisation can be finalised. 2021 classes will be announced in week 9.

Awards Night

In the last week of this term, on Wednesday the 2nd of December, the school will host its Awards Night. The evening will consist of various awards for each class and feature class concert items. This year, social distancing precautions will apply, with limited guests per family able to attend. Further information regarding the Awards Night will be disseminated in coming weeks.

School for Term 4 will finish on Thursday the 3rd December.

If you would like more information regarding any of the topics in this newsletter, please do not hesitate to make contact.

Regards,

Mr. Greg Neville         

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 8.05am, ready to start the day at 8.10am.

3. All students will be greeted at the gate by a teacher and will be temperature tested. They are to wash their hands at the wash station and then proceed to the undercover area. Only kindy parents will be permitted to escort their children to their classrooms and pick them up at the end of the day.  If parents need to go to the office, or see a teacher, they will be temperature checked and permitted to proceed to the wash station and are then to make their way straight to the school office.

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 measure of 1.5 metres 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. Students will each be issued with a reusable washable mask. Students will be required to use these masks for travel to and from school and during specific identified activities at school.

8. The school canteen will be closed for the duration on term 4. 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 instead of drinking from the bubblers. 

10. In Term 4, separate assemblies for high school and the primary will continue. Social distancing measures will remain in place for assemblies. 

With reading being a continued focus this semester, here is a little more information about shared reading and how parents can use shared reading to support student learning. Each week, students are able to borrow library books. Although at times life gets very busy, try to find time to share some reading with your child, besides their ‘homework’ reading.

Through the early primary school years, books such as ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’, ‘The BFG’ and ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ by Roald Dahl are great family books for shared reading. As your child is older, you might like to read the ‘Harry Potter’ series by J. K. Rowling.

Shared reading is an opportunity to create some treasured memories for you and your child.

What is shared reading?                                 

Shared reading is an important strategy from a very early age and continues to be so as children start to develop independent reading skills. Parents can support their children in a variety of ways, for example by asking questions or by linking the topic of the book to real‑life examples.

Shared reading tips

Tip 1: Ask questions about the book

• Parents can support their child by asking a range of questions about the book they are reading together.

The ‘five Ws’ – who, what, where, when, and why – can provide useful questions for parents.

• Parents should use a mixture of closed questions (which can be answered with a single word) and open questions (which require a fuller response).

• Children might also be asked to summarise what has happened in the book or story so far, and to predict what will happen next.

Tip 2: Link reading to the real world

• By talking about links between the book and real life, parents can make the story more interesting and help children develop their understanding of ideas in the book. For example, while reading about Cinderella going the ball, a parent might discuss the similarities between a ball and a birthday party.

As children get older, it becomes important for parents to listen to their children read. The strategy of ‘pause, prompt, praise’ may help parents when listening to children read: pausing to let them work out words if they get stuck, providing a prompt or ‘clue’ to help (but not giving the answer), and praising them when they concentrate and problem‑solve. Engaging in high quality talk about the story remains important for fostering reading comprehension skills.

https://www.evidenceforlearning.org.

Shared reading does not have to stop when your child starts reading independently – reading and enjoying a novel or informative text together offers an opportunity for continued conversations and shows your child that you value reading. Parents are important role-models and we encourage you to promote a love of reading in your home. 

Ms Langusch