Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Welcome back!

It was great to see many of our Lihir International School students return to school this week for the beginning of the 2023 school year. I would like to extend a special welcome to the new families whose children join us in 2023, while at the same time welcoming new teacher, Mr Gilbert Camillus. Mr Camillus will be teaching Maths and Science in the high school and PE across most of the school. A special welcome to our fourth group of year 9 scholarship students. The scholarship students are the top performing Lihirian students from Lihir schools in the Year 8 National Exams. I know that all of us will make our new students and staff feel part of the LIS family.

I was pleased to see most students arrive on time this week – please remember school begins at 8:10am and children are able to start arriving at school from 7:45am onwards. However, children from Prep to year 2 are required to sit quietly in the covered area with their bags until 8am at which time teachers will escort them to their classroom. This is to ensure that children are supervised properly in one area, and do not disrupt the teacher’s morning preparation time.

Children in years 3 – 10 can go to their classroom from 7.45am, at the discretion of the teacher, where they will be supervised while quietly reading or studying. Alternatively, they will wait in the undercover area until 8am. Children are not allowed to play in the school grounds or classrooms in the morning before school. Please do not send your child to school before 7:45am as teachers will be busy preparing for the school day and supervision of children will not be available.

Kindy children are to arrive after 8am, with Kindy starting at 8.15am. Parents and caregivers are to arrive at 12.10pm to collect Kindy children at 12.15pm. 

Parents are reminded that children are not allowed to play in classrooms or in the school grounds after school, unless it is organised afternoon sport. Children are to sit quietly and wait for their parents or vehicle in the designated areas.

It was fantastic to see all students arrive in school uniform and please remember that a clean uniform, in good condition, is expected to be worn every day. Please ensure your child has a navy school hat to wear for protection from the sun during playtime and other outdoor activities. The school’s No Hat No Play policy will continue this year and please make sure hats are clearly named.  If you require any item of school uniform, please see Lorna in the front office.

Parent Overviews

Teachers will send home Term Overviews on Friday to give you an idea of the learning your child will be involved in this term.

Acquaintance Night

Acquaintance Night will be held on Wednesday the 8th February, from 6pm, to give all parents the chance to attend brief information sessions with their child’s teacher. Acquaintance Night will give teachers the opportunity to discuss a general overview of class systems, learning and behaviour expectations. Ms Langusch has explained further details about Acquaintance Night in her segment.

Term 1 Calendar

Term 1 will be a busy time of learning at our school and the term one calendar can be downloaded below. This calendar, along with the weekly Toksave can also be accessed through the school website at https://lisstm.com.au.

Other important dates will be brought to your attention as they arise.

Parents and Wantoks

The Parents and Wantoks first meeting for the election of the new executive will be on Tuesday the 7th February at 6pm. The Parents and Wantoks Committee add a great deal of value to our school and this is a fantastic opportunity for families to become involved in contributing to school events throughout the year.  All parents, community members, and others who are interested to join the P&W are encouraged to attend.

Student Health Update

Please take note of the Student Health Update form that can be downloaded below. If you have any medical information, such as allergies or medication needs, that we are unaware of and you need to share with the school please fill in this form and return to Lorna by Friday 10th of February. If you have already updated the school regarding your child’s medical needs, or if you have nothing to add to information supplied during the enrolment process, you do not need to return the Student Health Update form.

Parent / Carer Contacts

We would like all parents to ensure that they have current and up to date contact details for the school. Please see Lorna in the office if you need to update your details - especially email addresses.  If parents hear of other parents not receiving school communication, please direct them to contact the principal.

School Entrance

Parents and community members are reminded that the only entrance to school is from the Anginas Oval carpark. On entering the school, hands are to be washed at the wash station. Townsite residents who walk to school are also to only use this entrance. 

After School and Weekend Sport/Activities

In the past, students were involved in a variety of afternoon and weekend sports and other activities. After school sport/activities are run by teaching staff and parent volunteers and, if you would like to volunteer to run a sport this year, please let me know. If you would like to run a sport/activity, it is your decision as to what sport/activity you are running, what day and which classes you will include in this sport/activity – our school community is always grateful to those who take the time to organise after school sport/activities.

2023 Staff 

Principal K-10 LIS / STM Gregory Neville (includes Coordinator Wellbeing/Discipline 7-10)

Deputy Principal K-10 Catherine Langusch (includes Curriculum Coordinator K-10, Coordinator Wellbeing/Discipline K-6, Coordinator Learning Support)

Deputy Principal STM Kevin Collins

Coordinator Physical Education Gilbert Camillus

Library Rachael Andar

Administrative Officer Lorna Romaso-Daimol

Kindy Angela Collins and Rachael Andar

Prep Jennifer Dovaston and Georgina Kinkinteng

Year 1/2 Diana Saua and Clementa Exzil

Year 3 Grace Savitas

Year 4 Anastasia Tukata

Year 5/6 Catherine Langusch

Year 7/8 Elizabeth Laien - Class Patron

Year 9/10 Patricia Yip - Class Patron

LIS School / STMC assistants

Jenny Pesas, Ronnie Sarufa

High School and School to Mine subject teachers

Elizabeth Laien, Patricia Yip, Kevin Collins, Gilbert Camillus, Joseph Takaundo, David Wengip, Edwina Jason, Stanley Sirifave

Student Photographs

There are many photo opportunities at our school and student images are often used in publications, such as the Toksave, and displayed online through the school website. The Toksave is uploaded to our school website www.lisstm.com.au every week. Student images will continue to be used in the Toksave, website and other media this year. If you do not wish photos of your child to be displayed through any form of print or digital media, please let me know so that I can ensure no images of your child appear in any school material.

School Council

The annual General Meeting of the School Council will be held on Thursday, the 23rd of February 2023. At this meeting, voting for 1 vacant position for a Parent Representative will occur, in the Yr 9/10 room from 6.00pm– 6.20pm. Nomination forms are available from the school office and must be returned to the school office by Thursday the 9th February 2023. If you would like to know more about the functions of the School Council, please make an appointment to see the principal.

Regards,

Mr Greg Neville         

The following sporting activities will be available next week for students in Primary and High school to take part in. Parents/Carers are kindly asked to fill in and sign the consent letters given to your child and returned to the school by Monday 6th February. All students are reminded to bring along their school hat and water bottle.

 Primary school – Soccer Program

This program will be coordinated by Ms Saua and Mrs Exzil every Monday from 3:15pm-4pm. Students will be taking part in drill activities followed by a friendly game towards the ending of the program.

 High school – Basketball Program

This program will be coordinated by Ms Savitas and Mrs Laien every Monday from 3:15–4pm. Students will be taking part in drill activities followed by a friendly game towards the ending of the program.

The above programs will run for a duration of 6 weeks and begin on Monday 6th February.

There will also be Saturday matches which will commence in Week 5 on Saturday 4th March from 8am-9am and will run through to Week 7. 

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 

Tuesday, February 7th: P&W AGM - 6.00pm

Wednesday, February 8th: Acquaintance Night - 6.00pm

Week 3: Year 9 Camp

Wednesday, February 23rd: School Council AGM - 6.00pm

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: 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 (from Week 3)

It was fantastic to see the excitement on children's faces at the start of the day as we began our new year of learning! It was also pleasing to see our 'old' students welcoming the new students to LIS. Great to see our V I P (Value, Include, Participate) ethos in action!

This year, we look forward to working with parents and students to consolidate the excellent teaching and learning practices in place at Lihir International School. In English Literacy, we will be continuing our focus on reading/comprehension and daily writing activities and in Mathematics, we will consolidate our SEE, PLAN, DO, CHECK problem-solving strategies from Year 2 onwards.

In Weeks 4 and 5 of this term, I will again present parent workshops on Soundwaves (Spelling) and Maths Problem-solving, which would be beneficial to new parents to our school or to any parents who may have missed last year's workshops. Primary class teachers will also hold sessions with parents to support our homework reading program.

Acquaintance Night

I am looking forward to seeing parents at Acquaintance Night next week on Wednesday, 8th February. This is an opportunity for parents and carers to meet class teachers and understand key processes and practices that will take place in classrooms, with focus on attendance, behaviour expectations, homework and class learning.

At Acquaintance Night, parents (and any students) are to gather in the undercover area by 6.00pm for a short welcome by Mr Neville. 

At 6.10 pm, Parent Session 1 will begin with the High school having a joint session on the basketball court and the primary class sessions to be in the relevant classrooms. This session will finish by 6.30pm and will be followed by a second session, starting at 6.35pm. During these sessions, any students will be supervised in the undercover area. There are two sessions to enable parents who have more than one child at the school to attend more than one session.

After the second session, we will have a "Meet and Greet" sausage sizzle so parents have the opportunity to meet other parents, as well as chat more informally to LIS staff. 

Looking forward to seeing everyone next Wednesday evening.

Kind regards,

Ms Cathy Langusch             

Welcome back to a new year. Again, this year I will updating our community on the School to Mine Campus programs throughout the year in the Toksave. 

Over the holiday period, the Chamber presented an award to Newcrest at the 16th PNG Mining and Petroleum Investment Conference and Exhibition, in recognition of the School to Mine program for developing local Lihirian talent in our host communities. Congratulations to all involved and thank you to Ruth Waram for assisting with the application for this prestigious award.

The STMC is currently preparing for our 10 Programs of the School to Mine. Next Monday, we will welcome our first Work Ready Program for 2023. At this stage we have 16 trainees currently being onboarded in preparation for this program and we look forward to welcoming them and working with them throughout this term. 

We are currently finalising our new and continuing enrolments for our Year 9/10 FODE Program for 2023.

STMC staff are also working closely with the Local Provincial Education Office to finalise new Lihirian teachers' enrolment in the DWU Bachelor of Primary Education, and also working with Lihir Secondary to enrol teachers into the DWU Master of Education Leadership. We are also working with the Local Provincial Education Office to finalise arrangements for the delivery of the Trupla Elementary Tisa Program this term and teachers for the Lihir Elementary Teacher Support Program.  

We are continuing to work with Lihir Secondary School to finalise participants for our Academic Support Program and support the students from this program who graduated last year into the Learning and Talent's Tertiary Support Program. 

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone all the best for 2023.

Regards, 

Mr Kevin Collins