Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Staffing

I am pleased to welcome Ms Rachael Baiwan, our new high school maths / science  teacher, to LIS. Ms Baiwan is a very experienced teacher from the international school sector and will be a welcome addition to the LIS team. Ms Baiwan is expected on the island this Sunday.

Year 8 and 10 Parent Meeting

There is an important parent meeting to be held at the school next week Thursday from 4pm for parents / carers of all year 8 and 10 students. Year 8 and 10 students are required to attend the meeting. All aspects of preparation for the upcoming year 8 and 10 National exams will be discussed. Please advise Mrs Romaso-Daimol if transport is required after the meeting.

School Photos

School photos will be on Friday 12th May (week 4) for all classes. Please ensure Prep - year 10 students are in formal uniform. Kindy students do not wear a uniform. If you would like your child to have an individual photo, please message/email Mrs Romaso-Daimol or come into the office - Lorna.Romaso@newcrest.com.au.

LIS PNG Independence Celebrations 2023

Thanks to those parents who attended the initial meeting last term. The next meeting will be advised by the committee once a date has been confirmed.

A Good Night’s Sleep

It is important for children to have a good night’s sleep. There is no magic number for exactly how much sleep we need, but the Australian Centre for Education in Sleep (ACES) suggests the following as a guide:

Primary school: 10-12 hours per day

High school adolescents: 8-10 hours per day

Adults: 7-9 hours per day

Term 2 Parent Calendar

Please download the term 2 calendar below. 

Regards,

Mr Greg Neville         

Afternoon Sport

Afterschool sport will commence next Monday from 3.10pm - 4.00pm.

Prep-year 2 will play Minkey Hockey, years 3-6 Netball and Golf for the high school.

Mrs Collins and Mr Neville will be taking the Hockey sessions,  Mr Collins - Golf and Ms Langusch and Ms Dovaston - Netball.

Later in the term, there will be some games for both Hockey and Netball and Highschool will have a Golf afternoon at the golf course. 

Swimming

Swimming recommenced last Wednesday afternoon. Due to the large number of students in the Intermediate group, it has been decided to split this group into two sessions. Please note the new times:

Beginners - 3.15-3.35pm (Must have a parent/carer in the water)

Intermediate 1 - 3.40-4.05pm (Must have a parent/carer supervisor)

Intermediate 2 - 4.05-4.30pm (Must have a parent/carer supervisor)

Advanced 4.30-5.00pm

Parents will be emailed the new groups for Intermediate swimmers.

Students are to be ready 5 minutes before their lesson begins and are to be sitting down waiting until it is their lesson time. 

The small pool is closed to all swimmers during lesson times.

Band

Band practice continues on Monday afternoons, 3.00-4.00pm with Mr Sarufa.

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 

Key dates:

High School Parent Meeting (Year 8 and 10 parents and students): Thursday afternoon (Week 3); 4.00pm 

School Photos: Friday 12th May

Kindy Mother's Day Morning: 12th May

Mother's Day: Sunday, 14th May

Student-led Conferences (Primary); Wednesday, 24th May (Week 6)

LIS Production: Friday, 9th June (Week 8)

Afternoon activities:

Band practice: Monday afternoon 3.00-4.00 

Swimming: Wednesday afternoon (times as per schedule)

Afternoon Sport: Monday afternoon i3.10-4.00pm

Homework Club: Wednesday afternoon for year 5/6 and high school; Thursday afternoon for year 4; 3.10-4.00pm 

Updated Australian Curriculum

Version 9 of the Australian Curriculum has now been released with a new website - https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/ . Although this site is primarily for teachers, parents are welcome to view the curriculum. Additionally, there is a parent section - https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/parent-information/. In the primary school, implementation of the new curriculum will be staggered over three years, with English and Maths being implemented in 2024. During 2023, staff will engage in professional development activities to audit current planning documents and make adjustments where needed. Much of the curriculum is the same, with some refinement and clarity of language plus removal of some content to ‘declutter’ the curriculum.

Please see a link below to a parent information sheet giving more information about Version 9 of the Australian Curriculum.

PNG Standards Based Curriculum

PNG have also updated their curriculum, moving from Outcomes Based to Standards Based Curriculum. This new curriculum, along with the Australian Curriculum, will underpin teaching and learning programs in the high school (years 7 – 10). High school staff will also engage in professional development activities to audit our high school planning documents for alignment with the new standards. Further information about Standards Based Curriculum can be found at https://edu.pngfacts.com/curriculum.html.

Swimming Lessons

Swimming lessons recommenced last Wednesday. Please note the new swimming times, starting next week as per listed earlier in the Toksave. A reminder that Beginner and Intermediate students must have an adult at the pool and that Beginner Swimmers need to have an adult in the water with them. The pool (including the small pool) is closed to any free-swimming time when lessons are being held. This is a safety precaution so there are no distractions to the classes being held. 

Thank you for your support with this.

Kind regards,

Ms Cathy Langusch             

The staff at STMC are continuing to support our BEd teachers to compete all of the required assessment in our STMC Computer Lab over weekends and after school. They are also assisting Work Ready Program trainees to apply for a range of positions both with Newcrest and other stakeholders.

Our FODE students are continuing their studies and making good progress.    

We have begun working with Callan Services to confirm our Certificate Delivery for teachers across Lihir and look forward to presenting these details with the Local Education Office in the near future.

We are also finalising details with IT staff in Australia to get our School to Mine Student Database up and running.  

Regards, 

Mr Kevin Collins