Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Parents and Wantoks AGM

The Parents and Wantoks first meeting for the election of the new executive will be on Tuesday the 22nd February at 6pm in the year 9/10 classroom. 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. Nominations are open for candidates for office bearers. They can be sent to Maria Hosea, Anesia Wai or Amanda Amidy via email.

School Council AGM

The annual General Meeting of the School Council will be held on Thursday, the 24th of February 2022. At this meeting, voting for vacant positions for Parent Representatives will occur. It will be held in the Yr 9/10 room from 7.00pm– 7.20pm. Nomination forms are available from the school office and must be returned to the school office by Thursday the 17th February 2022.

Screen Time / Social Media

It has come to the school's attention that some students are members of various social media groups. While recognising the positive influence such groups can have, parents and carers are reminded to monitor closely children's use of social media. Reports of inappropriate posts and language in such groups can reflect negatively on the individuals involved.

Regards,

Mr. Greg Neville         

IIn 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.

Term 1: 31st  January – 31st March 

Term 2: 19th April – 16th June 

Term 3: 11th July – 15th September 

Term 4: 3rd October – 1st December 

The term is certainly going quickly and students are well underway with their learning!

High School Assessment Schedules

A copy of the assessment schedule for the Year 7/8 and Yr 9/10 classes will be sent home and emailed to parents this Friday. It is important that students refer regularly to this schedule and meet due dates for draft submission, as well as final assessment submission. We ask that parents put assessment schedules in a prominent place so they can be referred to regularly.

Soundwaves Parent Information Session

On Thursday afternoon, week 5, commencing at 3.15pm in the Yr 5/6 room, I will hold a short parent information session for primary parents on our Soundwaves spelling program. This session aims to help parents understand how we teach spelling at LIS and relevant terminology. This session would be beneficial for new families who are unfamiliar with the Soundwaves program.

Home Reading Books – Primary School

We would like families to have a good look at home and see if they can find any home reading books that were not returned last year. Students can return them to their child’s teacher.  We are committed to providing home readers, but also need our students to look after them and return them regularly.

Kind regards,

Ms Langusch             

The STMC is currently preparing for our 10 Programs of the School to Mine.

This week we welcomed our new FODE students and parents and completed their enrolment in the program. We look forward to working with these students as they complete Years 9 and 10 over the coming years. 

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, finalise Teachers for the Lihir Elementary Teacher Support Program and working toward delivery of our first Trupla Principal Program in early March. 

We are also continuing to work with Lihir Secondary School to finalise participants for our Academic Support Program.

Regards, 

Mr. Kevin Collins