Dear Parents and Caregivers,

On Saturday, there is a public holiday to commemorate Remembrance Day. On this day, we remember and pay tribute to those Papua New Guineans who have fought and died in various wars over the years to allow us the freedoms we enjoy today.

Next week, on Wednesday 27th July, New Ireland Province celebrates New Ireland Day. There is usually a public holiday announced for this day. We will advise parents of this as soon as it is confirmed. 

Screen Time

Many parents are concerned about the amount of screen time their children have on various devices. Recent studies have outlined several detrimental effects that too much screen time can have on children and adolescents. The Australian Institute for Family Studies screen time guidelines recommend:

• no screen time for children younger than two years
• no more than one hour per day for children aged 2–5 years
• no more than two hours of sedentary recreational screen time per day for children and young people aged 5–17 years (not including schoolwork).

The links below in the Toksave have more information on the guidelines and the effects of too much screen time.

Term 3 Calendar

Please find the Term 3 Parent Calendar attached below. 

If  you have any concerns, or would like further information on any of the topics in this newsletter, please do not hesitate to make contact with any questions.

Regards,

Mr Greg Neville.

The school's Independence Day celebrations will be held on Thursday, 15th September. Dance practices will commence next week and will be held every Tuesday and Thursday.

There will be a meeting on Saturday, 23rd of July at the school in the morning at 9.00am. We are looking forward to see dance coordinators at this meeting and also parents.

Organisation is continuing for our Netball Carnival to be held here at LIS on the weekend of 6th/7th August. OLSH Kavieng have confirmed their participation and our students and our ladies team have commenced training. 

Training times for students:

Junior: Wednesday afternoon, 3.15 - 4.15pm

Senior: Thursday afternoon, 3.15 - 4.15pm

All: Saturday morning, 8.30 - 9.30 am (year 8 students have exam preparation) 

The women's team training sessions are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, commencing at 6.00pm. Please see Maria Hosea if you need any further information about the ladies team and Ms Langusch or Ms Savitas about the student teams.

Book Week will be celebrated this term during week 4. This year's theme is "Choose your destiny - read". There will be a range of activities held during Book Week, organised by our Librarian, Mrs Daimol, including a Book Week Parade for Kindy - year 4 students where students can dress up as a character from a book. The parade will be held on Wednesday, 3rd August, at 9.00am. Parents are welcome to attend. We ask parents of students in Senior Kindy to year 4 to please assist their child/children with organising a costume for their 'book character' ready for the parade on Wednesday of week 4.

Scholastic Book Club

Please remember to submit your Book Club orders by the 29th July. Parents may choose to complete an online order or please send in your order and money to Mrs Romaso-Daimol in the office. 

Canteen

Students enjoyed a special hot dog lunch this week for Canteen! Regular Canteen will recommence Friday, week 3, with orders submitted on the Wednesday. Parents are reminded to check their child's bag for change on Friday.

Primary students should be ordering only one main 'meal' such as one pie or one pizza, not a combination of two hot dishes. They may also order some fruit/popcorn. High school students are permitted to order two hot meal choices plus fruit/popcorn .

Thanks to Kate, Nellie and all canteen helpers for organising canteen each week.

P&W Meeting

There will be a meeting for the P&W next Tuesday, 27th of July, at 6pm in the year 9/10 classroom. All are welcome.

Junior Choir for this term commenced this Monday 18th and will continue each week in Term 3. It was great to see everyone after the holiday break! Please bring an afternoon snack and your water bottle. We are busy practising for our assembly performance in week 8 so it is important that once you have committed to the choir, you continue to come along each week. Choir is held Monday afternoons from 3.15pm to 4pm.

Term 1: 31st  January – 31st March 

Term 2: 19th April – 16th June 

Term 3: 11th July – 15th September 

Term 4: 3rd October – 1st December 

Year 8 / 10 National Exams 

Thank you to the year 8 and 10 parents who attended Thursday's meeting to discuss the upcoming exams and exam preparation.

In week 5 of this term, students will sit their third round of Mock Exams. This week, our year 10 students completed their Science Practical Exam.

Lunches

A reminder that students are to bring a packed lunch each day with enough food for recess and lunch. Parents are asked not to drop off lunches at school. Students also need a water bottle.

Headlice

We ask parents to check their child's hair for headlice as there has been some reported cases at school this week. If your child does have headlice, please purchase the medicated shampoo from the pharmacy for treatment. Please download the form below for further information.

Kind regards,

Ms Catherine Langusch. 

National Exam Remedial Classes will continue each weekend at STMC throughout this term to ensure the very best opportunity for our students to succeed in these very important exams. Student attendance is paramount.

We are in the process of preparing for the final semester of the DWU Bachelor of Primary Education, with face-to-face lectures taking place at the end of this term. We look forward to sharing the success of these teachers when they graduate later this year.

We are also in the process of onboarding our next Work Ready Program intake and look forward to welcoming this cohort on 8 August.

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

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.