Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Thanks to the teachers and parents who attended the P&W Annual General Meeting in week 2. The 2021 committee is as follows:

    President: Amy Brewster

    Vice President: Maria Hosea

    Secretary: Annie McKeiver

    Treasurer: Joan Rogea

    Canteen: Amanda Amidy

    Book Club Coordinators: Claire Litson and Aneisa Wai

Thanks to all those who have volunteered for committee positions. We we look forward to the P&W events for 2021

School Review

On the 22nd and 23rd of April, officers from the QLD Department of Education, Education Improvement Branch (EIB) will conduct a virtual review of LIS. This process involves interviews with teachers, parents, students and community members. Myself, Ms Langusch and Mr. Collins will also present to the reviewers our pedagogical framework and other curriculum documents. A variety of parents, teachers and students will also be asked to complete and online survey in preparation for the review. If any parent / carer is interested in participating in the survey, please contact me.

Student Council Induction

This Friday, our HR Manager, Alex Rogea, will join us on assembly to present the badges to our 2021 Student Council, House Captains and School Captains. Our first year 10 class sees us introduce School Captains to our Student Council. High School students and teachers were given consultative votes in the selection of the School Captains. All parents and friends are welcome to attend the assembly.

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.lipschool.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.

Reminders

• The chewing of beetle nut and smoking is prohibited on school grounds
• Parents are asked to refrain from bringing dogs into the school grounds

After School and Weekend Sport/Activities

At LIS, students can be involved in a variety of afternoon and weekend sports and other activities. After school sports/activities are run by teaching staff and/or parent volunteers. If you would like to volunteer to run a sport/activity this year, please let me know. If you would like to run a sport/activity, it is your decision as to 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.

Activities currently underway this term

Wednesday: Homework Club for years 3/4 and 5/6 students, from 3pm-4pm.

Thursday: High School Study Hub - School to Mine Campus for years 7-10 from 3pm to 4pm.

Saturday: High School Study Hub - for years 7-10 students who need access to computers to complete assessment tasks;  will be held this Saturday in the year 5/6 classroom from 9am to 11am. 

Saturday: Soccer with Mr McKeiver for primary students from 8am. Students are reminded to wear closed in shoes and to have a hat and water bottle. Please be on time.

School Council

The annual General Meeting of the School Council was held last week. The School Council has extended the time for nominations for 1 parent rep position. If you would like to nominate someone for this position, please fill in the form in the office

Regards,

Mr. Greg Neville         

For those parents who have students at Lihir International school, we are organising an after school art/ craft class for the kids. 

I am asking if any parents would like to volunteer to help with the art/ craft class.

We will organise pairs of parents to run the after-school group and we will rotate it weekly. 

Interested parents can contact Claire Litson on clairemutton36@hotmail.com.

In line with company policy, increased hygiene and social distancing practices will continue to be implemented in the school during Term 1 2021. 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. All students  are to wear a face mask and will be greeted at the gate by a teacher and temperature tested. They 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 need to wear a face mask and 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.

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 1 due to renovation. 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 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. Masks and social distancing measures will be  employed.

Wednesday 3 February to Thursday 1 April

Monday 19 April to Thursday 17 June

Monday 12 July to Wednesday 15 September

Tuesday 5 October to Thursday 2 December

P & W Sausage Sizzles

Thanks to the P & W for our Friday sausage sizzle. The next sausage sizzle will be in Week 6.

Soundwaves workshop

Thanks also to the parents and carers who attended our 'Soundwaves' spelling workshop. If you have any further questions about spelling and supporting your child, please do not hesitate to see your child's teacher.

Maths 'Problem-solving' workshop

Next Thursday, the 4th March, I will hold a parent information workshop explaining how we use the SEE PLAN DO CHECK strategy when solving Maths problems. This is for parents of Year 2 and up. Please come along if you want to know more about how you can assist your child with problem-solving in Maths. From 3.15 - 3.45 in the Yr 5/6 classroom.

Children can be supervised in the undercover area whilst parents attend if needed. 

Kind regards,

Ms Langusch             

School to Mine Campus continues to remain very busy. Last Friday our Work Ready Program Trainees undertook a Mine and Process Plant Tour. This provided an excellent opportunity for our trainees to explore a range of potential opportunities for their future, while also consolidating the relevance and importance of what has been learnt throughout the program. A big thank you to James Bu for coordinating the planning of this tour. Thank you also to Chris Allickson, Joshua Bubnich and their teams for showing us around and presenting to the trainees.

We are continuing to shortlist students for our Year 9 FODE Program for 2021, pre-enrolment testing for this program will occur this Saturday for the shortlisted students. The following Saturday, last year's Year 9 FODE students will undertake their Year 9 Exams. 

STMC is also continuing to work closely with local education authorities to finalise Lihirian teachers' enrolment in the DWU Bachelor of Primary Education. 

Regards, 

Mr. Kevin Collins