Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Students, teachers and parents are commended for their adherence to our Covid Safe practices this week as we resumed full school days. It has been great to witness our students' eagerness to learn. 

Parents are reminded that they are not to bring food into the school during the school day. Students are to bring a packed lunch with them in the morning. All our Term 3 Covid Safe practices will remain in place - please see below for a detailed explanation. 

I will be out of the school for a couple days next week for meetings - Ms Langusch will be acting principal LIS / STMC during this time.

Parents and carers are encouraged to take note of the following reminders:

• Please do not send your child to school if they are sick or display any signs of cold and flu.

Drop off and pick up:

• Townsite / Marahun children are not to arrive at the school before 7.50am.
  
• Children being dropped off from a vehicle are required to remain in the vehicle in the school carpark until the school gate is open for temperature checks.
• Students are to be collected at 3.00pm sharp and Kindy students at 12.15pm sharp.

School phone numbers

You may contact the school either on the landline - 9864233 or the mobile number - 70154448.

Do not hesitate to make contact If you have any further queries or questions.

Regards,

Mr Neville

Parents will be advised when afternoon activities recommence. We thank you for your understanding.

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.

1.  A comprehensive deep clean of the school will be undertaken by Nayal LTD, prior to school resumption on May 3rd.

2. Entrance to school for students and parents / carers will be via the Aginas Oval gate only, which will open at 7.50am. Students who arrive before this (which is discouraged) are to social distance and  wait in the carpark undercover area until 7.50am. Students should be at school by 8.10am, ready to start the day at 8.15am.

3. All students will be greeted at the gate by a teacher, where they will be temperature checked. They will then wash their hands at the wash station and then proceed to their classroom.  Parents and carers will not be permitted to escort their children to classrooms, If parents need to go to the office, they will be permitted to proceed to the wash station and are then to make their way straight to the school office. Students will not be permitted to return home during the day to collect their morning snack or forgotten items such as books, etc. 

4. Several wash stations are installed around the school (see pics below) and hand sanitiser is available in all classrooms. Students will be required to wash their hands in the mornings before school, before and after recess/lunch and before leaving school in the afternoons. Educational videos and ISOS personnel will be utilised to support education in hand washing and general hygiene.

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 recess breaks between the primary and high school to reduce the number of children using toilets etc.

7. Students will be issued with a reusable washable mask. Students will be need to wear these masks for travel to and from school and during all activities at school.

8. The school canteen will be closed for the duration on term 2. Students will need to bring a packed recess snack and lunch each day - there is to be no dropping off of food 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.

9. In term 2 there will be no after-school activities, sports carnivals or team sports and we ask that students are collected promptly at 3.00pm (12.15pm Kindy).

10. Term 2 will not have traditional assemblies at school. Virtual assemblies will continue throughout the term, with the assembly link to be published in the weekly Toksave for parents to view.

11. Reduced movement of high school students will be implemented.

Monday 19 April to Thursday 17 June

Monday 12 July to Wednesday 15 September

Tuesday 5 October to Thursday 2 December

Curriculum News

National Exam Preparation

Our Year 10s are currently preparing for their Written Expression exam that will take place in Week 7, on Thursday June 3rd. Ms Yip has been preparing our Year 10s and next week, they will sit another Mock Written Expression exam in preparation. It is essential that all Year 10 students attend school next Monday to sit their Mock 2020 WEX paper. This will be run as per the expectations for the real exam the following week. Students have been working hard with their writing and we thank Ms Yip for her work with preparing them

At the end of last term, students in Years 8 and 10 sat their first mock exams and results were collated and discussed. Some students will be receiving extra support from our STM campus and LIS teachers to help them revise concepts where needed. Students will sit another mock exam at the end of this term. We are committed to ensuring our students are prepared for their National Exams.

Diverse Learners - Primary

Lihir International School is committed to helping all students achieve their best possible learning outcomes. Each term, we have a Diverse Learners meeting where teachers discuss the learning needs of students in their class and we allocate extra resources to support them. These resources include our Learning Support Teacher, Mr Neale, and our assistant teachers.

We have had our meeting this week where we identified students who will be working with Mr Neale for extra support. These students are from the Yr 1/2 and Yr 3/4 classes. Ms Savitas and Mrs Neale will contact parents of the students involved to discuss the planned support program and how parents can help support their child's learning at home to reinforce what is happening at school. Other students have been identified for extra reading support with their class assistant teacher or with the class teacher.

Please contact your child's teacher if you have any questions.

Kind regards,

Ms Langusch

This week the School to Mine Campus will start to showcase some of our students; we hope to include this as part of the Toksave moving forward. 

Our Work Ready Program commenced its third week and the students continue to progress, growing in confidence. We look forward to seeing them continue to progress over the coming weeks.

Our FODE students continue to work hard, with our students from last year completing their final exams.

STMC have confirmed plans for lecturers from Divine Word University to come to our campus to deliver the Primary Education Bachelor Upgrade Program for local Lihirian Teachers. We look forward to welcoming Dr Lynus Yamuna and Mr Kelaki Peter for the delivery of the first semester of this 2 year program.

The Kisim Save Library will continue to open every Wednesday evening from 6:00 – 7:00pm. It is open to all Townsite Residents and Newcrest Employees. It is also accessible on Saturdays by appointment. Please email kevin.collins@newcrest.com.au .

Regards,

Mr. Kevin Collins