Dear parents and carers,

Covid Restrictions

Due to current restrictions on gatherings, Friday assemblies will be cancelled until further notice. 

The year 7/8 camp has been postponed until later in the term, pending improvement in the current Covid situation.

Year 8

This week our Year 8 students completed their National exams. They have been working hard in readiness for these exams and we know that they have done their very best. We thank Mrs Laien as well as LIS and STM teachers for all their effort in preparing the students.

2022 Classes

I am currently in the final stages of organising classes for the 2022 school year. If you know your child / children will not be attending Lihir International School in 2022, and you have not yet informed me, please let me know as soon as possible, so that year level numbers and class organisation can be finalised. 2022 classes will be announced in week 9.

Awards Night

Due to the current rise in Covid cases, the Awards night planned for Wednesday the 1st of December is cancelled. Awards will be presented to recipients in their individual classes on this day.

School for Term 4 will finish on Thursday the 2nd December.

School Council

On Thursday the 25th November, there will be a School Council Meeting held at the School to Mine Campus at 6.00pm. 

Regards,

Greg Neville

After over twenty years teaching at Lihir International School, Mrs Moning has recently announced her intention to retire, with her last day being Friday of this week. We had planned to farewell Mrs Moning at today's assembly, but unfortunately, due to Covid restrictions, this was not possible.

We wish Mrs Morning all the best in her future endeavours and thank her for being part of the LIS community for so long.

We hope she enjoys the freedom and relaxation that retirement brings and is able to spend more time with family and her community.

This week, our Year 10 students commenced their Work Experience site placement and will continue until Friday 5 November.  Mr Neville and Mr Collins visited some of our students this week and all have started very positively. This program aims to open the eyes of the students to the reality of life in the workplace.  It especially prepares them to start thinking seriously about their studies at Years 11 and 12 and about their preparation for life after school. LIS thanks the following organisations for their support in welcoming our Year 10 students to get a taste of working life for 2 weeks:

City Pharmacy Lihir, NML Community Development, Anitua Services, External Relations & Communications NML, Lihir International School and Lihir Sports and Social Club. 

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 in term 4.

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 social distance and  wait in the carpark undercover area until 7.45am. Students should be at school by 8.05am, ready to start the day at 8.10am.

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 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. 

4. Several wash stations are installed around the school 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.

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 open on Fridays in term 3. The P&W will send more info out regarding this in due course. 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.

9. Term 4 will see assemblies in the basketball court  throughout the term. Parents will be welcome to attend, adhering to social distancing protocols.

Year 8 Exams

Well done to our year 8 students for their effort with their National exams this week and to all LIS/STM staff who have contributed to their exam preparation. We know you have done your best year 8s. Thank you to Ms Tukata for the extra effort and responsibility of being an external invigilator, supervising the year 8 exams at Sekunkun Primary School.

Date claimer - Student Led Conferences and High School Open Night

Student led conferences will be held for the primary school on Wednesday afternoon of Week 6 from 3.15pm - 6.00pm. The High School students will showcase some of their Technology work at the STMC on the same afternoon at the same time.  Please keep Wednesday afternoon free so you are able to come and see what your child has been learning.

Due to Covid restrictions, teachers will send a booking form to parents to nominate the timeslot they wish to attend. This form will be emailed to parents by class teachers, and a printed copy will be sent home next week. As per the form's instructions, please nominate your preferred times and your class teacher will confirm.

Siblings will be supervised in the undercover area.

Work Experience Student

This past week, year 10 student Phoebe Laimo has been experiencing what it is like to be a teacher in her Work Experience placement at LIS. Phoebe has been helping out in Kindy and the Prep/1 classroom. The students are enjoying having Phoebe in their classroom. Phoebe will complete her second week of Work Experience next week. 

Kind regards,

Ms Langusch

Term 4 - Tuesday 5 October to Thursday 2 December

Term 1: 31st  January – 30th March 

Term 2: 19th April – 16th June 

Term 3: 11th July – 15th September 

Term 4: 3rd October – 1st December 

STMC would like to congratulate the Year 8 students on their completion of the National Exams and trust the hard work put into preparation has paid off.

Our FODE students continue to complete their final assessments as the year comes to an end. This weekend Mr Takaundo will do a full day completing their Computing Practical assessments.

This week, we commenced Week 4 of our Work Ready Program with 14 young Lihirian people continuing to develop work readiness for a future of work with either Newcrest or other stakeholders in the mine. On Monday, we welcomed a medical practitioner from ISOS to come and speak to our trainees of the importance of COVID19 Vaccination. On Wednesday, we welcomed Alphonse Ama, Senior Advisor for Environmental Monitoring as a guest speaker for our WRP. Alphonse told his story and also spoke of the challenges of balancing workplace expectations with cultural expectations. Again this week, I’ve included a Trainee Profile of 2 of our Trainees.

On Thursday, I was pleased to take the first of our WRP Trainees to Lihir Medical Centre to receive the first of his COVID 19 Vaccinations. Marshal Sikewing was very adamant he was not going to be convinced by the stories he had read on social media and saw receiving the vaccination as an essential thing to do both for his health and his future career.  He is hoping him taking his first vaccination will encourage others in his cohort to do likewise.

The Kisim Save Library remains open to all Townsite Residents and Newcrest Employees every Saturday by appointment. Please email kevin.collins@newcrest.com.au .

Regards,

Mr. Kevin Collins