Dear Parents and Caregivers,

 Welcome back!

It was great to see many of our Lihir International School students return to school today for the beginning of the 2021 school year. I would like to extend a special welcome to the new families whose children join us in 2021, while at the same time welcoming our new teachers, Ms Grace Savitas and Ms Yip. A special welcome to our first year 10 class, and our second group of year 9 scholarship students. The scholarship students are the top performing Lihirian students from Lihir schools in the Year 8 National Exams. I know that all of us will make our new students and staff feel part of the LIS family.

I was pleased to see all students arrive on time today – please remember school begins at 8:10am and children are able to start arriving at school from 7:45am onwards. However, children from Prep to Year 2 are required to sit quietly in the covered area with their bags until 8am at which time teachers will escort them to their classroom. This is to ensure that children are supervised properly in one area, and not disrupt the teacher’s morning preparation time.

Children in Years 3 – 10 can go to their classroom from 7.45am, at the discretion of the teacher, where they will be supervised while quietly reading or studying. Alternatively, they will wait in the undercover area until 8am. Children are not allowed to play in the school grounds or classrooms in the morning before school. Please do not send your child to school before 7:45am as teachers will be busy preparing for the school day and supervision of children will not be available.

Kindy children are to arrive after 8am, with Kindy starting at 8.15am. Parents and caregivers are to arrive at 12.10pm to collect Kindy children at 12.15pm.

Parents are reminded that children are not allowed to play in classrooms or in the school grounds after school, unless it is organised afternoon sport. Children are to sit quietly and wait for their parents or vehicle in the designated areas.

It was fantastic to see all students arrive in school uniform and please remember that a clean uniform, in good condition, is expected to be worn every day. Please ensure your child has a navy school hat to wear for protection from the sun during playtime and other outdoor activities. The school’s No Hat No Play policy will continue this year and please make sure hats are clearly named.  If you require any item of school uniform, please see Rachael in the front office.

Teachers will send home Term Overviews on Friday to give you an idea of the learning your child will be involved in this term. Acquaintance Night will be held on Wednesday the 10th February, from 6pm, to give all parents the chance to attend brief information sessions with their child’s teacher. Acquaintance Night will give teachers the opportunity to discuss a general overview of class systems, learning and behaviour expectations. Ms Langusch has explained further details about Acquaintance Night in her segment.

Term one will be a busy time of learning at our school and the term one calendar can be downloaded below. This calendar, along with the weekly Toksave can also be accessed through the school website at www.lipschool.com.au

Other important dates will be brought to your attention as they arise.

The Parents and Wantoks first meeting for the election of the new executive will be on Tuesday the 16th February at 6pm. 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.

Please take note of the Student Health Update form that can be downloaded below. If you have any medical information, such as allergies or medication needs, that we are unaware of and you need to share with the school please fill in this form and return to Rachael by Friday 8th of February. If you have already updated the school regarding your child’s medical needs, or if you have nothing to add to information supplied during the enrolment process, you do not need to return the Student Health Update form.

We would like all parents to ensure that they have current and up to date contact details for the school. Please see Rachael in the office if you need to update your details - especially email addresses.  If parents hear of others parents not receiving school communication, please direct them to contact the principal.

School Entrance

Parents and community members are reminded that the only entrance to school is from the Anginas Oval carpark. Masks are to be worn on entering the school, along with the washing of hands at the wash station. Townsite residents who walk to school are also to only use this entrance. 

2021 Staff

Principal K-10 LIS / STM Gregory Neville (includes Coordinator Wellbeing/Discipline 7-10)

Deputy Principal K-10 Catherine Langusch (includes Curriculum Coordinator K-10, Coordinator Wellbeing/Discipline K-6)

Deputy Principal STM  Kevin Collins

Coordinator Physical Education Simon McKeiver

Coordinator Learning Support / Library Morgan Neale   

Administrative Officer Rachael Andar

Kindy Diana Saua, Clementa Exzil and Georgina Kinkinteng

Prep/Year 1 Liz Daimol and Ruth Moning

Year 1/2 Grace Savitas and Anastasia Tukata

Year 3/4 Sonia Neale

Year 5/6 Catherine Langusch

Year 7/8 Elizabeth Laien - Class Patron

Year 9/10 Patricia Yip - Class Patron

LIS School / STMC assistants

Jenny Pesas and Lorna Romaso-Daimol

High School subject teachers

Elizabeth Laien, Morgan Neale, Kevin Collins, Simon McKeiver, Patricia Yip, STMC teachers.

School to Mine Campus teachers

Kevin Collins, Joseph Takaundo, Aisa Victor, Jeffrey Tore, Edwina Jason

School Council

The annual General Meeting of the School Council will be held on Thursday, the 18th of February 2021. At this meeting, voting for one vacant position for Parent Representatives will occur, in the Meeting 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 11th February 2021. If you would like to know more about the functions of the School Council, please make an appointment to see the principal.

Regards,

Mr. Greg Neville         

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

It was fantastic to see the excitement on children's faces at the start of the day as we began our new year of learning! It was also pleasing to see our 'old' students welcoming the new students to LIS. Great to see our V I P (Value, Include, Participate) ethos in action!

This year, we look forward to working with parents and students to consolidate the excellent teaching and learning practices in place at Lihir International School. In English Literacy, we will be continuing our focus on reading/comprehension and daily writing activities and in Mathematics, we will consolidate our SEE, PLAN, DO, CHECK problem-solving strategies from Year 2 onwards.

In Weeks 4 and 5 of this term, I will again present parent workshops on Soundwaves (Spelling) and Maths Problem-solving, which would be beneficial to new parents to our school or to any parents who may have missed last year's workshops.

I am looking forward to seeing parents at Acquaintance Night next week. At Acquaintance Night, parents (and any students) are to gather on the basketball court by 6.00pm for a short welcome by Mr Neville. Students may attend but do not need to as there is no social activity this year after the information sessions.

At 6.10 pm, Parent Session 1 will begin with the High school having a joint session on the basketball court and the primary class sessions to be in the relevant classrooms. This session will finish by 6.30pm and will be followed by a second session, starting at 6.35pm. During these sessions, any students will be supervised in the undercover area. There are two sessions to enable parents who have more than one child at the school to attend more than one session.

Unfortunately, we will not be having a sausage sizzle this year due to COVID restrictions. After information sessions are complete, parents are asked to leave the school grounds. Thank you for your understanding at this time.

Ms Langusch             

It was good to see our LIS students back at school this week, and to see that all of the students seemed very keen for the year ahead. I look forward to reengaging and meeting all students over the next few weeks. 

Next Monday, 8 February, the School to Mine Campus will be welcoming our next intake of Work Ready Program Students.  These 10 students will undertake an 8 week program where they develop a many skills essential for future employment. We look forward to working with these students and watching them develop throughout the term.

We are currently also shortlisting students for our Year 9 FODE Program for 2021 and awaiting results from our previous Year 9 FODE Cohort before enrolling them into the Year 10 FODE Program.

STMC is also working closely with Provincial Education to finalise Lihirian Teachers' enrolment in the DWU Bachelor of Primary Education. 

Regards, 

Mr. Kevin Collins

We are so excited & happy to see the brand new playground completed at the school.

We are so thankful for Brian Voss & his team for working extremely hard and get this done as promised ?.   LIS P&W for sponsoring and investing in this project for the school.  Mr Neville for your encouragement & on going support.  Stanley Daimol for your help with survey plans & drawing. BIG thanks to John Boreham my man for helping me with all the approvals, engineering, many late nights planning & weekend calls with suppliers.  It’s a significant investment from P&W and there was extensive consultation with many suppliers and engineers during the design phase, so we’re SO delighted to see it being build & can’t wait to see it in use when the school opens. 

Stage one completed ☝️- lots more things to be done yet. 

Thank you so much everyone 

Rose Boreham