Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Library and Textbooks

There have been some incidents of careless and unnecessary damage to school library and textbooks when they have been taken home. It is very costly to source and supply students with these resources on Lihir. We ask parents and carers to keep an eye on these school resources when used at home. Parents and carers will be charged replacement costs for damaged or lost books.

Absenteeism and Lateness

If your child is going to be absent from school or is sick, please give the school a call or send an explanatory note with your child upon return to school. If your child is away for more than two days, parents are required to contact the school.

Children who arrive to school in the morning after assembly begins are considered late. If your child is going to be late, please inform the school in advance, or send an explanatory note with your child. Parents will be contacted for unexplained absences.

Screen Time / Social Media

It has come to the school's attention that some students are members of various social media groups. While recognising the positive influence such groups can have, parents and carers are reminded to monitor closely children's use of social media. Reports of inappropriate posts and language in such groups can reflect negatively on the individuals involved.

Reminders

• The chewing of Beetle Nut is prohibited on school grounds
• Parents are asked to refrain from bringing dogs into the school grounds
• Parents are free to deliver lunch to their children, however sitting with your child and/or feeding them during lunch is not encouraged.

School Council

The annual General Meeting of the School Council will be held on Thursday, the 7th March 2024. At this meeting, voting for vacant positions for a Parent Representative will occur, in the Yr 9/10 room from 6.00pm– 6.20pm. 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 

School Hours K - 6 (LIS)                                                               

Official school times are:

8.10                 Bell rings

8.10 – 8.15      Home room (Assembly on Monday and Friday mornings)

8.15 – 10.35    First session

10.35 – 11.05 Recess (15 minutes eating followed by 15 minutes play)

11.05 – 12.35 Second session

12.35 – 1.20    Lunch (15 minutes eating followed by 30 minutes play)

1:20 – 3.00      Third Session 

3.00                 End of school day  

School Hours 7 - 10                                                                                  

Official school times are:

8.10                 Bell rings

8.10 – 8.15      Home room (Assembly on Monday and Friday mornings)

8.15 – 10.05    Two periods

10.05 – 10.35 Recess (10 minutes eating followed by 20 minutes play)

10.35 – 1.20    Three periods

1.20 – 2.00      Lunch (10 minutes eating followed by 30 minutes play)

2.00 – 2.55      One period

2.55 – 3.00      Home room

3.00                 End of school day

Term 1 Monday 29 January to Thursday 28 March

Term 2 Monday 15 April to Thursday 20 June

Term 3 Monday 15 July to Thursday 12 September

Term 4 Monday 30 September to Thursday 5 December

A reminder that the LIS and STM libraries are open for borrowing and we encourage all students to regularly borrow. Primary students do need to have a library bag. This will be provided to new students. Students can also return and borrow books at lunchtime.

Library days are as follows:

Tuesday - Kindy and year 3/4

Wednesday - year 5/6; year 7

Thursday - year 1/2; year 8

Friday - Prep

Year 9/10 students do not have a set borrowing time; however, are encouraged to borrow at lunchtime.

Kind regards,

Ms Grace Savitas (Librarian).

Swimming lessons are well underway. It is great to see so many students participating in the class and after-school lessons. 

A reminder that while swimming lessons are on, the deep end of the pool and the baby pool are closed. Students are to sit and wait quietly for their lesson to begin. They are not permitted to be running around and playing games. This is for the safety of all students. I also ask that students be at the pool at least five minutes prior to the start of their lesson. Thank you for your cooperation with this.

Saturday morning games commence this Saturday and will be on the 2nd and 9th March from 8.30 - 9.30am.

If you have any questions about sport or swimming, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards,

Ms Judith Meauri (Sport Coordinator)

Week 6: School Council AGM (Thursday 7th March - 6.00pm)

Week 7: NAPLAN testing for year 3, 5 and 7 students

Week 9: Parent / Teacher Interviews

Afternoon activities:

Monday Sport: 3.10 - 4.00pm for Prep - year 2 games and year 3 - 6 Netball and Touch.

Saturday: Morning games for Prep - year 2, year 3 - 6 Netball and Touch on the 2nd and 9th March, from 8.30 - 9.30am.

Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday/Friday: Swimming lessons at the pool with Ms Meauri (times as per lesson schedule)

Wednesday: Homework Class: year 4 with Ms Tukata and year 5/6 with Ms Langusch from 3.15-4.00pm; High School Supervised Study from 3.10-4.00pm

Year 8 and 10 Exam Preparations

Preparations for our Year 8 and 10 exams are underway and parents have been emailed the information about afterschool remedial lessons and Saturday classes. Please email Ms Yip if you have any questions about these lessons. A reminder for children to be on time for Saturday classes. 

NAPLAN testing

Students in year 3, 5 and 7 will sit the Australian Literacy and Numeracy tests (Naplan) in Week 7 of this term from Wednesday – Friday with any catch-up tests the following week. Students will not be sitting on-line tests as per Australian schools but will complete paper tests. Teachers have been working with students to prepare them for testing. No additional preparation is required by parents. We want to remind parents that these tests are not a need for concern for you or your child but are another measure to gather information about individual and class learning progress.

Naplan assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through their regular school curriculum. Students sit assessments in writing, reading, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy. The questions assess content linked to the Australian Curriculum: English and Mathematics.

Why do students do Naplan?

NAPLAN assesses the literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through the school curriculum and allows parents/carers to see how their child is progressing against national standards and over time. NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process. It doesn’t replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance, but it can provide teachers with additional information about students’ educational progress.

How is Naplan reported?

Reporting for Naplan will changed in 2023 from previous years. Individual student performance reports will have four levels of achievement:

·         Exceeding

·         Strong

·         Developing 

·         Needs Additional Support

Reports will also continue to show the national average, the range of achievement for the middle 60% of students in each year level, and a dot placement for the student comparing their achievement against these measures. Student reports are expected to arrive in term 2 and will be distributed on arrival to school.

How are Naplan results used?

Students and parents/carers may use individual results to discuss progress with teachers. Teachers use results to help identify students who need greater challenges or extra support. Schools use results to identify strengths and areas of need to improve teaching programs, and to set goals in literacy and numeracy.

For further information please visit https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/for-parents-carers or download the parent brochure on the link below. Please do not hesitate to see your child’s teacher or myself if you have any questions.

Assemblies

Whole school assemblies are held each Friday morning at 8.10am in the basketball court and parents are most welcome to attend. Next week, it will be the Prep assembly. The year 3/4 assembly will be later in the term, at a time to be advised.

Naplan Tests

Kind regards,

Ms Cathy Langusch             

This week we reach the half point of our Work Ready Program and the trainees are continuing to make good progress.

Our continuing Year 9 / 10 FODE students are settling in well with good attendance at our structured lessons.

STMC staff are continuing to work with the Local Provincial Education Office to finalise teachers for our next Trupla Tisa Workshops which will happen early March and also our next intake for the Certificate of Inclusive Education.

We are also working with DWU to finalise arrangements for our next semester of the DWU Bachelor of Primary Education, and Master of Education Leadership which will take place over the Easter break.  

Regards, 

Mr Kevin Collins