Dear Parents and Caregivers,

On Monday there was a public holiday to commemorate Remembrance Day. On this day, we remember and pay tribute to those Papua New Guineans who have fought and died in various wars over the years to allow us the freedoms we enjoy today.

Then on Thursday, 27th of July, a public holiday in New Ireland Province to celebrate New Ireland Day.

Screen Time

Many parents are concerned about the amount of screen time their children have on various devices. Recent studies have outlined several detrimental effects that too much screen time can have on children and adolescents. The Australian Institute for Family Studies screen time guidelines, recommend:

• no screen time for children younger than two years
• no more than one hour per day for children aged 2-5 years.
• no more than two hours of sedentary recreational screen time per day for children and young people aged5-17 years (not including schoolwork). 

The link below in the Toksave have more information on the guidelines and the effects of too much screen time.

Term 3 Calendar

Please find the Term 3 Parent Calendar attached below. 

If you have any concerns or would like further information on any of the topics in this newsletter, please do not hesitate to make contact with any questions.  

Regards,

Mr Greg Neville

Canteen commenced this week. A copy of the canteen menu was given with a copy of the school toksave with the eldest child of the family last Frday.

Canteen bags are due every Wednesday of each week.

Please ensure your child/children bring their bags along with their order and amount of money.

Dear Parents and Wantoks,

TICKET SALES

A friendly reminder to everybody that has reserved a ticket but yet to pay.

We have a long list of people waiting to purchase ball tickets but there are none available at the moment.

Therefore, if you have reserved a ticket, the deadline for all payments is July 26th, 2023. Please contact the ball committee member you have reserved your ticket with and pay for it.

After that, tickets will be reassigned to people on the waiting list, on a first come first serve basis.

We thank you all for your support to the 2023 Ball Committee, and we look forward to seeing you all on September 9th.

RAFFLE TICKETS

In campaign of our school’s major annual fundraiser event, the LIS Golden Orchid Ball, we are selling raffle tickets!

One student from each family will be bringing home a plastic pouch with ten raffle tickets at K5 each.

We are kindly asking families to consider supporting by selling some or all these tickets to family, friends, work colleagues and neighbours or, purchasing some for yourself to be in the draw to win some fabulous prizes which have been generously donated by members of our community, local businesses, and supporters.

Proceeds will go to support our school and a local government school.

Please return sold or unsold raffle tickets to the administration office by Thursday, 3rd of August.

Ensure sold tickets have a name/contact details completed for convenience.

We appreciate your continuous support and look forward to a favourable outcome from you.

DONATIONS

We are still accepting donations for the raffles and auction.

Thank You

Ruth Waram
Ball Committee Chairperson

Term 1 Monday 30 January to Thursday 30 March

Term 2 Monday 17 April to Thursday 22 June

Term 3 Monday 17 July to Thursday 14 September

Term 4 Monday 2 October to Thursday 7 December 

Key dates:

Week 3 Swimming Block - Monday to Thursday swimming lessons each day.

Week 4 Book Week. There will be a parade for Kindy - year 4 classes during this week (day and time to be announced).

Week 4 Wednesday - Year 10 Science Practical Exam

Week 4 Monday Afternoon sport commences - Tee-ball for Prep-year 2 with Ms Dovaston; Tee-ball for year 3-6 with Ms Langusch; and High School Volleyball with Mrs Baiwan and Ms Yip.

Week 6 Thursday - High School Open Afternoon (4.00-6.00pm)

Week 8 Thursday - Swimming Carnival

Afternoon activities:

Homework Club: Wednesday afternoon 3.10-4.00pm

Student Folios

Please return your child's folio from term 2 if you have not yet done so.

NAPLAN Reports

Year 3, 5 and 7 students participated in the Australian NAPLAN tests for Literacy and Numeracy in term 1. We are awaiting the arrival of student reports for these tests and will send them home once received.

Book Week

In week 4 of this term, we will celebrate Book Week and students from Kindy to year 4 will have the opportunity to participate in a Book Week Parade. Students can dress up as a favourite book character. More details next week.

Netball

We wish our Netballers well as they travel to OLSH Kavieng and know they will do their very best! We thank the staff of OLSH for their effort with organising the carnival.

Absences

A reminder that if your child is absent, please email your child's teacher or text/phone Mrs Romaso-Daimol in the office. 

Kind regards,

Ms Cathy Langusch             

National exam remedial lessons at STMC will continue for Grade 8 and 10 students every Saturday this term as per last term’s timetable. These lessons are of great importance as the students prepare for their exams at the start of term 4.

Next Monday we will welcome a new intake of Work Ready Program trainees. We look forward to working with these young Lihirians over the coming weeks as they undertake training to develop skills to seek and retain employment.

Our FODE students continue to work hard as they prepare for the end of year exams.

We are continuing preparation for our DWU Lecturers to come to site to deliver the Bachelor of Primary Education Upgrade during the September school holidays. During this time, we will also commence the first semester delivery of the Master of Educational Leadership for a number of teachers from LSS and STM / LIS.

Regards, 

Mr Kevin Collins