Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Lihir Medical Centre – Dentist Visit

On Tuesday this week we welcomed Dr Samuel Wrondimi and Steven Mek from Lihir Medical Centre to share some sessions with our students about oral hygiene and the importance of brushing and caring for our teeth. The students and teachers found these sessions most informative and had a lot of fun. Thank you to Dr Terry Francis and Elsa Morgan from Mills Dental Care for organising these sessions for us, we look forward to continuing this initiative in future years.

School Council

Our first School Council meeting for 2025 was held on Thursday 20 March. At this meeting we said good bye to our School Council Chairperson, Fiona Karaut and welcomed Aplena Waho as the new School Council Chairperson. We also welcomed new council members Mathew Laien and Kaipale Pano as Newmont representatives and Encie Niba as a parent representative.

On behalf of Lihir International School and the LIS School Council, I’d like to express my sincere thank you to Fiona Karaut who has resigned as the LIS School Council Chairperson after more than 10 years of service to our School Council and as LIS School Council Chairperson since 2019.

Below is the current School Council Membership that was confirmed during the meeting:

                        SCHOOL COUNCIL 2025                               

·         Aplena Waho                                                Company rep Chairperson

·         Kolish Robin                                                  Company rep

·         Karen Nanau                                                 Company rep

·         Mathew Laien                                               Company rep

·         Kaipale Pano                                                 Company rep

·         Emma Grubb                                                Parent rep 24-25

·         Richard Toisiat                                              Parent rep 24-25

·         Encie Niba                                                      Parent rep 25-26

·         Rebecca Daimol                                            P&W rep 25                          

·         Catherine Langusch                                     Deputy

·         David Wengip                                                Deputy                        

·         Kevin Collins                                                  Principal

Parent / Teacher Interviews

Parent / Teacher interviews for all classes from Prep to Year 10 will be held between 3pm and 6pm on Tuesday 1st April and Wednesday 2nd April. Parents can make bookings from Monday by either emailing, phoning or texting Mrs Exzil or coming into the school office. Mrs Collins will advise Kindy parents of interview times.

Grade 9 Camp

Next week our Grade 9 students will be attending the annual Grade 9 Camp to Port Moresby. This Camp is a time to build friendships and leadership skills, especially with our new Lihirian Scholarship students and other students new to the cohort. The camp will include visits to Parliament House Tour, National Museum and Art Gallery Visit, Port Moresby Nature Park and a visit to Tutu Beach Retreat (Dame Carol Kidu’s Residence). Mrs Baiwan, Ms Langusch and myself will supervise the year 9 Camp, leaving on Monday and returning Friday. Please see Ms Yip if you have any queries next week.

End of Term

Term 1 will finish on Thursday 3 April at 12:00pm. For parents who live out of townsite, please ensure students are picked up by 12:15pm. Students resume for term 2 on Tuesday 22nd April.

Regards,

Mr Kevin Collins

Principal

SCHOOL HOURS Prep - 6

Official school times are:

8.10 Bell rings

8.10 – 8.15 Home room (Assembly on Friday)

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 Friday)

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 Third Session

2.55 – 3.00 Home room

3.00 End of school day

2025

Term 1 Monday 27 January to Thursday 3 April

Term 2 Tuesday 22 April to Thursday 19 June

Term 3 Monday 14 July to Thursday 18 September

Term 4 Monday 6 October to Thursday 4 December

• Week 9: Year 9 camp
• Week 10: Parent / Teacher Interviews
• Week 10: Easter Hat Parade at Thursday's assembly, Tabloid Sports and ice-creams

After school and Saturday sport

After school activities have finished for this term. Thank you to the teachers who have taken the different activities this term. Parents are welcome to run an after-school activity. Please see Mr Collins if you are interested.

Kind regards,

Ms Judith Meauri (Sports Coordinator) 

It has been another great term of swimming! 

To advise, there will be no holiday swim lessons over the upcoming holiday break. After-school swimming will finish the end of next week and will recommence week 2 of next term.

Kind regards,

Ms Judith Meauri  (Sports Coordinator)

There will be no library borrowing this week in the primary school, except for the year 5/6 class. All other primary students are asked to return their books this week.

High school students are also encouraged to borrow books to read over the holiday break.

Student folios

Student folios will be sent home Monday, week 10. These folios showcase a range of assessment tasks that your child/children have completed this term. Please find time to look through your child's folio with your child, and identify some areas that your child is proud of and some where they could improve. We ask parents to bring their child's folio with them to their interview or have their child return them to school. 

Primary reading

At LIS, we expect every student to be reading every day and again we thank parents for supporting your children with your home reading. If you have any questions about reading, please do not hesitate to see your child's teacher. We are also seeking parent helpers to assist with listening to children read one on one first up in the morning from Monday to Thursdays. Parents can commit to reading for as many mornings as they wish. Please see your child's teacher if you are interested in helping. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Friday Assemblies

Parents and wantoks are invited to attend our Friday assemblies held in the basketball court every Friday, commencing at 8.10am. Each week a primary class or the Student Council will share a short presentation. This week it was the year 5/6 Tok Pisin assembly and next week, it will be the Student Council assembly.

Kind regards,

Ms Langusch.

Work Ready Program

The Batch 1 WRP Trainees are in their second last week of their program. The Training Module for this week focused on the skills in writing Curriculum Vitaes (CVs), job application letters and formal job interview skills. These are considered lifelong skills that the Trainees will be able to use to apply for jobs. The other Modules in the program complement this week’s Module and together, the whole program enables and equips the Trainees with the necessary skills, knowledge and attitude required to find a job.

The WRP Trainees also participated in the Trupla Meri, Trupla Man, (TMTM) training on Thursday. The sessions were conducted by Ms Aplena Waho – Manager – Respect@Work. It was an eye opener for many of them as they have not had an opportunity to attend such trainings that involved challenging and confronting topics. They may utilise the knowledge acquired in their villages and workplace.

The current Batch of WRP trainees will officially complete their program next Friday.

FODE

Our FODE program is also running concurrently and students are continuing at their own pace with assistance of the STM staff.

Kind regards,

Mr. David Wengip