Dear Parents and Caregivers,
Welcome back!
It was great to see many of our Lihir International School students return to school this week for the beginning of the 2025 school year. I would like to extend a special welcome to the new families whose children join us in 2025. A special welcome also to our sixth 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 feel part of the LIS family.
I was pleased to see majority of students arrive on time this week – 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 do 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 7:50am, with Kindy starting at 8.00am. Parents and caregivers are to arrive at 11:55am to collect Kindy children at 12.00pm.
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.
Uniforms
As a staff we will continue to encourage a high standard of personal presentation in 2025, including student hair, hygiene and uniform.
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 note it is a requirement in the Parent Handbook that students wear white socks as part of their uniform. Please also ensure students do not wear a t-shirt inside their school uniform.
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. We will be strict with hats this year, particularly with the High School students who became a little relaxed with wearing hats last year.
Students should present clean and tidy each day including their hair which should be brushed and tidy. Students with long hair should have it tied back neatly. As a staff we have also discussed that we expect High School boys to be clean shaven. This is new for LIS but it is a common expectation at many schools in both PNG and Australia.
If you require any clarification regarding school expectations with regard to student presentation, please do not hesitate to contact me. If you need any item of school uniform, please see Clementa in the front office.
Lunches
As it is the start of the school year, I would like to remind parents that students must come to school with a nutritious lunch and water bottle each day.
Please ensure your child has enough food for both recess and lunch and that it is healthy. Please try to avoid excessively salty or sweet food.
Families Away
Parents are encouraged to organise family holidays during school holidays to avoid long periods of absences. Should students need to be absent for a long period of time, teachers will be able to provide everyday learning resources like Reading Eggs, Mathletics and a home reader however individual learning packs cannot be provided. Please note that while teachers are very supportive and will assist, catching up work that is missed is the responsibility of students and families.
Wellbeing Program
This year LIS is introducing a new program from Prep to Grade 10 called “The Resilience Project” program (TRP). Students will participate in 1 lesson each week engaging in activities to build resilience, foster positive emotions and support wellbeing. They will be introduced to the concepts of the GEM-EL framework which include Gratitude, Empathy, Mindfulness and Emotional Literacy. More information about TRP will be shared throughout the year; however, parents can also visit their website https://theresilienceproject.com.au/ .
New IT System
Over the holidays, STM and LIS were swapped to a new IT network and server. Students no longer work off a Newmont server. Through this process, Newmont has upgraded all of our desktops and laptops. This new system also provides some additional flexibility for the school.
Parent Overviews
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
Acquaintance Night will be held on Wednesday 5 February, from 6.00pm, 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.
The evening will commence at 6.00pm with a whole school welcome in the undercover area, followed by two twenty-minute parent sessions, to enable parents to attend different sessions if they have more than one child at school. The first session will commence at 6.10pm and the second at 6.35pm.
Term 1 Calendar
Term 1 will be a busy time of learning at our school and the term one calendar can be downloaded below. Other important dates will be brought to your attention as they arise.
Parents and Wantoks
The Parents and Wantoks first meeting for the year will be held in Week 4 of the term, with a time still to be decided. 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.
Student Health Update
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 Clementa by Friday 7 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.
Parent / Carer Contacts
We would like all parents to ensure that they have current and up to date contact details for the school. Please see Clementa in the office if you need to update your details - especially email addresses. If parents hear of other 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. On entering the school, hands are to be washed at the wash station. Townsite residents who walk to school are also to only use this entrance.
After School and Weekend Sport/Activities
In the past, students were involved in a variety of afternoon and weekend sports and other activities. After school sport/activities are run by teaching staff and parent volunteers and, if you would like to volunteer to run a sport/activity this year, please let me know. If you would like to run a sport/activity, it is your decision as to what sport/activity you are running, what day and which classes you will include in this sport/activity – our school community is always grateful to those who take the time to organise after school sport/activities.
Student Photographs
There are many photo opportunities at our school and student images are often used in publications, such as the Toksave, and displayed online through the school website. The Toksave is uploaded to our school website www.lisstm.com.au every week. Student images will continue to be used in the Toksave, website and other media this year. If you do not wish photos of your child to be displayed through any form of print or digital media, please let me know so that I can ensure no images of your child appear in any school material.
School Council
The annual General Meeting of the School Council will be held on Thursday, 20 February 2025. At this meeting, voting for vacant positions for a Parent Representative will occur, in the Yr 9/10 room from 6.00pm– 6.20pm. Nomination forms are available from the school office and must be returned to the school office by Thursday the 6 February 2025. If you would like to know more about the functions of the School Council, please make an appointment to see the principal.
Independence Day Preparation
STM staff have formed a committee to begin planning and preparing for PNG’s 50th Anniversary Independence Day Celebration, which will take place in Term 3. Parents will be invited to express their interest in joining this committee in the coming weeks. Please keep an eye out in the Toksave for more information from either Mrs Romaso-Daimol or Ms Yip.
Rest in Peace Honourable Sir Julius Chan
This morning, we had an assembly to pay tribute to the Honourable Sir Julius Chan who passed away yesterday, Thursday 30 January 2025. Thank you to Ms Yip and our school leaders for a very respectful tribute to a man who did so much for Papua New Guinea and New Ireland Province. As with other schools in New Ireland Province, there will be no classes today as a mark or respect and mourning for the Late Honourable Sir Julius Chan. There will also be a shrine at the front of Lihir International School for the next week as a mark of respect.
Regards,
Mr Kevin Collins
