Secondly, one of the best services we can perform for our young people is to teach them not to become ‘victims’. We need to educate them that they can bounce back from adversity, and persist in the face of setbacks.

Setbacks in life are inevitable, but we can choose to see them as positive lessons instead of demoralising failures. Through our Knox Total Fitness model of education, our students are learning ways to deal with setbacks and obstacles so they can move forward and achieve their goals.

Finally, and perhaps the most important thing a school can provide is security. Young people need to know that they are liked and that their good qualities are admired; they need to be listened to and respected. This gives them security and a strong sense of connectedness with their school which will ultimately improve their confidence.

We understand that your children are the most precious things in your lives. We understand they are our hope for the future. We will teach them to learn, build their resilience and help them grow with discipline. Developing these qualities will mean they will have learnt something that is not found in any textbook.

In Week 3, the first round of the KDC was held, our friendly internal tournament. We have seen a very encouraging number of returning teams from last year’s competition, as well as plenty of students trying their hand at debating for the first time! At the end of the term, we will be awarding the best speakers in each year group, the most improved and the best overall team. A reminder to all boys in the KDC; you must bring paper and pens to the KDC - laptops are not allowed.

Our inter-school debating competitions have also gone off to an excellent start. In Week 3, the first round of FED was held at Knox and what a start to the season it was! Knox was victorious in seven out of eight debates against St Joseph’s College. Congratulations to our Senior A, Senior B, Year 10, Year 9, and Year 8B teams on their wins, and a very special mention to our 7A and 7B teams who were able to win their very first Senior School debate!

At the end of Week 4, we had a big night at Knox hosting both Round 2 of FED against Monte Sant’ Angelo Mercy College and Round 1 of ISDA against The King’s School. In ISDA, our teams went extremely well. Congratulations to our Primary A, Year 7, Year 8, Year 9 and Senior A teams on their victory against tough opposition! In FED, the black and blue were able to win three debates against our tough opposition in the Year 7A, 8B and Year 9 divisions. 

At Knox, we also take pride in the calibre of our Debating Coaches, and this year, we have a truly world-class team. Over the summer break Mr Ben Jackson (Head Coach), competed in the Grand Final of the World Universities Debating Championships 2020, making him one of only eight debaters in the world to achieve this honour and competing against teams from Oxford University, Yale University and Belgrade University. Mr Jackson was also ranked 3rd overall best speaker in the world, and the best Australian speaker at the tournament. Mr Udai Kamath, another Knox coach, ranked 25th overall. This year, we also welcome Mr Brendan Winters and Mr Eugene Bakker (OKG19) to our team of coaches. The bottom line is we have world-class expertise who are eager to share their knowledge and wisdom when it comes to the art of persuasive speaking. Don’t underestimate the value of our training sessions!

Finally, our Mock Trial boys will have their first training session on Tuesday. For those in Years 10/11 interested in participating in Mock Trial, sign-ups are still open! Please send an email to Miss Mercier if you are interested in this or any other Oratory programs.

Year 7 Cape York Cultural Experience
This opportunity is offered to Year 7 students in July this year. Mr Daniel Carson from Red Earth will present at the Year 7 Parents Meeting on Monday 9 March during the dinner break.

The group will be accompanied by two Red Earth guides and two Knox teachers. Students are invited to apply an expression of interest. More details below.

Cape York Expression of Interest Form
Cape York Immersion Information

Bushfire and Drought Relief
We are supporting those impacted by fire and our drought impacted regional neighbours via the Facebook page ‘Mobilising for Mogo’ initiative. See the list of specific items to donate here and please drop these donations to Room 15. 

World's Greatest Shave - Tuesday 10 March
Social Justice Prefects and guest speakers will present at assemblies over the coming weeks. Boys must remember that cuts will be in line with the School's regulation cuts. Register online here.

Breaking a World Record and helping community projects.
The Rotary Club of Wahroonga is attempting to set a World Record of connected socks on 25 October this year at St Ives Showground. Start collecting your odd socks - remember, socks need to be accompanied by the donations otherwise they can’t be included!

School shoes for the Philippines
Please send donations to Room 15 - shoes will be sent soon!

The Knox Social Justice Club - all invited to participate
There are opportunities for service at community events both within the School and in the wider community and immersions to overseas and regional areas. Everyone across Years 7-12 is invited to participate and bring a friend. 

Parents for Justice (Just Parents)
If you would like to join up and offer support, please contact Mrs Clarke.

Special orders
Any special requirements regarding winter uniform items should be discussed with Uniform Shop staff as soon as possible. Occasionally, we have students that have allergies/sensitivity to wool and in these instances, time permitting, we can get winter trousers lined and jumpers made in a cotton/nylon blend. As these are special orders we need four weeks' notice for the trousers and up to eight weeks for the knitwear.

Other instances include if your son is not a standard size (for example, very tall but slim and may require extra length or he may be of a more solid frame like a Rugby player) then the standard sizes may be disproportional.

Please contact the Uniform Shop on 9487 0191 or email us.

Last year, we introduced a one night Year 5 Father/Son camping experience and this was how many of our Year 5 boys started their Camp experience this week. I spent Sunday afternoon at Somerset with the boys and their dads and enjoyed listening to their interactions, watching them work together in challenges and just spending quality time together without the distractions of devices. The dads really appreciated their time with their sons, and the boys loved having their dads all to themselves!

Last week’s Parent Information sessions offered a good opportunity for parents and teachers to interact and get to know each other, as well as to hear about all of the initiatives that are happening in your sons’ year groups this year. Thank you, most particularly, to the many parents who have more than one son, in more than one Stage, who diligently attended each night. Your efforts did not go unnoticed!

In the Musical Notes section of this Knoxonian edition, you will see a link to purchase tickets to the Year 6 Musical, 'Peter Pan Jr'. It is a going to be an outstanding show and I encourage all of our families to come along and enjoy it.

Here are some other ways to spread kindness in your home:

• Lead by example. Remember your manners. Others will follow your lead.
• Recognise one another’s strengths; not weaknesses. A pat on the back can go a long way. We all like to feel appreciated.
• Be kind to others. Think before you speak.
• Now is your moment: Spread a little joy, make a difference in someone’s day, and remember to always be kind!

Dates for the diary
• Wednesday 26 February - Kindergarten Reading information for parents
• Thursday 27 February - Year 2 Parent Morning Tea, Assembly 2C
• Thursday 5 March - Assembly 2F
• Thursday 12 March - Assembly 1D
• Wednesday 18 March - Year 1 Celebration of Learning
• Thursday 19 March - Assembly 1E
• Friday 20 March - Year 6 Bake Sale
• Thursday 26 March - Assembly 1S
• Wednesday 1 April - Year 1 Excursion -Global Change Makers
• Thursday 2 April - Assembly: Kindergarten combined
• Friday 3 April - Year 2 Narrabeen excursion
• Week 11 - Years 1/Yr 2 Swimming

Learning to play together in a larger and more populated environment is also a new experience for the boys. They are still learning how to ask one another to play together, how to negotiate play together so that everyone is happy and safe, and importantly, how to resolve conflict on the playground, which will inevitably happen from time to time. We encourage the boys to use their words to resolve any playground issues, using real-life opportunities as teachable moments, as well as practising role-play situations in class.

Learning to play co-operatively together, using appropriate skills and behaviours is a continual process and one the boys will get better at the more they practise.

On Friday 21 February, Year 1 experienced a traditional Chinese New Year Dance and this year it is the Year of the Rat. The date changes every year depending on the new Lunar Year. We have been learning about the traditions of Chinese New Year and why it is such an important celebration. On Friday the boys watched the Chinese Lion Dance. Traditionally, the lions dance in front of stores to scare off the evil spirits. The boys had many favourite moments within the performance. Some boys said they loved the throwing of the lucky lettuce for good luck and prosperity for the year to come. Other boys became really excited by the loud music and vivid colours!

This experience has ignited many questions within the classrooms such as:
• What celebration is important to your family?
• How does this celebration connect your family, local, national and international community?
• Why do we celebrate celebrations?

All Year 2 classes have had had an amazing opportunity to explore local places in our community through the class Virtual Reality headsets over the past week. The boys will be able to tell you all of the interesting places we explored from Knox in the past, Bobbin Head National Park and how they compared classroom settings from places like Tanzania and the Maldives.

All Year 3 boys have been provided with a login for Seesaw, a student-driven digital portfolio. Seesaw is a simple way for teachers and students to record and share activities completed in the classroom. It gives students a place to document their learning, be creative and learn how to better use technology. Each student has his own journal and will add work completed to it throughout the year. When there are new Seesaw posts, families can be informed via app notification, email or SMS. Parents/guardians are only notified about their own child’s work so that all information remains private.

Some of the other benefits of utilising Seesaw, include:
• Empowering students to take ownership of their learning and to reflect on their progress over time.
• Giving students the tools to demonstrate what they know in the way that works best for them.
• Inspiring students to try their best by providing an audience for their work beyond the classroom.
• Creating a meaningful home-school connection so that families can better support their own child's learning.

Parents are reminded of the steps to follow in order to access your son’s account from home:

1. Visit the Seesaw link here.
2. Click on the ‘I’m a Family Member’ icon.
3. Create a family account using the QR code provided to your son by his class teacher.
4. Connect to your son’s account in order to access his digital portfolio.

On another note, Khan Academy is being utilised by all Year 3 students this year for Mathematics homework. This website offers boys the opportunity to complete practice exercises, instructional videos and a personalised learning dashboard that empowers the boys to study at their own pace. Furthermore, Khan Academy also directly links to the MAP Mathematics tool which students will be completing throughout the year in order to both measure and track their overall progress and growth in each mathematical strand.

All students are reminded of the steps to follow in order to access Khan Academy from home:

1. Visit the Khan Academy link here.
2. Click ‘Login’ in the top right-hand corner.
3. Select the red box, ‘Continue with Google’.
4. Boys are to use their individual Knox email address and password.
5. Any assigned tasks will be displayed in a green bubble in the top right-hand corner, next to student login names, under ‘Notifications’.
6. Targeted practice activities will be automatically available to complete by accessing the following website here and selecting a specific strand.

All Year 3 students are encouraged to independently complete at least 10 minutes of Mathematics homework each night, whether it be specific Khan Academy tasks set and/or Khan Mappers practice questions.

Accelerated Reader
Selecting books that are at an appropriate reading level for your son is important for developing his reading fluency, comprehension and overall enjoyment of reading. The implementation of the Accelerated Reader Program will assist in monitoring your son’s reading and ensuring that he selects appropriately-levelled texts. Please refer to the Year 4 Page of the Knox Portal under ‘Yr 4 Notes’ for more information about this program.

Thank you for attending the Year 6 Parent Information Evening last week. It was wonderful to see so many parents along to meet their son’s teachers and find out a little bit about what the boys will be doing throughout the year. The Year 6 Team see the parent teacher relationship as vitally important toward ensuring your son has a successful year in his final year at the Prep. If you were not able to attend the evening or require any additional information from your son’s teacher please be in touch.

The Year 6 boys will be beginning trips over St Lucy’s beginning next week. This is an excellent opportunity for the boys to spend some time with students across the road and is a part of the Year 6 Service Learning program. 6F will be the first class heading across next week.

Knox Grammar School App
If your son is involved in our Instrumental Program, please ensure that you have joined the relevant ensembles on the school app as we will be sending out important information on it from time to time.

Peter Pan Jr
It’s with great excitement that I would like to announce the opening of tickets for the Year 6 Musical, 'Peter Pan Jr'.

The performances are:
• Wednesday 1 April, 7pm
• Thursday 2 April, 11.30am and 7pm



The story begins with Peter and his mischievous fairy sidekick, Tinkerbell, who visit the nursery of the Darling children late one night and, with a sprinkle of pixie dust, begin a magical journey across the stars that none of them will ever forget. In the adventure of a lifetime, the travellers come face to face with a ticking crocodile, a fierce Indian tribe, a band of bungling pirates and, of course, the villainous Captain Hook.

Year 6 are currently rehearsing and are looking forward to presenting this fantastic musical to you all. Please get in early to secure your tickets. Bring family and friends - I think this show is not to be missed!

Click on the link here to purchase your tickets.

Instrumental Lessons
There are still a small number of positions for private instrumental lessons left this semester, so if your son would like to learn an instrument at School please contact Ms Morris.

Note: if your son is already learning an instrument at school and he cannot attend his lesson for whatever reason, 24hrs notice must be given to the tutor directly or you will be charged for the lesson. Please do not assume that because something is in the calendar (which means your son cannot attend his lesson) that your tutor will know about it. It is the responsibility of the parent to always inform the tutor of any absences.

Curagul Field was also a place for chewing nails for all Knox supporters. After a lengthy delay due to rain, the 1st XI team finally got on and played with a number of boys making their debut v Waverley. Nearly seven hours later our 1st XI won by 1 wicket and continue to hang on to any glimmer of hope of winning the CAS shield. Another remarkable achievement for a very young team – great signs for the future of this team. Our 1st XI play competition leaders Cranbrook this weekend. This will be a great match played away at Cranbrook.

Our Sailing squads travelled to Canberra on Friday evening to compete for the State Cup only to be hindered by a severe lack of wind. After day one our top team were placed 4th of 19 schools competing then sadly day two was cancelled and we had to settle for fourth place. A great experience for the boys and big thanks to the staff for giving these boys this wonderful opportunity.

Another brilliant result for Knox over the weekend was our Table Tennis squad defeating the previously unbeaten King's at Homebush. This squad now sit on top of the ladder and just two rounds remaining.

Our Tennis squads continue to dominate CAS and have advanced their lead on the CAS ladder with a huge win over Waverley whilst our Squash team deserve a huge congratulations. Their season ended on Saturday with Grand Finals at Thornleigh and Knox were again crowned champions for 2019/20 including the Premier 1 Division won by Adam Soonius (Y12).

Last Thursday our Athletics department ran a Year 7 House Day and the new Year 7 group absolutely thrived in the sun on Knox 1. All boys were treated to a sprint, a hurdle, some throws and a jump for their House then finished with some relays. A great afternoon of Athletics and well done to all boys of Year 7.

Over the weekend many of our talented Track & Field boys competed in the NSW Junior Championships 2020 at SOPAC. The NSW Junior Championships is one of the showcase events on the athletic calendar, with over 1300 of the state's finest track & field competitors congregating in order to secure spots on the NSW State team at nationals. A full report can be found on the school app however there was much to be excited about including the following boys who have gained entry to the nationals later in the year.

National Qualifiers
Under 14
• Dylan Hall - 100m, 200m, Long Jump
• Lachlan Herbert - 200m, 400m, Long jump
• James Harden - 100m Hurdles, 200m Hurdles

Under 17
• Alex Sherlock - 100m
• Archie Saunders - 100m
• Hamish Hart - 3000m

Under 18
• Max Mandera - 100m, 200m
• Ewan Burns - 200m, 400m

Under 20 (Old Boys)
• John Hunter - Discus, Hammer Throw

It was also great to see our Surf Lifesaving team finally get back onto the beach and this time straight into competition at Longreef at a Shore hosted event. There were many standout performances which is quite amazing given the number of cancellations over the last month due to surf conditions.

James Simmonds (Y11) and Travis Cox (Y10) competed at the NSW Surf Lifesaving Championships on the weekend at Blacksmiths Beach. James and Travis, together with two other team members from Newport surf club, took out the gold medal in the U17 Patrol Competition and James placed 4th in the U17 Champion Lifesaver event. James and Travis will represent Newport SLSC at the Australian Championships at Broadbeach in April. Well done boys.

Some wonderful scenes at Riverview for the Mountain Biking event where AJ Richter joined the team for the first time this season. AJ led the three cheers at the end of the event and the boys could not have been more proud or happier for AJ.

PEAK news
On Friday morning our Senior PEAK students were treated to a presentation from UniSport Australia about university pathways for student-athletes, as well as a mini-expo including representatives from EAPs at six local universities - ACPE, ACU, MQ, USYD, UNSW and UTS. A great opportunity for our Peak athletes and they thrived at this opportunity.

Congratulations
• Mitchell Smith (Y11) has made the U/18 NSW Metro State team. Mitchell will be competing at the U/18 National Basketball Championships in Ballarat in April.
• Branden Tse had been selected into the Junior Australian Archery team to represent Australia in the 2020 World Archery Oceania Championship. I look forward to passing on results to the Knox community through the year.
• Jacob Wander was selected in the CIS Under 18s Baseball team last week.

Thanks to all parents for helping your son choose their winter sport choice for 2020. Information will start to be sent to boys via the school app so please ensure you click on alerts for the new sport your son will be involved in from Week 7.

Shortly, an email will go to all parents inviting them to give permission for their son to go to SOPAC and support our Knox Swim team. This is a great spectacle and our team would love to perform in front of a record crowd (including our very own Tartan Army). We cannot take any boy who has not received parental permission - all details will be included in the coming email.

Prep School news
House Swimming Carnival
Last Tuesday, the Prep House Swimming Carnival was held with each boy giving his best performance in the pool to gain points for his House.

Eight records were broken – one by Finn Morton in the 11 years 50m backstroke and seven by Joseph Kim in the 12 years 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 200m individual medley, 50m breaststroke, 50m backstroke and 50m butterfly.

Congratulations to our Champion Boys for 2020!

9 years
• 1st - William Scodellaro (Haslett), 2nd Maxwell Gu (Burns) and 3rd Eddy Fu (Burns)

10 years
• 1st - Philip Kim (Fuller), 2nd Ehan Ali (Burns) and 3rd Adrian Chu (Burns)

11 years
• 1st - Lukas Dunn (Fuller), 2nd Finn Morton (Burns) and 3rd Freddie O’Hara (Haslett)

12 years
• 1st - Joseph Kim (Burns), Jordan Fenech (Haslett) and 3rd William Li (Lang)

Form Stroke Trophy winner - Joseph Kim

Champion House 2020 was Burns!

NSWCIS Basketball selection
On Friday, after gruelling trials against some of the best Basketball players in the state, Nicholas Williams was selected to represent NSWCIS at the NSW Primary Schools competition in May. Congratulations Nicholas!

I hope your son has settled into the routine of the summer season and the business of Term 1. A reminder when your son cannot make a training or Saturday commitment, we need an email from his parents prior to the day so we can be best prepared.

As always, if you have any question for the Sports Department, please do not hesitate to email us.

Finally, good luck to all competitors in the Knox Swimming Championships this week. This is a huge night for the boys wanting to be a part of the Knox Swim team at the CAS later in March.

Have a great week. Go the Black & Blue!