Headmaster's Column
Mr Scott James
Knox Global Café
Our students will be entering a dynamic world of unprecedented changes. The rapid adoption of merging smart technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics will replace many traditional occupations. The future that schools are preparing young people for will be driven by automation, globalisation and the ‘gig’ economy.
With this complex future in its sights, Knox aims to nurture lifelong learners who are curious and eager to learn about themselves, one another and the wider world. It is not just about producing better workers, but people who contribute meaningfully to society, propelled by a strong sense of purpose and hope for the future.
Forging authentic partnerships with our parents, universities and industry will be essential. The first step in this process is engaging parents. With this in mind, the School held a Global Café in the JAPAC on Saturday 7 September. Over 150 parents attended this exciting and engaging event.
Senior School News
Knox Oratory Programs
Mr Dan Schofield, Oratory Coordinator
Mooting
Knox will be participating in the WSU Kirby Cup for mooting over the next few months. Boys in Years 10-11 who are interested in participating in the competition, or just want to be involved in mooting training, should complete this form if they have not yet done so.
More information on this competition can be found here
Boarding Wellbeing Conference 2019
On Tuesday 27 August, Knox hosted the second Boarding Wellbeing Conference with keynote speakers Dr John Burns, Dr Sarah Edelman, Jing Cao, Kate Hilyard and Kayleb Taylor. The event was well received with 75 attendees ranging from various school backgrounds including boarding staff, school psychologists, teachers and team leaders from across NSW.
The BWC aims to:
- Improve the skills and knowledge of boarding staff members and school counsellors working with boarding students at Knox Grammar School and externally.
- Provide a forum where there is an identified need in the boarding school sector pertaining to the wellbeing and mental health needs of students.
Ultimately, these aims will be factors in raising the wellbeing for Knox boarders and boarders across the country.
School News
Fees In Advance Program
For many years the School has offered a ‘fees in advance’ program to enable increased flexibility of such payments. The program is attractive for many reasons, enabling parents to make lump sum payments for years ahead which attract discounts to the scheduled fees.
Knox Pipes and Drums
Mr Ainsley Hart, Pipe Band Master
2019 Corby Highland Gathering
On Sunday 14 July, the Knox Pipes and Drums took part in the Corby Highland Gathering. The gathering also held a solo piping contest which saw a large number of our pipers competing. The placings are as follows:
Jake Evans – 1st place in Juvenile (under 18 years) Piobaireachd, 1st place in Juvenile (under 18 years) March, Strathspey and Reel, 3rd place in Juvenile (under 18 years) Hornpipe and Jig
Aaron Erdstein – 1st place in Juvenile (under 18 years) 6/8 March, 3rd place in Juvenile (under 18 years) March, Strathspey and Reel
Maxwell Evans – 2nd place in Juvenile (under 18 years) Hornpipe and Jig
Oscar Petro – 2nd place in Juvenile (under 18 years) Piobaireachd, 3rd place in Juvenile (under 18 years) 6/8 March
Shiv Suresh – 3rd place in Juvenile (under 18 years) Piobaireachd
Congratulations to all involved. It was a very successful day.
Prep School News
From the Head of the Preparatory School
Mrs Sue Floro
After sitting down to write my article for the Knoxonian each week, I am usually left in awe at the sheer scale of our boys’ achievements, which are always singularly impressive. However, this past week, it is the little things that have captured my attention. The Year 6 boys giving of their time to help the St Lucy’s students at their Sports Carnival, which we hosted on Ireland Field, and demonstrating such patience, compassion and joy with and for the St Lucy’s students; the Year 3 and 4 boys in Chapel last week singing up an absolute storm and also showing such respect throughout the service; the Year 5 boy I witnessed giving up his place in the handball line for a boy who arrived late and had missed most of the game; the Year 3 boy I saw from a distance, who picked up the piece of paper on the ground as he passed and deposited it in the bin; the Year 4 boys who came to visit me to talk about a service learning event they are keen to initiate; boys and staff shaking hands at the gate each morning and afternoon and making connections; watching boys have a go at AFL for the very first time in the new Spring Challenge Cup…there was a myriad of occasions through the course of the week that reinforced the notion that it is the little things, the collective agency of the group, that is the beating heart of a school, and ours is beating strongly.
Congratulations to all of the boys who’ve done something, no matter how small, to contribute to our school being a place that reflects our 5 school values of wisdom, integrity, compassion, faith and courage. Bravo!
K-2 Happenings
Mrs Chris Gray, K-2 Coordinator
Children will not remember you for the material things you provided but for the feeling that you cherished them.
Richard L Evans
The idea of success for your child often comes interlaced with the growing need to edge out others or for them to be the “best”. However, the intense focus on success can send levels of expectation to new heights and have a reverse effect - turning your children off rather than motivating them to succeed.
Kindergarten News
Mary-Mae Burton, Kindergarten Team Leader
Kindergarten has been exploring forces in our Knoxigations unit. Using the storybook, ‘The Enormous Turnip’, we have been tuning into the big idea that ‘Forces impact the world around us’. In this story, a farmer is unable to pull the enormous turnip out of the ground, so he asks lots of passers-by to help pull it out. This got us wondering how we would solve this problem. Some boys thought they would:
Year 1 News
Mrs Emma Donaldson, Year 1 Team Leader
The Seesaw app is a student-driven digital portfolio. It allows for a collaborative approach to education between teachers, students and parents. The app enhances communication between all stakeholders and allows for instant feedback. Through the use of seesaw, every Year 1 student creates, reflects, shares and collaborates every day. These are essential life skills.
Year 2 News
Mrs Alicia Baldry, Year 2 Team Leader
Term 3 is flying by so quickly. Next week we will be starting auditions for the 2019 K-2 musical. The musical will be held during Term 4 in the new JAPAC theatre and will feature lead roles by the Year 2 students. Audition times will be confirmed via the student diary and will be held over several days during lunchtime.
Year 3 News
Mr Glenn Stephenson, Year 3 Team Leader
As the Premier’s Reading Challenge has officially closed for another year, I would like to congratulate all of the Year Three boys for completing this challenge. The combined effort and participation of every student has been fantastic and the Library team looks forward to awarding the completion certificates in the coming weeks.
Year 4 News
Mr Jared Rastall, Year 4 Team Leader
Year 5 2020 Assessments
Academic assessments will be conducted this Thursday 12 September, 2019 for all boys in Year 5 in 2020. All boys will be assessed for general reasoning, language and mathematical aptitude. The results will be analysed as part of a comprehensive profiling process and are then used as one piece of information for staff to use in determining class placements and appropriate provisions.
The assessments will be conducted at the Preparatory School and boys are asked to arrive at School at the regular time, and to assemble in the Year 4 area as they do each day. Your son should wear his school uniform as usual; he is also asked to bring a blue or black pen, and morning tea. Boys may also bring bottled water. Testing is expected to be completed at 12.30pm.
Year 5 News
Mrs Tammy Paterson, Year 5 Team Leader
Year 5 Science Day - DESTINATION MOON!
The auditorium was silent as the Year 5 boys received their mission for Science Day. The mission statement was - Our population on planet Earth is beginning to reach unsustainable levels and by 2022 the need for a new place to inhibit will be eminent. We have pulled together 175 of the most incredible people who display the NASA program’s core values of Faith, Wisdom, Integrity, Compassion and Courage. From these core values, we at NASA hope to build a successful colonisation program. Once the boys had formed groups of 5, they were each in charge of a specific role:
Year 6 News
Mr Liam Flanagan, Year 6 Team Leader
Year 6 has had another very exciting and busy week as we begin to head towards the end of their penultimate term at Knox Prep. Over the coming weeks we are fostering a strong focus on behaviour with the boys, in particular the way they speak and act towards one another. The staff are encouraging boys to show kindness and compassion towards their fellow school mates. It is particularly important that the boys continue to live up to the school values of faith, integrity, wisdom, compassion and courage. As we move toward the end of the Term 3, it is important that the boys remember these values and do their best to live up to these in their day to day activities at school. On Monday afternoon, the boys had a discussion with Mrs Floro and Mr Quach about the THINK principle. Before speaking, our boys are encouraged to consider if their words will be True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary or Kind. If they're not, then they were encouraged to not utter them. We also explored the difference between reacting and responding, when unexpected things happen. We are really encouraging the boys to think before they speak and think about how their actions and words might adversely affect others.
Musical Notes
Ms Rebeccah Morris, Ms Ali Irwin and Mr Ashley George
Australian Band and String Orchestra Festival
On Sunday 8th September, bright and early at 7.40am, our youngest instrumental group in the School, the String Ensemble (Years 1-3) met at Clancy Auditorium to compete in the Australian Band and String Orchestra Festival. This year the String Ensemble is the largest it has ever been with a record 34 members. This meant a lot of hard work rehearsing to get many young players performing at a high standard as we were also the largest group in the section. The boys performed magnificently and received a GOLD award for their efforts.
Next up, was our Concert Strings group (Years 4-6) and they had a reputation to keep up as they have only ever received a gold award so the pressure was on. The boys had focused really hard on all playing with their bows going in the right direction and giving a musical performance with wonderful dynamics. The adjudicator mentioned both of these aspects in her delivery to the audience and yet again, Concert Strings gained their GOLD award.
NSW Young Scientist Awards
Angus Fabian, Technology Facilitator K-6
The NSW Young Scientist Awards were held on the weekend with 28 boys from Years 2 - 6 entering projects in the Working Technologically category. The boys have been working hard on refining and improving their projects based on feedback they received from judges at the Young ICT Explorers competition in August. The level of ingenuity and creativity shown by the boys was outstanding. Winners were announced on the day and Knox Prep achieved their best results yet with 4 teams coming equal first place in their respective age categories.
Sports News
From the Head of Knox Sports and Aquatic Academy
Mr Martin Haywood
Snowsports
Last weekend a number of boys represented Knox at Mt Buller, Victoria in the Snowsports Nationals. A full list of results will be made available via the School app shortly. Well done everyone on another great season and so many wonderful results. I’m sure all are already looking forward to 2020.
Track & Field
A reminder to all parents who would like their son to come to SOPAC and support our team next week, please get onto the Parent Lounge and give Permission to attend the event. We are keen to get a huge crowd behind our boys this year and finish off a wonderful year of spirit around all of our big CAS events.
Text for the Week
Jesus said, “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Trust in God and trust also in me.”
John 14: 1