Welcome back and welcome to those families who have joined the Knox community for Term 2.

Hopefully the holidays were an opportunity for students to clear the clutter, to recharge and to set personal goals for the term ahead. To get the most out Term 2, it is essential that students organise themselves well and establish positive routines. Encourage your sons, if they have not done so already, to spend time outlining their goals as well as identifying strategies that will assist them in attaining their targets. I can confidently say the planning and hard work will pay off, and that staff look forward to supporting the boys over the coming months.

I cannot believe we have already entered the winter sport season after a very enjoyable and successful summer season. There is a real sense of belief amongst the boys with our results and participation at all levels reaching new heights.

One of my favourite days each term is the first day back, as boys reconnect with their friends and share holiday adventures with each other, and with us. Whilst international travel is on hold at the moment, it was so good to hear of so many local and national family adventures during the break.

We are currently planning a number of parent information sessions, relating to aspects of both our academic focus points, as well as parenting and social development. The first of these will be a Zoom session on Tuesday 11 May, and will focus on our use of data for Mathematics and English instruction, most particularly the MAP Growth tool. It is important to understand what the tool is, how it works, and how we work together with you to encourage growth in your sons’ skills. To register your attendance at this evening session via Zoom, please do so here. We will advertise other opportunities in the coming weeks, some of which will be face to face and others offered virtually.

We have had some incredible success in the past few weeks on the sporting fields, in the pool and on the track. It began in the last week of Term 1 with a truly incredible effort from our swimmers, who brought home a swathe of medals, and records at the PSSA Championships. To win medals at the state level is outstanding, but to break records is something else entirely, and our boys broke 2! Led exceptionally well by our Captain of Swimming, Finn Moreton, and supported by our Opens swimmers Lukas Dunn, Christopher Montana and Freddie O’Hara, as a school we congratulate you all on each of your outstanding performances.

Last week, we gathered for the IPSHA Cross Country at The King’s School and were so well represented by our runners. With many individual successes and outstanding team performances, we could not be more proud of the boys’ efforts on the day. Owen Dixon led by example in the first race of the day, winning by a considerable distance, and everyone else rose to the occasion. Congratulations boys! You represented us well and have set the standard for effort and hard work leading to results. You are all strong role models for your peers.

Sue Floro

It has been lovely to see the boys smiling faces as they entered the gates last week for their first week back after the break. The boys look very smart in their winter uniforms and it has been wonderful to see how they greet staff as they enter the gate and tip their caps. Just a reminder that there are no staff on duty until 7:45am in the morning. Please do not drop your son off earlier than 7.45am. 

As Mrs Floro mentioned in her Magpie article last week, parents are most welcome back on site in the afternoons to pick up their sons at the end of the day. Staff will walk the classes out to the gate to ensure we have those boys ready to go on time. Please feel free to come into the gate and you may collect your son as soon as they come out. The other exciting element to this is that we are now happy to welcome you back to attend assemblies from Week 2. The class led assemblies are held each even week of the term, please see attached timetable showing when each class will present for Term 2. These assemblies will be held in the K-2 void. Each odd week an outdoor assembly will take place, which is hosted by our Year 6 leaders. This is held in the new shaded area next to Yeldham Field. We look forward to again being able to share our assemblies with you. 

PARENT ACTION REQUIRED: Wahroonga Park Parent Letter

What a wonderful Week One!

The Kindergarten boys were so excited to see each other and share their holiday adventures. Many of the boys explored a variety of communities within Australia so they came back to school with a deeper knowledge about our big idea, ‘People work together in Communities’. Due to Covid travel restrictions, the Kindergarten boys had the opportunity to travel around our country and learn about why it is so special. We used Google Earth to look at some of the communities many of the boys visited and explored their individual features. These communities all had similarities and differences due to the unique needs of each community.

On Tuesday, Kindergarten will explore the Wahroonga community and analyse how people work together. We will walk through the park, shops and streets to explore our local communities needs and think about how they impact us. Throughout the week, we will also meet some Firefighters from Hornsby Fire Station and learn about why they are important people and how they keep our community safe.

With Week 2 well under way the boys have all had a great start to the term. The teachers have been delighted to see how energetic and enthusiastic the boys have been following the holidays. We have enjoyed hearing all about the fun and adventures had by all during the break.

This week boys will continue working on our inquiry unit with a specific focus on ‘Earth’s Natural Resources’ and how we care for them. All boys will participate in a CoSpaces Master Class this week. This aim of these classes is to teach the boys a variety of new skills they can use to create their examples of an Earth’s Treasure.

A highlight last week was participating in our K-6 Assembly. This is the first time the Year 1 boys have participated in a whole school assembly since beginning at Knox. During the assembly, as we watched all our boys, we were so proud of how the boys listened to stories about the ANZACs, participated solemnly during the Last Post, stood to attention during the minute of silence and sang the National Anthem.

This week, Year 2 boys are investigating the physical and behavioural adaptations made by animals in order to survive in their ecosystems. Students will be learning to classify animals living in various ecosystems, based on their observable features and scientific groupings. An imaginary trip to Taronga Zoo will also be taking place with students exploring the biomes created at the zoo while making connections between the animals who live there and the ecosystems in which they belong around the world. Viewing the Tiger Cam at the Zoo will also be an incredible opportunity for boys to view tigers in real life and discuss their sheer power, speed and strength with their peers.

Home Learning will begin this week and follow a two-week cycle as per last term. Home Readers will also continue this term. In your son’s reading pouch you will notice a new ‘Reading Prompts’ card. These reading prompts will assist you when listening to your son read aloud each night. The questions (or prompts) should be used as part of a conversation about the text your son is reading. These questions can be asked before, during and after reading. We appreciate your support in facilitating these conversations with your son as they are a vital part of developing strong comprehension skills.

Please Read: NAPLAN Assessment Program 2021

ANZAC Day Assembly
Last Wednesday, Year 3 hosted the annual K-6 ANZAC Day Assembly. For the first time, students and teachers migrated to Ireland Field for the service. Under a cloudless sky, we were able to pay our respects to fallen and current servicemen and women. The weather conditions were equally matched by surrounding ‘Lest we forget’ artistic works  by the boys and black silhouettes of Cenotaph soldiers. Our boys’ recollection of commemorations was clearly evident, as they were fully aware of the significance of the event to fellow pupils, our school, and community and subsequently their attention and behaviour exceeded all expectations. Congratulations to Hudson Leupen (3O) who was the host as well as Ben Bashton (3P), Austin Han (3H), Alastair Zhang (3D) & Zac Bose (3R) who read poems and prayers eloquently and with conviction. Also, to Oliver Radford (3R), Christian Luo (3H) & Ash Ananda (3O) for assisting K-2 boys to lay wreaths.

School Photographs – Winter Sports/Special
This Friday Year 3 boys will partake in Winter Sports and Special photos. With the business of the day and potential for belongings to go missing, we would kindly ask parents to ensure all clothing and kit items to be clearly labelled. This will allow any misplaced pieces to be quickly returned to the rightful owners prior to matches on Saturday. Thank you for your support.

Week 1 is always such a brilliant week with the buzz the boys bring back into the school environment being so warm and welcoming. It was great to hear about all the wonderful activities they experienced during the holidays and even better to see the way they share with such pride and joy.

Assessment
The boys would have received feedback from their teacher this week from two assessment tasks: The Little Wave and their Explorer Inquiry. As a whole, we were so impressed with the level of understanding the boys demonstrated, as well as the skills required to perform so admirably. Please take the time to look and discuss what your son accomplished and be sure to celebrate his successes.

Please Read: NAPLAN Assessment Program 2021

Writing
Our writing program is personalised to the next steps of our boys. Through SeeSaw you will be able to access your son’s pre- and post-assessments for persuasive writing from the beginning and end of Term 1. We dedicate time in class to reflect on and celebrate student achievements and to develop achievable goals in various aspects of writing. We encourage you to read and celebrate the growth that your son has made in his writing. We are all very proud of their effort and growth.

This term we are reading, writing and appreciating imaginative texts and we are applying the 7 steps to writing success. The first step is to ‘Plan for Success’. In class, we have been using a story graph (available on the Interconnected Systems page of the Year 5 Portal) to get our ideas for narrative writing ‘off the ground’. Some areas of focus including creating  a story that entertains, is cohesive and creates tension. Throughout writing, each student will focus on a number of targeted writing goals that are based on his next steps of learning. We are excited to watch and share each boys’ writing evolution over the course of the term.

Nuts at School
A reminder that we strive to be a nut-aware school. Please do not send your son to school with products that contain nuts such as peanut butter or Nutella.

Jared Rastall, Year 5 Team Leader

It has been a wonderful start to Term Two! We have thoroughly enjoyed catching up with the boys who have settled back into learning and routines very smoothly. Congratulations to the Year 6 boys who represented Knox with integrity last week at IPSHA Cross Country Carnival – we are very proud of you.

Expectations
Term 1 was such a pleasing start to the boys’ journey as leaders of the Prep School. The boys took to the mantra of ‘Step it Up’ with enthusiasm and they have set a fine example to the students in the younger years in their conduct in all ways. Our focus for Term 2 will be to continue with these high standards. The areas that we will be concentrating on this term include:

•  personal organisation and time management, ensuring they meet their commitments in all areas

   - completing all aspects of set learning and homework

   - submitting learning and homework on time

   - having what they need at school each day such as their School Diary and a hat for the playground

•  taking pride in their appearance

•  ensuring they have the correct uniform requirements each day, including their blacks and boaters when in full winter uniform

We ask that you have regular and ongoing conversations with your sons about these expectations throughout the term, and we thank you for your support. 

Weekend roundup
Round 1 of Prep Sport provided great promise for the season ahead.

After the past 3 weeks of tough trials and trainings, the boys’ hard work proved to pay off.

Both our 1st and 2nd AFL teams had resounding victories, 92 – 46 and 76 – 13 respectively; continuing to prove these teams’ class and ability. Congratulations boys. Persist with your hard work at training and we hope to see some more great results this season.

The Prep 1st Rugby had a hard-fought win against Barker at Barker. Both teams were strong throughout the game, but the Knox drive in attack and gutsy defence proved the difference in the game, giving the Knox boys a 24 – 12 victory.

The 5A rugby boys faced St Augustine's at Pittwater Park. Always a tough competitor, the St Augustine’s defence found it hard to fend off the persistent attacks by the Knox Prep boys. Most impressive was the support at the break down where the Knox boys generated many turnovers by some strong ‘clearing out’ and teamwork. A superb victory; 43 – 5. Congratulations boys.

In Football we also saw some wonderful wins. One to stand out was the 10E team who were down one goal at half time, but with some excellent teamwork and clever play they turned the game around to win 4 – 1. Out of the 21 football fixtures this weekend we had 16 wins and 1 draw. An absolutely outstanding weekend for the football boys.

WHY MUSIC?

I.       Music is teamwork

II.      Music is a science

III.     Music is mathematical

IV.     Music is a foreign language

V.      Music is history

VI.     Music is physical education

VII.    Music involves deeper cognitive abilities

VIII.   Music develops insight

IX.     Most of all music is art and develops feelings and makes everyone happy!

That is why we teach Music! Not because we expect your son to major in Music. Not because we expect him to play or sing all his life, but so that he can be part of a team and build on his emotions. He can recognise beauty! So he will have something to always make him happy (even though the home practice is hard)! Music can bring us all together and sets off endorphins in the brain that have the power to heal, to uplift and to thrive in life!!

Prep Band Camp
5 Weeks to go!!!!!!! If you son is in Band, please make sure you have noted in your diary the dates for our upcoming Band Camp on Saturday the 29th 1-6pm and Sunday the 30th May 10-4.30pm. All information and permission forms will be published in next week’s Magpie!

Upcoming School Photo Days

Kindergarten Wahroonga Park Parent Letter

Year 2 Scope IT

Year 4 Scope IT

Year 6 Scope IT

NAPLAN Assessment Program 2021 Years 3 and 5

See how much our father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!
1 John 3:1a

We are pleased to announce that the Knox ANZAC Service and Parade will go ahead on Sunday 2 May 2021 at 8.30am with some modifications and restrictions. All students in the Cadet Unit are expected to attend this event.

Due to current COVID-19 restrictions, we will be limiting spectators to two tickets per Year 11 and 12 Cadets, Pipes and Drums, Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Gallery Choir students only. We will continue to monitor government advice and recommendations, and should more tickets become available, we will update parents. We apologise for any disappointment this may cause and thank you for your understanding.

The service and parade will be live streamed here: www.knox.nsw.edu.au/anzac.

If you have any questions, please email events@knox.nsw.edu.au.

We are excited to be able to hold the Mother’s Day Stall on campus once again this year. To simplify the process, we will be holding a cashless stall with tickets now available for purchase online. Boys will then use their tickets to choose their gifts at the Mother’s Day Stall on Thursday 6 May.

Please see attached flyer here with details on how to purchase your tickets.

As we work to improve and enhance our communications, we would like to invite you to complete a short Knox Parent Communication Survey here: www.knox.nsw.edu.au/communication-survey. By completing the survey, you will go into the draw to win a $150 Butcher's Block voucher. The survey will close on Sunday 9 May. If you have any questions, please email communications@knox.nsw.edu.au.

We are so excited to be able to welcome parent volunteers back on campus to assist in the Tuckshop from the start of Term 2, 2021. The return of volunteers is subject to continued stabilisation of local and state health requirements regarding COVID-19.

We greatly appreciate our volunteers and their contributions to our School community.

Helping out in the tuckshop is very rewarding experience and a great way to meet and socialise with new friends. If you are able to volunteer in the Prep School Tuckshop, please click on the following link here.

We would love assistance to cover the Prep school library books. If you can spare some time to help the school cover library books, we would love to hear from you!

Please click here to sign up to volunteer.

Please contact Jo Fernandes if you have any questions.

Please click here for the latest notification regarding the Wahroonga Station upgrade.