Welcome to Term 3! It has been wonderful to see sports training back in full swing this week in preparation for the CAS winter sports fixtures this weekend.

Health screening and temperature checks continue this term. Students should be heading to the Boarders' Walk as soon as they arrive at school to complete this process. Student cards are required for scanning. If your son has misplaced his student card, he should see Ms Smith to arrange for a replacement card to be issued. The locker area opens each day at 7.45am. Students who are participating in co-curricular and sporting activities that commence prior to this time should take their school bag with them and then visit the locker area at the conclusion of their activity. Students with PDHPE or PASS practical lessons in period 1 should be travelling to school in their full winter uniform and changing into their PE uniform after they have completed the health screening and temperature checking process.

The Academy of Global Competency building is open after school until 5.15pm on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for students to engage in collaborative work with their peers or undertake independent study. After school Mathematics tutorials are running on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons in AGC112 and English writing sessions on Thursday afternoons. Each afternoon there are staff available to assist students with their studies. Please encourage your son to utilise the support that is on offer after school.

This week students have been reminded about our mobile phone policy. Currently students are able to keep their phone in their pocket if they have the COVID-19 app downloaded. However, they cannot use their phone during lessons (unless directed to do so by their teacher), at recess or lunch. Students using their phones during these times will have the phone confiscated. On the first and second confiscations (tracked from the beginning of the year) students are able to collect their phone in the afternoon and parents are notified on the second occasion. If their phone is confiscated for a third time, it will be kept for a longer period of time. Should there be a reason that your son needs to access his phone, he just needs to speak to a member of the Academy staff. Should you need to get a message to your son during the day, you are welcome to contact Ms Smith who will ensure he receives your message.

Have a wonderful weekend and best of luck to all our sporting teams.

Elizabeth Ruff

It was wonderful to welcome all the boys back this week; taller, well rested and ready for the term ahead. I am hopeful that all families had a great three week break after what was a unique and challenging first six months. I know that I certainly enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with friends and allow my brain a chance to switch off from the normal routine! Whilst there still might be challenges facing us this term, I am confident that we know how to respond and how to pave our way forward, if needed. At the end of last term I spoke about the collective resilience shown by the schooling community but, most importantly, by the boys in Year 10. I am hopeful that the growth and resilience developed will enable us to respond positively to anything that may be thrown at us and emerge stronger as a result.

This week the boys have been given a lot of information regarding their HSC subject selection. They had a presentation in Year Meeting from Mrs Gomez outlining some of the key considerations they should be taking into account as well as links to important sources of information. This presentation was emailed to them and they should ensure that they spend some time this weekend having a look at this again, watch the subject selection Zoom presentations (sent in the newsletter last term and available on the portal) and have a discussion with their families about the best subjects for them. Once they have made their decision, they need to submit their choices via the link that was sent to them from Mr Nelson via email. 

Finally, I would like to congratulate all the boys who were acknowledged in Assembly this week for making the 1sts Teams for their respective sports. To Josh Darley, Will Hopkins, Kyeton Reardon, Alexander Benson, Jordan Menzies, Hunter Hellen-Ford, Will Twyman, Oliver Hilliard, Ian Palmer and Adam van Horen. Congratulations to these boys for all their hard work and dedication.

Congratulations must also go to Fredy Yip Ye who placed 1st in the Australian team and received a gold medal in the CMC global Mathematics Competition. Congratulations, Fredy! A remarkable achievement.

Good luck to all of those representing Knox this weekend! Enjoy being back out there and remember our School Values as you wear your Knox uniform.

Have a great weekend!

Vicky Cowell

Week 1 of Term 3 - here we are. I hope you all managed to enjoy some quality family time over the break. Great to see the Year 10 cohort arriving on Monday well rested and ready to commence another busy and productive term.

Welcome back to Knox, Harrison Ribeira and Max Mazin. We also had two new students commencing in Year 10 on Tuesday. A warm welcome to Milan Ebrahimzadeh and Adam Masood.

Food Drive - traditionally in the winter months, we do a food drive of daily staples for Sydney families who are struggling and living in very challenging conditions. This will continue into Week 3 of Term 3. The following non-perishable donations may be handed in to the SAOs or Mrs Clarke's office: long-life milk, cereal, coffee, tea, cans of meat, vegetables, fruit and/or soup, cup of soup, dried fruit. Note: no glass items, please.

Please return the Year 11 2021 subject selection receipt to me. Ensure the signatures of a parent/guardian and student are included.

Absence Notification

When lodging your son's absence in Parent Lounge please remember to include the nature of his medical condition in the comment section if you have selected Illness/Medical. Should your son be suffering from any of the symptoms of COVID-19, please follow the government advice regarding getting tested and keep your son at home.

Have a great weekend.

Rebecca Smith

Welcome back to the resumption of most co-curricular activities at school. For information please click here or contact the staff member in charge.

Chuck Ardron

Wednesday 29 July

Knox Track and Field Championships

Tuesday 4 August

Battle of the Bands finals

Friday 25 September

Term 3 concludes

Each term, Knox holds a Handwriting Course designed to help improve the speed, accuracy and neatness of students’ handwriting, reducing tension and fatigue when writing for long periods of time. In 2020 the classes will be held by Ms Lisa Norton, an occupational therapist, who specialises in the development of skills necessary for handwriting and the remediation of handwriting difficulties.

We are now filling places for our Term 3, 2020 course.

Our course will run on either a Tuesday or Wednesday or both mornings, starting at 7.30am, once minimum numbers are confirmed.

A minimum of seven students, and a maximum of ten, ensures individual attention. The course costs $300 for seven sessions of 45 minutes.

The Introductory seven week course includes a tub of theraputty, that is designed to improve hand muscle strength and fine motor skills. 

Availability of places is dependent upon a first come first served basis. All students who miss out on a place in Term 3 will be placed on a waiting list.

Should you be interested in pursuing this option for your son, please contact Rebecca Papageorgiou in the Learning Enhancement Department ASAP.

Computer Club is back on at a new venue!

Computer Club is back up and running and will take place in R34 (Reid Building) on Wednesday afternoon from 3.30pm-5.30pm. The club is open to any student who needs some computing help with their projects in Years 7-8 Technology, IST, or Senior Computing subjects. Students may also use the equipment in this room for any project that they are currently working on, as long as they have completed relevant safety training. Please email Mr McGowan (Software Design and Development Teacher) if you need any further information.

On Tuesday 4 August (Week 3) we will see our new JAPAC Theatre fired up as four exciting bands take to the stage to give the new speaker system a real test drive. Please come and support your classmates and enjoy the atmosphere - you will not be disappointed! Don’t be late as we will be kicking off at 12.55pm sharp. Student and staff attendance only.

This year’s finalists are: The Unknown (Year 8), Contagious (Year 10), Scapegoat (Year 11) and Floating Boats (Year 12).

Please come and support the Year 10 band, Contagious. Band members include Josh Darley, Alex Benson, James Phipson, Seb Cook, Flynn MacGregor and Will Cusack (Year 8).