It is with a sense of pride and excitement that I am addressing you all at the start of term 4 as the new Team Leader of the Class of 2021. I am very much looking forward to sharing this journey with the wonderful young men of Year 10 as they progress through to the completion of their Knox schooling experience. Further, I would also like to extend a warm welcome to Adam Shaw, the newly appointed Assistant Team Leader for the Class of 2021. Adam is an outstanding leader and role model within the School and is very well known and respected by the boys through his various roles in the PE Department, Stage 5 Boarding and the Rugby Program.

It was pleasing to see all the boys back recharged and ready for their final term as part of the Knox Middle Academy. With the boys refocusing in Week 1, they are to be commended for their approach to the Agent of Change program that took place in the Great Hall on the first day back in conjunction with Ravenswood. As we move forward, the Mentor Program this term will focus on preparing the boys for their progression into Year 11 and successfully complement the Year 11 taster sessions in the final weeks of Year 10.

As this is a fast paced eight weeks including exams, performances and sporting fixtures it is vital to continue our open lines of communication, so please feel free to contact your son’s teachers, Mentor or Team Leaders if you have any questions or concerns about your son’s progress.

James Stubbs-Mills

Welcome back! and welcome to the new newsletter format. It has been lovely to see the boys and hear all their news. It seems incredible some seem to have grown even taller, while others have celebrated a birthday and have joined many of our cohort in getting their L's, another milestone in their journey.

This week we have discussed with the cohort the expectation of boys to wear their uniform with pride and represent Knox in the correct uniform. This means polished black lace up leather shoes, uniform in good condition and hair cut to Knox standard. It is very pleasing to see our cohort so well represented. As always, I encourage you to ensure all items are clearly labeled so they can be returned quickly should they become separated from their owner.

This term we welcome two new students to our cohort, Jayden Pham and Joe Li. Please make the boys feel at home as you see them around the campus.

Last night I attended the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. I was already very excited to be attending but it was made a much more special occasion when I learned that some students from Knox Pipes & Drums would be involved in the Pre-show entertainment, just for Thursday evening. What a happy circumstance! It was an incredible evening, made even more so as I proudly watched the following students as they performed; Gabe Carmody, Aaron Erdstein, Cameron Gee, Daniel Heazelwood-Lee, Hamish Lapsley, Nick Learmonth, Nick Sherlock and Shiv Suresh. Congratulations, gentlemen.

The following boys will be competing in the Future Problem Solving Nationals being held in Brisbane over the weekend. I would like to wish Dhruv Hariharan, Tony Du and Kevin Park all the best for the competition.

Thank you to the parents and boys for my warm welcome back to Term 4 - our final term in the Middle Academy!

Debra Barnard Tel: 9119 0883

The Careers Insight Evening will be held on Monday 28 October in the WSA Lecture Theatre and various classrooms in the WSA and Montgomery buildings.

An initiative introduced this year, this event is open to students in Years 9, 10 and Year 12 (class of 2020) and their parents. The purpose is to give students the opportunity to learn about different careers, industries and professions and to understand different careers and educational pathways.

FORMAT:

Commencing at 5.30pm in the WSA Lecture Theatre, Mr James Hunter, National Managing Partner at KPMG, will give a key note address on the global competencies valued by employers and how students can utilise their experiences and opportunities at Knox to develop diversity of skills and be successful in a constantly changing world of work. Places are limited for this one-off session, so please ensure you reserve your place (seats for student and parents) in the registration form below. 

Following the key note address will be the Career Insight sessions. An event in conjunction with the OKGA, our Alumni (and some current staff) will be presenting career information and personal insights into their current profession. There will be 16 different career categories (listed below). Students are invited to select 3 career insight sessions they wish to attend during the course of the evening. Presenters from each career category will repeat their session 3 times as per the following schedule:

6.30pm-7pm

7.10pm-7.40pm

7.50pm- 8.20pm

Each session will run for approximately 30 minutes with 10 minutes in between to allow for travelling time to the next session.

CAREER CATEGORIES:

Science & Engineering

IT

Law

Cyber and International Security

Medicine

Allied Health

Business, Accounting & Finance

Business – Entrepreneurial

Media & Communication

Creative & Design

Technical & Trades

Sport Coaching

Sports Management

Police

Defence Force

Agriculture, Environment and Primary Industries

REGISTRATION:

Please click here to register your attendance to the key note address (limited to 150 places) as well as 3 career sessions (limited to 50 places per session).

For further information, please contact me. I look forward to seeing many students and parents at this major careers event.

Linda Gomez

Calling any budding triathletes!

For the first time ever, CIS will be introducing the CIS Teams Triathlon Championships as a qualifying event for the NSW All Schools Triathlon Championships in February 2020.This event will be held on Monday 28 October (Week 3) at Penrith International Regatta Centre. Please see attached for further information.This event is for teams only and you will need to participate in this event to qualify for the teams event at NSW All Schools. Individual competitors will still be able to register directly for the NSW All Schools event in February.

We are seeking interest from individual swimmers, cyclists and runners to form teams for the CIS event. Knox will form seeded teams of boys who we deem to have the fastest qualifying times in their age category. Additionally, Knox will form social teams of boys wanting to give the sport of triathlon a go.

Please fill out the following form to express your interest in participating in this event.

Please contact Mr Hart if you have any questions.

Thursday 24 October

• World Teachers' Day

Thursday 24 and Friday 25 October

• Ag Excursion. South Coast

Monday 28 October

• Careers Insight Evening. Commences 5.30pm in the WSA Lecture Theatre

Tuesday 29 October
• OKGA Special Event: Tomorrow Man - A Night with the Blokes

Friday 2 November

• Year 10 Parents' Supper

 Friday 8 November

• Vaccinations. Meningococcal ACWY catch-ups

Thursday 14 to Friday 22 November

• Yearly Examinations 

Friday 15 November

• Knox Christmas Markets. Great Hall. 4pm - 8pm

Thursday 5 December

• Knox Presentation Day. Term 4 Concludes

Students from Knox Grammar School will reprise the School's very first musical, 'Oliver', with a production of the much loved musical in the Knox Junior Academy and Performing Arts Centre from 7-9 November.

The production will be the first major show to take place in the new 750 seat Wenkart Theatre.

Performances
Thursday 7 November 2019, 7.30pm
Friday 8 November 2019, 7.30pm
Saturday 9 November 2019, 7.30pm

Venue
Wenkart Theatre, Junior Academy and Performing Arts Centre, Knox Grammar School, Wahroonga

Tickets
All tickets $35 at www.knox.nsw.edu.au/oliver

The production will feature a cast of 170 students from Years 7 to 12 from Knox Grammar School, Ravenswood School for Girls and Pymble Ladies' College, with a live orchestra and sound and lighting by a student tech crew.

Raising boys in a digital world
An evening with Dr Kristy Goodwin

When: Wednesday 20 November 2019, 6pm-8pm
Where: Wenkart Theatre, Junior Academy and Performing Arts Centre, Senior School
Who: Knox Prep, Wahroonga Prep and Knox Senior School parents of students in Years 5-9

Dr Goodwin will provide practical and effective strategies to ensure your son’s online safety and healthy technology habits.

Please RSVP by 15 November here. For more information, email Amanda Pooley.

Parent seminar - Raising Boys in a Digital World flyer

All welcome to join us for these upcoming events:

• OKGA Special Event: Tomorrow Man - A Night with the Blokes - Tuesday 29 October
• OKGA 2019 Golf Day - Wednesday 30 October

OKGA 2019 Golf Day 
When: Wednesday 30 October 2019, Lunch from 12.30pm; Tee Off 1.30pm 
Where: Avondale Golf Club, Pymble 

All members of the Knox community are warmly invited to participate in the 2019 Annual OKGA Golf Day.

Competitions to be held on the day include Individual Stableford + 2 Ball Team Event, Leavers’ Trophy ‐ Aggregate Four Ball, Father and Son, Mother and Son, Longest Drive and Nearest the Pin.

2019 Golf Day Invite

Please register online here by Friday 18 October. Contact the OKGA Office on 9487 0419 if you have any questions.

OKGA Special Event: Tomorrow Man - A Night with the Blokes
When: Tuesday 29 October 2019, Free BBQ from 6.30pm; Workshop from 7pm 
Where: Senior School Gymnasium, Lawson Centre 

The Old Knox Grammarians Association (OKGA) is delighted to be hosting a special Tomorrow Man event in conjunction with Gus Worland (OKG86), and Gotcha4Life.

Come and join with fellow men of the Knox community for ‘A Night with the Blokes’ - a space for a casual and honest conversation about the current man code and what tomorrow’s man might look like.

Throughout the night, we will explore how we can look after ourselves, our mates and families better while carving out our own version of the Aussie man.

Participants will leave this workshop with a deeper level of understanding and connectedness to their fellow men.

This event is open to all male members of the Knox community together with grandfathers, fathers, sons and brothers (under 16 must be accompanied by an adult male).

2019 OKGA A Night With The Blokes Invite

Register online here by Friday 25 October. 

Contact the OKGA Office on 9487 0419 or email okga@knox.nsw.edu.au if you have any questions.

For many years the Knox community have generously supported the STARTTS program. STARTTS is the acronym for the ‘NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors’.

The organisation provides a range of professional services to facilitate the healing process for refugees who have been exposed to torture and trauma, as well as access to health services for newly arrived refugees. The aim of the program at Knox is to provide your son with the opportunity to learn a little about the organisation and what it does, as well as to think about children of his own age who have had to cope with very real difficulties in their lives. It encourages the boys to think about demonstrating compassion in his life and how displaying that compassion is integral to our Christian compassion at Knox

The boys are asked to make a Christmas card for a child who is currently being assisted by the service. It would be wonderful if your son could provide a small Christmas gift ($10 in value) to which his card can eventually be attached.

The gifts should be handed to Room 19 by Tuesday 3 December. We intend to present the gifts to a guest speaker from STARTTS organisation that is coming to the school in the last week of term.

Please be aware that, in previous years, the gift from our boys has often been the ONLY gift these children have received. If possible, please wrap and label the gift indicating whether it is appropriate for a boy of girl.

We appreciate your support as always and hope that the boys will learn a great deal from their participation in this program.

For more information, please contact Mrs Helen Clarke.

Computer club takes place every Wednesday afternoon from 3:30 – 5:30PM.

Although we are currently working in the new innovations building, we are just about to move to the new iHub - old music block (which will occur on the 30 October)

Our focus for the term will be the Grok Code Quest competition which starts October 28th, 2019

All boys are welcome to attend.

For further information please contact Mr David McGowan.

Each year the Knox community supports those in need in the lead up to Christmas. We ask the Knox community to donate food for families who will struggle to provide for their families at Christmas. Please would each family to donate at least ONE item from the following list to help these families? Donations can be handed in to Room 19 or Mrs Clarke’s office (Room 15)

Suggested items:

Pasta & pasta sauce

Breakfast cereals (no nuts)

Long-life milk

Tinned ham and/or turkey

Long-life custard and/or canned cream

Christmas pudding/fruit cake and/or mince pies

Tinned tuna/salmon

Tea/Coffee/milo/hot chocolate/nesquik

Canned fruit

Cordial

Savoury snacks (no nuts)

Table trimmings (such as lollies, chocolate or Christmas bonbons)

In early December we arrange to the take all of the donations into Wesley Mission in the City for distribution to these struggling families.

Over the term break the following students conquered the infamous Kokoda track. Boys will be writing in their own words about their experience in upcoming newsletters. I am immensely proud the boys all managed so well and have all come back with a new found respect for the harsh environment and the men who survived it. Congratulations, Seb Bernard, Ryan Chen, Jack Hildebrand, Will Schmude, Jack Sheppard and Will Sneyd. 

Should your son be interested in joining this excursion next year, please click here.