May God give us the strength to faithfully plant the seed, and the patience to wait for the harvest. - Reverend Peter Robinson.

This week there was a new enthusiasm around the campus as many of the staff began returning to school to trial teaching some of their days at school online and some at home. Many of our boys too felt a renewed sense of direction and motivation as they settled into their schoolwork, sport and co-curricular activities remotely. The definite sense of seeing each of their peers in the coming weeks encouraged many to feel hopeful of seeing each other in person with a date on the calendar in the near future. 

In Chapel our Reverends have been sending through many messages of inspiration to both the boys and the staff. This week Reverend Peter reflected on his time as a farmer and inspired us with his words of hope for the boys and the impact of our staff continuing to be a presence with them during this time;

Many of us have the privilege of planting seeds in the lives of young people. Seeds of knowledge, seeds of faith, seeds of courage and wisdom, seeds of healthy living, resilience and so on. Of course, we can’t determine when or if those seeds will grow and bear fruit, but it is our task to faithfully plant those seeds to the very best of our ability. We can only pray that God will use our work to bring about an abundant harvest. 

During our year meeting on Monday, we opened with a message to the boys about connection and what it means to phone home using the movie classic, E.T. The key theme throughout the movie reminds us to stay connected with our colleagues, friends and family. We were also very lucky to be able to share a Year 10 boarder's perspective with Brian Lau’s video on what home is like from Hong Kong, and engaging with his passions of modelling, gaming and collectibles.

I hope that you are all able to connect with your family near and far this weekend and to each and every one of our mothers - enjoy a very Happy Mother’s Day. 

Margie Raymond

It is count down time until Year 10 are back at school learning on campus - yay! Thus far, dates for Year 10 are Monday 18 and Friday 22 May. As per the Headmaster's recent communications, please ensure full school winter uniform is worn. The students will have no access to their lockers, so just pack what is needed for the day - laptop, books required for the day's learning, recess and lunch (please note, canteens will not be open).

The Subject Selection Evening (part 1) for Year 11 2021 will be held on Monday 11 May at 6.30 pm. The evening will be conducted via a live stream. Access information to be sent through shortly.

Unfortunately, the link to the Parenting videos in last week's newsletter failed. Please click here to access and use the password: WellbeingSenior.

We have established a ‘Remote Learning Hub’ to provide students and parents with access to Frequently Asked Questions, videos, documents and resources during our period of online and remote learning. If you have any feedback, please email here.

Just a reminder the School’s library portal is available via KnoxNet for free access to a wide variety of information databases across all subjects. For Term 2, the library staff are all online to help students and parents and the online form on the library portal can be used to request assistance or you can contact the staff via email.

Wishing all our mums and grandmothers a very special day on Sunday - Happy Mother's Day.

Rebecca Smith
 

We are very excited to introduce a reimagined academic report for Years 7-10. These reports will be made available through Parent Lounge at the end of Week 3. The new report format will include:

• The Knox Learner Protocols assessment and reporting tool;
• A refreshed grade distribution table that highlights where your son sits within the SOA/letter grade;
• New executive summary and subject specific pages;
• An abbreviated guide to interpreting the report; and,
• Personalised questions you might use in conversations with your son about his academic report.

Please note: more information about the Learner Protocols will be released alongside the academic reports.

We will be offering three online ‘parent-breakfast’ style sessions about interpreting the new report in Week 4. These sessions (hosted via Zoom) will introduce the Learner Protocols in more depth, unpack the intent of reporting against the Knox Learner Protocols, discuss how to interpret the new executive summary and subject specific pages, and explain quartiles in relation to the task average and graphs in the report. We expect the session will take approximately 15 minutes.

Specific questions about interpreting your son’s report or the Knox Learner Protocols can be directed to your respective Director of Studies; subject-specific questions should be directed to your son’s classroom teacher.

If you would like to join one of the online sessions with the Directors of Studies for Stage 4 and 5, please use this link.

You will receive an email at the end of Week 3 with a link to the Zoom session. We recommend that you download the Zoom application on your device prior to the session and contact IT Helpdesk if you require assistance.

Re: Assessment tasks in the coming weeks
Please find the upcoming assessment tasks for Week 3 and 4 below for your convenience. Please refer to the assessment schedule and specific task notifications for more details.

WEEK 3: 11 - 15 May
History and WLF – Interdisciplinary weighted task

• The task will be administered on Thursday 14 May in Period 1 and 2 for all students.
• Please refer to the assessment notification provided this week (week 1) for specific details about the outcomes, the submission/completion details, and organisation.
• Students must join the assessment-specific Google Classroom for this task using the code: eudqcm2

WEEK 4: 18 - 22 May
Geography – Task 2

• The task has changed and will be administered on Thursday 21 May in Period 1 for all students.
• The task will be on-line based on fieldwork technique, Coastal Processes, Coastal management and evaluation of coastal management strategies.
• The syllabus outcomes assessed in this weighted task have changed; please refer to the assessment notifications in Week 2 for specific outcomes.

Music – Task 2

• Currently there are no changes to this assessment task.
• The task will be administered between Week 4 and Week 5.
• Please refer to the assessment notification 2 weeks prior to the task for specific details.

Design and Technology – Task 2

• The task has been swapped with AT3 and will be due on 22 May; a new due date for the swapped task will be advised in Term 3.
• Please refer to the assessment notification 2 weeks prior to the task for specific details.

Jake Plaskett

The bells will soon ring for school to begin.

And as we slowly emerge from the

Covid-19 curse we should reflect,

Are we better or worse from our social disperse.

Coming together again will broaden our smiles

to see our friends, at least for a while.

We've down the hard yards but we

must keep our distance to show this

wretch of a curse our strength and resilience.

You've done so well in this time

of despair supported by school, family

and friends of whom we all care.

Walk through the school gates and

say a small prayer for those at this 

time where life was unfair.

And when you return you can

be sure I'll be there, checking

your dress and in particular your hair.

Ian Mulray

With the staggered return to school over Weeks 3, 4 and 5 for all year groups, the co-curricular program has had to make some adjustments. Please download the PDF document here for all the information for students to continue to be involved in these exciting programs.

Year 11 and 12 students attending school next week are not required to be at school until 8.20am and therefore are encouraged to participate where possible for parts of any morning co-curricular. All other regular co-curricular programs will resume either in Term 3 or later in the year.

For any questions or concerns regarding the co-curricular program offered in Term 2, please feel free to contact me via email.

Chuck Ardron

Sunday 10 May

Mother's Day

Monday 11 May

Year 11 2021 Subject Selection evening (part 1) via a live stream, 6.30pm

Monday 18 May

Year 10 - learning on campus

Friday 22 May

Year 10 - learning on campus

Monday 8 June

Queen's Birthday - Public holiday

Friday 26 June

Term 2 concludes

Please note the commencement dates for Terms 3 and 4 have been brought forward slightly to add additional teaching days to help cover those which were lost at the end of Term 1.

• Term 3 start date – Monday 20 July 2020
• Term 4 start date – Monday 12 October 2020

Full term dates for 2020 and 2021 can be found here.

Winter uniform appointments
The Knox Uniform Shop is still operating on reduced operating times to assist customers that are unsure of sizing of winter uniform. The Uniform Shop will be open Saturday 9 May, 9am-12noon and then from 1pm-5pm on Monday 11 May, Wednesday 13 May, Friday 15 May. Note: we are running on a customer limited basis. Appointments are not required but we will only have two changing rooms operational so we ask parents and students to be patient as our team practise social distancing to keep our School community safe.

Whilst students continue to study online, they are permitted to wear their winter uniform if already purchased or their PDHPE/Sports uniform. When they are on campus, they are expected to wear the winter uniform.

Uniform is available to order online here if sizes are known and these orders can be collected on the dates above when we are open. Please disregard collection dates and times on the Flexischools app. Orders will not be delivered to the Prep School or Wahroonga Prep until Week 4.

Size charts are available online through the Flexischools website or the Knox app as a reference.

If orders cannot be collected during these times, orders can also be collected from Knox Reception during normal reception hours (8am-5pm weekdays). Please email the Uniform Shop to advise of your request.

From Monday 18 May, the Uniform Shop will resume normal operating times from Monday to Friday, 12.30pm-5pm. Please note we are not open on Saturday mornings during Terms 2 and 3.

Julie Blackburn

With the current restrictions, our SJ Club is now meeting on Zoom each Friday at 1pm (commencing this week). We are hosting guest speakers, exploring justice issues and presenting opportunities for volunteering. If your son would like to join in, please email Mrs Helen Clarke.

Welcome back to Term 2! On behalf of the Oratory team, I hope you all had a restful holiday and are excited about the term ahead.


This term we will be continuing our usual training and the Knox Debating Cup online via Google Classroom. Changes to the training schedule as well as Google Classroom links are updated on the Knox Debating Board

Registration
With every new term, boys must register for training and/or the Knox Debating Cup. The links to do so are below:

1)      Training

2)      Knox Debating Cup

Knox Debating Cup
The KDC starts in Week 2 at 5pm via Zoom. If you have not yet registered, please do so using the links above.


Knox Friendly Virtual Debating Competition
Unfortunately, both the ISDA and FED competitions have been cancelled for 2020. On the bright side, we have been able to create our own virtual competition to be held on Friday evenings this term! We had a successful match up against Pymble Ladies' College last week. A massive congratulations to the following victorious teams: Year 7 ISDA, Year 8 ISDA, Year 9 ISDA, ISDA Senior As, ISDA Senior Bs, Year 8 FED, Year 9 FED, FED Senior As, FED Senior Bs. Congratulations boys!

Leah Mercier - Oratory Coordinator

Senior students aged 12-15 years are invited to participate in the latest offering from Code Camp which starts on Tuesday 12 May. Students can learn JavaScript through online sessions when it suits them. Parents can book a spot by clicking here or see their flyer for more information.

Our beautiful new Boarders’ Terrace is now open and ready for our Boarders to enjoy when they return over the coming weeks.