This week the boys have showed incredible maturity in their approach to the Coronavirus. The boys have had a lot of communication regarding hygiene and hand washing and I would encourage you all to continue to have these conversations at home.

In the midst of this unprecedented virus, there have been some incredible achievements by some of our boys and I would like to take the time this week to acknowledge them. There is always the risk in highlighting some that I miss others. Please let me know if that is the case!

The 1sts Waterpolo team, consisting of an incredible six Year 10 boys, won the CAS Championship for the first time in Knox history. Congratulations to Aiden O’Neill, Harrison Miller, Xander Mercer, Jett Robens, Flynn Worner and Lucas Banfield for their tireless training, commitment and sportsmanship. The 1sts Tennis team, again consisting of a record breaking two Year 10 boys, won the CAS Championship. Congratulations to Aston Bloom and Nicholas Bigeni for ensuring the title was ours in their victory over Barker on the weekend. 

In Mountain Biking, our Knox riders finished first in the individual championships. Congratulations to Christian Martinez and Will Baigent for their gold medals!

As well as that, Fredy Yip Ye has been selected to participate in the International Maths Olympiad qualification. A phenomenal achievement. Well done, Fredy!

And in the Social Justice arena: Lachlan Hunt, Kade Watt, Sebastian Cook and Patrick Wagner all participated in the World's Greatest Shave. Collectively the school has raised over $26,000! Well done to these boys for their involvement.

And finally, to the CAS Swimmers and Divers who won the CAS Championships last night for the 4th year in a row! Well done, boys! I can’t help but make the link between our arrival in Year 7 and the subsequent victories….

Whilst I know that there are many more outstanding achievements out there that I may not know about, I am reminded every day at just how hard all of our boys are working across many arenas. The message we want to send to the boys is that effort and hard work pays off. Thank you to all parents for your support during the past week. Please feel free to be in touch if you have any questions. 

Vicky Cowell

Congratulations to the Battle of the Bands 2020 finalists. It was a great event, all the boys played very well and the end results were extremely close! 'Contagious', one of the Year 10 bands, include band members: Josh Darley, Alex Benson, James Phipson, Seb Cook, Flynn MacGregor and Will Cusack (Year 8) are through to the finals - (photo below).

Wishing our Mountain Bike team all the best down at Thredbo Inter-schools next week. The following Year 10 boys, have fun and enjoy the mountain air: Will Baigent, Oliver Glastonbury, Matthew Ifield, Christian Martinez, Jenson McIntosh, Josh Richter and Luca Taubenschlag.

The final day of the career interviews is Wednesday 18 March. There are a number of students who are yet to book their interview. We encourage these students to log into the PTO site to make a booking for a time during the final three days of the interview schedule. Mrs Gomez will contact those students who miss out on having an interview to organise a time to collect their reports from her. 

Congratulations to Ben Cairns, Benji Schroder and Brin Yeowell who have been busy performing for the Pymble Ladies' College musical, 'Fame'.

Just a reminder, that School photos can now be ordered via Melba Studios. The code to use is: KNOX. To order, you will require your son’s student ID number which is located on his student ID card. This is privacy protected so only you can view your son’s portrait.

Happy weekend.

Rebecca Smith: 9119 0882

Our current Prefect Executive group and Prefect body have put a strong emphasis on mental health awareness and literacy. They established ‘Mateship, Service and Culture’ as their three focus areas for 2020 and have set about providing initiatives to promote these ideals.

To that end, we have been working with Gotcha4Life and Head Above Water to create a unique and meaningful Knox community event. The Knox Head Above Water 12 Hour Swimathon/Challenge, based on the original 24 hour version of Head Above Water that now runs annually at Collaroy, will take place on Sunday 29 March from 6am - 6pm in the Knox Aquatic Centre. We are hoping to raise awareness and some money for these wonderful organisations whilst proactively promoting our own Total Fitness model.

Our Total Fitness model and current emphasis on ‘Mateship’ is synonymous with the mission statement of Gotcha4Life:

"Gotcha4Life was established because we do not accept the alarming statistics surrounding suicide in Australia, with eight people taking their life every day.

We believe in the power of prevention through connection and champion the idea of proactively building mental fitness and the resilience required to deal better with the challenges that life throws at us.

We trust the concept of starting meaningful conversations by developing better social and emotional connections with mates, family and community."

Gotcha4Life is a not-for-profit Foundation raising awareness of the importance of identifying a close friend in your life, someone you can speak openly and honestly to when times are tough. We fund educational workshops and innovative training programs throughout Australia that build mental fitness in individuals and communities to activate strong, open and binding relationships.

The founder of Gotcha4Life is media personality Gus Worland (OKG86). Gus will be presenting to the School at Assembly on Thursday next week to speak to the values and desired outcomes of Gotcha4Life together with promoting this first time Knox event. Head Above Water is an activity based fundraising group which supports Gotcha4Life as a registered charity. Its founder, Andrew Ward, established this group as a result of having to rely upon others in order to deal with some extremely challenging and unforeseen issues in his own life.

We will be asking current Knox students, their friends and families, Knox Old Boys and other CAS/local schools to register and get involved with this fun and community oriented inaugural event. With the option to register and/or donate, we hope that all members of the extended Knox community will participate and show their support.

You can register according to your swimming ability and there will be relays for those interested between 1pm and 2pm, as per the registration portal. There will be a BBQ, music and other activities running throughout the day as well, with a short post event function at 6.15pm.

Registration is $20 as an individual (you register for a half an hour time slot) and $40 per relay team of four (team captains to register and pay for their team on the registration portal). Those that register will receive a Knox Head Above Water swim-cap when they sign in on the day.

To register or donate click here and please email me should you have any questions about the event.

Sam White

Saturday 28 March

This Earth Hour #Switchoff, 8.30pm

Sunday 29 March

Head Above Water, 12 hour challenge

Thursday 2 April

AFX commences

Saturday 4 April

Year 10 expedition

Thursday 9 April

Term 1 concludes

Tuesday 28 April

Term 2 commences

The Science Department is organising participation in the Big Science Competition this year. 
An email was sent to all parents and students at the start of the week with relevant information attached.

The Big Science Competition is mandatory for all Years 7-10 da Vinci Science students.
Any student who is in a Years 7-10 Core class and wishes to participate in this competition is required to self-nominate.

All parents must accept their son’s participation in this competition through Parent Lounge by Tuesday 31 March.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Ingrid Tuktens

The Uniform Shop will be holding a $5 donation flash sale on Monday 16 March for one week only. This will include most second hand uniform items that have been donated by parents or have been in second hand for over two years.

If you have any items of uniform you would like to donate please ensure they are clean and in good condition.  Drop them off to the Uniform Shop at 10 Borambil Street from Thursday 12 March.

Due to hygiene reasons we cannot accept socks, bags or hats.

All proceeds of items sold will be donated to the Rural Relief Program nominated by Mrs Helen Clarke. This program offers financial assistance to families that live in rural communities that have been impacted by drought and bush fires. 

Please see attached important information regarding the 2020 Student Residential Address and Other Information notice. 

Winter uniform
As we approach the halfway mark of the first term we would like to remind all parents that Term 2 changes over into winter uniform. For further information on what the changes are, please refer to the Uniform Policy which is available on the Knox portal here. We strongly recommend purchasing the winter uniform earlier rather than later. Do not wait until the last week of the holidays as we cannot guarantee the sizes that will be available.

Special orders
Any special requirements regarding winter uniform items should be discussed with Uniform Shop staff as soon as possible. Occasionally, we have students that have allergies/sensitivity to wool and in these instances, time permitting, we can get winter trousers lined and jumpers made in a cotton/nylon blend. As these are special orders we need four weeks' notice for the trousers and up to eight weeks for the knitwear.

Other instances include if your son is not a standard size (for example, very tall but slim and may require extra length or he may be of a more solid frame like a Rugby player) then the standard sizes may be disproportional.

Please contact the Uniform Shop on 9487 0191 or email us.

Mrs Julie Blackburn, Knox Uniform Shop Manager

For the past 12 years the Knox community has been supporting the Wesley Mission each Easter with gifts of Easter eggs and pots of noodles for Sydney’s homeless. This small gesture for those who are struggling and isolated brings a lot of joy and appreciation.

Please bring your donations along to the SAOs or to Room 15 (Mrs Helen Clarke in the Social Justice Office).  

Calvin and Christiaan flew home to Canada on Friday. The boys have had a fabulous time in Australia and have really enjoyed their time at Knox especially being able to play Basketball for the School. They have made lots of new Australian friends and spent lots of time at the beach and the harbour and meeting our friendly furry animals (and not so friendly ones). We wish you all the best Calvin and Christiaan.

Below from left: Christiaan, Josh Richter, Calvin and Rex Dennis.

Team Dennis/Richter spent an exciting Sunday afternoon on the Richter’s boat.

Congratulations to the Knox CAS chess team who were crowned CAS Chess Champions for the third year in a row against perennial rivals Trinity. Knox winning The CJS Purdy trophy. Shervin Erfanian and Jimmy Samuel-Gray make up part of the Intermediate Chess team.