Young people have the capacity to lead. They are not constrained by ego, time, place, or limitation. Unfortunately, it can be adults who place limits on them. We must remind ourselves that the foundations of leadership are being nurtured during the formative years through a young person’s relationships and life experiences.

Schools are in a fortunate position to nurture leadership in young people. At Knox, student leadership and emotional growth are a strong focus. Young men and boys have many opportunities to attain leadership roles during their time at Knox, perfecting their leadership skills in specific areas of personal interest or challenge. I am constantly amazed at the care and support young students receive from older boys through peer-support groups and activities such as sport, co-curricular pursuits, outdoor education and performing arts.

If we want our young men and boys to become future leaders, we must teach them how to be quality people and allow them to live their own lives. Let young people learn from their mistakes and grow more resilient from the challenges faced and overcome.

Tomorrow’s leadership depends upon young people having a team, including family and school, both sharing common values and striving to instil those values through positive relationships. As part of the ‘team’, Knox supports students to find their own influence, eventually developing a confident voice and a capacity to act in the world and a willingness to lead others.

Knox Anzac Service and Parade
This Sunday 2 May our Cadet Unit will come together for the annual Knox Anzac Service and Parade. This important event for our School community reflects on the sacrifices of our servicemen and women, in particular our Old Boys.

Anzac Day has always been an important part of life at Knox; the day was Knox Grammar School’s first public outing in 1924. The first Knox Anzac Service was held in 1931.

This year's Knox Anzac Service and Parade on Sunday 2 May is limited to invited guests only (due to COVID-19 capacity limits). We sincerely apologise for any disappointment.

The service will be live streamed from 8.30am at www.knox.nsw.edu.au/anzac. If you are unable to attend in person this year, please join us online on Sunday for our Anzac commemoration. Lest We Forget.

Scott James

CASE Ocean School
CASE Ocean School is a new Australian study program providing students with an all-encompassing STEAM experience focusing on marine biology, ocean ecology, cutting-edge research, and technologies. Delivered using real-life content, CASE Ocean School focuses on building student’s personal leadership and development skills by improving higher order and critical thinking skills. This program provides the opportunity for students to work with experts in their field, explore the wealth of the ocean and learn beyond the classroom in beautiful environment.

There will be two programs run in 2022 - the junior program in July 2022 and the senior program in September 2022.

If your son has further interest in this program, click here to find out more information and submit your expression of interest.

Karen Yager

Following on from that, we were able to spend some valuable time with the boys this week introducing them to the theme of our Mentor Program this term: Purpose, Character and the impact on their Careers. On Wednesday, we spoke to the boys about trying to identify their purpose to use as a motivator to achieve their personal best. We spoke and shared stories about life being a journey, the importance of character and perseverance and the many life lessons learnt along the way. We were privileged to hear from different staff reflecting on their own career journey and how ultimately reflecting on what they were good at, what they loved doing and the sort of environment they loved being in shaped the career path they are on now. We know that once the boys find this sense of purpose, they will be more intrinsically motivated to work hard to achieve their goals.

This was followed up by a powerful presentation from Rear Admiral Lee Goddard. Lee spoke to the boys about his journey; highlighting character, commitment and competence as being key to their paths moving forward. As well as this he spoke to the importance of living to one’s values and purpose and provided the boys with some thinking points and challenges moving forward. A moment that resonated with me was when he reminded the boys how privileged the boys were to be at a school like Knox, but asked the boys not to take that privilege with them but to rather emerge with a sense of service. We are hoping to make a recording of this presentation available to all boys and parents soon.

We are hoping that through the Mentor program this term we are able to help guide some boys who may be struggling to work out their options post school and ultimately remind the boys that there will be many failures before there will be success but it is the character and perseverance that you show along the way that will define you.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and please don’t hesitate to get in touch if need be.

Vicky Cowell 

Photos
On Friday 7 May, the School is doing its annual Grammarian photos for Sons, Grandsons, Great Grandsons of Knox Old Boys. This photo will be taken at 8.15am and any student who qualifies to be in the photo is asked to be on Knox 1 by 8am in full winter school uniform less the boater. If it is raining on the day the photo will be moved into the Great Hall.

The following photos will be taken on the day as well:

7.30am - Boarding Years 11 and 12
7.45am - Whole of Boarding
8.15am - Sons/Grandsons/Great Grandsons of Old Boys
8.30am - Cadets (CUOs, all Year 12 cadets and sergeants Years 11 and 12) and Pipes and Drums

Please don't forget your student ID cards.

Knox Flix is on!
If you have a story to tell, and a camera – even a phone will do, put a team together and have a go. 'It’s good for you' is, in fact, the theme for this year’s competition. All films must include the line 'It’s good for you' in some way – spoken, sung or as text. All details are in the Invitation, including a link to the registration form. Happy Film Making! For more information, please click here.

Enjoy the sunshine and have a lovely weekend.

Rebecca Smith

We have encouraged the boys to consider the following three points:

• Recall the dates, requirements and expectations for each assessment this term;
• Outline a study plan for each subject including preparation for the assessment task this term;
• Summarise the priorities that need to be addressed.

Important date:

• Year 11 Semester 1 report published Thursday 27 May (Week 6B)

Greg Nunan and Beth Goddard

Following on from last term’s focus on finding a sense of purpose and then building your life around that, the themes for the next nine weeks are centred around:

• Life is a journey and it can take varied, sometimes unexpected courses.
• Your character (harnessing your strengths and personality traits), ability to preserve, relationships & goals will see you through, not academic attainment alone.
• Each boy is in a privileged position to take advantage of the opportunities offered by Knox - both academic and otherwise, to forge a meaningful life ahead.

To that end, we had Rear Admiral Lee Goddard present to the boys on Thursday. This was an incredible address that focused on the themes above. Rear Admiral Goddard was able to share with the cohort that he had learnt far more from his many mistakes than from his successes and that dedication to fulfilling and working to one’s self-identified purpose and values; in his case, commitment, competence and character, will lead to incredible satisfaction and self-worth. I will share the recording of this presentation with the cohort once I receive it.

Additionally, in my other role as Head of Student Leadership, I will be presenting with Mr O’Regan to the Class of 2022 in a few weeks’ time on the Prefect selection and application process. I will continue to stress that every student in this year group, whether selected/interested or not, will have the capacity to lead and act as role models by default as senior students of Knox. Our opt-in Portfolio Leadership Team model allows for every student to have the chance to lead and work with others and to develop as people and leaders and I would strongly encourage as many of our young men as possible to take advantage of this opportunity.

We look forward to providing more information on upcoming programs that we will be running in collaboration with Tomorrow Man, Moneyvest Financial Education and Your Choicez in the coming weeks. It has also been fantastic to see so many Year 11 students partake in our Positive Relationships Group with Pymble Ladies' College, starting last term. We will be having our second meeting in Week 4 and I would encourage others that are interested to get involved. This is a great chance to work with young women of the same age on issues and initiatives centred around healthy and respectful interactions and relationships.

I hope you have a great weekend and please be in touch should you have any questions about Student Development, Leadership or Wellbeing in the Senior Academy.

Sam White

Week 5
• 20 May - UTS Faculty of Science Breakfast Seminar – 7am, WSA Lecture Theatre

Week 6
• 25 May - Knox Careers Night – Great Hall – from 5.30pm. Knox students and parents and members of the local community are welcome to attend.
• 27 May - UNSW Faculty of Engineering Breakfast Seminar – 7am, WSA Lecture Theatre

Week 7
• 31 May - UTS – lunch time, WSA Lecture Theatre
• 2 June - Bon University – lunch time, WSA Lecture Theatre

Week 8
• 7 June – Careers in Science online seminar (zoom) – 6pm
• 10 June - Co-op and Scholarships – lunch time, WSA Lecture Theatre

Knox Careers Hub
There are a number of free resource guides available on the Careers Hub for students and parents to download (eg: Early Entry Guide, Guide to Medicine). In order to download these guides for free, you will need to ensure you have firstly created an account (using the school code of KNOX20). Once the account is created, you will need to ensure you are logged into the Careers Hub in order to access the guides. A reminder that important messages are posted on the Careers Hub, so I encourage students and parents to check for new messages on a weekly basis.

Linda Gomez

2. Developing a strong culture is by design and not by default – you need to work on it and create it. In order to do this, you need to encourage the behaviours, symbols and systems you need to meet the outcomes.
• Behaviours – what you do. “I can’t hear what you say, who you are is too loud!” If your actions don’t match your words and who you stand for, it doesn’t mean anything.
• Symbolism – involves visuals that show that you belong to something, you are part of a tribe e.g. the importance placed on the Wallabies jersey. You have the responsibility to leave the jersey in a better position than how you found it.

3. Leaders must have composure – this is all about faith.
• Have faith in yourself – be confident that you have worked as hard as you can to be as good as you can be.
• Have faith in your teammates around you – know your teammates and know their strengths and weaknesses. Where they are strong, push them to lead. Where they are weak, put your arm around them and support them.
• Have faith in the system and plan.

4. Leaders must be resilient. Resilient people are those who know that what they are going through is not permanent, is not pervasive into every part of their life and it is not personal.

5. Leaders don’t have to be perfect. You are going to make mistakes. Making mistakes and learning from them shows vulnerability and, in fact, increases your credibility as a leader. If you’re not making mistakes, you aren’t trying hard enough as you are staying in your comfort zone! Focus on what is in front of you, learn from what is behind you.

6. Have conversations with people when it doesn’t matter (at training, at school, in the corridors), gives you the right to have conversations with people when it does matter, when everything is on the line.

Snow Sports: Nominations Closing
Snow Sport Regional Interschools nominations are now open. The competition registration form and all other Snow Sports Information is accessible via the Knox app. Ensure that you are subscribed to Snow Sports. Regional Interschools run from 28 June to 2 July with students able represent Knox through the Interschools Competition Pathway.

Saturday helpers
As always, the help behind the scenes from parents makes all the difference to a great experience for our players and guests each Saturday. It takes a lot of the stress away from our staff who can spend more time and focus on the players. It does not go unnoticed and is greatly appreciated. This is a call out from Football and Rugby for any parents that could help on one or two weekends on a BBQ or in the canteen. We are desperately short of helpers and need some volunteers, please.

If you can help, please contact the following sports and mention your son's year group:
Football 
Rugby 

Doctor on site
Reminder to all parents that we will have a doctor available on Knox 1 from 11am this Saturday. Our Doctor is available to help any Knox student across all age groups including Prep boys, and across any sport with any serious injury. I hope this offer saves many hours waiting at the local hospital. Our Doctor then returns to the Senior School each Monday morning from 7am (until 9am) for follow up.

CIS Swimming and Diving event
Congratulations to our Swimming and Diving team who continued their pathway to All Schools representation. Our Swimmers won a total of 31 Gold, 8 Silver and 5 Bronze medals and set 10 New CIS Records. Incredible! For all the results, please refer to the Knox app.

Our three Knox Divers representing CAS were just as impressive resulting in Luke Baker (Y11) selected to progress to NSW All Schools with his third place. Well done, Luke.

Week ahead
Whilst the majority of First teams will play Trinity Grammar, most Rugby teams will play Shore. Our 1st XV would like to invite everyone along to Knox 1 and enjoy the atmosphere and momentum created at Bankwest Stadium last Saturday night.

As always, if you have any questions regarding sport, please do not hesitate to email Sport.

Go the Black & Blue!

Martin Haywood

Here are the key points covered in Year Meeting:

• That feeling of ‘stress’ is a normal, healthy emotion
• Some level of stress is good and helpful – it helps motivate us to study and prepare, and to be focused for exams. Use it!
• The challenge is to keep balance and perspective

If the stress feels like it is getting in the way and causing problems, consider:

1.Is there a real problem that needs to be solved?
• e.g. Too many external commitments? Problems understanding content? Interruptions in the work space?

2. How are you coping with the impact of the stress?
• Do you need to do something differently?
• Consider Body symptoms; Thoughts; Actions
Do something to help yourself in these areas:
e.g. Body: Practise slow breathing / regular exercise
Thoughts: Keep them helpful and realistic
Actions: Stop procrastinating, break tasks into small steps.

A special note about THOUGHTS:

• The way we think is directly linked with the way we feel and what we do
• Stress is often caused by unhelpful, negative thoughts
• When you have stress related thoughts – consider whether they are realistic – ask yourself what are the facts? What is the evidence for my thought?
And What would I tell a friend if they had the same thought?

Feel free to contact me at the Wellbeing centre if needed or email psychologistsreception@knox.nsw.edu.au.

Melinda Price

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.

We will also be taking an ‘Expression of Interest’ for a five-week refresher course to run the second half of Term 2 for anyone who has completed the seven-week course previously.

Availability of places is dependent upon a first come first served basis. All students who miss out on a place in Term 2 will be placed on the waiting list for Term 3, 2021.

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

Wesley Mission Food Drive
Wesley Mission are asking for food staples to support the many families in Sydney that are struggling to pay bills and providing food for their family. They are seeking donations of long life milk, cereals (no nuts please), tea, coffee, cans of meat, tuna etc., savoury biscuits and healthy snacks suitable for school lunches. Please send in your donations to the SAOs or leave them in my office in Room 15.

Youth Off The Streets
The Social Justice Club is supporting one of the initiatives of Youth Off The Streets. There are many young people in Sydney who cannot afford the basic supplies to attend school. We are seeking the following donations to support this initiative and these may be left with the SAOs or in my office.

Art Supplies
Canvases, Paint, Paint Brushes, Art Paper, Sketching Pads, Sketching Pencils.

TAS
Large Paint Brushes, Water Based Paints (to paint outdoor furniture for TAS Projects).

General Stationery
Slim Wallet Folders (display folders), Double Sided Tape (to hang pictures), Blu Tac, Blue Pens, Black Pens, Black Pencil Cases (large with letter inserts to spell student names), Copy Paper, 12 x A4 Display Folders (for resumes), Plastic Zip Up Folders (A3 and A4), Clear Plastic (thick) Document Protector Sleevs (A4), Sticky Page Tags.

Toiletries
Hand Wash, Hand Cream, Hand Lotion, Shampoo, Conditioner, Toothbrush, Toothpaste. Please note that all items can be small. No need for large bottles. An example of size may be the shampoo and conditioner bottles from hotels).

Shoes for the Philippines - last chance
We are collecting school shoes in good condition (small sizes for children up to age 14) and clothing in small sizes. COVID-19 has had a huge impact on the communities around Manilla and the need is greater than ever. Please deliver any shoes or clothing to the SAOs.

Knox Environmental and Sustainability Team (KEST)
KEST is a group of Knox boys who are all passionate about the environment and achievable sustainability. They meet once a fortnight with the aim to improve sustainability around the School through recycling and other initiatives. To learn more about KEST, please click here.

Helen Clarke, Head of Diversity Justice and Stewardship

You may like to volunteer your time to cover the whole exam period, part of the exam period or you may prefer to be an emergency scribe for those inevitable sporting injuries the day before an exam. Either way, we would love to hear from you. Availability during the working week is obviously paramount and parents can only volunteer for students whom are not in their child’s year.

If you would like to consider assisting the School in this very meaningful way, please email Rebecca Papageorgiou in the Learning Enhancement Department or phone 9487 0470 for further information.