As a way of example, the service learning program encourages young men to work within the wider community to assist others. Many of the programs are conducted with neighbouring girls' schools, giving boys the opportunity to interact in a respectful and supportive way. I continually see young men stepping up and taking on leadership roles, often heading community service programs or serving as mentors to younger students. Service learning programs, combined with the experiences of performing in the orchestra, playing on the Football team, attending worship or performing in a musical, affords lessons in faith, wisdom, integrity, compassion and courage.

Above all else, Knox Total Fitness is a relationship-based education model that not only enhances the learning process, but it also contributes to a boy’s growing sense of belonging and connection to his school. This connection of “brotherhood” extends to a broader community called the OKGA (Old Knox Grammarians' Association) – alumni who stand ready to positively support our young men now and in the future.

Scott James

Congratulations to the following Year 11 students who took part in Doing da Vinci day. First place - Hamish Saddington, AJ Jubb, Edmond Wu, Chun Kwan Chen, David Wang, Alexander Apostolou, Oliver Sved and Justin Lee. Second place - Swairatwa Roy, Kevin Yoo, Andy Zhang, Simran Fardin, Justin Wang, Ryan Xia and Nathan Tsui. Well done to you all.

Mock Mediation
On Tuesdays at 3.30pm in MO403 Knox is running an introduction session and training for those interested in Mock Mediation (also known as Negotiation). Mediation involves students being given a dispute and are given an hour to workshop an agreement between two aggrieved parties - combining legal and social elements in situations such as high profile divorces, a fall out between company founders or an instances where a party has publicly defamed another.

Mock Trial
On Wednesdays at 3.30pm in MO403 Knox is running Mock Trial for students who are new to the program where they gameplay a criminal trial - cross examining witnesses and grappling with contradictory evidence in the pursuit of winning the case for their client. Please contact Ms Walker if you have any questions.

If your son has his licence and would like to drive to school, please ensure the Student Drivers' form is completed and returned to me. Once approved, students will be notified by email. A register will be kept for all students driving to school.

Easter eggs and noodle donations
Easter is fast approaching and as we do every year we share the joy with those less fortunate. When you are next at the shops, please buy some pots of noodles and Easter eggs to share with the homeless in the city. This gives them a hot meal and a little bit of care at Easter time. Please leave your donations with me.

Have a lovely weekend.

Rebecca Smith

Our Mountain Biking squads also enjoyed a great season – albeit a little unusual due to COVID-19 restrictions and a shortened season. In the Juniors, Hudson Rowling finished 3rd overall after unfortunately missing the final round. The consistency of Brad Manns showed through to finish 4th overall, just in front of Christian Lane in 5th. As a result of our overall depth and growth in numbers in the Juniors, Knox were able to take out the winning school in the Juniors! In the Intermediates, Sean Williams finished 2nd overall, despite missing one out of the three rounds to in order to participate in a Triathlon event! Knox’s next best rider was Lucas Saxby, who has another year next year in the Intermediates, in 12th and Luke Marles in 14th. In the Seniors, a late charge from Will Baigent over the weekend, saw him just pip Jackson Young to win the overall Seniors Championship. Our depth of key riders in this age group, including Christian Martinez (5th overall), Finn Kane (7th overall), Jenson McIntosh (8th overall), saw Knox take out the winning school in the Seniors as well! Overall, we are proud to announce that Knox took out the overall Schools Championship, finishing on 593 points, in front of Riverview on 445 points and Barker on 291 points!

The Knox Baseball team have wrapped up 2nd place at the conclusion of the round matches after a tied game against the current 1st place team, St Pat's on the weekend. The Knox team that consists of Years 11 and 10 students, will look to continue their successful season when they play 3rd place in the first week of the finals this coming Saturday. The winner of this match will face St Pat's in the Grand Final on Saturday 20 March. All the best to our Baseballers for the upcoming finals series.

Table Tennis has just one week remaining and we remain in first position. I will confirm final placing next week but would like to wish those boys and staff the very best for this coming round.

Knox First teams - Cricket (=3rd place), Tennis (2nd place) and Volleyball (2nd place) all enjoyed much success over the summer and must be congratulated for the way the boys played and conducted themselves. The KSAA could not be happier or more proud of the efforts of all boys across all sports and we aim to bring this same attitude, spirit and sportsmanship into the winter season. Thanks also to our dedicated coaches who strive to help your boys enjoy their sport and push the boys to improve every week.

Our Knox Golf team came so close also to their first win in the School Summer Golf Competition. Just one putt/point/match separated Knox from winning – and this should spur the boys on to a huge season next summer. Bad luck boys but well done on a great season.

Congratulations
The following eight boys have been selected in the CAS Basketball season:

CAS 1sts
• Keanu Goehring (Y12)
• Matthew Pain (Y11)
• Mitch Smith (Y12)
• Liam Puncher (Y12)

CAS 2nds
• James Steel (Y11)
• Rourke Voyzey (Y12)
• Henri Day (Y11)
• Tyler Arndt (Y12)

CAS Swimming and Diving



Last night, our amazing Swim and Dive team competed in the CAS Championships at Homebush. This event is one of the real highlights in the sports calendar and our boys were sensational. Nine records were broken and numerous PBs as our coaches had the boys primed for this one big night. The swimmers were crowned CAS Champions for the fifth consecutive year (34 CAS titles in total!) whilst our brave divers came 3rd overall.



A full report will be detailed next week for all to read. Well done and congratulations on such a powerful, dominant performance. A number of swimmers are now at a level where the Tokyo Olympics is a realistic dream. Incredible!



In Diving, Knox was placed third overall, with Barker College winning the competition. The top performing Knox divers were Luke Baker (4th in the Opens) and Lara Manuel (4th in Intermediate).

Four Knox Divers have qualified for the Combined Independent Schools Championships - Brad Manns, Luke Baker, Ryan Manuel and Lukas Puhl.

Lara Manuel, a Year 4 student at Knox’s co-educational campus Wahroonga Prep, broke new ground as the first girl ever to compete for Knox Grammar.

Week 8 should see a full week of winter sport training and trials and more information can be found for each respective sport on the Knox app.

COVID-19 updates
There has been further easing of some restrictions recently regarding schools and COVID-19. The School will communicate exactly how sport and entering facilities will look heading into Term 2. We will detail how many spectators may enter each facility, QR code process and any other relevant information such as food outlets and functions.

As always, if you have any queries as we transition into the new winter season, please do not hesitate to email Sport. 

Martin Haywood

For example, if a student receives a disappointing mark on a test, an unhelpful thought might be:

“I will never get into the course I want”.

It is not a fact that a disappointing mark in one test means that they will not get into the course they want – the student is catastrophising, and jumping to conclusions.

An alternative, helpful thought might be:

“I would like to do better next time – I will seek feedback, learn from this and keep striving towards my goals”.

This is more realistic – acknowledges the issue but keeps it in perspective, and allows the student to grow from the experience.

Researchers have identified a range of different unhelpful thinking styles, that are common to many of us. Examples include:

All or Nothing Thinking ~  “If it’s not perfect, I can’t hand it in"

Personalisation (taking things personally) ~ “It’s all my fault”

Jumping to Conclusions ~ eg. Assuming we know what someone is thinking

Catastrophic Thinking ~ Thinking that the worst will happen; “What if” worries

It is so important to ALWAYS THINK TWICE. If you notice signs of unhelpful thinking, encourage your son to question his thoughts, look for the facts or the reality in the situation, and support him to take a different perspective.

As always, please feel free to contact us if you would like more information or you have concerns about your son.

Melinda Price

Normal Mentall Ill-Health
It’s normal for adolescents to experience mental health challenges. Research tells us that approximately 30% of boys will be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder before the age of 18, and 14% will experience a period of depression (Reis et al., 2010). Over our lifetimes, it is estimated that 45% of all Australians will go through at least one period of mental ill-health. While not all of our students will experience a period of mental ill-health themselves, its highly likely that they have a friend or a family member who has.

Given this prevalence, there is an argument to be made that we should think of mental health issues, and needing extra help as being 'normal'. Each year, only 3-11% of the population will get the flu, yet we would comfortably say it is normal to get the flu at some point. It is not appropriate to feel ashamed or to be judged as weak if we get the flu. When we recognise that we are unwell, it is common sense to take some time to pull back on usual responsibilities, stressors and work, so that we can look after ourselves and allow others to care for us and check in on us and help get us back on our feet. Eventually we start feeling better. It is normal that we don’t stay sick – we do get through illness. Just like the flu, with the right treatment and a bit of TLC and time, the symptoms of mental ill-health ease and we get back to being well – and probably wiser, and more sensitive for the experience.

With any illness, friends and family are so important in providing support and comfort. Sometimes it is wise to consult an expert. Students can speak to a Knox Psychologist anytime during the term. Families can also seek a psychologist outside of school (see this helpful website here). A psychologist can listen and talk with students, work on appropriate strategies, and help them through difficult times.

Eliza Lindus, Provisional Psychologist

Opening the evening was the Year 7 Wind Band. This 64-piece under the direction of Mr Brice, displayed exceptional energy, musical dedication, commitment and focus.

Making their debut, our newly formed 42-piece Year 8 Concert Band also performed four pieces. Under the direction of Mr Power, they displayed tremendous diversity across a breadth of musical styles and genres.

Our 76-piece Knox Concert Band under the direction of Mr Power, performed their four piece Nationals performance program in celebration of the past six weeks together concluding with a rousing finale of 'Sempre Fidelis' by John Philip Sousa, complete with section features!

To close the evening was our renowned 64-piece Symphonic Wind Ensemble under the direction of Mr Brice. With stand-out performances from all soloists and ensemble members, the performances of 'Danzon No. 2' by Mexican composer Arturo Marquez and Warren Barker’s arrangement of ‘The Symphonic Gershwin’ certainly left our audience and performers delighted.

Please note these upcoming events for your diary:
• Tuesday 4 May - Orchestral Night at the Proms - Knox In Concert Festival Part 2
• Thursday 6 May - Jazz Café - Knox In Concert Festival Part 3
• Sunday 6 June - Mid-Winter Choral Festival - Knox In Concert Festival Part 4

James Brice, Head of KAPA

Tuckshop volunteers will be required to adhere to the following COVID-19 requirements:

• Do not attend if unwell, even with the mildest of symptoms
• Sign in at main reception, 2 Borambil Street, prior to meeting a Sodexo Supervisor in the Middle Academy Canteen
• Gloves, hair net and apron to be worn - provided by Sodexo
• Face mask to be worn – please bring your own
• Practise good hygiene (hand sanitisation etc.)
• Maintain a physical distance of 1.5m from other adults
• Comply with food safety requirements as instructed by Sodexo

All volunteers are also asked to please read and comply with the Knox Volunteer Code of Conduct.

If you have any questions about volunteering in the tuckshops, please contact Caron Suleyman, Senior School Tuckshop Convenor.

Second Chance Appeal
Seeking donations of good quality clothing for the Second Chance Appeal; an initiative of Parramatta Mission and the Thread Harvest. Your clothing will be recycled to support the many projects for people in need in the Parramatta areas. Please deliver any good quality clothing to Room 15 (Mrs Clarke’s Office) or the SAOs.

Easter eggs and noodle donations
Each year, we collect Easter eggs and pots of noodles for the homeless in the city. This gives them a hot meal and a little bit of care at Easter time. Please leave your donations with the SAOs or Mrs Clarke. 

Helen Clarke, Head of Diversity Justice and Stewardship