The year of 2020 is unlikely to be forgotten in a hurry with the World Health Organisation now declaring the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. Please rest assured that Knox is continuing to communicate with the authorities and our neighbouring schools so that we can make the best decisions for the well-being of our students, and will continue to communicate with our parent body. Our students and parents should feel confident that we will rise to meet the challenges that may present in the ensuing months. Our staff are currently being trained to teach online in the event of the potential closure of the School. Thank you all for your support in this uncertain time, the well-being of the boys and their families are our priority.

What a terrific night last night at the CAS Swim and Dive Championship! Champions for the fourth year in a row! The 80 Year 12 boys making up the Tartan Army sounded like 800 as they supported our swimmers and divers with their impressive war cries. Congratulations to our two Year 12 divers, James Riordon and Ollie Ritchie who had a great meet cheered on by their peers. The swimming was outstanding and a highlight was the final relay of the night swum by Oscar Wang, Josh Johnson, Ashton Smith and Tyson Bujak-Upton. Oscar and Josh swam beautifully, then Ashton took 1.5s off his personal best to stay close enough to Trinity for Tyson to beat the last swimmer in the final few strokes. A very exciting race!  It is always incredible to see the relays and to witness how individual performances lift when boys are competing for others. A good link to the performance in the HSC and social learning theory! What a fantastic achievement from all competitors, the Year 12 Tartan Army and their peers who welcomed them back to the Senior’s Hall with loud cheering, music and a slightly out of control mosh pit. The boys said last night 'This is a night we will remember for the rest of our lives'. These boys continue to make lasting memories which is wonderful to see. 

Another highlight this week was the World’s Greatest Shave. A huge congratulations to all the boys who participated, and especially to our Headmaster Mr James, who was brave enough to take part.  Over $27,000 was raised for the Leukemia Foundation. Thank you to Pat Hogan for organising this fantastic event.

What a week!  Have a restful weekend with lots of hand washing!

Beth Goddard

Robin Cherry 9119 0884

Year 12 Half Yearly reports will be available online on Friday 20 March. This report will display the SOA grade achieved in those subjects they have studied that have finalised the mark for the task.

There will also be a subject APA. In addition there will be a mentor comment and recognition of co-curricular activities for term 4 2019 and term 1 2020. There will not be a subject teacher comment in this report.

Parent- Student-Teacher interviews will be conducted for Year 12 on Monday 23 March 2020. Interviews will be held in the Great Hall, starting at 3.30pm. For these interviews, we are using the internet-based booking system called Parent Teacher On-Line (PTO).  You will receive a link via email this afternoon. The booking system will open at 8am on Monday 16 March. The boys will receive some instruction in Year meeting next week around how they can make the most of the night via their student reflection sheet completed in each of their subjects and using their insights from this to lead the conversation around how they can lift their performance moving forward.

Andrew Weeding and Greg Nunan

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 between 6am and 6pm on Sunday the 29th of March 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 (please see below):

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 Gus Worland, media personality and Knox Old Boy. Gus will be presenting to the School at our 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 1 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.

Please register and/or donate here and email me should you have any questions about the event.

Kind regards,

Mr Sam White

Thursday 19 March to Saturday 21 March

• 'The Importance of Being Earnest' performances.

Monday 23 March

• Year 12 Parent Morning Tea

        10.30am - Great Hall Foyer

• Year 12 Parent Teacher Evening 

        Great Hall - Times to be advised

Tuesday 24 March

• Engineers Australia Careers Presentation

        12.50pm to 1.30pm

        WSA Lecture Theatre

 Thursday 2 to Thursday 9 April  

• AFX Cadet Camp

Early in the term, the boys were introduced to the Worlds Greatest Shave, which aims to raise funds and awareness for both cancer research and treatment. A goal was proposed; raise $30,000 as a school community. The weeks leading into the shave were characterised with positivity for such an important cause, with an interest in shaving radiating throughout the school community, including the Prefect Executive body and our Headmaster, Mr James. Patrick Hogan and Will'O'Sullivan, along with the support from Mrs Clarke and the Social Justice portfolio, presented talks to the boys in various year groups explaining the what, why and how for the World's Greatest Shave involvement. The date was set for the 10 March 2020, with 50 boys signed up.

Barbers from the 'The Barber Shop in Wahroonga' and 'The Edge' came down to Knox Grammar to assist us in shaving heads. By 12.55pm, only five minutes after lunch began, the entire KCC Auditorium was packed out, to show support for everyone getting involved. Beginning with our Headmaster, Mr James, and followed by School Captain Nick Reynolds, and School Vice Captain James Constable, heads were being shaven and smiles were being shared. In total we shaved 20 heads and by the end of the day, had raised $27,100 for the World's Greatest Shave. This was an incredible day to experience, with the Knox community coming together as a single unit to show support not only to our friends, but for those undergoing various types of cancer treatment. 

Pat Hogan

For the past 12 years the Knox community has been supporting 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 WSA Management office.

Congratulations to the Knox CAS chess team who were crowned CAS Chess Champions for the third year in a row against perennial rivals Trinity.  The friendly rivalry with Trinity has grown over the past decade and is always characterised with good sportsmanship and mutual respect between all players. This year it  went down to the wire again with Knox winning The CJS Purdy trophy by 1.5 points out of a possible out of 48.

The boys below were delighted to represent their school in the 1sts Chess Team  under the enthusiastic leadership of  Captain of Chess, Aleksy Ginovic.

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