A very warm welcome back to the new academic year after what I hope has been a happy and restful summer. And an especially warm welcome to those of you who have just joined the Knox Grammar community – you are extremely welcome and I hope you and your sons have a very happy time here.

Unfortunately, the challenges of COVID-19 are still very real and something that we continue to deal with. Whilst our focus is on teaching and learning, the School will remain vigilant in ensuring we follow the latest health advice to support the health and safety of our community.

Once again, our 2020 graduates demonstrated just how talented they are with the release of the HSC results. This group of young men made a wonderful contribution to Knox, and what shone through was their incredible resilience. While the boys were constantly challenged in every respect in 2020, they proved they are strong and capable leaders. As a group they were supportive, cohesive and caring; they worked and studied as a team and supported each other to improve their performance individually and collectively. The teachers, with their high expectations of the boys and themselves, selflessly worked to ensure each boy was fully supported in his learning. Parents and carers partnered with us, entrusting the School to enable their sons to flourish and realise their potential. The outstanding 2020 HSC results can be attributed to our strong community.

Congratulations to the boys, parents and teachers.

As we commence the new academic year, I am filled with optimism. Knox is a School “on the move”, modernisation is everywhere, there is courage, purpose and, above all there, is great confidence in the future.

Our ‘Knox Total Fitness’ model of education focusses on developing great boys into great men who are mentally fit and resilient people with a joy for life, a sense of purpose and a sense of relative optimism.

Ensuring that Knox delivers an education which is superior and substantive is our goal – our single purpose. I look forward to continuing to journey further with all of you as an integral partner. By working together, we can optimise our ability to live our mission, become our vision and achieve our educational purpose.

On behalf of the School and School Council, thank you for entrusting us with the education of your son. I am certain 2021 will be a successful and educational one for all of us.

Scott James

Wow, you have arrived – I extend a warm welcome to students and parents to Knox Senior School. The boys have been exceptional in their engagement with the Week 1 and Week 2 Transition to Senior School Program. By the end of Week 2 all boys will have been allocated, in their mind, the most critical of school resources and that is their laptop. While I am a huge fan of digital technology in the classroom the boys will soon realise that laptops are just one part of a teacher’s toolkit. At school we reinforce to the boys that there is no-screen time during recess and lunch and in the classroom boys are not to access the laptop unless instructed to by their teacher. I strongly encourage all parents to have at home a digital free technology rule for your son’s bedroom. This is so important as boys at this age must be getting a minimum of eight hours of sleep each night. In next week’s newsletter I will expand on why this is so important as a basic house rule. Parents will also set their son up for success each day in the school week by ensuring he arrives at school at least 15 minutes prior to the first bell.

Over the course of the next few weeks, your son’s mentor will make contact with you. Parents can gain an insight into the role of the mentor via this link.

The year ahead offers our boys many challenges, opportunities and probably life-altering experiences. As a team I am confident that Knox staff, parents and guardians will work together to support the boys in their journey through the Senior School.

Wayne Inwood

Welcome to Knox Senior School! It was wonderful to finally meet and welcome the Class of 2026 for the first time. The boys sat together in the Wenkart Theatre with great excitement and anticipation to be welcomed by our Head of the Junior Academy - Mr Wayne Inwood, myself and Mr Felton our Assistant Team Leader. Our key message to the boys was to give everything a go, be courageous and look for opportunities to make new friends.

A key aspect of our communication to Year 7 parents will be through our weekly newsletter. This is published to inform the parent community about school based events, guest speakers and activities, including mentor and chapel which the boys participate in across the week.

The response from each of the Junior Academy teachers and staff has been enthusiasm and positivity as all of our boys learn how to unlock their lockers, pack a diary, read their timetable, find classrooms and navigate what can be a stressful daily schedule. Mr Felton and I are extremely proud of the Class of 2026 as they have embraced each and every opportunity for ‘firsts’ throughout the week.

During the early part of the week, each of our mentor groups were joined by our wonderful Year 10 Peer support leaders. The leaders spent the first day with our groups in the classrooms and across activities for transition, helping them find buildings in the School and engage in games which encourage the boys to make connections and build friendships within each of the mentor groups. The leaders will be with the mentor groups throughout the year running key parts of our program through identity, connection and relationships.

A key part of the boys' initial transition to the Senior School is developing relationships with their mentors. We are extremely lucky to have such an experienced and passionate group of educators who are able to spend time with our boys and assist them into Year 7 and throughout their six years at Knox. During the week most parents have received communication from our mentors allocating times for the parents to connect and share in their son’s stories as well as ask many questions about the Senior School which may arise during the initial part of this term.

I am truly grateful and feel very privileged to be on this journey with each of your sons. On behalf of Mr Felton and I and the Academy team, we look forward to meeting and supporting these fine young men as the Class of 2026 throughout their time in the Senior school.

We hope you all enjoy a relaxing weekend before we see our first full week in the Senior school.

Margie Raymond

I would like to express a very warm welcome to all Year 7 boys and families. It is my absolute pleasure to be the Cohort of 2026 Student Administration Officer (SAO). It was lovely to see so many bright, happy and excited faces on Wednesday and I look forward to getting to know the boys and supporting them on their journey.

It has been a busy week for the boys, and I must say they have adapted to their new surroundings exceptionally.

Starting Senior School can be daunting so please feel free to contact me if you have any queries or just need clarification on something. Also, if your son is absent for any reason, arriving late or leaving school early, please let me know as it is important that I know where he is at all times during school term. My new email address is: year7sao@knox.nsw.edu.au.

It is important the boys have their diary and timetable with them at all times to help them navigate through the day and to get to their classes. If your son is feeling lost at any point in time please ask him to make his way to my office and I will help him. The diary contains useful information for parents and students about policies and guidelines from page 16 onwards. Make the time to read these and familiarise yourself with them.

Robin Cherry

It has been a pleasure getting to meet the boys and seeing them start their academic journey at Knox.

Maths class placements
The boys sat a Maths test on Wednesday afternoon. Maths class placements have been finalised and you should have received an email confirming Core or da Vinci placement. Over the weekend your son’s online timetable will be updated to correctly reflect his Maths class for Term 1 2021. Your son should view his online timetable on Monday morning to check if there have been any changes to his teacher or classroom.

Starting Secondary School
To assist with your son’s transition to secondary school, a number of topics  have been explored in classes this week. I encourage parents to revisit these topics with your son and ask him to explain his understanding:

1 - Homework is very different to how it was in primary school
2 - You need to work smart to manage your time well
3 - Being organised makes life easier
4 - Ask for help often and early
5 - Develop the skills you need for success
6 - Look after yourself, your mind and your body

Year 7 Assessment Booklet
The Year 7 Assessment Booklet will be available next week for access via the portal. This booklet will contain assessment policies, detailed outlines of assessment tasks for every subject as well as an overview of the assessment tasks for the entire year. Please take the time to discuss this document with your son so that he is aware of assessment expectations and requirements.

Janelle Charlton

Welcome everyone! I hope all families enjoyed a nice break and quality time with family.

Whilst everyone continues the battle with COVID-19 and the restrictions placed on all of us, we were fortunate to get some sport in and there is much to be proud of.

Every parent should have received an email and a notification on the Knox app this week regarding sport and the current restrictions around our school and those that we are visiting on weekends. From next week, these details will go into the weekly Year Group Newsletters, so please take a moment to be sure of what to expect on a Saturday. The last thing I want is a family travelling long distances to watch their son play sport to only to be told “no entry”. Most schools are working on the rule (one parent allowed indoors to watch and two parents permitted outdoors), however, this may change. Variations to this will be shared throughout the term based on the school, the sport, the potential crowd and so on. Importantly, the boys, parents and staff wellbeing is priority – everyone has been extremely understanding of the situation we all find ourselves in.

It has been great to see our new boys on campus and many have dropped in to the Sports Office to ask some great questions. If at any time you have an enquiry, please do not hesitate to email Sport and one of our team members will respond as quickly as possible.

Some clarification regarding Week 1 sport:
• Friday 29 January – Year 7 Swim Trials and Year 7 Sport Trials.
• Saturday 30 January – Years 8-12 Knox Swim Trials and a continuation of the Year 7 Sport Trials for 'team sports'. Please click here for more details.

Moving into Week 2, regular training schedules and a full list of Saturday sport begins and will go through up to Saturday 6 March.

Also in Week 2 (3 February) will be a spare date for those that cannot make the Swim Trials on Saturday due to any clashes or sickness whilst the Knox Swim Distance Championships will be held on 10 February.

I look forward to sharing many wonderful stories each week as well as any information regarding sport you should be aware of. Information can also be found on the Knox app. Please ensure you receive alerts for your son’s chosen sport.

Holiday sport action
Track & Field
The season started off in December with the NSW All Schools Track & Field Championships at Homebush. Mr Fowler took a record number of Athletes to SOPAC and they achieved great results and a number of boys making State Finals – well done to the following 14 boys who all made it to the State Finals in their particular events:
• Will Constable, Sam Langridge, Oli Dawson, Tom Haslam, Chester Swaffer, Sean Williams, Hamish Hart, Archie Saunders, Alex Sherlock, Ewen Burns, Brodie Shearer and Max Mandera.
• James Harden (Pole Vault) and Dylan Hall (Long Jump and 200m) both won Gold medals.

There were many more boys achieving results good enough to qualify for National Championships. Pleasingly throughout the break, Mr Fowler and the team have started building on a relationship with Pymble Athletic team and held a number of training sessions with Pymble.

Volleyball
Also early in December at the start of the break, the Knox 1st Volleyball team took part in the NSW Volleyball Schools Cup at Sydney Olympic Park for the first time ever. It was a fierce competition with schools travelling from all over the state to participate in the tournament. The Knox team showcased their skills in six matches during the Schools Cup and were one win off making the top 4 and progressing into the finals on the closing day. The tournament was highlighted by the Knox boys challenging the traditional strong volleyball schools of Sydney Grammar and Sydney Boys High. Ultimately, it was an excellent experience for our boys and will place the team in a strong position for the remaining matches of the CAS season.

Swimming
In mid December our remarkable Knox Swim team participated in the State Swim Championships – also held at Homebush and again, proved to be the #1 Club in NSW. The Knox-Pymble Swim Club finished first in the point score with 3,544 points – a massive 1,223 points ahead of the second place.

Knox-Pymble swimmers won 42 gold, 26 silver and 15 bronze medals.

Stand out Performances were numerous. Joseph Hamson was declared swimmer of the finals night twice and Josh Collett was awarded swimmer of the night. Our Swim Captain (Josh Collett) gained a total of seven Gold Medals and two silvers. Joe Hamson, Ben Rothery, Tyler Krenkels, Tane Bidois and Kai Lilienthal also achieved Personal best times and numerous Medals

Thanks and well done to coaching staff led by Steve Goodier, Nick Dobson and Pat Teleki. Unfortunately, we had to cancel the annual Swim Camp to the Blue Mountains.

AFL
Two Knox Old Boys were drafted into the AFL 2021 competition – Luke Parks (Carlton) and Braeden Campbell (Swans). Great news! Well done, boys.

Basketball
Our Basketball camps were cancelled unfortunately, yet we were still able to hold some training sessions and a one day intensive Basketball camp in Newcastle. There was so much to fit in and achieve in one day, but the boys had a great trip and arrived back safely.

Cricket
Our Cricketers are also getting amongst it with a few games held in the break including two great wins at King's and a tie vs Izingari.

Other sports
Rugby also held a three day training camp as well as the Water Polo squads whilst many boys have attended the gym and pool to maintain their fitness.

Have a great weekend everyone. I look forward to meeting families each and every Saturday around all locations.

Martin Haywood

A big welcome to the 2021 school year!

All change involves stress – even for positive changes. Starting secondary school can elicit feelings of joy and excitement about meeting new friends, exploring a new campus and gaining more independence. But it can also lead to some anxiety when thinking about new routines, different workloads and sharing a school with many more students. Having mixed feelings about this is completely normal, particularly after such a long and relaxing holiday break. During holidays students typically go to bed later and wake up later – and the change in sleep-wake cycle can be very tiring.

You will not be surprised then to see symptoms of tiredness and stress in your child (more grumpy, withdrawn, emotional, etc) and they well need your extra grace. As parents, it can be helpful to talk to your son about what he is most looking forward to, and also if there is anything in particular playing on his mind. Try to model healthy coping: stay calm, patient, and open. Helping your son to look after his physical health at this time is also important - ensuring he has enough rest and is eating well.

The Knox Wellbeing Centre is here to support you and your son. If you have questions, please feel free to email the Knox Wellbeing Centre.

We also have a collection of online resources created by our team of school psychologists. Please see links below:

Knox Wellbeing Parenting Series - Senior
Knox Wellbeing Blogs

Further Resources
Free Parents and Teens Workshops

Monday 22 to Friday 26 February

Year 7 Camp



Thursday 1 April

Term 1 concludes

Friday 2 April

Good Friday

Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me – everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:9

To plan ahead for the year, please refer to the 2021 Term Dates on the Knox website here.

Years 7/8 Drama Club
Do you want to build your confidence, meet new people and work collaboratively with them? Drama Club is a co-curricular activity that gives you the opportunity to explore Drama practise. It encompasses a range of activities related to the fields of artistic activity including theatre and performance. In Term 1, you will work towards mastering basic improvisational skills as well as knowing and applying the elements of drama to communicate ideas on stage.

Drama Club runs from 3.30pm-5pm on Monday afternoons in the JAPAC Drama Theatre. Commencing Monday 1 February (Week 2).

Please register your interest by emailing Ms Anderson.

The following statement is provided to all families with respect to insurance cover for their son(s) while they play sport at school.

The School strongly recommends that every family at Knox takes out Private Health Insurance with full Private Health cover, as the cost of medical expenses to parents for accidents can be substantial, especially sports injuries.

The School provides Student Accident Insurance for all students, whilst they are participating in a school organised and endorsed activity, within Australia. This is designed primarily to help with permanent injuries of a serious nature, such as quadriplegia, paraplegia or loss of a limb. As most injuries are not of a permanent nature, this insurance is limited, as the law does not permit coverage of medical expenses otherwise covered by Medicare, or beyond the scheduled fee.

For school organised and endorsed overseas trips, the School arranges travel and medical coverage for students and staff via an alternate insurance policy.

To obtain a copy of the Student Accident application form and schedule of benefits of this policy, please email Tracey Sutton or Felicity Taubman.

Damian Ferguson, Chief Financial Officer

The Knox portal and our other online portals, such as Parent Lounge, can be accessed at knoxnet.knox.nsw.edu.au.

School App for K-12
The Knox Grammar School app allows you to stay informed about the School. Keep up to date on everything from Sport and Co-Curricular, to the newsletters and school calendar with instant notifications. You may install the Knox Grammar School app which is available for download from your app store. Please use the following instructions to download, install and set up the app:

KGS School app download instructions

Parent Directory
The Parent Directory is designed for parents and guardians to optionally share contact details with other parents/guardians.

Parents/Guardians may 'opt-in' the Parent Directory accessed via the Knox Parent Lounge. It is an ‘opt-in’ system and requires that you select which contact details (if any) you wish to share with other parents/guardians.

Please be advised that the Parent Directory is to be used for personal, private use only and is not to be shared with third parties. By agreeing to share contact details through the Parent Directory, parents are enabling other parents and guardians at Knox Grammar School to view their details and possibly make contact.

Parent Lounge User Guide (see page 6 of this user guide on how to update the Parent Directory)

If you have any issues logging into Parent Lounge please contact the Knox Helpdesk.

Welcome, everyone, to the new school year in 2021. I trust you had a nice break over the Christmas holidays and are excited for the school year ahead.

The Knox Parents' Association (KPA) is a very active group made up of parent volunteers from all year groups from Kindergarten through to Year 12. As a Knox parent you are automatically a member of the KPA. The KPA strives to create opportunities for parents to actively engage in the school while building connectivity and community across the parent network. Obviously COVID-19 has and will impact our ability to run events that have proven to be successful community-building opportunities. The KPA committee will continue to work with school leaders and communicate with parents when opportunities to safely gather together can again occur.

Parent Community Meetings are hosted by the KPA once per term. Currently due to COVID-19 restrictions these meetings are live-streamed. You are welcome to join and hear from the Headmaster, members of the Executive Team and invited speaking guests at these meetings through the year (details for the February meeting are included below). This is your opportunity to listen to school leaders and ask questions and discuss issues that are important to you as parents.

We do hope that 2021 does present us with the opportunity to run some great Knox Community events, so please keep your eye open for communications on these and get involved in any way you can.

I look forward to meeting you in 2021.

Robert Kaan, KPA President

KPA Meeting
Date: Tuesday 2 February 2021
Time: 6.30pm – 7.30pm
Agenda
Livestream link: https://ktcshort.link/kpameeting2feb

You are invited to join the first meeting of the Knox Parents’ Association (KPA) for 2021. Due to current restrictions, the meeting will be live streamed for all parents. This is a great opportunity to hear from the Heads of the Senior and Prep schools about their plans for the school in 2021. The invitation is open to all parents, Senior, Prep and Wahroonga Prep. We look forward to welcoming you via live stream on Tuesday 2 February.

Knox at Home
Due to current restrictions, our annual parent welcome celebration, Knox at Home, has been postponed. We are hopeful that this event can proceed later in the year once restrictions have eased and will keep the parent community updated.

KPA Name Badges
The KPA organises name badges for parents at the start of each school year for use at the various school functions you will attend throughout your son's time at Knox. They come with the Knox crest and your name, with a simple magnet on the back for attaching. They are a much better alternative to the sticky labels that always peel off! The cost of $16 includes postage.

Orders close Friday 19 February 2021. This is the only opportunity to order name badges for 2021, so please put your order in now to avoid disappointment.

Please click here to order and pay for a name badge. Be sure to put down your name as you would like it to appear on the badge (first and last name only).

Tuckshop Volunteers
Due to current COVID-19 restrictions, our tuckshops will continue to operate, however we are unable to have parent volunteers at this stage. We will keep the parent community updated on any changes as soon as current restrictions are eased.

Follow Knox on social media
From time to time, photos and videos of Knox students are published online via Knox social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Vimeo.

If you have any questions, please contact the Communications Department.

David Hayes, Media Communications Manager

Trading Hours
Monday to Friday: 12.30pm-5.30pm
Saturday (Terms 1 and 4 only): 9am-12noon

Phone (02) 9487 0191 or visit the Knox website here for more information.

Julie Blackburn, Knox Uniform Shop Manager

If your son is unable to attend School, please use the Knox Grammar School app, or contact the Prep School or the Student Administration Officer for your son’s year group.

• Kindergarten - Year 6: Kate Standing - 9473 9302
• Year 7: Robin Cherry - 9119 0884
• Year 8: Rebecca Mitchelson - 9119 0885
• Year 9: Renee Willson - 9119 0886
• Year 10: Crystel Hodgson - 9119 0881
• Year 11: Rebecca Smith - 9119 0882
•Year 12: Debra Barnard - 9119 0883

The School uses an SMS notification system for unexplained student absences. If you have not notified the School about your son’s absence from school, we will send you an SMS reminder to contact the School.

During the academic year, a number of key events are captured by professional photographers for families to view and purchase online. Galleries from the end of Term 4, 2020 include Presentation Days for Senior School and Knox Preparatory School.

To access these password protected photos, please go to the Knox portal and select the photos tab from the main page.

A push notification is sent via the Knox Grammar School app when a new gallery is available. Please use the following instructions to download, install and set up the app on your mobile device.

If you have any issues logging into the Knox portal, please contact the Knox Helpdesk.

Eileen Aroyan, Publications Manager

Please ensure you are familiar with our key policies and documents which are available on the Knox website here.