My message today will be brief as I will also be sharing with you a link to Parent Protocols relating specifically to the Junior Academy. I ask all parents to read over the protocols and share details with your son where you deem appropriate. All Year 7 and year 8 students will receive an email from me next Monday and a short video message, during the Monday Period 3 online meeting time setting out for them protocols they will need to follow while on campus. Suffice to say we are very excited to see the boys back on campus and I am confident that by all of us working together, cognisant and compliant to all school COVID protocols, we can have a successful return to classroom teaching while ensuring the safety of students and staff. An update on Sport protocols will be communicated to students and parents next Monday via email and the School App.

Please click to view the Parent Protocols Document

Wayne Inwood

We are looking forward to seeing the boys return to the senior campus next week. Having spoken to some of our Year 7s over the last few weeks, I know they are excited to see their friends and teachers. With the return of boys on campus, some adjustments have been made to ensure the safety of all students and staff, and you would have read about this in a recent communication from the School. We encourage the boys to behave sensibly and be proactive in communicating concerns to staff should they feel the need to. It would be great if you could have a conversation with them over the weekend so they understand the importance of following directions and instructions from staff.

As the boys continue to mature, we will present them with opportunities to lead the Year Group and I encourage all boys to challenge themselves by taking part. While some boys have natural leadership skills, others have the potential to become future leaders and should use these occasions to develop their skills and experience. This term, some of our Academy assemblies will be led by boys in Years 7 and 8. They will be making resources and presenting these to their peers so that community engagement can continue in this physically distant time. Thank you to the boys who have already put their hand up for this opportunity. I am sure that they will learn a lot and enjoy being recognised as a leader at this early stage in Year 7.

While some boys may feel a sense of nervousness or trepidation at the prospect of returning to school, I want to reassure them that Ms Kennedy and I will be here to support them through this change. The boys should remember that each of their peers has had the same experience over the last few weeks and that kindness will go a long way while we readjust to being on campus. The boys have shown their resilience and sense of community while being online and I hope that this positivity can continue upon their return. I look forward to seeing all the boys in their winter uniforms next week!

Clare Yuan

The time has come for the boys to make a return to the school campus. I know they are excited to be coming back to school and reconnecting with their friends. I am very excited to see them return too and can't wait to hear some of the stories and adventures they have been up to whilst away from campus.

A reminder that they will not have access to the locker space and will need to carry all required items to class in their school bag. I understand many of their resources are available online which will alleviate them from carrying all those heavy textbooks around. If your son has left something in their locker space that he urgently needs, please ask him to come and see me and I can arrange to collect it for him. 

Please ensure when the boys return on campus next week, they are in full winter uniform, with the exception of boaters.

As always, if you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me. 

Bec Mitchelson  Ph:91190885

Academic reports for Term 1 2020 

We are very excited to introduce our reimagined academic reports for Years 7-10. These reports are expected to become available from 4pm today, Friday 15 May, through Parent Lounge. The new report format will include:

• The Knox Learner Protocols assessment and reporting tool;
• A refreshed grade distribution table that highlights where your son sits within the SOA/letter grade (upper, middle, and lower);
• New executive summary and subject specific pages;
• An abbreviated guide to interpreting the report.

We invite you to use the new ‘T1 Report – Mediative Questions’ document that will be available alongside your son’s report on the portal. This document contains personalised questions, based on your son’s overall performance against the Knox Learner Protocols in each of the eight descriptors. We strongly believe that utilising these questions in your conversations with your son could support him to reflect more meaningfully about his learning and consider how he might improve. 

We are offering three online ‘parent-breakfast’ style sessions about interpreting the new report next week. These sessions (hosted via Zoom) will introduce the Learner Protocols in more depth, unpack the intent of reporting against the Knox Learner Protocols, discuss how to interpret the new executive summary and subject specific pages, and explain quartiles in relation to the task average and graphs in the report. We expect the session will take approximately 15 minutes.

Specific questions about interpreting your son’s report or the Knox Learner Protocols can be directed to your respective Director of Studies; subject-specific questions should be directed to your son’s classroom teacher.

If you would like to join one of the online sessions with the Directors of Studies for Stage 4 and 5, please use this link to RSVP as soon as possible. 

You will receive an email at least one day prior to your registered sessions with a link to the Zoom session. We recommend that you download the Zoom application on your device prior to the session and contact IT Helpdesk if you require assistance.

Upcoming assessment tasks for Year 7

There are no assessment tasks in Week 4.

Janelle Charlton

With the staggered return to school over Weeks 4 and 5 for all Year Groups, the co-curricular program has had to make further adjustments. Please download the PDF document here for all the information for students to continue to be involved in these important and beneficial programs.

For any questions or concerns regarding the co-curricular program offered in Term 2, please feel free to contact me via email.

Chuck Ardron

Tuesday 19 May

Year 7 students return to campus

Friday 22 May

Year 7 students return ro campus

Monday 8 June

Queen's Birthday - Public Holiday

Friday 26 June

Term 2 concludes 

Student reports for Years 7-10 will be uploaded to Parent Lounge later today. Before reading your son’s report, we encourage you to watch this short video which provides background on our updated Senior School reports and the Knox Learner Protocols.

The on-campus Parent Teacher Interviews scheduled for Friday 5 June has been cancelled due to COVID-19. Parent Teacher Interviews for Years 8-10 will take place via Zoom and telephone during Weeks 6-9. Further information about how to book appointments with your son’s teachers and participate in the meetings will be provided shortly.

Friday 5 June will now be a standard teaching day for students in Years 7-12. A full schedule for the format of learning in Weeks 6 and beyond will be provided in the coming weeks.

Date: Sunday 17 May 2020
Time: 8.30am

While our ANZAC Service and Parade scheduled for this Sunday 17 May 2020 has been cancelled, we will be sharing an online service via live stream on the day, which will feature an address by Dr Brendan Nelson AO, readings by members of the Cadet Unit, musical items and a performance of ‘Amazing Grace’ which has been compiled using recordings of pipers from the Knox Grammar School Pipes and Drums playing at their homes.

Cadets are encouraged to wear their cadet uniform while watching this important service on Sunday.

Please click on the following link to view the Service which will commence at 8.30am.

http://www.knox.nsw.edu.au/anzac

We look forward to sharing this important annual event with you online.

Please note the commencement dates for Terms 3 and 4 have been brought forward slightly to add additional teaching days to help cover those which were lost at the end of Term 1.

• Term 3 start date – Monday 20 July 2020
• Term 4 start date – Monday 12 October 2020

Full term dates for 2020 and 2021 can be found here.

Winter uniform appointments
The Knox Uniform Shop is operating on reduced operating times to assist customers that are unsure of sizing of winter uniform. The Uniform Shop is open today, Friday 15 May, from 1pm-5pm. Note: we are running on a customer limited basis. Appointments are not required but we will only have two changing rooms operational so we ask parents and students to be patient as our team practise social distancing to keep our School community safe.

For students studying online, they are permitted to wear their winter uniform if already purchased or their PDHPE/Sports uniform. When they are on campus, they are expected to wear the winter uniform.

Uniform is available to order online here if sizes are known and these orders can be collected on the dates above when we are open. Please disregard collection dates and times on the Flexischools app. Orders will not be delivered to the Prep School or Wahroonga Prep until Week 4.

Size charts are available online through the Flexischools website or the Knox app as a reference.

If orders cannot be collected during these times, orders can also be collected from Knox Reception during normal reception hours (8am-5pm weekdays). Please email the Uniform Shop to advise of your request.

From Monday 18 May, the Uniform Shop will resume normal operating times from Monday to Friday, 12.30pm-5pm. Please note we are not open on Saturday mornings during Terms 2 and 3.

Julie Blackburn

Please click here for the new Sports Academy in the Knox Remote Learning Hub.

These pages are designed to showcase the Sports Academy (KSAA); parents can see what is being offered across a wide range of sports, some weekly tips and videos of the boys, and much more. I hope you enjoy it and, as always, please do not hesitate to email any queries you may have regarding sport.

Update regarding sport
We are hopeful that sport and fitness activities will be able to resume shortly. We will provide an update as soon as it’s available.
An updated training schedule will be posted on the School app this week.

Reminder that no Saturday sport will take place through Term 2 and CAS Headmasters are continuing to look at options for Term 3 and beyond.

Finally, for more information that is updated weekly, including interesting facts from the Sports Academy and videos from students, please click here.

Have a great week everyone.

Martin Haywood - Head of Knox Sport Aquatic Academy