Headmaster's Column
Term 1 is always one of the busiest terms of the year, with so many activities and opportunities on offer.
Over the last few weeks we have seen our boys take part in Years 4, 5, 7 and 8 Camps at Port Hacking, Lake Macquarie, Arcadia and the NSW South Coast.
There has been a flurry of excursions and incursions including a Chinese New Year celebration for Year 1, a Religion and Ethics visit to the Sydney Jewish Museum and even a Geography trip to a chocolate factory to learn about sustainable and ethical cacao production.
This weekend is the final round of the Senior School summer sports season, with one more week left for our Knox Prep students.
Team Leaders
Despite the enjoyment that camp provided last week, it has been wonderful to be back on campus this week and pleasing to see the boys return to their routines of classes, sporting and Co-Curricular activities, musical ensembles and clubs.
Parent-Teacher conferences, this coming Monday afternoon, provide a platform for parents and boys to discuss the commencement of Senior School with each of your son’s teachers. This is a wonderful opportunity for growth and reflection and I encourage the boys to be on the Zoom conferences with you to hear the first-hand feedback. Furthermore, being proactive and positive in their reactions to constructive feedback will show maturity and dedication.
Student Administration Officer
It is lovely to have the boys back at school, I am hearing all about the fun they had at camp.
Next Tuesday 9 March, the boys will have their first Year 7 Vaccination, here is an important letter from the NSW Health Department that I ask all parents to read it is also available on the Year 7 Portal. If your son has not returned his completed card could I please ask you as a priority that he returns it to me on Monday before 4pm.
Just a reminder all boys should be at school on Fridays at 8.15am for Student Assembly at 8.25, they should be in full school uniform, the boys get changed for PDHPE when they go to class not before.
If your son has lost anything while on camp please ask him to come in to my office and have a look through the rather large box of goodies that I have.
Finally, just a reminder to complete any sports absences through the Sport Absence Form on the Knox app. This automatically notifies the Directors of that sport of your son's absence. Please do not email me or the Sports Department as these will not be seen or actioned until Monday.
Have a great weekend
Director of Studies Junior Academy
Year 7 Parent/Teacher Conference
A reminder that appointments to meet with your son’s teachers via Zoom on Monday 8 March from 3.30pm-9.30pm are to be made through PTO (Parent Teacher Online), our internet-based booking system. Bookings will close at 1pm on Monday.
In the eventuality that after 1pm you become unable to attend a booked appointment, please email the teacher directly to let them know.
Home Learning
Your son is expected to complete as a minimum one hour of home learning each night. During peak times, more time will most likely need to allocated. Home learning = set homework + assessment task preparation + independent learning. This means that if your son has no set homework or assessment tasks to prepare, he should spend the hour reviewing classwork, making study notes or doing wider reading for his subjects.
Director of Co-Curricular Operations
CAS Swimming and Diving Championships 2021
This event will be held at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre on Thursday 11 March.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions the CAS committee has limited the number of seats available for each CAS School.
The prefect body have spoken to each year group and asked for students wishing to attend to enter their submissions via a Google Form.
Students who have completed a submission to attend and have been selected will be invited through the school system and parents will receive an email requesting acceptance for this opportunity. Please note that if you are the recipient of that email, you will also be asked to confirm your son's medical details. Boys will be provided with a mask.
Sports News
Head of Knox Sports and Aquatic Academy
As we charge towards the end of our summer season, I cant help but feel proud of all of our Year 12 boys playing their last summer game in the Black and Blue. Some boys have been playing summer sport for more than six, seven or eight years for Knox and no doubt will enjoy Saturday but with many mixed emotions. Perhaps a memory of the day they were moved from the d team up to a c or b grade team. Perhaps their first ever win for Knox, first ever goal or even the day they met their new best mate. I hope our Year 12s have a great day this Saturday and wrap the season up with their 'best game ever' - Im sure their Year 11 team mates and spectators will help them enjoy a great day.
Congratulations to all teams across all levels and all age groups on a wonderful summer – one could only wish we had some more sun and our outdoor sports were not so interrupted through Term 1. There are too many teams to list here that will celebrate premierships this weekend – those teams and more details can be found on the Knox app under their respective sport reports.
Knox Wellbeing Centre
The importance of modelling
In Week 3 of the School Newsletters, the Headmaster wrote about the importance of stopping to “pause” before reacting and how challenging this can be in the fast-paced world in which we find ourselves. In our role as school psychologists, we often see the impact when the ability to “pause” was somehow skipped, and young people land themselves in situations which could often have been avoided. There are many things we can do as parents to teach our kids how to stop, think, and, reflect before reacting. As Mr James mentioned, one core component of this is our important role in modelling these behaviours for our children.
Upcoming Assessments
Year 7 have one assessment coming up in Week 7 for Geography.
In Week 8 there are assessments for English, History and Maths.
Year 7 2021 Assessment booklet
Upcoming Events
Week 7A:
Monday 8 March
Year 7 Parent Teacher Interviews via Zoom
Tuesday 9 March
HPV Year 7 Vaccination
JAPAC Lounge
Community Notices
2021 Student Residential Address and Other Information Collection
Each year, all Australian schools are required to report specific school-based data to the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills & Employment (DESE).
The Address Collection data is used to:
• calculate Australian Government recurrent funding to non-government schools, specifically the capacity to contribute score (CTC score)
• inform school education policy, particularly non-government school funding
The Address Collection data (collected under sections 52 (1), 52(3)(c), 52(4) and 58B of the Australian Education Regulation 2013), will source the following data from Knox Grammar, relevant to each campus:
• Student residential address (excluding student names)
• Whether the student is a primary or secondary student (education level)
• Whether the student is boarding or a day student (boarding status)
• Names and residential addresses of students’ parent(s) and/or guardian(s)
The school reporting requirement specifically requires reporting of a physical residential address, not a PO Box or the mailing equivalent.
If your family has recently changed its residential address, and you have not yet provided these details to the School, we seek your cooperation to update your family details via the Knox Parent Lounge, Parent Details Update function – by Friday 5 March.
The DESE has provided a 'Collection Notice for Parents' for your reading and reference. Please click here to view.
Damian Ferguson, Chief Financial Officer
Beauty and the Beast
A Knox Drama and Theatre Production
Disney's Beauty and the Beast
18-20 March 2021
7pm in the Wenkart Theatre
Box Office now open! All tickets $30 (+ booking fee). Click here to book your seats.
Masks mandatory for all audience members. There is a limit of four seats per booking with seating gaps automatically assigned between groups to adhere to distancing requirements.
Please note that the Box Office reserves the right to relocate your tickets, if required, and will advise accordingly.
For ticket enquiries, please email here.
Code Camp
Get creative with technology these school holidays
On top of five coding classes to suit all skill levels, Code Camp have launched a range of new camps, where students can learn to DJ, produce YouTube style videos and create stop-motion animation short films.
Take advantage of their early bird sale by using the code EARLYBIRD25 before midnight Sunday 7 March. For more information, click here.
Knox Prayer Meetings
Our informal prayer meeting for Term 1 will be held at 10am on Friday 19 March, at the home of Prue Feather. Morning Tea will be included.
There will also be an evening meeting at 8pm on Wednesday 10 March, at the home of Fiona van Horen.
Please RSVP if you plan to attend so that we comply with the gathering limits prescribed by the government’s Public Health Orders in place at the time.
A warm welcome is extended to anyone from our Knox community who would like to attend.
Any enquires to Prue Feather.
Knox Uniform Shop
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
McKenzie Library
McKenzie Library
Many students are encouraged to visit the library for research help and to borrow resources. It is great to see the enthusiasm of all students as they develop the skills of researching and submitting work using their own voice and acknowledging sources.
Boys, why not add the CiteMaker extension to your laptop tab and add the information as you go about your studies? This is a great tool to record all resources you have used and, if required, create a Bibliography. This valuable tool is found through KnoxNet or through the library portal then you simply select Create a Bibliography tab.
Photo Galleries
Around the School
Boys enjoying recess and lunch.
Champs of the Camp
Congratulations to everyone for surviving camp last week.
A special congratulations to Joseph Kim, Jack Kellaway, Nicholas Barfield, Leo Sherry, Archie Jurd, Angus Skeen, Arman Khanna-Boyle, Thomas Harding, Joshua Robbins, Toby Bird, Michal Tian, Jacob Cartwright, Yiheng He, Ben Luxton, Sam Severino, Alexander Bouris, Alexander Sands, Marcus Slobodian and Jack Carolan for receiving a 'Champs of the Camp' Award at this week's Year Meeting.
House Volleyball
Tryouts for House Volleyball.