As the second week of Term 2 draws to a close, I would like to thank the Class of 2024 for continuing to embrace remote learning. The Junior Academy Team have received very positive feedback from teachers and we encourage the boys to keep working to this high standard. A few points to be mindful of moving forward. If a teacher schedules a Zoom Meeting during your lesson, you must attend; you cannot mark yourself as present via Google Classroom and not attend the Zoom class. You are required to turn your work in at the end of the period, or at the time that has been set by your teacher.

During Mentor, we asked the groups to discuss what it means to be a mate. Now more than ever, we need our friends to keep our spirits up, as the time away from Knox seems long. Look out for your mates, check in on friends who seem quiet, not themselves and remember that this will pass and soon we will all be back at school. Last week, Knox Old Boy and Co-Founder of ‘Gotcha4life’, Gus Worland (OKG86) left the students a powerful message about sticking together and keeping connected. Please click here to view the video. 

Please ensure that you keep a close eye on any correspondence sent out via email or the school app, as we are working hard to keep the Knox community as up to date to as possible. I know everyone is eager to get back to the normal school routine and I strongly encourage the boys to stay in contact with their classmates, their Mentor and Team-leaders, as we move back to on-campus learning.

Lastly, I would like to wish all our lovely mothers a fantastic day on Sunday. I hope your son spoils you!

Carly Robinson

I'm sure many of you can't quite believe that we are at the end of Week 2 already and that there are only seven more weeks till the end of term.

A warm welcome to Akshar Reddy as he joins our cohort this term. We all look forward to meeting and welcoming you to Knox in the coming weeks.

ANZAC Service live stream – Sunday 17 May 2020
While our ANZAC Service and Parade scheduled for 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 and musical items. More information will be provided in the coming weeks. 

Boys, I am very much looking forward to welcoming you back on Wednesday of week 4. The classrooms and hallways have been extremely quiet without all of you. A few reminders for your return:

• Students will not have access to their lockers and will therefore be required to carry their bags to each lesson.
• Students returning to campus will be required to be in full winter uniform and are required to wear their blazers and boaters to and from school. 
• Please ensure all property that students bring on to campus is clearly labelled.
• School canteens are closed and boys must bring their recess and lunch.

Finally, a very happy Mother's Day to all the mums, step mums and grandmothers. Wishing you a day full of surprises and unforgettable memories.

Renee Willson

Effective online learning at home
Dr Salter has released a video series answering the most commonly asked FAQs to help Years 7-12 families make the learning taking place at home as effective as possible this term. You can access this series here.

The one hour session is broken into 17 bite-sized chunks of mini-videos. Topics covered include:
• How can families make the home environment a better space for learning?
• What if students have trouble learning this way?
• How can students stay motivated to do their schoolwork at home?
• What are the top tips for parents?
• What are the top tips for students?

Academic support after school
Boys are able to gain academic advice and support via Zoom. Please click here for the weekly roster of Stage 4 support that is being offered after school in Weeks 2 to 8.

Academic reports for Term 1 2020
We are very excited to introduce a reimagined academic report for Years 7-10. These reports will be made available through Parent Lounge at the end of Week 3. 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;
• New executive summary and subject specific pages;
• An abbreviated guide to interpreting the report; and,
• Personalised questions you might use in conversations with your son about his academic report.

Please note: more information about the Learner Protocols will be released alongside the academic reports.

We will be offering three online ‘parent-breakfast’ style sessions about interpreting the new report in Week 4. 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 the following link to RSVP.

You will then receive an email at the end of Week 3 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 if you require assistance.

Upcoming assessment tasks for Year 8

Janelle Charlton

With the staggered return to school over Weeks 3, 4 and 5 for all year groups, the co-curricular program has had to make some adjustments. Please download the PDF document here for all the information for students to continue to be involved in these exciting programs.

Year 11 and 12 students attending school next week are not required to be at school until 8.20am and therefore are encouraged to participate where possible for parts of any morning co-curricular. All other regular co-curricular programs will resume either in Term 3 or later in the year.

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

Chuck Ardron

It has been great to see so many boys engaged in and enjoying the sport experience we have been offering online. Last week we had our experienced team of coaches conducting live sessions and some recorded sessions whilst learning new skills and fitness tips all in front of our team of coaches. The feedback from the students and our coaches has been sensational. Please remember to help us ensure the boys don’t become complacent, and ensure they carry out any activities in a safe manner.

We cannot wait to have the boys back on our campuses over the next few weeks and we are committed to giving the boys a face-to-face experience as soon as we can. How exactly that will look will be dependent on advice and direction from the Government around sport in the coming days – this information will then be passed on to all families with more detail.

I am delighted to direct all parents to a new area for the Sports Acadamy in the Knox Remote Learning Hub here.

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 here.

Have a great week.

Martin Haywood

Sunday 10 May

Mother's Day

Wednesday 20 May (Week 4)

• Year 8 on campus 

Thursday 21 May (Week 4)

• Year 8 on campus 

Wednesday 27 May (Week 5)

• Year 8 on campus 

Thursday 28 May (Week 5)

• Year 8 on campus 

Monday 8 June

Queen's Birthday - Public Holiday

Friday 26 June

Term 2 concludes 

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.

Welcome back to Term 2! On behalf of the Oratory team, I hope you all had a restful holiday and are excited about the term ahead.

This term we will be continuing our usual training and the Knox Debating Cup online via Google Classroom! Changes to the training schedule as well as Google Classroom links are updated on the Knox Debating Board.

Registration
With every new term, boys must register for training and/or the Knox Debating Cup. The links to do so are below:

1)      Training

2)      Knox Debating Cup

Knox Debating Cup
The KDC starts in Week 2 at 5pm via Zoom. If you have not yet registered, please do so using the links above.

Results from Term 1
Massive congratulations to the following prize winners from Term 1’s tournament!

Champion Team: The Taipans – undefeated with a total of 915 speaks!

Best Speaker of the Tournament – Thomas Cameron (Year 8)

Best Speaker (Year 7) –  Declan Maxwell

Best Speaker (Year 8) – Thomas Cameron

Best Speaker (Year 9) – Angus Wines

These prizes were selected based on average speaker score across the tournament as compiled in our tournament software. To be eligible for prizes and/or the participation certificate, students had to debate > 3 rounds.

These awards, as well as participation certificates, will be presented later this term. Well done, boys!

Knox Friendly Virtual Debating Competition
Unfortunately, both the ISDA and FED competitions have been cancelled for 2020. On the bright side, we have been able to create our own virtual competition to be held on Friday evenings this term! We had a successful match up against Pymble Ladies' College Last week. A massive congratulations to the following victorious teams: Year 7 ISDA, Year 8 ISDA, Year 9 ISDA, ISDA Senior As, ISDA Senior Bs, Year 8 FED, Year 9 FED, FED Senior As, FED Senior Bs. Congratulations boys!

Leah Mercier, Oratory Coordinator

All students are invited to join the CRU group who meet on Monday at lunchtime. CRU is a group of Christians (and those interested in learning more), who meet weekly to learn about Jesus as well as share and encourage each other and pray. Everyone is very welcome.

Please join us during lunchtime on Mondays (12.50pm–1.30pm) via Zoom.

Please contact Amy Keir for further information.

Wellbeing, Support and Counselling
Knox psychologists are available for support of students and their parents by contacting us via email or phone (02) 9119 0828. A reminder that the Knox Psychologists have produced short videos for parents on such topics as:

• how to survive and thrive as a family
• online resources
• maintaining balance
• managing conflict
• staying socially connected
• motivating adolescents
• managing parental guilt

These videos can be found here. Password: WellbeingSenior

David Schofield

Winter uniform appointments
The Knox Uniform Shop is still operating on reduced operating times to assist customers that are unsure of sizing of winter uniform. The Uniform Shop will be open Saturday 9 May, 9am-12noon and then from 1pm-5pm on Monday 11 May, Wednesday 13 May, Friday 15 May. 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.

Whilst students continue to study 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

Oscar Atkins and his sister held an ANZAC Service from their driveway which was very much appreciated by everyone in the neighbourhood.