This week, boys in each Mentor Group had the chance to vote for new Mentor Representatives to lead them into 2020. On Monday, in the last student-led Year Meeting for the incumbent leaders, we discussed the process by which the new Mentor Representatives would be nominated and elected, and the benefits of pursuing such leadership opportunities. The enthusiasm boys have displayed in applying for these leadership positions this term is a sign of their growing maturity. These roles provide students with opportunities to develop their communication and public speaking skills, to work collaboratively with other elected peers, to organise student-led initiatives and to demonstrate their willingness to serve their peers and school. In Mentor on Wednesday, students made short speeches to apply for the role and cast an anonymous vote to determine the new leaders. The new Mentor Representatives will be announced early next term. I congratulate all those who applied and thank the current leaders for their service.

In Year Meeting, we celebrated the artistic achievements of boys who took part in the Year 8 Photography competition. It’s so fantastic to see boys expressing an emerging and individual artistic style as they represented the theme ‘Identity’. Congratulations to Alex Park who took out the top prize, and to Kyle Reyes and Ben Moss, who placed second and third, respectively.

On Monday we have the 2019 Year 12 Valedictory Ceremony, which the whole school will attend. This is a fantastic opportunity for Year 8 boys to look ahead to where they will be in just a few short years. This term boys have made decisions about the subjects they will study next year and I encourage them to look at the achievements of these school leaders as they set goals for the final term of the year, after which they will graduate to the Middle Academy.

Boys have been reminded about appropriate levels of physicality during play at recess and lunch. We have a firm hands-off policy and continue to encourage boys to make good decisions that will help them to maintain positive and healthy relationships.

Alec Openshaw

Last night at the CAS Track & Field Championships, the students who attended witnessed some wonderful achievements by our athletes culminating with the School placing third. Congratulations to all our athletes, especially our Year 8 boys who participated and we look forward to the continued success of the Track & Field team.

It's that time of the year again where Knox starts collecting school shoes to help the children who live in the slums of Manila. A pair of shoes means a child can attend school and have hope of a better future. Please donate any school shoes in good condition and that your son has outgrown to Room 19, so we can help these children.

Earlier this week, we received a number of shoes that were found around the school grounds and if your son is missing his shoes, please send him to Room 19 to check whether any of the ones shown below belongs to him.

A reminder that in Term 4 there is a changeover from winter to summer uniform. Please check your child’s uniform still fits and if you require new items, these are all available at the Uniform Shop or can be ordered via Flexischools. This also applies to summer sport uniform.

If you require any uniform prior to the start of Term 4, the opening times of the Uniform Shop are as follows:

• Monday 30 September- 9.30am-5pm (Closed 12.30-1pm)

• Friday 11 October -9.30am-5pm (Closed 12.30-1pm)

• Saturday 12 October -9am-12noon 

• Monday 14 October -9.30am-5pm (Closed 12.30-1pm)

• Tuesday 15 October – 8am-5.30pm

Monday 30 September is the final day for Year 8 Cadet uniform fitting. All login details to the PTO booking system to make an appointment were emailed at the start of the term. If you have any difficulties, please contact Julie Blackburn.

Finally, congratulations to George Taylor, Riley Pincott and Ben Williams for their outstanding achievement in Basketball. George and Riley were selected for the Basketball NSW Metro U16 Developing Athlete Program and Ben got in the U16 Basketball NSW State Performance Program.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Crystel Hodgson, Tel: 9119 0881

Assessment tasks and Illness/Misadventure Appeals (IMA) 

As we finalise reports for Term 3, I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight our assessment policy and Illness Misadventure Appeal process. Our policy is informed by best practice and the NESA requirements in Stage 6 (which requires medical documentation completed by the practitioner to approve on the basis of illness); we are committed to ensuring an equitable assessment experience and the IMA application policy, among many others, supports the academies to make special considerations to help your son achieve his academic personal best, wherever appropriate.  

An abbreviated explanation of the Stage 4 IMA policy and procedure as it pertains to both hand-in and in-class assessment tasks can be found below:   If illness or misadventure prevents your son from attending or submitting an assessment task, an Illness/Misadventure Appeal (IMA) application together with relevant documentation (ie. a medical certificate) must be submitted to the SAO within one week of the assessment task date, to avoid a task penalty.   

As per our Assessment Policy:

• Late completion of an in-class assessment task without an approved IMA or leave form may attract a 10% reduction of marks.
• Late submission of a hand-in assessment task without an approved IMA may attract a 10% reduction of marks per day for two days. If the task is submitted more than two days late, the mark reduction will be determined by the Head of Department and Director of Studies on a case by case basis.

Please refer to the Assessment Policies and Procedures booklet that has been made available on the portal for more in-depth explanations.  

Year 8 Integrated Learning Activity (ILA) – EARTH 2.0

In their 2014 paper A rich seam, Michael Fullan and Maria Langworthy discuss the need for new pedagogies to develop the learning, creating and ‘doing’ dispositions that young people need to thrive now and in their futures. They propose that ‘deep learning’ tasks challenge students to construct knowledge, begin to use their ideas in the real world and develop key skills: tenacity, grit, and the proactive dispositions that pave the way to flourishing futures. They assert that students need to develop global competency – character, creativity, problem solving, collaboration, communication and citizenship - to meet the challenges of a complex, dynamic world. At Knox, every student in Years 7-10 completes an Integrated Learning Activity (ILA) which is designed to allow students to apply subject knowledge and understandings in new contexts and to develop skills in working as a team, creating innovative solutions, communicating, solving problems and using technology.

Earlier this week our exciting Year 8 ILA - Earth 2.0 was launched via a video link-up seminar with a scientist from NASA! Student teams are collaborating online to research, design and build the structures required to set up a sustainable colony on an uninhabited planet found in a wormhole behind one of the moons of Jupiter. For the construction of the colony, students can use Minecraft, or any other appropriate program or medium. The team will be required to create a scripted movie tour of their colony that summarises the findings of their research and reflects on the factors that influenced their design. Students will be continuing to work on the Earth 2.0 project during designated lessons next week. The video is due for submission on Friday October 18 (Term 4 Week 1).

Janelle Charlton

Saturday 21 September  Summer Sport Trials

Friday 27 September  Term 3 Concludes

Monday 30 September  Final Day for Year 8 Cadet Uniform Fitting

Tuesday 15 October Term 4 Commences

Tuesday 5 November Duke of Edinburgh Information Evening 

On a number of occasions this term we have addressed students during Year Meeting about the importance of wearing the correct uniform and wearing it well. Doing so shows respect for our School, its traditions and values. Members of our community often judge students and the School by the general standard of each student’s uniform and appearance so it is important that our students maintain the required standards while travelling to and from school, not just during the school day.

The boys have responded positively to these discussions and to the monitoring systems put in place at the school gates. We have been pleased to witness a significant improvement in the number of students wearing with pride their boaters and blazers to and from school. To support a continuation of this positive trend, we will be introducing consequences for those students who are not able to comply with the School’s uniform code on a regular basis. Initially students will receive a warning when they do not have the correct uniform. Should a student arrive at school without the correct uniform on a third occasion, parents will be notified and the student will need to participate in an after school reflection. Additional reflection sessions will be scheduled should there be a fourth or fifth occasion.

In conjunction with our focus on uniform, it is timely to remind students that only school approved bags should be brought on campus.

Craig Milligan

The inaugural OneWorld Robotics Competition category for 2019 will be 'Smart Cities'. A smart city is a city that is better able to cope with the demands of an increasingly over-populated, more globalised world. A smart city will be a city that is highly data-driven, demanding that world leaders understand technology such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence, and the myriad of digital technologies now available.

To develop cities in order to make them 'smart' also entails making them more 'inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable'. This will also involve considerations such as the need for higher data transfer speeds, greater storage capacities, better sensors, and faster vehicle-to-vehicle infrastructure exchanges as we contend with modern technologies to alleviate the changing situation. There will also be relevant legal, social, and ethical implications as a result, including issues such as environmental impact, regulating traffic and accidents, and consequent privacy and cyber security risks. In the OneWorld Robotics Competition, students will have to consider all of these challenges through their application of robotics.

The OneWorld Robotics Competition challenges students from all over the globe to apply STEAM-related skills through robotics to solve real-world problems. Area Competitions will be held over two days, where teams compete in technical challenges as well as present legal, social, and ethical solutions to AV application in Smart Cities. The Global Competition will involve the top three teams from all Area Competitions competing over five days. Students will have their projects assessed by a panel of industry experts. As the students take on the timely category of 'Smart Cities' they will contemplate topics such as the benefit of Autonomous Vehicles in alleviating the problems associated with transport congestion and over-population, while honing their critical thinking skills.

Further information about the OneWorld Robotics Competition may be found here. 

Alex Park, Kyle Reyes and Ben Moss were awarded the Excellence in Artmaking award as part of the competition.

Congratulations on such a wonderful achievement boys!

This week our Year 8 students took part in the ILA - Earth 2.0 launch via a video link-up seminar with a scientist from NASA.

We have a few items here in Room 19 that remain unclaimed since camp. If you recognise any items that belongs to your son, please send him to Room 19 to collect it before the end of term.