We aim to ensure that we continue to offer our boys a quality educational experience. We have always had evening Tutors in Boarding and after school support workshops in a range of subjects and for literacy and numeracy. We want to continue this approach in an online environment.

The role of the Academic Support person is to provide academic advice and support via Zoom. This support and advice could take the form of the following:

• Responding to student questions. 
• Revisiting a key skill, concept or an aspect of the content.

Please click here for the list of subjects that will be providing Academic Support after school in Weeks 2 to 8. The list outlines the subject, day and time for students to use the link to ask teachers questions relating to their subjects. Please note that some sessions are just for Boarders and all other sessions are for any student in that year or stage.

Stage 6 is Years 11 and 12, Stage 5 is Years 9 and 10 and Stage 4 is Years 7 and 8.

Karen Yager

Welcome to Term 2! I trust that you all had a relaxing break and were able to enjoy the sunshine. I hope that the boys enjoyed participating in the 21 day challenge and were able to successfully achieve their goal. Attempting to train the dog was indeed a challenge for me but we were able to make some progress.

It has been a unique start to term as we welcomed students back to virtual classrooms. Additional time has been allocated between lessons to give the boys a break from their screens. Students are encouraged to use this time away from their computer and to go and stretch their legs. It is a great opportunity to go outside and enjoy some fresh air and sunshine.

Yesterday, students received an email from IT about the latest Zoom update. It is important that these instructions are followed so that they are able to access lessons being conducted via Zoom.

We have had a number of enquiries about students collecting items from their lockers. The locker room can be accessed by students; however, they must contact Mrs Hodgson to let her know the time that they will be on-site and leave the School premises as soon as they have collected the items they require from their locker.

Have a lovely weekend.

Elizabeth Ruff

Welcome back to Term 2. I hope you and your family were able to have a good Easter Holiday break, despite the strange circumstances we are currently in. I have seen some interesting pictures and heard some funny stories of all the creative and entertaining things our boys got up to during the holidays. Personally, my house has never look so clean and organised!

On that note, as we continue our Virile Agitur Man campaign with a focus on climate change this term, the same could be said of the natural world currently – it has not looked so clean in so long! As we have all been locked down, one of the major positives has been our planet thriving during this time. There have been some fascinating pictures of clear skies, blue waters and animals roaming freely around. This term, Mr Openshaw and I are tasking each Mentor group to come up with a Climate Change Challenge which they will put to the rest of the year group – tangible and realistic actions which we can do right here and now to make our environment a better place. Simply cutting your shower time in half could save up to 12,000 litres of water a year! Ultimately, we want to continue seeing each Year 9 student displaying their great strength, under control, used for good.

As we head into a relatively unpredictable term, I would like to keep encouraging our students to support one another, to look out for their mates and to ask for help if they’re not coping with anything. I have been so impressed with how well your sons have adapted to remote learning and equally astounded at how impressive my colleagues have been adjusting their style of delivery.

Please keep a close eye on the news and communications coming out from the School as there are many decisions being sent out which require action and affect how successfully this term will play out. Please do reach out to your son’s Mentor, the Team Leaders or any of the Middle Academy team if there is anything we can do to assist during this time of transition and adaption. Good luck and I really am looking forward to seeing you all soon.

Craig Milligan

These holidays have certainly been different for all of us but it has given us plenty of time to bond as a family. I enjoyed spending time with my family and I felt like I travelled back in time to my childhood as I taught my daughters all the games I used to play as a kid. They enjoyed playing dominoes where we discovered that my youngest does not enjoy losing which then led to a discussion about the fact that we cannot always win in life and that we need to take the teachings from our experience and implement changes for next time so that we improve our abilities to succeed. Absolutely amazing what a game of dominoes can teach you! Well, that’s enough about my holidays. I hope you enjoyed the time at home as a family and that you are now refreshed and ready to tackle Term 2. 

Wishing a warm welcome to Addison Dai as he joins our cohort. I hope Addison enjoys his time at Knox and goes from strength to strength along with everyone in Year 9.

I am very much looking forward to welcoming the boys back on the school grounds on Tuesday 19 May. A communication from Mr James was sent to parents earlier this week regarding the return to school plan for Weeks 4 and 5. Just a reminder that all students are to return to school in their full winter uniform. Please take the time this weekend to check if your son's winter uniform still fits as most of our cohort have grown considerably in height since last winter. If you require new uniforms, please check the Uniform Shop opening hours here. 

Finally, I am sure you are all wondering how I went with my 21 day challenge. Let’s just say that once I started using my crochet skills again I discovered that I had not forgotten how to do the stitches. Back in the day my grandmother taught me all the stitches in French, so it took some time re-adjusting to learning the stitches in English but fundamentally they are the same thing and I managed to complete not one but two scarves. My daughters are very happy with their new scarf for winter and the eldest chose the bright colours whilst the youngest opted for a purple and white one. I am currently working on a third which is nearly complete. It was great to hear how some of the boys went on their 21 day challenge too and I am now going to set myself a challenge for each break. 

Have a lovely weekend and stay safe.

Crystel Hodgson, Tel: 9119 0881

Thank you for your ongoing support as we navigate our way through this global pandemic. I am writing to you in regard to the issues arising and considerations being made in relation to assessment tasks in Year 9 for Term 2.

An updated assessment booklet and schedule have been made available on the Year 9 portal page under Academic Resources. Moreover, an updated copy of the termly assessment schedule, organised by date, and a copy of my email correspondence from this week have also been uploaded.

I will be providing information about the upcoming two weeks of assessments in my newsletter entries, for your quick reference and convenience. The information below relates to the assessments schedule between Weeks 2-3 of Term 2 2020.

WEEK 2: 4 to 8 May

Graphics – Task 2

• No changes to this assessment task.
• Please refer to the assessment notification for submission details.

Design and Technology – Task 2

• This task has been modified and will be due Friday 8 May with Task 3 (Minimalist light) being due in Term 3 to allow for more time in the workshop.
• The weighting for Task 2 has been adjusted to 15%; Task 3 will now be worth 30% and Task 4 worth 25%.
• The syllabus outcomes assessed in this weighted task have changed; please refer to the assessment notifications in Week 1 for specific outcomes and submission details.

WEEK 3: 11 to 15 May

No scheduled assessment tasks for Year 9.

Jake Plaskett

Sunday 10 May 

Mother's Day

Tuesday 19 May

Year 9 - Return to campus

Wednesday 20 May

Year 9 - learning on campus

Tuesday 26 May

Year 9 - learning on campus

Wednesday 27 May

Year 9 - learning on campus

Monday 8 June

Queen's Birthday - Public Holiday

Friday 26 June

Term 2 concludes

You will have received the pleasing news with regards to students returning to school on a staggered basis from Week 3 onwards.

The Sport and Co-Curricular schedule that was advised last week is currently being updated to reflect these return timings. The new schedule, of either online or at school programs, will be advised in the year level weekly newsletters on Friday of Week 2.

Sport and Co-Curricular staff are looking forward to being able to resume a number of activities with the boys on campus.

Martin Haywood (Head of Knox Sport Aquatic Academy) and Chuck Ardron (Director Co-Curricular Operations)

The Knox Uniform Shop is still operating on reduced hours. To assist customers unsure of the sizing of winter uniform, the Uniform Shop will be open from 1pm-5pm on Monday 4 May, Wednesday 6 May, and Friday 8 May and then on Saturday 9 May from 9am-12noon. Please note that we are running on a customer limited basis so appointments are not required but we will only have two changing rooms operational. We ask parents and students to be patient as our team practises social distancing to keep our School community safe.

Whilst students continue remote learning, they are permitted to wear their winter uniform if already purchased or their PDHPE/Sports uniform. When they are on-site, they are expected to wear full winter uniform.

Uniform is available to order online via Flexischools 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.

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 Senior School Reception (open 8am-5pm weekdays). Please email us to advise of your request.

Further information regarding the Uniform Shop opening times for Term 2 will be advised shortly.

Julie Blackburn

Given the restrictions of movement and access at the time, we had all of the Easter eggs and noodles distributed through the Ku-ring-gai Neighbourhood Centre (KNC). Many of our students, staff and parents have been volunteering with KNC over the holidays.

One of the activities students and staff has been involved in has been packing donated fresh food for local organisations who support those who are homeless, shelters and isolated. Our noodles and Easter eggs were a welcome surprise to all who received them.

Thank you to the many Knox families and Lindt Chocolates who generously supported the Appeal.

Please remember to check our school library portals, available via KnoxNet, for free access to a wide variety of information databases across all subjects, videos created specifically for students in Clickview and Curriculum Video on Demand, ebooks and audiobooks, movie suggestions by year group, the digital replica edition of The Sydney Morning Herald every day from 6am, as well as tips for effective study.

 
For parents supporting their children learning at home, the Australian School Library Association has collated some wonderful resources including the national Learning from Home resources from each state.

The library staff are all online from Term 2 to help students and parents in any way we can. Please use the online form on the library portal to request assistance with research related assessments or any other library related issue, or contact us via email.

Beth Wilson

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.

During the break the boys have all been very busy and have happily shared what they have been up to with us! Please keep on sending us more photos as we love to see and hear what you are all doing during your free time.

Knox psychologists are available for support of students and their parents by contacting us via email or phone (02) 9119 0828. A reminder too 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