'Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all'. Aristotle.

This week began with an uplifting Year Meeting where our new year group Portfolio Leaders were announced. Mr Sam White, Director of Student Leadership, along with the Senior Prefect Executive team attended to congratulate the boys and speak about the great opportunities and responsibilities that come with being a leader. We wish all of the leaders great success for the coming year in their roles. Our hope is that all boys aspiring for leadership get an opportunity prior to Year 12 and are encouraged to apply again next year when applications are open.

The beginning of Term 4 also signifies a changing of the guard as our cadets prepare for their first parade of the new cadet year. Many of our boys have been promoted into new roles and have been working hard during the holidays and throughout this first week to prepare for the new cadets. Good luck for their first parade in new platoons and leadership roles.

There is so much happening this week, as many of the students are also excited about our Stepping Stone House sleep out which is happening tonight on Knox 1. Many of the boys have been fundraising and donated towards the charity already. All of the Middle Academy team are looking forward to making shelters out of cardboard boxes and participating in some fun activities with the students on the night. If you would still like to donate, please click here.

In the final term of academic study for Year 9, our Mentor sessions in the upcoming weeks will focus on ‘Skills of Accomplishment’. These sessions will begin with a guided completion of a study timetable for the boys. This will assist the boys in mapping out areas and subjects of focus in the lead up to their final exams. Part of the ongoing sessions will involve the students engaging with parents and guardians about their study timetables and reflecting on subjects and areas they would like to target in the lead-up.

As we approach the final exams and assessments this term, please feel free to make contact with your son’s respective teachers directly if you have any concerns.

Margie Raymond

It was lovely to see all the boys back at school on Tuesday looking refreshed after the holidays. A short however actioned pack term to follow. Please make our new boys, Brian Lau and Anthony Lee, feel comfortable and supported in their new school and a warm welcome back to Ethan Lonergan.

Best of luck to the following boys attending the Future Problem Solving Nationals Competition this weekend in Brisbane: Oliver Chen, Oscar Chen, Anlong Guo, Edmond Wu and Ryan Xia.

The Year 10 Portfolio Leadership Teams 2020 were announced during Year Meeting on Tuesday. Congratulations to all students who were successfully appointed. 

Please click here for a wrap up of the recent trip to Kokoda. To take up this wonderful opportunity in 2020, you can click here for the application.

Don’t throw out good school shoes!
We have restarted the shoe collection to help needy children in The Philippines this term. Please have a look at home to see if you have any shoes that are still in good condition that you can donate. These can be school shoes, sports shoes (runners/football boots), sandals or crocs both for boys and girls. These shoes really make a difference to many poor children and importantly, allow them to attend school. Andrew O’Brien (Year 9) and Mrs Helen Clarke are coordinating this initiative. Please drop off your donations to Room 19 or Mrs Clarke in Room 15.

For those Year 9 students participating in the sleep out on Knox 1 this evening, have fun and remember it's for a good cause. 

A great weekend ahead for World Cup Rugby watching. 

Rebecca Smith Tel: 9119 0882

The ‘Careers Insight Evening’ will be held on Monday 28 October 2019 in the WSA Lecture Theatre and various classrooms in the WSA and Montgomery buildings.

An initiative introduced this year, this event is open to students in Years 9, 10 and Year 12 (class of 2020) and their parents. The purpose is to give students the opportunity to learn about different careers, industries and professions and to understand different careers and educational pathways.

FORMAT

Commencing at 5.30pm in the WSA Lecture Theatre, Mr James Hunter, National Managing Partner at KPMG, will give a key note address on the global competencies valued by employers and how students can utilise their experiences and opportunities at Knox to develop diversity of skills and be successful in a constantly changing world of work. Places are limited for this one-off session, so please ensure you reserve your place (seats for student and parents) on the registration form below.

Following the key note address will be the Career Insight sessions. An event in conjunction with the OKGA, our Alumni (and some current staff) will be presenting career information and personal insights into their current profession. There will be 16 different career categories (listed below). Students are invited to select three career insight sessions they wish to attend during the course of the evening. Presenters from each career category will repeat their session three times as per the following schedule:

*6.30pm - 7pm

*7.10pm - 7.40pm

*7.50pm - 8.20pm

Each session will run for approximately 30 minutes with 10 minutes in between to allow for travelling time to the next session.

CAREER CATEGORIES

Science & Engineering

IT

Law

Cyber and International Security

Medicine

Allied Health

Business, Accounting & Finance

Business – Entrepreneurial

Media & Communication

Creative & Design

Technical & Trades

Sport Coaching

Sports Management

Police

Defence Force

Agriculture, Environment and Primary Industries

REGISTRATION:

Please click on the registration link to register your attendance to the key note address (limited to 150 places) and three career sessions (limited to 50 places per session).

I look forward to seeing many students and parents at this major careers event.

Linda Gomez

Calling any budding triathletes!

For the first time ever, CIS will be introducing the CIS Teams Triathlon Championships as a qualifying event for the NSW All Schools Triathlon Championships in February 2020.This event will be held on Monday 28 October (Week 3) at Penrith International Regatta Centre. Please see attached for further information.This event is for teams only and you will need to participate in this event to qualify for the teams event at NSW All Schools. Individual competitors will still be able to register directly for the NSW All Schools event in February.

We are seeking interest from individual swimmers, cyclists and runners to form teams for the CIS event. Knox will form seeded teams of boys who we deem to have the fastest qualifying times in their age category. Additionally, Knox will form social teams of boys wanting to give the sport of triathlon a go.

Please fill out the following form to express your interest in participating in this event.

Please contact Mr Hart if you have any questions.

Saturday 26 October

Year 9 Parent supper

Monday 28 October

Careers Insight evening

Tuesday 29 October

OKGA Special Event: Tomorrow Man - a Night with the Blokes

Thursday 7-9 November

Knox Musical - 'Oliver!'

Tuesday 12 November

Year 9 dance program with PLC Pymble

Thursday 14 - Friday 22 November

Yearly Examinations 

Friday 15 November

Knox Christmas Markets, Great Hall, 4pm - 8pm

Wednesday 20 November

Parent seminar: Raising Boys in a digital world, Wenkart Theatre, 6pm-8pm

Thursday 5 December

Knox Presentation Day

Term 4 Concludes

Raising boys in a digital world
An evening with Dr Kristy Goodwin

When: Wednesday 20 November 2019, 6pm-8pm
Where: Wenkart Theatre, Junior Academy and Performing Arts Centre, Senior School
Who: Knox Prep, Wahroonga Prep and Knox Senior School parents of students in Years 5-9

Dr Goodwin will provide practical and effective strategies to ensure your son’s online safety and healthy technology habits.

Please RSVP by 15 November here. For more information, email Amanda Pooley.

Parent seminar - Raising Boys in a Digital World flyer

Computer club takes place every Wednesday afternoon from 3.30 – 5.30pm.

Although we are currently working in the new innovations building, we are just about to move to the new iHub - old Music block (which will occur on the 30 October).

Our focus for the term will be the Grok Code Quest competition which starts 28 October 2019.

All boys are welcome to attend.

For further information, please contact Mr David McGowan.

All welcome to join us for these upcoming events:

• OKGA Special Event: Tomorrow Man - A Night with the Blokes - Tuesday 29 October
• OKGA 2019 Golf Day - Wednesday 30 October

OKGA 2019 Golf Day 
When: Wednesday 30 October 2019, Lunch from 12.30pm; Tee Off 1.30pm 
Where: Avondale Golf Club, Pymble 

All members of the Knox community are warmly invited to participate in the 2019 Annual OKGA Golf Day.

Competitions to be held on the day include Individual Stableford + 2 Ball Team Event, Leavers’ Trophy ‐ Aggregate Four Ball, Father and Son, Mother and Son, Longest Drive and Nearest the Pin.

2019 Golf Day Invite

Please register online here by Friday 18 October. Contact the OKGA Office on 9487 0419 if you have any questions.

OKGA Special Event: Tomorrow Man - A Night with the Blokes
When: Tuesday 29 October 2019, Free BBQ from 6.30pm; Workshop from 7pm 
Where: Senior School Gymnasium, Lawson Centre 

The Old Knox Grammarians Association (OKGA) is delighted to be hosting a special Tomorrow Man event in conjunction with Gus Worland (OKG86), and Gotcha4Life.

Come and join with fellow men of the Knox community for ‘A Night with the Blokes’ - a space for a casual and honest conversation about the current man code and what tomorrow’s man might look like.

Throughout the night, we will explore how we can look after ourselves, our mates and families better while carving out our own version of the Aussie man.

Participants will leave this workshop with a deeper level of understanding and connectedness to their fellow men.

This event is open to all male members of the Knox community together with grandfathers, fathers, sons and brothers (under 16 must be accompanied by an adult male).

2019 OKGA A Night With The Blokes Invite

Register online here by Friday 25 October. 

Contact the OKGA Office on 9487 0419 or email okga@knox.nsw.edu.au if you have any questions.

Students from Knox Grammar School will reprise the School's very first musical, 'Oliver', with a production of the much loved musical in the Knox Junior Academy and Performing Arts Centre from 7-9 November.

The production will be the first major show to take place in the new 750 seat Wenkart Theatre.

Performances
Thursday 7 November 2019, 7.30pm
Friday 8 November 2019, 7.30pm
Saturday 9 November 2019, 7.30pm

Venue
Wenkart Theatre, Junior Academy and Performing Arts Centre, Knox Grammar School, Wahroonga

Tickets
All tickets $35 at www.knox.nsw.edu.au/oliver

The production will feature a cast of 170 students from Years 7 to 12 from Knox Grammar School, Ravenswood School for Girls and Pymble Ladies' College, with a live orchestra and sound and lighting by a student tech crew.

Each year the Knox community supports those in need in the lead up to Christmas. We ask the Knox community to donate food for families who will struggle to provide for their families this Christmas. 

Suggested items:
Pasta and pasta sauce, breakfast cereals (no nuts), long-life milk, tinned ham and/or turkey, long-life custard and/or canned cream, Christmas pudding/fruit cake and/or mince pies, tinned tuna/salmon, tea/coffee/milo/hot chocolate/Nesquik, canned fruit, cordial, savoury snacks (no nuts), table trimmings (such as lollies, chocolate or Christmas bonbons).

In early December, we will arrange to take all the donations into Wesley Mission in the City for distribution to these struggling families.

Donations can be handed in to Room 19 or Mrs Clarke’s office (Room 15).

For many years the Knox community have generously supported the STARTTS program. STARTTS is the acronym for the ‘NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors’.

The organisation provides a range of professional services to facilitate the healing process for refugees who have been exposed to torture and trauma, as well as access to health services for newly arrived refugees. The aim of the program at Knox is to provide your son with the opportunity to learn a little about the organisation and what it does, as well as to think about children of his own age who have had to cope with very real difficulties in their lives. It encourages the boys to think about demonstrating compassion in his life and how displaying that compassion is integral to our Christian compassion at Knox

The boys are asked to make a Christmas card for a child who is currently being assisted by the service. It would be wonderful if your son could provide a small Christmas gift ($10 in value) to which his card can eventually be attached.

The gifts should be handed to Room 19 by Tuesday 3 December. We intend to present the gifts to a guest speaker from STARTTS organisation that is coming to the School in the last week of term.

In previous years, the gift from our boys was often the only gift these children received. If possible, please wrap and label the gift indicating whether it is appropriate for a boy of girl.

We appreciate your support as always and hope that the boys will learn a great deal from their participation in this program.

For more information, please contact Mrs Helen Clarke.

Kokoda travels: Spencer Selikowitz, Will McDonagh, Anlong Guo, Matthew Brooke, Will Constable and Jack Sloane had the most memorable trip completing the Kokoda Track during the Term 3 holidays. All the boys gained significant life experience and they should be very proud of their efforts.