It has been so good to see boys back online and engaging with their learning after a much-needed break. Whilst all students and staff alike certainly needed some rest, I think reconnecting with their peers online has really rejuvenated our boys’ spirits. I eagerly anticipate their return to campus and encourage parents to continue conversations about the importance of good hygiene practices and physical distancing as we return for two days per week from Week 4, as per the Headmaster’s correspondence.

While there are signs of a slow and staggered return to some sense of normal, it is important to remember that the majority of learning for boys is still taking place online, and so their application in that space really needs to be as focused and diligent as if they were physically present in the classroom, if not more so due to the independence and self-discipline required in this remote learning mode. Please help your boys by continuing conversations about how they are going and where they are up to in their learning for each subject, and please don’t hesitate to contact your son’s Mentor, in the first instance, should you have any concerns about the level of engagement or how your son might be coping.

I wanted to thank the many parents who shared images and videos of boys keeping busy during holiday isolation. It is always great to learn more about the boys and see another side of themselves. There were many great photographs of boys spending quality time with family, birthday cakes, backyard exercise routines, bushwalks, building projects from audio speakers to mountain bike see-saws, new-found culinary talents (often at the BBQ), bee-keeping, music practice, new puppies, fishing … the list goes on. I hope boys continue to engage with these hobbies and use them as means to put some much-needed distance between themselves and technology, even when we are back at school full time.

In Year Meeting on Monday, as well as sharing the holiday photos and videos shared, Mr Milligan and I had a game of 'Would I Lie to You?' in which a surprising number of boys were duped into believing that Mr Milligan tried to start a boy band when he was in Year 12, and many doubted the very true fact that when I was 10 I dressed up as a frill-neck lizard and danced at the opening ceremony of the Sydney Paralympic games. We also commenced our Climate Change Challenge as part of our Virile Agitur Man campaign, in which Mentor Groups will take turns to pose a thought and a challenge to the rest of Year 9, about how we can use our great strength, under control, to reduce our impact on the natural environment.

Alec Openshaw

As of the beginning of this week, I have come back to work on-site at Knox. The complete silence around the School is something that I will remember for years to come that’s for sure, but the thing that will forever stick in my mind is how much I miss seeing the students in our cohort or hearing their laughter. I cannot wait to see all their smiling faces on Tuesday 19 May and we will all remember these times in years to come and give ourselves a pat on the back for how well we got through it.

Last week in our newsletter we included a link for parents in the Wellbeing, Support and Counselling section. It has come to our attention that this link was unfortunately incorrect and we apologise for this. Please find below the correct details should you wish to access the parenting videos.

Video: Parenting Videos

Password: WellbeingSenior

Knox Remote Learning Hub

We have established a ‘Remote Learning Hub’ to provide students and parents with access to Frequently Asked Questions, videos, documents and resources during our period of online and remote learning.

If you have any feedback, please email us.

Library News 

Just a reminder the School’s library portal is available via KnoxNet for free access to a wide variety of information databases across all subjects. For Term 2, the library staff are all online to help students and parents and the online form on the library portal can be used to request assistance or you can contact the staff via email.

Newsletter Photos

For next week’s newsletter, we would like to feature photos you would like to share of what your son’s daily remote learning routine looks like – whether it is a photo of them studying at their desk, doing their practical PDHPE or music lessons, preparing a meal for the rest of the family at break times, going outdoors for some fresh air in between lessons or indulging in one of their hobbies. Please email me the photos in high resolution JPEG format by Wednesday 13 May. I look forward to receiving the photos so we can share it with the Year 9 Knox community and remain connected during this time of isolation.

I wish to congratulate Angus Wines who has been awarded the best speaking award in the Knox Debating Cup. Further information about our Oratory program may be found in the Community Notices.  

Finally, I would like to wish all the mothers, stepmothers, grandmothers or other mother figure in our Year 9 cohorts life a very Happy Mother’s Day and I hope you all get spoilt on Sunday. Thank you for everything you do for your sons and for raising such fine young men.

Happy Mother's Day weekend and stay safe.

Crystel Hodgson, Tel: 9119 0881

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 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 Helpdesk if you require assistance.

Re: Assessment tasks in the coming weeks
Please note that there are no assessment tasks finalising in Weeks 3 and 4. Please refer to the assessment schedule and specific task notifications for details.

Jake Plaskett

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

Sunday 10 May 

Mother's Day

Tuesday 19 May - Week 4

Year 9 - Return to campus

Wednesday 20 May - Week 4

Year 9 - Learning on campus

Tuesday 26 May - Week 5

Year 9 - Learning on campus

Wednesday 27 May - Week 5 

Year 9 - Learning on campus

Monday 8 June

Queen's Birthday - Public Holiday

Friday 26 June

Term 2 concludes

Monday 20 July

Term 3 commences

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.

With the current restrictions, our SJ Club is now meeting on Zoom each Friday at 1pm (commencing this week). We are hosting guest speakers, exploring justice issues and presenting opportunities for volunteering. If your son would like to join in, please email Mrs Helen Clarke.

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

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.

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.


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

Senior students aged 12-15 years are invited to participate in the latest offering from Code Camp which starts on Tuesday 12 May. Students can learn JavaScript through online sessions when it suits them. Parents can book a spot by clicking here or see their flyer for more information.

Please click on the image to view it in a bigger format.