This week in Year Meeting, our Mentor Representatives facilitated an opportunity for boys to share stories of how they have exercised their great strength for good in the accumulation of Good Hours. Across all Mentor Groups, Year 9 have managed to accumulate a total of 360 collective hours of good since the launch of the Virile Agitur Man campaign thus far. Fantastic effort!

Shiraj Pannu spoke of giving three full days of his time to assist his cousin with an interstate move. Josh Harty hosted a neighbour whose WIFI was down so that they could submit an assignment. Hugh McDonald gave his time to walk a family to Warrawee Station when he observed that they were lost on campus. Big or small: these acts from our boys are an encouraging demonstration of how our young men are capable of looking outside of themselves to make a difference to those around them. I encourage you to discuss with your sons ways in which they may be able to get involved in contributing in our pursuit of the goal of 10,000 hours of collective good.

Mr Tim Felton, our guest Mentor speaker for Week 6, shared the story of inspirational Knox Old Boy Hunter Johnson, CEO of The Man Cave, whose vision is to support young men to establish and maintain healthy relationships. This aligns closely with our Virile Agitur Man vision as we want to see our young men contribute to their community and to reach their full potential. Mr Felton’s challenge to the boys, was to strive to be defined by their courage, their compassion, and their resilience, and to become willing to admit vulnerability to their peers and to offer and accept the support needed to flourish.

A fantastic performance of U2’s 'Beautiful Day' by a band including Alec Germanos, Sebastian Quintana, Ben Tippett, Andrew Gladigau and Nathanael Sherlock was the warm up to this week's Battle of the Bands Heats, where we have four Year 9 bands competing. We wish all boys involved the best of luck as they await results to see who will progress to the final.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch with Team Leaders or your son's Mentor should you have any queries.

Alec Openshaw

It is hard to believe that we have now reached the halfway mark for Term 1. The boys are still focused on their studies with assessment tasks now due in the upcoming weeks. Once again I would like to remind you to please complete the Illness and Misadventure form if your son is away on the day of his assessment.

2021 Term Dates

The 2021 term dates are now live on the website. Please check term dates when planning your future holidays.

CAS Swim and Dive Championships Supported Approval

Please read this letter regarding students who wish to attend the CAS Swim and Dive teams at the CAS Championships on Thursday 12 March. If you would like you son/s to support please go to the Parent Lounge, select the event, confirm his medical details and click on the accept button. Please click here for directions if required. This event is always one of the best on the CAS calendar and the School looks forward to another exciting evening in 2020. 

School photos

Your son’s school photos can now be accessed from Melba Studios. Please use your son’s Student ID number which is located on his Student ID card to view the photos. It is important to note that as the ID number is privacy protected, you are the only one that can view your son’s portrait. At this time, not only can you have his high resolution image sent to you via WeTransfer, you can also order additional discounted printed copies if you would like for yourself or family members. Your school account has been charged $20 which covers your son’s Student ID card, year photo and portrait for your record of his time at school.

To download your son’s portrait and Year Group photo, please go to Melba Studios on Wednesday 11 March.Then select SCHOOL ORDERS and enter the password (which is available below). This will lead you to the screen where you enter your son’s Student ID number and select Year 9 and submit.

Password: KNOX

If you have any questions relating to the photos, please contact Melba Studios on 9438 4566.

IMPORTANT - PARENT CONTACT DETAILS

It is imperative that the School has your correct details so we are able to contact you at all times. Please log into the Parent Portal and check that your phone and address details are correct and update if necessary.

If you experience any difficulties logging onto the Parent Portal, please contact our helpdesk on (02) 9473 9706 or email.

Finally, congratulations to Kai Lilienthal who competed at the State Nippers championships last weekend and came home with a gold, silver and bronze medal. Well done Kai and we look forward to watching your continued success.

Crystel Hodgson, Tel: 9119 0881

Year 9 elective changes – Week 7 deadline

Any Year 9 student who wishes to change their elective must meet with me before 4pm Thursday 12 March 2020 to determine availability in the desired elective and discuss issues arising due to a late change (safety training and/or assessment tasks). Please note: all boys are enrolled in their electives for the remainder of Stage 5 withstanding extraordinary or extenuating circumstances.

Where appropriate, students will be given a Year 9 Subject Change Form that they must complete and return to the Middle Academy (including parent and Head of Department signatures) prior to 4.00pm Friday 13 March 2020 for consideration.

Please email me with any questions about Stage 5 Electives at your earliest convenience.

Doing da Vinci Decathlon

Last Thursday, our boys took park in the increasingly popular Doing da Vinci Decathlon in the Great Hall. The boys were engaged in a series of tasks that demanded, critical and creative thinking, problem-finding and problem-solving, collaboration and communication. All students who participated should be congratulated for their efforts and courage. Results for the 2020 event are as follows:

 Jake Plaskett

Last Tuesday, three of our Knox boys together with boys from other CAS schools made up the CAS team going up against the ISA team. Each student played a doubles and a singles match consisting of each 2 sets. 

Leo Phijidvijan, Nick Bigeni (Year 9) and Aston Bloom (Year 9) played excellent tennis and displayed great sportsmanship on the court, also to the 3 girls from the ISA team. 

CAS beat ISA today, which means the Cup stays with CAS. In two weeks we will have to face GPS, which will be a much bigger challenge to succeed and try and win that trophy as well.

Tuesday 10 March

World's Greatest Shave

Thursday 12 March

CAS - Swim and Dive Championships

Sunday 15 March

Kuringgai Chase Fun Run 2020

Thursday 19 March - Saturday 21 March

'The Importance of Being Earnest'

Thursday 2 April - Thursday 9 April

AFX camp

Thursday 9 April

Term 1 concludes

Friday 10 April

Good Friday

Sunday 12 April

Easter

Monday 27 April

Term 2 commences 

Last year Knox raised $20k for the World's Greatest Shave event and this year we are aiming for $25k. We have a Knox Team, so please encourage your son to participate by signing up via this link. The Social Justice Prefects and speakers from the World’s Greatest Shave presented at Year Assembly this week to encourage the boys to join this worthy cause.

On Tuesday 10 March the Knox team's top fundraisers will have their head ‘shaved’. Students must remember that haircuts are to be in line with the School’s regulation!

Gus Rowe, James Brandon and Oscar J Thomas were three of the students among others who participated in the event last year. Please support the following Year 9 students who are participating this year namely Gus Rowe, Matt Fisher, Niall Yeowell, Sam Stone and Antony Li.

The Uniform Shop will be holding a $5 donation flash sale on Monday 16 March for one week only. This will include most second hand uniform items that have been donated by parents or have been in second hand for over two years.

If you have any items of uniform you would like to donate please ensure they are clean and in good condition.  Drop them off to the Uniform Shop at 10 Borambil Street from Thursday 12 March.

Due to hygiene reasons we cannot accept socks, bags or hats.

All proceeds of items sold will be donated to the Rural Relief Program nominated by Mrs Helen Clarke. This program offers financial assistance to families that live in rural communities that have been impacted by drought and bush fires. 

For the past 12 years the Knox community has been supporting the Wesley Mission each Easter with gifts of Easter eggs and pots of noodles for Sydney’s homeless. This small gesture for those who are struggling and isolated brings a lot of joy and appreciation.

Please bring your donations along to the SAOs or to Room 15 (Mrs Helen Clarke in the Social Justice Office). 

Winter uniform
As we approach the halfway mark of the first term we would like to remind all parents that Term 2 changes over into winter uniform. For further information on what the changes are, please refer to the Uniform Policy which is available on the Knox portal here. We strongly recommend purchasing the winter uniform earlier rather than later. Do not wait until the last week of the holidays as we cannot guarantee the sizes that will be available.

Special orders
Any special requirements regarding winter uniform items should be discussed with Uniform Shop staff as soon as possible. Occasionally, we have students that have allergies/sensitivity to wool and in these instances, time permitting, we can get winter trousers lined and jumpers made in a cotton/nylon blend. As these are special orders we need four weeks' notice for the trousers and up to eight weeks for the knitwear.

Other instances include if your son is not a standard size (for example, very tall but slim and may require extra length or he may be of a more solid frame like a Rugby player) then the standard sizes may be disproportional.

Please contact the Uniform Shop on 9487 0191 or email us.

Mrs Julie Blackburn, Knox Uniform Shop Manager

Year 9 Photography and Digital Media students visited the Sydney Fish Markets, the Art Gallery of NSW and the Sydney Sea Life Aquarium last Friday. The boys captured images of sea creatures to use in their upcoming assessment task, and were inspired by the photographic works of 2019’s HSC students in the ARTEXPRESS exhibition. Photography and Digital Media was introduced at Knox this year as a brand new elective option for Year 9 students.

On Monday this week, a group of German students headed to the zoo and Munich Brauhouse for lunch to taste the German delicacies. 

This week, lunchtime has been most entertaining for students and staff with our Battle of the Bands performances on the Great Hall steps. 

Our Year 9 cohort had four bands perform consisting of 16 students. Well done boys!