In Monday’s Year Meeting I shared a short clip from a 2019 episode of the ABC television show 'QandA', in which a fourteen-year-old boy asks the following question:

'Does this notion of toxic masculinity seem fair given the amount of guilt and shaming towards one generation of men who have never dealt out any violence?' This question seems a reasonable one to ask for a boy of his age, and I know is one that resonated with the students in Year 9.

I showed the clip to demonstrate that it is perfectly normal to experience a sense of defensiveness in the face of a conversation that could appear to some, as a critique of their own character. And to have this response is in fact a good thing, as it shows just how important it is to our boys to act, and to be known by others as boys who act, in ways that uphold the values of integrity, compassion, fairness, equity. They respect these values and aspire to uphold them daily.

Our ongoing discussion about Respecting Women, as part of our Virile Agitur Man campaign, is not an accusation that our boys have failed to show adequate respect, or even that we fear they might. Nor is it a suggestion that we believe our students are responsible for any historically-forged inequality, or for apologising for it.

Rather, we are having this conversation because we believe our boys have the maturity and the power to define a modern and respectful interpretation of masculinity that is inclusive, sensitive, thoughtful and just.

I am proud that the boys have been keenly participating in our project this term and I look forward to hearing the statements that will shape our manifesto, which boys have been distilling from responses from interviews with women in their lives. It is so easy to remain passive, but I am proud to see the enthusiasm with which many of our Year 9 boys are engaging in this project.

Alec Openshaw

This week has seen a number of students arrive late to school for a number of reasons. I thank all the parents that have contacted me via email, phone calls and to those who lodged an Absentee Notification to confirm their son will be arriving late to school. Please encourage your sons to also email me and copy you in on the email if they are running late due to train delays. If trains are delayed we will be taking this into account prior to emailing parents about late arrivals.

Absences from school

All absences of three days or more require a medical certificate to be provided to the School. This can either be emailed to me and/or your son can bring it in when they return to school. It is important to remember that when lodging your son's absence in Parent Lounge you will need to include the nature of his medical condition in the comment section if you have selected Illness/Medical. Should your son be suffering from any of the symptoms of COVID-19, please follow the government advice regarding getting tested and keep your son at home. 

COVID-19 Hotspots 

Please make sure you are keeping a close eye on the most up-to-date information regarding the list of COVID-19 locations that are listed as having been visited by recent cases and take the necessary steps if you or your child have been in any of these hotspots. For your information, our Student Attendance Guideline due to the current COVID-19 situation may be found here. 

Food Drive

Thank you for all the donations that we have received so far for the Food Drive. We have again this week had a table full of non-perishable food that has been collected for Ku-ring-gai Neighbourhood Centre, to support local families in need. Please feel free to donate long-life milk, cereal, coffee, tea, cans of meat, vegetables, fruit and/or soup, cup of soup and dried fruit. No glass items, please. Items can be dropped off at my office and/or Mrs Clarke's office (Room 15).

As we head into Spring, I hope you take the time to head out and enjoy the warm weather. Don't forget to join for the Ride with Richter fitness challenge. It is the perfect opportunity to get on board and support a worthy cause whilst having fun and either continue on our fitness challenge and/or kick it off again. A reminder that it starts tomorrow and concludes on Sunday 20 September. Further information may be found here on ways you and your family can get involved to help support the beautiful Richter family and get fit along the way. Please do send us some pictures so we can keep the updates going in the newsletter.

Have a lovely weekend.

Crystel Hodgson, Tel: 9119 0881

Saturday 29 August

Ride with Richter Fitness Challenge begins

Sunday 20 September

Ride with Richter Fitness Challenge concludes

Friday 25 September

Term 3 Concludes

Some new and exciting releases are now available from the library to boost your wide reading.

New titles from award winning authors include:

Ernest Cline

'Ready Player One'

James Dashner

'The Maze Runner'

Laura Hillenbrand

'Unbroken'

Kazu Kibuishi

'Amulet: The Stonekeeper'. Book One.

'Amulet: The Stonekeeper’s Curse'. Book Two.

Some movie suggestions for you to watch on Clickview.

'Wall-E' Rated G

A small waste-collecting robot inadvertently embarks on a space journey that will ultimately decide the fate of mankind.

'Red Dog' Rated PG

Based on the legendary true story of the Red Dog who united a desperate local community while roaming the Australian outback in search of his long lost master. Directed by Kriv Stenders.

Sally Thomson

I would like to remind all Senior School boys that they are invited to take part in our Knox Track and Field Meet Series from this Saturday at Gillespie Field. Despite there being no official CAS Track and Field Season due to COVID-19, Knox is determined to push ahead with an internal Track and Field Series to support their physical and mental health.

The event will take the form of a ‘Nitro Challenge’, with boys invited to take part in a series of individual and team events, which will be a lot of fun.

Senior School boys should arrive at 10am for training (hurdles, sprints, middle distance, javelin, discus, long and high jump) followed by the Nitro Challenge from 11.30am to 1pm. Boys are also welcome to simply attend the training session at 10am, or just the Nitro event, boys are not required to attend both sessions unless they desire.

The events are taking place each Saturday until Week 8 (Saturday 29 August, Saturday 5 September, Saturday 12 September). A reminder, we are unfortunately unable to have any parent spectators on-site due to COVID-19 protocols. Please drop-off your son and return to collect him at the end of the session.

For more information, please contact Mr Matt Fowler, Head of Athletics.

Martin Haywood, Head of Knox Sports and Aquatic Academy

Last weekend the Orieteering team, led by Miss Rebecca George, spent their final session at Curl Curl Beach. They enjoyed all the challenges thrown at them and even had the opportunity to watch some dolphins frolicking in the water.

Congratulations to Alex Smith and Nic Laniewski and thank you to Belinda Laniewski for the great photos!

During lunch today we were entertained by some of our Year 9 musicians. 

Ride with Richter
Ten months ago, the Knox community received the news that now Year 12 student Alex Richter had an accident on his mountain bike, resulting in a spinal injury. After 10 months of hospitalisation and rehabilitation, he was discharged and given the all-clear to return to school. The Stage 6 Team worked with Alex and his family to put a gradual return to school plan into place, which included doing the HSC over a few years. These intentions were short lived as Alex decided he wanted to be back at school full time and complete his HSC this year! Despite having missed three terms of class work, Alex is currently completing his Trial HSC exams in all subjects and is on track to meet all NESA requirements to be eligible to complete his HSC with the Class of 2020. Wow!

I am proud to commend to you a fundraising initiative that kicks off this Saturday. Register now at the Ride With Richter website which is a challenge to either ride, run, row or walk from 29 August to 20 September (Tour de France dates). The idea is to commit to a goal within one of these activities. I have heard of some lofty targets within the Stage 6 team as they endeavour to ‘Ride With Richter’. Me, I will be aiming to walk and row as part of the challenge. I encourage the entire Knox community to register for this event either as an individual or as a family.



Scott James