KNOX GRAMMAR SCHOOL REPORT TO UCA SYNOD

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Tell: Proclaim the good news of the Kingdom energise people’s passionate faith expect a culture of faith sharing grow Kingdom communities

Chaplaincy at Knox Grammar School seeks to be a model and witness to the way life can be lived in the modern world. It is built and relies on the wisdom of the past; the wisdom of the ages, its Christian heritage, the vision, commitment and energy of the school founders and the ‘work’ of all those men and women who have been part of its community since 1924. It seeks to be forward-thinking. It recognises in faith, the changed reality of contemporary society and the wonderful challenges and opportunities that the future holds. Chaplaincy at Knox is described as the life of the school and is closely integrated with our curriculum based program Wisdom Life Faith Studies.

Weekly prayer is held each Thursday morning for Christian staff to gather in prayer before school. The Student Lead Christian Fellowship Group IGNITE meets on a weekly basis for Bible study and fellowship. Senior students provide mentoring in member’s faith. Chapel Prefects support this group and are given the opportunity to speak to the wider year groups in chapel and worship. All our boys attend worship in the Knox Chapel once a fortnight. This is an opportunity for the boys to come together in worship and to receive

encouragement from God’s Word. Music is a special part of these gatherings and our boys’ participation in various aspects of the worship. A whole school worship service is held fortnightly in Knox’s Great Hall. This is a great occasion where over 1,600 boys come together in worship.

Boarder Chapel and weekly

Stage devotions in the Knox Boarding Centre are an integral part of the spiritual development of each boarder at Knox and a focus area with the Knox 21st Century Whole of Life Programs. The Carol and Christmas Eve services are a high point for the Knox boarder community.

In the senior school year 9 students undergo The Rite Journey program through the Wisdom Life Faith program as a way of nurturing and enhancing the values and model of Christian life. An emphasis of the course includes the masculine journey in contemporary society - its traditions, challenges,

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purpose-seeking, meaning, challenges and beliefs in order to effectively negotiate their life journey.

Each year group has many opportunities to hear guest speakers who share their faith, such as, the Salvation Army, and White Ribbon Day speakers. Knox has a connection with two local UCA congregations: St John’s Wahroonga who support our ABBOX of Fun or Sony Foundation Camp for children with a disability. We also have a connection with Pymble Uniting Church with our regional program connecting with PUC Make a Difference Out West initiative. The program’s focus is working with indigenous students at Enngonia, 100km north of Bourke. Knox boys and PLC girls have visited Enngonia and the program has developed with both PUC and with the support of Julie Grieg, the Rural Chaplain for that Region. A Combined Associated Schools (CAS) Christian Leaders Ecumenical Forum will be hosted by Knox Grammar School on the 7th May 2013. This ecumenical event is a wonderful opportunity for Christian leaders to share their experiences as well as the chance to gain new ideas and practical suggestions for what might be possible back at their schools. A special part of the day will be a session led by Jonathan Doyle, of Choicez Media fame, titled – “What can Christianity look and feel like in my school?”

The Prep school conduct special chapel services each term for each year of the school. Special Christmas and Easter services are held in the chapel on a Sunday morning where the students’ families are invited to attend. The Prep school Values lessons are focused on the core Knox values of integrity, wisdom, compassion and honesty. Each lesson is connected to a chosen weekly scripture that provides God’s foundation for each value. All K-6 classes are taught the same value each week through a half hour lesson with the Prep Chaplain Geordie Bahram, which is followed immediately by another half hour session taught by the classroom teacher. Thus, empowering each teacher to take ownership for helping to reinforce the core values and utilise the associated language in their daily teaching, regardless of their personal beliefs. In addition to this, the values are expressed to the community through a ‘Prep Chaplain’s Corner’ in the weekly Knoxonian, enacted and shared in a message in the three weekly ‘Stage’ assemblies, and celebrated as the central theme at the ‘Stage’ Chapel services each term. Furthermore, every class now starts each day with a short prepared prayer delivered by a different boy each day, followed by the whole class praying the Lord’s Prayer collectively. We have placed a Uniting Church logo in every classroom and during the first week’s lesson the values of the Uniting Church are discussed.

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Teach: To teach and energise believers equip leaders for new forms of church develop appropriate leadership and passionate disciples encouraging

and equipping young people for discipleship and leadership

Knox is a community centred in Christ where education is student focused and based on the belief that our lives should reflect his teachings. The Wisdom Life Faith program (WLF) integrates classroom teaching and curriculum programs with our whole school worship, chaplaincy chapel and Social Justice and Service learning programs. The Knox core values of Wisdom, Compassion, Integrity and Faith in line with the Uniting Church Australia Ethos underpin the course. The WLF framework can provide a firm foundation for living a meaningful life. This course connects meaningfully with Positive Psychology and Teacher Mentor Programs, as well as the Worship and Chapel Programs.

The course is experiential, challenged-based and reflective, placing emphasis on each boy exploring his individual faith journey. The content draws on sacred texts, rituals, symbols, stories, worldviews, ultimate questions, advocacy, culture, ethics, and traditional wisdom literature. The course is embedded in an understanding and experience of Social Justice Issues and how the Golden Rule inspires and encourages advocacy for peace and justice as central to living with integrity and compassion in the 21st Century. The Knox leadership model for students is ‘Learning to Lead – Leadership for Life.’ This is a development program aims to develop young men who firstly know themselves and subsequently become young men who serve the school, the broader community and God.

Tend: Respond to human need by loving service celebrate our diversity promote ways the UCA makes a difference in people’s lives

We are committed to nurturing our students to develop compassion, empathy, respect and tolerance. Interfaith dialogue and understanding of other faith traditions, including indigenous spirituality are part of this development. Participation in Peace Day activities, Dialogue Encounter Events and a rich social justice program are central to this.

Our students raise funds for a range of organisations, such as: Wesley Mission Food Drives, the Sony Foundation, Variety: The Children’s Charity, Life Line,

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Wahroonga Rotary, Red Shield Appeal, White Ribbon Day, Clean Up Australia, toys for St Lucy’s students and visits to local UCA retirement homes. Representatives of these organisations have the opportunity to address our boys and share their advocacy vision for their organisation.

Focus on the study of other traditions is an area whereby the students explore the UCA response to Australia’s multi faith and multi-cultural society. WLF teachers (Helen Clarke and Phil Shirvington) have been active speakers, presenter and committee members on The NSW SOR Interfaith Teachers Conference for the past six years.

UCA RE Staff meet annually for a Teachers’ and Chaplains’ Conference to develop programs, share initiatives and share fellowship. Participation in the Annual UCA SOR Conference is a further development of this collegiality. We encourage each other in supporting various initiatives. E.g. PLC is partnered with Knox in the Enngonia Program and Ravenswood with the Cambodian Immersion.

Transform: Seek to transform ourselves and our community transform apathy into action speak and act within the wider community for justice. safeguard the integrity of creation, sustain and renew the life of the

earth

Servant leadership is at the heart of the Christian message and the Social Justice Program is at the forefront of facilitating opportunities for the entire community to engage in meaningful and life-changing experiences. At Knox we embrace the opportunities believing that it is good to give back, realising that we have received far more than we gave. In this process we come to glimpse the reality of the ‘Kingdom of God’ here on earth. The Social Justice program is integrated across K-12. The Prep supports senior projects such as donating books to augment the village Library in Milne Bay PNG and the senior boys visit the Prep to share their experiences in PNG. There are four Senior Social Justice Prefects whose portfolio is to focus on connecting with year groups and encourage and initiate participation in Social Justice Programs. These prefects visit mentor groups and promote Social Justice initiatives at year meetings. Year 10 students participate in a Community Service Program linked to many local organisations, schools, hospitals and advocacy agencies, many within the UCA. Our year 11 boys and Abbotsleigh girls volunteer their time to care

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for children with disabilities in December so that the families of these children have time to prepare for Christmas and have some respite. The ABBOX of Fun program is valued by the community and develops a new awareness and maturity in the young men and women. Their love, compassion and care for the children they care for is palpable.

We have established regional links with various communities via our Knox Indigenous Program and our international links with Uniting World, such as

PNG Milne Bay, Cambodia Mates Abroad and Nepal. The Knox Indigenous Program supports ten Indigenous boys 7-12 in Knox Boarding. These boys are from Dubbo, Tea Gardens, Nowra

Armidale and the Central Coast communities. Scholarships have been provided to Indigenous students who require the financial support. We provide mentoring via Australian Indigenous Education foundation (AIEF) and Australian Indigenous Mentoring Education (AIME) and link with indigenous students at PLC and Loreto Normanhurst for social and cultural events. St Edmunds School has formed a relationship with the Knox Drama Department, participating in the Knox performance of A Christmas Carol. Bursaries are provided each year to students whose families struggle financially.

We are committed to safeguarding the integrity of creation and life on earth through our sustainability programs. In 2011, in partnership with the Department of the Environment, Knox engaged an audit of energy usage. With the guidance of this report the school has and will continue to invest in a number of sustainability initiatives including additional water tanks, solar panels, and retrofitting more energy efficient lighting. We have installed online systems (BMS) to more efficiently control our air-conditioning systems. Our new buildings have been built in compliance with the latest legislative requirements in relation to sustainability standards.

Traction: Create a unified missional approach through streamlined structures experiment with new forms of church in a changing context

The concept of God’s mission is the essential character of a Christian community and is expressed in the community’s disposition and practice, and inclusive ethos. The Knox school community communicates this understanding of mission in the ways we interact, connect and engage with the people around us. The Chapel has become a central place for the school and the broader community. The Chaplain conducts regularly baptisms, confirmations,

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marriages, and funerals. Significant celebrations such as, the Christmas Eve Services, are open to all. Knox Grammar recently introduced an initiative to hire out its facilities to the local community out of school hours. Assets like the Great Hall, Gymnasium and Boarding House are now offered for hire to local community and sporting organisations. This will provide an additional income stream to the School which will further enable it to ensure school fees remain affordable to our parents.

In addition, as the church searches for new forms of local expression, schools

provide a rich experience of ways of worship, witness and service as chaplains grapple with new ways of “being church” within the UCA Regulations, such as, baptisms, confirmations, marriages and funerals within a school context. Knox Grammar School is a worshipping community of the Uniting Church

with congregations, not only for the boys who are school, but for those thousands of people connected to the Knox family. In the last twelve months, there have been eighteen weddings, ten baptisms and six funerals.