A Message from our Head of School - Jerry Salvador

The Christmas decorations are going up around the school, and there is a growing sense of anticipation for the holidays. We have been so lucky with the weather and the cold crisp days here on the west coast are truly magnificent. As you will see below, our students continue to be actively engaged in the curriculum and activities outside the classrooms.

We have some key events coming up – particularly the parent teacher conferences. This is a great opportunity for parents and teachers to discuss student progress, to clarify expectations and work together to lay a foundation for success. I encourage parents to make the most of the opportunity to talk with teachers and bring forward any questions you might have.

I want to give a particular mention to our various basketball teams - they have all been working hard on their skills, and I don’t think I’ve seen better teamwork or results in a long time. Congratulations to you all!

A Reminder from VP of Academics - Linda Bayes

Parent Teacher Conferences

Wednesday, December 11th, International Parent Conferences from 3:30 to 6:30 PST

We will be holding parent teacher conferences (via skype) on Dec. 11 for International Parents from 3:30-6:30 PST. Please contact the frontdesk@westshore.brookes.org to schedule an appointment. Parents can request the teachers they would like included in the meeting and we will schedule an appointment for you. The conferences are 20 minutes in length and we encourage students to attend these conferences with teachers and parents.

Thursday December 12th, Local Parent Conferences from 3.30 to 6.30 pm

On December 12th, parent teachers conferences will be held for local parents on a drop-in basis from 3:30 - 6:30 pm.  Teachers will be stationed in classrooms throughout the school and parents will be able to meet with them in the classrooms. Each conference with an individual teacher will be limited to 10 minutes to ensure all parents have timely access to each teacher. This is an opportunity for parents to meet with their child’s teacher to review the Term 1 report card.

So close to a perfect season - Basketball with Mr B

The grade 7/8 Boys Basketball Team finished off their season this week with games against Spencer and Glanford. Last week, led by Mahad’s 20 points and Efosa’s 18 points, the boys defeated Colquitz 65-37 bringing their record to 3-0 going into this week's games.

In our first game against Spencer the boys came out hot, making big shots and playing solid defense. We took the win with some big rebounding by Connor and some clutch shooting from Haikel. In the second game, with a perfect season on the line the boys took on a strong Glanford team. The boys battled hard and played well but ran out of gas in the second half eventually falling to Glanford 24-36. Mr. B would like to thank the boys for a great season! 

More Basketball...

The grade 7/8 Girls Basketball team had their last games of the season on Wednesday. They worked hard all season right up until the last second of the last game. They finished the season with three wins and three losses – a .500 record! Throughout the season the girls showed great leadership and resilience in times where we were down and were humble in times that we were up. Coaches Aija and Michaela couldn’t be prouder of this team! We are sad to be done the season, but we are so excited to keep improving and we can’t wait for next season already!

The Sr Boys had their first game of the season on Tuesday night! They battled hard but fell in a hard loss to the Spectrum Thunder. They started off their first half of the game very strong with tough defense and a lot of rebounds! It was awesome to see what the boys are capable of for this upcoming season, and we are very excited for more games to come including a rematch against Spectrum this weekend!

Movember is coming to an end - whose moustache is whose? 

Movember is winding down at Brookes Westshore. This is our second year growing moustaches to raise awareness and funds for men's health — specifically prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide prevention.

Lots of our teachers, students and staff have taken part and worked on their facial decorations. See the photos - can you match the moustache to the staff member or student?

We are so close to our $1,000 goal - please consider supporting this important cause.

To donate and learn more - please visit our team page at https://moteam.co/brookes-westshore-moustache-club?mc=1

Roots and Shoots News with Janet Kinsella

Jane Goodall’s Roots and Shoots empowers youth to make change through service to benefit people, animals and the environment. At Brookes Westshore, whether it’s working with people, animals or the environment these students are ready to take action. Students working in our Environmental Branch have been focused on removing English Ivy from school property. Ivy is a serious, smothering invasive species on the Island that reduces natural diversity. 

Working with WildArc in Metchosin

Other students working in the Animal Branch are volunteering at WildArc (Wild Animal Rehabilitation Center) in Metchosin. “WildArc helps rehabilitate sick, injured, and orphaned wild animals. Last year WildArc treated 2801 animals from the region helping them recover and return to the wild.” https://spca.bc.ca/locations/wild-arc/

Just recently 13 deer fawns were rehabilitated and released. Brookes students are cleaning and preparing the deer pens for future incoming rescues. Rain or shine, these students are up early Sunday morning and ready to work!

Grade 8 Visual Arts

Students have been working on making plaster masks which portray their spirit animals and will incorporate Coast Salish symbolism. 

Out of the Rain

Out of the Rain made their second meal for homeless youth in Victoria after having multiple fundraising events. 

The IB Personal Project at Brookes Westshore

All grade 10 students must complete the MYP personal project, which is a student-centred and self-directed inquiry to demonstrate their approaches to learning (ATL) skills, to consolidate prior and subject-specific learning, to develop the attributes of the IB learner profile, and to develop an area of personal interest. Students are expected to spend a minimum of 25 hours on their personal project, which has three main components – a tangible product/outcome, process journals, and the final report. The project should revolve around a challenge that motivates and interests the individual student, and each student must choose one global context to make their learning more relevant.

The visualization in the following figure shows the four objectives for the personal project – investigating, planning, taking action, and reflecting – forming a cyclical and interactive approach to inquiry.

Each student has a personal project supervisor to support them during the project. A project coordinator is also appointed within the school to manage the implementation, organization, and successful completion of the project.

All grade 10 students are registered in IB for external moderation of the personal project. On February 21, 2020, students will showcase their product/outcome through the personal project exhibition and all parents are invited!
 

Brookes Winter Celebration!

Come celebrate and be Merry!

Come and relax and take some time for you and your family to celebrate and enjoy our Brookes community in a casual festive celebration.

When: December 11

Time: 5:30/6:30 - 7:30

5:30-6:30: We know this is a busy time of the year so we are inviting families to join us for (relaxed, casual) dinner in the Brookes Westshore dining hall before the celebration. We will be collecting donations for the dinner with all proceeds supporting the "Out of the Rain" youth center - a local charity group in Victoria working to reduce the risk faced by homeless youth by providing shelter during the coldest months of the year.

Please RSVP if you plan to join us for the dinner so we can let the cafeteria know about numbers

6:30-7:30 We will be hosting our first ever winter celebration and bake sale featuring student performance and cookies baked by volunteer parents and students (all proceeds from the bake sale go to "Out of the Rain" youth center in Victoria) 

We are excited to have such a talented group of students who have volunteered to perform a range of holiday songs, poems and dances. Two of our students have also volunteered to emcee the evening. It should be great fun and a wonderful launch into the winter holiday. 

Please RSVP if you are coming to the celebration so we have an idea about numbers for seating.

We will also be collecting non perishable food items and new toys to donate to those in need.

If you have any questions, would like to volunteer to bake some cookies for the bake sale, or would like to get involved in any other way please contact Christina at casalbrown@gmail.com.

A Message from our Junior Leadership Group

Toy Drive:

This year, we will once again have a toy drive. We are supporting an organization called C-FAX Santa’s Anonymous, which gives toys to kids in our community from less fortunate families. This year our toy drive will begin on Thursday, December the 5th and end in Thursday, December the 12th. The price range will be minimum of $15 and a maximum of $40. For each gift donated, students will earn house points. We have pledged to bring in 100 toys this year! 

MYP Holiday Party:

On Friday, December 6th, Junior Leadership will be having a MYP holiday party for grades 6-8. It will be held from 4:00 pm (after school) to 9:30pm. There will be activities and dinner until 6:00 pm, when we will take a bus to Butchart Gardens for skating and winter festivities. There will be a sign-up sheet in the dining hall next week, so make sure to add your name to the list! 

Secret Santa:

The Junior Leadership will be organizing a Secret Santa exchange for students in grades 6-8, grades 9-10 and grades 11-12 during the last week of school before the holidays. Any students interested in participating will receive the name of a school mate to buy a gift for. Gifts should range between $10 - $20.  All students are welcome to sign-up in the dining hall next week.   

Thank you!

Christmas Movie Night - Tonight!

Friday November 29th at 7 pm

Come join us for hot chocolate, popcorn, snacks! We will be kicking off the Christmas season by watching the movie Elf tonight in the dining hall at 7 pm. Wear pjs or comfy clothes. Bring sleeping bags, blankets, and pillows!  All families and siblings welcome - we'd love to see you there!

Weekend Life with Brookes Westshore Dorm Students

Dorm students had a blast this weekend! On Friday night a group of students went to see the musical production “Matilda”! Matilda is a beautiful story about a little girl who can conquer anything using her brain and imagination. During the show we laughed, smiled and even teared up while going through Matilda’s life alongside her.

On Sunday another group of students ventured more on the athletic aspect of activities and went bowling at Langford Lanes! Students were thrilled with their abilities to get strikes and had a great time cheering on their friends. Lots of students also dressed in white to see their clothing glow from the cosmic lights! So fun!

On Tuesday students made croquettes led by Lila and Eloy! Croquettes are a traditional Spanish food, and we were very lucky to use a special recipe that belongs to Lila’s grandmother. The food was prepped on Monday night and made to excellence on Tuesday. For some, this was their first time eating croquettes and they loved it!

“It was so special sharing a recipe with my friends and classmates that has been in my family for generations” - Lila.

On Thursday night, floor 4 boarders got together to try their hands at making mini gingerbread houses.

Important dates

Date: Nov. 27th – Dec. 10, 2019

University Counselling Meetings with Brookes Westshore 2020 Graduates and Parents

Ms. Ibi Venczel, the University and Career Counsellor at Brookes Westshore, invites parents to arrange a meeting time with her before the break. The purpose of these meetings is to discuss your child’s admission process to post-secondary institutions and how you can help them over the holidays.

Please contact Ms. Ibi to schedule a meeting:

ivenczel@westshore.brookes.org 

Date: Dec. 1, 2019 - Fall Application Deadline for Brookes Westshore 2020 Graduates

The Dec. 1, 2019 deadline is an internal deadline set by the university counselling office. By this time, students should have a formalized university list and finished most Canadian university applications. All students are encouraged to meet with Ms. Ibi before they depart for the holidays to plan the next steps in their admissions process. 

Date: December 1st, 2019 from 11am – 2:00 pm

Interested in Engineering or Computer Science?

UX Day at University of Victoria

On Sunday, December 1st, 2019 from 11am – 2:00 pm the University of Victoria is hosting UX Day.  The day is aimed at high school students and parents that are interested in learning more about the HighTechU Community.  It is an opportunity to ask questions and participate in Design Thinking Workshops. For more information, please see the University of Victoria website at  https://events.uvic.ca/csrs/view/event/event_id/46344 .

Adele Sharangabo

Adele studied Modern Languages at the University of Cape Town and holds a Master's degree in Professional Translation from the University of Montreal. A passionate linguist and communicator, Adele has been teaching languages to students in Africa and in Canada.

She started her career teaching French to preschoolers at the American International school in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. After completing a Master's in Teaching French as a Foreign language, she worked as a teacher assistant for French and Spanish literature at the University of Cape Town.

Upon moving to Montreal in 2012, she spent 3 years working as a professional translator in the medical and marketing fields before switching back to teaching in 2017.

She moved to Victoria in June of 2018 and joined the Brooke's Westshore family in September 2018 as their new French Language Acquisition teacher.

In her spare time, Adele loves to read, meditate and cook. She shares her passion for food with our students at the schools overseeing the weekly Cooking ASA.

Due to a change in BC Provincial Exams, please find our updated Academic Calendar on our website.