A Message from our Head of School - Jerry Salvador

Christmas and the holidays are right around the corner – we have decorations up around the school and a tree in the main hall and dining hall. Students had fun decorating our school for the festive season and putting their personal stamp on our classrooms and common areas.

Our students are certainly looking forward to the last week of classes and then a well-deserved break from study. You will see below that we have included some photos from around the school this week – there are so many moments to capture of students playing together and learning together. Staff have also been putting thought into planning next term – we will have some new after-school activities, there will be opportunities for students and families to experience skiing our local Mount Washington, as well as other events in the new year. I can’t wait!

We still have some key events coming up in the last week so please take note of their times – and I look forward to seeing you there.

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.

After School Activities Update from Mr Brad Rudner

After a busy and enriching three months, term 1 ASAs have come to a close. As we enter into the last week of school prior to the winter break, term 2 ASAs will be selected and then solidified prior to their start date in January.

The term 2 ASAs will start up on the second week after the students return to school – the week of January 13th to 17th.

For the last month, students have had the opportunity to show their level of interest for a variety of ASAs that were proposed for term 2 as well as suggest ones that were not already being run or proposed. I have collected the data from this and taken it into account in what is being proposed going forward. The presentation that outlines the ASAs offered for the coming term will be available to students, parents and in advisory groups. It will be sent out via email and live on ManageBac so it can be referenced as many times as needed to get a sense of what is being offered and all the pertinent details that apply. If you are eager to learn more, you can see it here (you will need to log in to ManageBac):

https://brookescanadaschools.managebac.com/parent/pa/discussions

The students will be receiving a selection sheet where they can “voice” their preferences and rank their choices. I encourage parents to communicate with their children about what they might be considering and offer guidance if needed. I will be working to maximize each student’s preferences as well as implementing what is best for the overall success of the entire ASA program and school culture.

We have seen many an inspired Brookes’ student grow, learn and enjoy their ASA experience and I anticipate even more fluidity and engagement in this next term.

Grade 6 and 7 Students Cooking up a Storm!

Mr. B’s grade 6 and 7 Math classes are putting their knowledge of fractions, conversions and ratios to the test... The baking test that is! With the help of our very own experts at Sage Dinning, students were able to do some serious baking. Last week, the grade 6 students made some tasty zucchini/blueberry loafs and this week the grade 7 students worked through the recipe for a delicious double chocolate brownie! As you can see, the students were absolutely loving this hands on approach!

Staff Student Volleyball Match

Once the house cup of volleyball was finished the students took on an 'all-star' staff team. With two games apiece the match-up was over and both sides were happy to go back to their classes with pride intact.

A message from CEO Brookes Education Group - Dr Graham Brown

Thanks to everyone who has expressed an interest in being part of our Spring Break school trips - we are so excited to be able to offer this amazing opportunity to our students!

In case you missed it: we plan to repeat the success of our 2019 student visit to Brookes Cambridge, and to add an opportunity to visit Brookes Moscow/Saint Petersburg or attend a Powerful Youth leadership and university program in Brookes Silicon Valley over Spring Break 2020 (March 15th to 28th).

If you haven't signed up yet and maybe need some more information I will be at the school on Monday 9th December from 12:15 in the boardroom. Come along and ask questions and find out more about these trips. I look forward to seeing you there,

Graham

gbrown@brookes.org

[photo: St Basil's Cathedral Moscow]

Brookes Westshore Spirit Week

Students at Brookes Westshore have come together to organise a week of fun and informative activities for their peers. Take a look at what is happening each day - and dig out that ugly sweater for Wednesday! Be Brookes!

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: Wednesday 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:

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 began on Thursday, December the 5th and will end on 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!

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!

Weekend fun as Christmas approaches!

A great weekend filled with Christmas and basketball!

On Friday night dorm and day students met in the dining hall for a Christmas movie night. Hot chocolate warmed our bellies and popcorn filled us up as we laughed and smiled when watching the movie “Elf”!

On Saturday, we had tickets to go and watch NCAA Women’s basketball! We watched the third/fourth place game and the finals. The game for the bronze medal was a nail biter and was sent into overtime by a half court buzzer beater by Green Bay! In overtime, Green Bay took their momentum from the buzzer beater and turned it into a bronze medal win! The finals were against Stanford and Mississippi State, it was another nail biter consisting of fast pace basketball and incredible defense! Stanford came out on top for the gold medal, led by their Coach who is only a few more wins away from the most winningest coach in NCAA Women’s basketball HERstory!

Sunday night, some more students became excited for Christmas again! They created crafts that can be seen up and around the school as decorations for the holidays! What a great weekend!

Senior Boys Basketball

The Senior Boys had their first tournament of the year this past weekend. On Friday night the boys fell to a well-rounded Spectrum School team with a tough full court defense. Saturday morning, they started off the game with a battle against Stelly’s. It was a tough fight, but Stelly’s started pushing away with quick hoops and big rebounds. The last game was against Belmont. It was again a tough game, but we had some big hoops from Rainy, Mark and Yifan and some massive rebounds from Diego. When the final buzzer sounded we came out on top for our first win of the season – but definitely not the last!

Volleyball House Cup with Todd Turkington

The Volleyball House Cup is a intramural volleyball league that we are currently doing Monday and Tuesday nights. Each of the four houses has a team. Once we complete the league, there will be a championship game between the top two teams to determine the Volleyball House Cup winner. Results so far:

Day 1 (November 25)

Orca vs Lynx

Lynx won this match in two straight sets (25-16; 25-15), but the game was much closer than the score would seem to indicate. Both team played well and were able to execute some great attacks.

Eagle vs Wolf

This was the match of the night. The teams were extremely balanced. Wolf started strongly, winning the first set (25-17), but Eagle rallied to win the second set (25-23) to force a third and deciding set. This was a treat to watch as the lead swung back and forth between the teams. Third sets go to 15 points, but you have to win by a two points, too. This game was so very close that it went to 25-23, with Wolf securing a well-earned win!

Orca vs Wolf

The final game was another close one. Wolf won the first set (25-21); Orca won the second (25-23). Again the game was decided in a third set. Orca was able to capitalize on their momentum and won the third set (15-11), securing the victory!

Day 2 (November 26)

Lynx vs Eagle

Lynx came out strongly against a tenacious Eagle team. Lynx won the first set 26-24. They then followed it up with a come from behind win to win 25-22.

Orca vs Eagle

Eagle showed great resilience to bounce back after their defeat to Lynx. Playing against Orca, they won the match in two straight matches (25-18; 25-18) to record their first win.

Wolf vs Lynx

Wolf put forward a great team effort, but were unable to stop Lynx from securing their third win. Lynx is definitely shaping up to be the team to beat in this year's Volleyball House Cup. They have a well-rounded team, with many players capable of launching blistering attacks.

Current League Standings:

1st - Lynx (3 wins)

2nd - Wolf (1 win)

2nd - Eagle (1 win)

2nd - Orca (1 win)