Senior Girls' Volleyball Island Championship highlights
Dear Brookes Westshore Families and Friends,
Each week, I am reminded of the incredible dedication and resilience that our students, staff, and families bring to our community. This week, we have a particularly exciting achievement to celebrate!
Our Senior Girls’ Volleyball team has finished second at the Island Championship and qualified for the Provincial Championship! We often talk about the importance of developing the whole student, nurturing both the mind and heart, and I am so proud to see our team modeling these ideals. Their journey to the Provincials is more than a competitive achievement – it is an illustration of the power of commitment, self-discipline, and mutual support. They have shown us that when we work together toward a common goal, no dream is too far out of reach!
Please join me in congratulating our Senior Girls’ Volleyball team and wishing them the very best in the upcoming Provincial Championship! Special thanks to our amazing coaches, Mr. T and Mr. Thom, for their hours of hard work and great coaching!
With gratitude,
Dr. Rui Li
Principal
Pro D Day - Friday, November 22nd, 2022
MYP Assessment Information Session
November 20th at 4PM
Join us to learn more about Brookes' IB criteria-based assessment practice, including how teachers create and manage assessment tasks to evaluate student skills. We will cover the use of the MYP A-B-C-D Assessment criteria to inform and evaluate student skill development and achievement. Finally, we will show how the IB MYP assessment aligns with BC Ministry expectations and proficiency scale.
If you want to know what to expect on our term 1 MYP learning updates, please join us and bring your burning questions. Looking forward to seeing you there.
Note that students are not required to attend this information session.
Please RSVP to events@westshore.brookes.org
The Teenage Years - A Roadmap for Parents of MYP 1 to MYP 3 students.
November 28th from 3.30 pm to 5 pm
As promised, this is a second opportunity for parents to attend the workshop on the 'Teenage Years' on November 28th with our school counsellor Ms. Kat. All parents and guardians of students in MYP 1 to 3 are welcome to attend.
Ms. Kat will talk about the nature of the teenage brain, what constitutes typical behaviour for teenagers, and offer some strategies that will help families navigate challenges and support their teenagers to keep them safe and healthy.
Please RSVP to events@westshore.brookes.org
Thanks to everyone who expressed their preference - the 3.30 pm time slot was the most popular.
Winter Concert on Thursday, December 5th - 6.30 pm to 8 pm
Students are practicing and preparing their skits, songs, dances, and acts. Don't miss it!
Annual Pancake Breakfast - Saturday, December 14th
We will be serving pancakes with local, organic strawberries, whip cream, sausages, hot chocolate, coffee, and tea.
The fun starts with the first sitting at 9.30 am, with a second sitting at 11 am.
All proceeds go to the Goldstream Food Bank to support those in need in our local community!
Call out for volunteers: We love to have parents and students involved! Every year we have a big crew of greeters and servers for the pancake breakfast. It is a lot of fun!
If you would like to be a part of making this event a success, please email us at events@westshore.brookes.org.
Tickets will go on sale soon! $20 ($10 for the under-5s)
Next week, starting Monday, November 18th, we are having our very own Winter Toy Drive at our school to give new, unused toys to those less fortunate than ourselves!
Please bring new toys for kids aged 1-12, this can include board games, dolls/action figures, puzzles, stuffies, remote control toys, whatever you think a child might like!
There will be boxes in the front lobby where you can place the toys you wish to donate. All gifts will be donated to the CFAX toy drive, a reliable organization which will spread our gifts to those in need.
As a bonus there will be house points awarded to the house with the most donations! Please come in and donate toys to bring joy to the children of Victoria!
Hello Brookes Community!
We will be re-introducing our Annual Food Drive starting next week, on Wednesday, November 20th.
Please bring in non-perishable food items and canned goods to donate to those in need!
All proceeds will go towards the Goldstream Food Bank. Donation boxes will be set up inside the entrance of the Board Room and HOUSE POINTS will be awarded to those who DONATE THE MOST!
If anyone wants to help in setting up the boxes and wrapping them up, please feel free to reach out to Ms. Bayes and Agneya, Meghan, Ivan and Avery to gain extra CAS project hours and experience!
This week Ice talks about university applications:
As a senior, one of the most important things to do this year is to apply for post-secondary education. So far, I've applied to 5 universities in the United Kingdom on the UCAS website. The application process was definitely not the easiest thing I've done. The most difficult part of the process was writing personal statements. How does one highlight their aspirations, strengths, and accomplishments within the character limit? This required a lot of thinking and fine-tuning to perfect the narrative of a "good" fit for all the universities. What helped for me was brainstorming my strengths that would fit with the courses I am applying to, and any experiences that compelled me to choose the course or university. Discussing this with any teachers could help bring out the flair you have as an applicant. Choosing which universities to apply to based on requirements and courses I believe I would enjoy was another difficult task to overcome. I knew what I wanted to learn in university for quite some time now. But for those who are struggling with choosing, THE questions to ask yourself are: what and why is this university a good fit for you? Is it the teaching style? The location? The courses they offer? Discussing these questions with yourself and with Ms. Bayes, our university counsellor, or exploring the choices through the university's website could help you make the right choices. Having to balance university applications on top of your academics and extracurriculars can be overwhelming, which is why time management is so important. Spending a little time every day working up to a point of completion will be a better strategy than rushing your application in one night. The final results won't also feel rushed. Rejections are almost always inevitable when applying to universities. It may be helpful to reflect upon the strengths or weaknesses of the current application, and using it to improve future ones. Maybe your grades aren't as competitive as you thought, or you just didn't stand out in your personal statement. Do not take it to heart! It is more regretful to never know if you'd succeed than trying and failing. If there's one advice I could give to anyone applying to universities soon, it would be just to start your applications early! More things will start to pile up as the school year progresses. The more stressed you are, the less you'll be at your highest potential. Best of luck!
Ms. Sheri handing out the pen pal letters in Saku Chosei School.
Pen Pals at Saku Chosei School, Japan
MYP 2 to 4 students have had the opportunity to engage in a pen pal exchange with a partner school in Japan, Saku Chosei. Last week they wrote a short letter about themselves and their culture which we sent with Ms. Sheri to the grade 8 Japanese students. We are expecting to receive letters back in the next few weeks!
This opportunity allowed our students to connect with the Japanese culture and students who will be visiting us in the up-coming months! Our hope is to build relationships internationally and excitement to meet each student's pen pal in person in February!
November 20th at 10:15 – a UBC recruiter will be in Room 207 talking with interested DP2 students.
November 21st at 10:30 – University of Alberta recruiter will be in Room 202 talking with interested DP2 students.
Ms. Sheri and Ms. Satsuki met with Brookes Alumni in Japan
It was great to meet up with Brookes Alumni and hear about their lives in Japan. Rhino and Yujin (class of 2023) are both attending Sophia University, a top private university in Tokyo. Michael Zhang (class of 2018) joined us before continuing his aviation program with the Armed Forces of Canada later this year. Yu (class of 2018) was happy to join us after completing her degree at UBC recently. Sumika (class of 2016) was able to take time out of her busy schedule as a DP teacher at an IB school in Tokyo.
One message we heard loud and clear from each student was that they missed their time at Brookes and were so happy to reconnect with fellow Brookes Alumni.
Silver Medal at Islands and on to Provincials!
Congratulations to the senior girls’ volleyball team for their strong showing at the 1A Island Championships. The team finished second on the island and succeeded in qualifying for the Provincial Championships (the first time for a Brookes girls' team)!
Unbeaten in the group stages, the team had to work hard in the semifinal to win in five sets. Then, in the final, the girls shocked a very strong Nanaimo Christian School team - powering past them in the first set (25 - 13) with a show of controlled aggression and exemplary teamwork. Nanaimo fought back to take the next set by a whisker (25 - 23) before pulling away in the third (25 - 16). Our girls dug deep and rallied for the fourth set - fighting for every point. It could have gone either way, but Nanaimo took it in the end 28 - 26! It was an amazing final, a fitting end to a great tournament, and a just reward for two teams who played with skill, spirit, and mutual respect.
Two of our team members were selected for the honour of the All-Stars Teams: Eli was selected for the Second Team All Stars, and Meghan to the First Team All Stars! Go Gryphons!
Their coaches were extremely proud of the whole team for their fine efforts! Provincials here we come!
Gr 6-7 Boys Basketball team won their games yesterday against Dunsmuir and Central Mountain (by landslides). Well done boys!
Dorm students have been getting into the spirit of the season - creating some beautiful decorations for the dorms that will brighten the winter days ahead.
Lunch Menu
If you would like to know what is on the menu next week for our delicious lunches, please click here.
Follow our dining team on @brookesdiningwestshore for mouthwatering images of our breakfasts, lunches, and dinners!
Term One Events and Activities
- Friday, November 22nd: Pro D Day - No Classes
- Thursday, December 5th: Winter Concert
- December 9th to 13th: School Spirit Week
- Saturday, December 14th: Pancake Breakfast
Key dates of 2023 to 2025: Key Dates 2024 / 2025 - Brookes Westshore
Please find our School Accessibility questionnaire here.
Safer Schools information: erase Family Sessions (saferschoolstogether.com)
Your comments and feedback are welcome! Please click here to leave a comment, ask a question, or raise an issue. Thank you!
Do you have questions or concerns?
If you have a question about the school or just something on your mind, please feel free to contact our leadership team:
- Rui Li - Principal
- Andrea Salvador - School Manager
- Jacob Baumgartner - School Culture Director
- Melanie Moroz - Academic Director
- Linda Bayes - DP Coordinator & University Counsellor
- Martin Staffolani - Executive Director of Recruitment
Please consider posting a review
If you have a minute, it will really help us to reach new families if you could consider posting a positive review online on Google or here (you will need to log in to the OurKids website to leave a review here). Prospective families love to hear from current parents about your real experiences here!
Brookes Westshore acknowledges that our school is on the traditional lands of the Xwsepsum (Esquimalt) and Lekwungen (Songhees) ancestors and families.
With gratitude, we live, work and learn here where the past, present, and future of Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, faculty and staff come together.
