Slideshow from this week's Halloween Costume contest.

Dear Brookes Westshore Families and Friends,

It is my pleasure to bring you another newsletter filled with news, stories, and highlights from our school’s vibrant campus.

Halloween costume contest

Thank you to all students, parents, and staff who poured their creativity, effort, and thought into our Halloween costume contest this Tuesday. Your incredible costumes added a fantastic spirit to the contest and made it a truly memorable event! The courtyard was filled with excitement on Tuesday, and it was all thanks to your hard work and enthusiasm. We appreciate your effort to make this event a spooktacular success!

Gr. 4/5 music class

We are very excited to welcome our new Gr. 4/5 music instructor, Mr. Owyn, to our school community! With a wealth of experience and a passion for music education, Mr. Owyn brings a fresh perspective to our Gr. 4/5 classrooms. His commitment to nurturing young talents is sure to inspire our students. We value the importance of music in students’ lives, and we look forward to the harmonious journey ahead with Mr. Owyn.

Parent-Teacher Conference

The parent-teacher conferences held this week were a valuable opportunity for meaningful connections and insights into our students’ progress. It was heartwarming to witness the strong bond between our dedicated teachers and supportive parents as they discussed the academic and personal growth of our students. These collaborative discussions will undoubtedly pave the way for even greater success and continued growth in our school community. Thank you to all the parents and teachers who participated in these conferences, as your partnership plays a vital role in the educational journey of our students.

Looking ahead:

• November 10^th – Remembrance Day Community Block (formal uniform please)
• November 13^th – No school: Remembrance Day
• November 17^th – MYP1/2 (Gr. 6/7) Parent Coffee Morning at 9 am
• November 21^st – DP1 Parent Info Session at 15:30
• November 22^nd – MYP Parent Info Session at 15:30
• November 24^th – No class: Pro-D Day

As always, we appreciate your continued support and involvement in our school’s journey. We look forward to another successful and productive week ahead.

Dr. Rui Li

Principal

Save the Dates!

We have some of our much-loved annual events coming up soon - so save the dates of these school favourites if you don't want to miss out!

Winter Concert: Thursday, December 7th - students are practicing and preparing their skits, songs, dances, and acts. Don't miss it! 

Pancake Breakfast 2023: Saturday December 16th (starting at 9.30 am with two sittings). Join us for some delicious food and a whole lot of fun! All proceeds from ticket sales will go to the Goldstream Foodbank - help us reach our $3000 goal! 

Photos from last year's Pancake Breakfast - such a great event!

Our school feedback survey is open for one more week: please click here. Thank you!

Photo Retakes - Monday November 6^th 

Just a reminder that retake day for school pictures is on Monday! Students should wear their formal uniform for first block but are free to change into their casual uniform afterwards.

If your student missed the original picture day, they were automatically signed up for retakes. If you would still like to have retakes done, please email Ms. Brooklyn (bmayoh@westshore.brookes.org).

Friday, November 10th will be a formal day for our Remembrance Day Community Block.

Our Executive Director of recruitment, Martin Staffolani, will be travelling to Mexico this month to meet with prospective families to let them know about our school, and to encourage them to join our community. We love our local/international mix of students and are working hard to broaden our reach and strengthen the diversity of our student body.

He will be attending the Open Doors Fair in Mexico City, at the Marquis Reforma Hotel on Saturday on November 11th from 11am to 7pm.

You can also meet with him in:

• Mazatlan - November 13th and 14th
• Guadalajara - November 16th and 17th
• Ciudad de Mexico - November 20th, 21st and 22nd
• Villahermosa - November 23rd
• Ciudad del Carmen - November 24th
• Merida - November 25th and 27th
• Bogota - December 4th, 5th and 6th

If you have family or friends interested in meeting with Martin, or coming to the fair, we would love to connect! Please email: mstaffolani@brookes.org to set up a time or just drop by the events!

El Sr. Staffolani viajará a México el próximo mes para reunirse con posibles familias, informarles sobre nuestra escuela y animarlos a unirse a nuestra comunidad. 

Martin estará presente en la Feria Open Doors en la Ciudad de México, en el Hotel Marqués Reforma el sábado 11 de noviembre de 11 a 19 horas.
También puedes reunirte con él en:

• Mazatlán – 13 y 14 de noviembre
• Guadalajara – 16 y 17 de noviembre
• Ciudad de México – 20, 21 y 22 de noviembre
• Villahermosa – 23 de noviembre
• Ciudad del Carmen – 24 de noviembre
• Mérida - 25 y 27 de noviembre
• Bogotá - 4, 5 y 6 de diciembre

Si tiene familiares o amigos interesados en reunirse con Martin o venir a la feria, ¡nos encantaría conectarnos! Envíe un correo electrónico a: mstaffolani@brookes.org para programar una hora o simplemente visite los eventos.

Flu Clinic

We will be hosting a flu clinic at Brookes on November 7th, 8th, and 9th from 9:30 am to noon. The pharmacists are from ADM (Atlas Drug Mart), and they will bring and deliver the flu vaccine to anyone interested. 

Please print and complete the consent form here and return to the school by hand or by email (mpenn@westshore.brookes.org). 

Thank you!

Melanie Penn RN
School Nurse

Halloween Dance 2023

Last Friday's Halloween Dance was a huge success - thanks to everyone who worked hard to make it such a great event for the students!

A quiet moment in the dining hall.

This week we welcome the return of Brookes student Montana and Team Canada from their time spent at the International Dance Organization World Championships for Hip hop, Popping and Breaking!

We are thrilled to announce that Team Canada's Adult Formations team placed second in the world! Canada also placed first in the Children Boys Hip Hop Solos and Children Boys Popping Solos, as well as Fourth in the Junior 1 Popping Duos! Canada’s Battle Crew Team ‘GIGA-RYDERZ came in 4th place.

Go Canada! 

If you're interested in watching the Adult Formations performance, feel free to click here! 

Goldstream Provincial Park

Over the last couple of weeks our students have visited Goldstream Provincial Park to witness the annual salmon run. Goldstream has a world-class salmon spawning stream with thousands of Chum Salmon returning each year. Every autumn, millions of Pacific salmon forge their way up the myriad streams of the Pacific northwest to spawn and die. We have had amazing autumn weather, and the Park has been at its most beautiful.

Our new grade 4/5 music instructor, Mr. Owyn, has begun working with students on the joys of playing the ukelele.

This week's book recommendation is from Ms. Jesse: Wild Swans by Jung Chan. Ms. Jesse says: 

This memoir tells the life stories of three generations. The stories are incredibly compelling and taught me about Chinese history. 

Junior Boys' Basketball

The MYP 2/3 competitive squad had two games this week. The first one was on Monday, away at Centre Mountain Lellum (CML). CML is one of the top teams in the Western Conference, and they certainly proved to be on the night. Our young squad fought hard, up until the final quarter, and despite the final score line 36-66, we showed plenty of gains as a team, and individual ones too.

On Wednesday we welcomed Dunsmuir for our 2^nd and final game of the week. With the home court advantage, and loud Brooke’s supporters, we felt that this could be our first victory for the season. Uncharacteristically though, the boys made a sluggish start to the game, and found themselves with a 17-point deficit at half time.

We were quietly confident though of staging a major comeback and we knew that it would take a superlative team effort. By the end of the 3^rd, we found ourselves only down by 10. Going into the final quarter, the energy was well and truly alive. Karras started to fire, and make his shots count, Armin was exceptional in defence, and Arjan got the home crowd going with his sweet 3-point shot. It went down to the wire. Brookes, victorious, 64-61!

A few massive shout outs are in order. Firstly, the whole squad that rallied right until the very end. Secondly, Coach Paul Vandermade (MYP2 Parent), who has kindly volunteered his time to coach the specifics to the boys and bring out the inner talent in our players. And finally, our Brookes supporters! Please join us again next Wednesday at 3:45 pm, when we host PCS for our final regular season game of the season.

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.