Dear Brookes Westshore Families and Friends,

The sun has been shining this week, and you can see the effect it has on our students and staff around campus. There are lots of smiling faces as we happily spend more time together outside – both learning and playing (as you can see here).

The school was a hive of activity in this first week of term.  Classes are fully underway, and we are looking forward to the start of ASAs next week. As you have seen, we have a raft of new opportunities on offer. Lots of students have signed up for beach volleyball, tennis, rock climbing and bowling as we take advantage of the great facilities available to us locally. Old favourites like volleyball, skateboarding and MUN are of course still running. It will be a great term for ASAs!

We are also delighted to let you know that Shaun Jones will be returning to us next month to resume his role teaching English. Our heartfelt thanks to Ms. Sarah Lee for helping us to cover this term, and we wish her well in her future endeavours.

With kind regards,

Jerry Salvador

Head of School

Study time in the shade of the courtyard

Students and teachers are back into the groove after a wonderful spring break and it is wonderful to see those happy faces without the masks.  There is a lot happening in the next few weeks and we will continue to share student learning through this newsletter. ASA’s for Term 2 begin the week of April 11. 

Grade 12 students continue to receive university acceptances and there are several who are facing difficult decisions because they have been admitted to every university to which they have applied. It is a very exciting time for our graduating students and they are all very busy preparing for the final IB Exams which begin at the end of April.

Term 2 Report Cards were issued this afternoon and I encourage all parents to review the reports with their children. We have scheduled parent teacher conferences (virtual via TEAMS) for local parents on April 21st from 1530-1850. An invitation to schedule your conference will be sent out to parents on Monday.  Please keep in mind the conferences are 10 minutes in length to ensure everyone gets an opportunity to meet with their child’s teachers. For those parents who live in another country, I will be sending you a separate invitation by email to schedule a conference.  

On April 25th all MYP 5 students will write the BC Numeracy 10 Assessment as part of the BC Dogwood Graduation requirements and on April 27th, you will write the BC Literacy 10 Assessment.  Both of these assessments will be completed online and we will support you in the week prior to the assessment to ensure your computer can load the program.  Teachers will be providing you with the necessary instructions prior to the assessments but there really isn't any special preparation. 

These assessments will be graded on a 1-4 scale.

1. Emerging
2. Developing
3. Proficient
4. Extending

Grade 12 students write a  BC Literacy 12 assessment and this is the only one of these assessments used by Universities for admissions.  UBC requires students to achieve a level 3 on the BC Literacy Assessment.  All of these assessments can be repeated and no one should feel stressed about them.

Graduation 2022

Graduation day is fast approaching and we are busy planning for this wonderful event.  Now that COVID 19 restrictions are lifted we are happy to invite parents to join us.  The ceremony will be held at 2:00 pm on the 20th of May followed by a dinner at Church as State Winery. 

Parents interested in attending the dinner must purchase tickets prior to the event. More information regarding graduation and information on ticket sales will be sent out soon. 

Graduation Itinerary for Friday, May 20th: 

• 2:00 pm:  Graduation Ceremony
• 3:30 pm -  4:30 pm: Appetizers for Graduates, parents and teachers in dining hall
• 5:30 pm Graduating Students depart on buses for Church and State
• 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm:  Photos at Church and State
• 7:00 pm:  Dinner commences at Church and State
• 9:00 pm – 11:00 pm:  Dancing and entertainment at Church and State (Student planned)
• 11:00 pm:  Buses depart back to Brookes from Church and State

Clay sculpture - inside out outside the art room

Design MYP Year 1

Two teams of six students constructed a six stage Pythagoras switch. They had to follow the design cycle and document all their steps as well as work as a group to make the Pythagorean device function.

Pythagora Switch (ピタゴラスイッチ, Pitagora Suitchi) is a 15-minute Japanese educational television program that has been aired by NHK since April 9, 2002. It encourages augmenting children's "way of thinking". During the beginning and ending of each episode, and between each corner (segment), there are Pythagorean Devices (ピタゴラ装置, Pitagora Sōchi). "Pythagorean device" is the equivalent Japanese colloquialism for the American "Rube Goldberg machine" and British "Heath Robinson" contraption (Wikipedia).

Pythagorean Devices are deliberately over-engineered or overdone systems that perform very simple tasks in a very complicated process that include some chain reactions.

Here you can see a practice run - almost perfect!

Watching the marbles roll was exciting (and tense) for the audience!

DP2 Visual Art Exhibition

During the 2-year of the IB Diploma Programme, our Visual Art students have learned the skills and techniques to produce their own independent artwork in various media. They have gone into depth in their chosen concepts and ideas, creating stories with their artwork. Today, we have the opportunity to see our students’ artistic work and curation. Together, we celebrate our students’ personal growth, achievement, and creativity!

Personal Project Exhibition

The MYP5 Personal Project takes place next Thursday afternoon. Students will be preparing displays that showcase the work they did to achieve their learning and product goals. Our MYP3 and MYP4 students will be invited to visit this exhibition. We hope that our graduating MYP class will bestow advice and tips for how their younger classmates can complete their projects in the coming years. The MYP4 classes will be more formally introduced to the Personal Project later in May.

Grade 6 Immunizations:

Public Health Nurses will be back in schools this spring to complete the grade 6 immunization program. COVID-19 vaccines were not available for grade 6 students when consent forms for routine immunizations were sent home in the fall.

If you would like your child to receive their COVID-19 vaccine at school, please call your local health unit at 250-519-3490 to speak with a Public Health Nurse and provide consent.

In grade 6, immunizations will not be provided without parental consent.

Grade 6 immunizations will be offered at Brookes Westshore on April 21, 2021. 

We will also offer immunizations to grade 9 students who did not complete their immunizations last October.

A grade 9 student can make an informed decision about immunization regardless of their parent/guardian/representative decision to consent or refuse immunization.

For more information visit HealthLinkBC: The Infants Act, Mature Minor Consent and Immunization.

For more information about COVID-19 Vaccines visit: https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/sites/default/files/documents/hfile124a.pdf

If you have any questions, call the West Shore Health Unit at 250-519-3490 or visit www.immunizebc.ca

Basketball between the gym and the dorms

Spring-themed water sculpture in the dining hall

40% Discount for Powerful Youth Program for Brookes Westshore students!

This summer’s Powerful Youth Program is filling up fast! We would love to have students from Brookes Westshore be a part of the adventure!

We are offering a 40% discount for students at Brookes Westshore to join either the junior or senior Session One Program (see below for details).

Please contact Graham Brown (gbrown@brookes.org) if you are interested!

The Global Leadership Academy is full steam ahead! With both travel restrictions and local restrictions easing, we are excited to be safely and confidently moving forward with our summer 2022 programs. 

It's no surprise that youth are looking for opportunities to expand their skills, experience, comfort zones, and networks after two years at home. Because GLA combines the best of an abroad experience, summer camp, pre-university program, community service project, and leadership academy all into one program, we have received a huge number of applications from all around the world. We expect the programs to be at full capacity well before the application deadline of May 31st!

If you've been considering applying, now is the time. Apply on our website before spots are full! We have both 2-week and 3-week program options to choose from.

Questions? Contact us.

Download the GLA 2022 Program Guide

 Highfour Math Challenge

Congratulations to the grade 11 Team of Hugo, Brandon, Cameron, Coen (2nd place) and the Team of Gracie, Amira, Ben HD and Michelle (4th place). Also congratulations to the grade 10 Team of  Aristotle, Leeland, Ethan, Maggie (3rd place) and the Team of Semvia, Scott, Frida and Aneesha (4th place). Well done everyone! 

Key dates for the school year starting in September 2022 can be found here: Key Dates 2022/2023 - Brookes Westshore