Dear Brookes Westshore Families and Friends,

We had a great celebration of Brookes Book Day today, fostering a love for reading and enhancing literacy among our students. I appreciate all students’, parents’ and staff’s creativity and dedication to the costume contest. This fun activity for everyone to dress as their favorite book characters not only adds excitement to the event but also allows students to engage more deeply with the stories and characters they love. Thanks to our Literacy Committee and Events Committee for organizing the Book Day! 

In our ever-evolving digital landscape, it is crucial to equip our students with not only traditional literacy skills but also the essential tools for navigating the digital world. To complement traditional literacy, we are re-introducing a wonderful resource, The White Hatter, an education specialist who focuses on digital literacy, internet safety and online privacy. These resources will help empower students to critically evaluate online information, understand digital etiquette, and navigate technology responsibly.

To further support our students with the skills necessary for success in a rapidly evolving world, we are also incorporating Open Parachute, a great school wellbeing resource, in our teaching and learning. We appreciate that parents play a crucial role in supporting student development and encourage you to check out these free resources on how to support your child’s wellbeing at home. You can click here to log in to view more information. Another great resource to learn about safe and caring use of technology at home and in the community can be found here.

Thank you for your continued partnership in shaping well-rounded individuals.

With kind regards,

Dr. Rui Li

Principal

Teachers celebrating Book Day - can you guess the beloved characters?

We feel so happy and grateful that the seven students from Ukraine are with us, settled in, and engaging fully in life at our school. It was a lot of work, and a long process, but to have the students with us is truly a blessing. 

“Mariia (Danyil's mother) safely arrived home in Ukraine overwhelmed with positive emotions and filled with gratitude for your generous support. Many thanks to each of you and others in the Brookes team for making this happen.” (from Bohdan Y. - parent and advisor on our Ukraine initiative)

Ivan, Vlada and Bohdan - the first three students who arrived in October – have been blazing a trail for their fellow Ukrainians. They have embraced every opportunity and met every challenge with grit and determination. We are proud to have them in our school.

With the final four students having arrived last week we are so excited to be able to focus on the next two and half years of their time with us. We will be supporting their academics, as well as helping them to thrive and excel across the full range of school activities and experiences.

We know that we will need the help of our community to ensure that the students have the supports they need to thrive here.

In the coming weeks we will be asking for your support in various ways – please keep an eye out for our requests. Together we can make a significant impact on their lives and give them the best possible experience of life in Canada.

MYP1 has been steadily working on service since the beginning of the school year. We began by narrowing down the causes that we were most interested in supporting and decided on marine protection and recycling/waste. Each class was split into two groups with specific responsibilities allotted to each group member. The groups are currently in the planning stages, doing research online and reaching out to adults within the school to help coordinate their projects.

The MYP1B recycling/waste group is almost ready to launch its project - an awareness campaign about food waste that involves the whole school - while the MYP1B marine protection group is working out the logistics of a large-scale beach cleanup.

In MYP 1A, the recycling group is interested in possible analysis of compostable waste and upcycling materials for an auction. The MYP 1A marine protection group is working on a bottle drive idea and also possible raffle/fundraising for pre-approved environmental groups.

We look forward to continuing to support the students in their planning as the year progresses.

Ms. Campbell’s MYP 5 and MYP 4 Visual Arts students are displaying a selection of artwork they have created so far from September 2023 to January 2024 in the dining hall. The installation of the artwork is in progress, occurring during class time this week so you will see more work later this week. Please feel free to view the work on display. Well Done Everyone!

MYP1a ended their Art semester with a look into Romanesque and Gothic architecture. We completed faux stained glass windows before winter break and built castles or cathedrals to match those windows in January! The teams choose Gothic architecture because they enjoyed the large windows, pointed arches and gargoyles common to that style. 

Students playing a version of Hungry Hippo in their gym class.

University Acceptances

DP2 (Grade 12) students have started to receive acceptance letters from universities, and we would like to congratulate Scott who has received an acceptance into McMaster University – Faculty of Engineering with a $10,000 scholarship. And to Aneesha who has been accepted to the University of Toronto to study Science with a $2,000 scholarship! Congratulations!

Brookes Book Day: A wall of book recommendations in the dining hall.

Lunar New Year Celebrations

In addition to the MYP 3 – DP2 Dance, the grade 4/5 students will be participating in a range of Lunar New Year Activities from 2:30 pm – 3:20 pm and our MYP 1 & 2 students will have activities and music with casual clothes from 3:30 pm – 4:30pm on Friday.

Please note that the volleyball ASA is cancelled this Friday to allow students to participate.  

Creative Writing Contest

Deadline is tomorrow! Don't hesitate to join in for the chance to get a prize!

Are you an avid writer? Is creating stories your favorite pastime? Or do you enjoy dabbling with words and rhymes?  Practice your creative writing skills in the Brookes Westshore writing competition this week and write a short story or poem for house points and prizes!

Prizes will be awarded to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in both categories of Grades 4-7 and Grades 8-12. They include $50 and $25 Russel Books gift cards and hundreds of house points!

Submissions are due Feb. 3rd. Please use the link or QR code below to find out more about the contest's prizes and rules, as well as to read the prompts, criteria, and submit your creative writing!

Full details are available here.

This week we were delighted to welcome visiting agents from Brazil and Peru. It was so good to welcome Patricia Rettis Martinez and her daughter, Brianna, to our school on Wednesday. Patricia is the CEO & Founder of ReMar agency in Peru and they're both working with us on recruiting students for our IB programme. On Thursday we hosted Bruno Pacheco dos Santos with the CI Agency in Brazil. Bruno spent the whole day with us - immersing himself in our atmosphere and culture.

Agent visits are a vital opportunity for us to showcase our school and to build the relationships that are so necessary for our long-term recruitment strategy. Martin Staffolani, our ED of Recruitment, works tirelessly with agents and families around the world promoting Brookes Westshore.

Basketball and Volleyball slideshow

Congratulations to the Gr. 6-7 girls’ volleyball team who played their first pair of games yesterday. The girls played very well. Their first game was against Pacific Christian School (PCS) and they split sets (23-25; 25-17). Their next game was against Dunsmuir 7s. They won this game (25-13; 25-8). Thanks to all the volunteers who helped keep score and run the lines.

The grade 8 girls’ volleyball team had their first two volleyball games yesterday. The players decided at the beginning of the season to challenge themselves by participating in the top tier. Their first game was against John Stubbs. They got off to a slow start, losing 0-2. In their second game, which was against Journey, they started to come alive with good team play, good serving, and even a few spikes! They defeated Journey 2-0. A good victory! Their coach was very proud of the solid effort they gave. Congratulations!

The resident otter of Colwood Creek put in an appearance at our school this week. We are so lucky to be so close to nature!

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.