Surf's Up! lots of photos today from the MYP5 trip to Tofino last weekend

Dear Brookes Westshore Families and Friends,

In a heartwarming display of community service, this week our MYP2 students visited Trillium Community Senior’s Residence in Colwood, as part of their service project. The class interacted with the residents, bringing joy and companionship to their day. The seniors enjoyed their visit so much that a kind lady, Elizabeth, came to visit the school the next day just to express her gratitude. She said “The students were absolutely nice and polite. It was the most fun day in a long time.” This heartfelt recognition is a testament to the exemplary character of our students and the guidance provided by their teachers. Well done, MYP2 class and Mr. Thom, for spreading kindness and making a difference in the lives of others!

Today marks the bittersweet moment when we bid farewell to our DP2 students. The graduating class of 2024 has been great role models for our younger students to develop valuable academic skills as well as to build resilience and mental toughness that will serve them well in their future endeavors. As they embark on their journey beyond these halls, we take immense pride in witnessing their growth into confident individuals ready to tackle the challenges ahead. Their achievements are not theirs alone; behind each graduate stands a network of unwavering support, including family, friends, and teachers who have stood by their side, offering guidance and encouragement. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone involved in nurturing our students’ success. A big shout out to our DP Coordinator, Linda Bayes, for her tireless efforts in ensuring the smooth conduct of the IB exams, and to our School Manager, Andrea Salvador, for her dedication in orchestrating the graduation to make sure everything runs smoothly on this big day! With full confidence, we believe our graduating class of 2024 will help in shaping a brighter future for all!

With gratitude,

Dr. Rui Li

Principal

PS. We will have photos from today's Graduation Ceremony next week!

Silent Auction 2024

Join us on June 7th in support of our Ukrainian students!

Tickets for the auction are on sale here!

Items for the auction are coming in fast - our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has contributed so generously! 

We have some amazing items for you to bid on, including:

• No Limits Fishing Charter half day fishing charter for four guests.
• Space in Your Place Organizing - 6 hours with 2 organizers package.
• Coastal Bliss Adventures - Bioluminescence Tour for four.

We also have gift cards for spas, dining, golf, yoga, dog grooming and much more!

Grade level theme baskets:

If you would like to contribute to the auction but are unsure what to bring, parent volunteers have come up with these great theme basket ideas so each grade can help put together a unique, theme-based basket. We hope that parents will donate an item to help make up these great baskets.  

Details of Grade level basket themes can be found here.

You can see the menu for the evening here - so delicious! 

Beautiful BC at its best

Grade 8 - 11 students Gala

You are officially invited to the Brookes Gala!

The last dance of the year, and we hope you will join us June 14th for one last night of fun, photos and friends. Admission is $5 a person, and you can get your name on the guest list at the front desk starting Monday. This is a semi-formal, with a navy, purple, black, and metallic colour scheme.

We hope to see you there!

Grade 4 have been working in groups, using the design process, to develop multiplication-based board games.

Graduating students

The Class of 2024 has completed the IB final exams and they deserve our praise and congratulations. They have shown themselves to be a hard-working and dedicated group of students who are about to embark on their next journey.

Graduation is a time for great celebration, but I always find the day very difficult as we say goodbye to those who have been a part of our lives for their secondary education. We wish them all the very best!!

I have posted a message on ManageBac for parents of graduating students which outlines some information about transcripts and diplomas.  

Class of 2025

The Class of 2025 will begin the process of applying for universities in the next month during Career Ed class. I will support them with the application processes and review of websites. University applications deadlines are generally in January, but the sooner students have this process completed, the sooner they will receive acceptances. If we start the process in the spring, they will be ready to complete their applications in the fall. Their summer should be spent on reviewing university websites and learning more about the programs available. These are hard decisions to make when they are busy with coursework and they will be busy next year. 

• Each subject in the IB Diploma Programme has an Internal Assessment (IA) as part of their final IB grade and is worth between 20-25% (subject dependent). They have already started data collection for their Psychology IA and they will also be collecting data in June for Geography and Biology.  Getting some of these assessments started in year 1 helps significantly to reduce the workload in DP2.
• On June 3rd, all DP1 students will be travelling to East Sooke Park to participate in the IB Group 4 project. The purpose of this project is to provide opportunities for students to work in multi-disciplinary teams (Biology, Chemistry and Physics) to design and conduct scientific research.

Linda Bayes

DP Coordinator

Students took part in the first track meet of the season at the University of Victoria on Thursday last week. Congratulations to our student athletes! 

MYP1A and MYP2 enjoyed an afternoon at the JDF lawn bowling club learning how to play. There were some fierce ends! We are grateful to Jack at the lawn bowling club for organizing many volunteers to mentor our students!

Tofino Trips Roundup from Ms. Brooklyn

This year’s trips to Tofino were spectacular! The beautiful surf city welcomed our students with open arms and encouraged them to embrace their inner surfer life. Despite the rainy weather for most of the trips, our students got to enjoy the incredible Mackenize beach sunsets, gnarly pacific waves, and the relaxation that comes from small town living. The photos captured on these trips are only a glimpse at the friendships and memories made between our amazing students. I would like to personally thank all the chaperones and drivers that made these trips possible and for all their hard work to make each trip special. I would also like to thank our incredible students. Each of them represented Brookes with dignity while maintaining their youthful charm.

These trips mark the end of this year’s adventures, but we look forward to seeing you all in September to make new memories!

Fun Friday last week included House Competition for a basketball free throw competition in the gym and chalk drawing contest in the courtyard (with a theme of 'nature'). Congratulations to everyone who took part - Lynx House had a particularly strong showing in the chalk drawing contest! 

The MYP2 service project this year was planning activities for a visit to the Trillium Community Senior’s Residence. Students facilitated bowling, corn hole, ring toss and hot potato with the residents and it was a huge success! One resident even walked to Brooke’s yesterday to tell us how much fun they had and express their appreciation. Way to go MYP2!

Over the weekend we were lucky to see the spectacular Northern Lights. It was the most intense display for decades and everyone was stunned by the majesty and mystery of what we saw.

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.