Dear Brookes Westshore Families and Friends,

Welcome back, and I hope you all had a restful Spring Break. We have lots of things happening at the school in the next few weeks, so please read below for details.

Term Two report cards will be issued on April 6th, and we will hold our parent teacher conferences on Wednesday, April 12th (for parents living outside the country) and Thursday, April 13th for our local families. These conferences will be held virtually, and parents will be given the opportunity to meet with 2-3 teachers.  

FOR LOCAL PARENTS, you can book an appointment for a conference on Schools Buddy. The sign-up will opened on April 5th and will close on April 12th at noon. Please note that students will be dismissed at 1520 on April 13th, as usual.

For parents living outside the country, please send your request to frontdesk@westshore.brookes.org by April 11th at 0900 PST, indicating the teachers you would like to meet with AND the preferred time (1530-1830 PST). We will schedule a Teams conference with all teachers and send you the meeting link on April 12th.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the front desk.

With kind regards,

Linda Bayes

Deputy Head of School

It was lovely to see everyone’s smiling face again this week and to share our stories during the fun-filled Spring break.

The IB recently published the results of a series of in-depth studies to assess the alignment between the IB Diploma Programme (DP) courses and the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD). The IB researchers compared mainly Mathematics and sciences at both the higher level (HL) and standard level (SL) in the following areas:

• Learning outcomes: key knowledge, skills, and competencies
• Content alignment: fields of knowledge within the curriculum
• Demand: complexity, depth, breadth, workload levels

The studies provide substantial evidence that the DP Mathematics and sciences courses represent rigorous curricula to support significant depth and breadth of learning. More information could be found here.

We are very proud of the rigorous academic programmes we offer at our school. We would like to commend all our students for their hard work and dedication towards their studies in term 2. We look forward to a productive and engaging term 3 ahead, and we thank all parents and staff for your continued support!

With gratitude,

Rui Li

Vice Principal of Academics / DP Coordinator

Community BBQ on April 14th!

We are currently waiting for the arrival of the 8 students from Ukraine who are waiting for Immigration Canada to issue their study permits.  

Grade 9 students are very excited about their arrival and have been working hard to organize this event to sponsor their airline tickets to Canada.  What better way to celebrate our community and promote service activities for our students?  This is a special event organized by the Grade 9 students who have planned numerous activities and games for students. 

The Community BBQ will be held on April 14th from 1530-1800 at Brookes Westshore. 

Food is FREE FOR ALL BROOKES FAMILIES. You are welcome to bring extended family or friends at a cost $7.00 per person/child. We will accept CASH payment or e-transfer at the event. Tickets for the games/activities can be purchased at the event and donation boxes will also be available. 

In order to prepare for this event, we do need you to complete the attached form. 

https://forms.office.com/r/Ck8uw201iK

We hope to see everyone there!!

Silent Auction for Ukrainian Students

We are working with some dedicated parents to put on a Silent Auction on Friday, April 28th in support of the students from Ukraine. There will be appies and drinks, and lots of great items from the local community to bid on! Tickets will go on sale soon - mark your calendars!

Please note: We will be having a meeting with parents for the Silent Auction on Wednesday the 12^th of April at 8:30 - 9:30 am in the boardroom. 

Grade 12 HL Biology students are working hard at studying Sexual Reproduction. Amira and Coen share their work and explain their diagrams to each other.  They will begin revising for IB World Exams in the next few weeks. 

Many students from DP 1 are spending time at Royal Roads University in April, helping Dr. Mickie Noble with an outreach program in Environmental Science with local elementary schools. This is a great CAS Service opportunity! 

West Coast Adventure Tour Spring Break Trip

Our West Coast Adventure Tour was action packed and we couldn't have asked for better weather! With eleven out of the twelve days being sunny with clear blue skies!

Some of the highlights of this trip were skiing, ziplining, attending a live NHL hockey game, swimming in mineral pools, snow tubing, venturing up the Sea to Sky Gondola, visiting the Vancouver Aquarium and enjoying the shopping in Vancouver and Whistler!

We started off this epic adventure at Mt Washington, our local Vancouver Island ski mountain. We skied in great conditions and stayed in a beautiful Hostel in Cumberland. Students absolutely loved the hostel as it included a pool table, arcade games, dart boards, board games and a nice warm woodstove to warm up to after a great day of skiing. 

After Mt Washington, we visited Vancouver and on our first day we attended a live NHL hockey game! The Vancouver Canucks beat the San Jose Sharks 7-2 in a thrilling game. We also made the jumbotron which was one of the highlights of the night! We also visited the Vancouver Aquarium, Stanley Park, Coal Harbour, Gastown, and some of the top shopping destinations on Robson Street, Metrotown and the CF Pacific Shopping Centre. 

We next ventured to the Harrison Hot Springs Resort; located right on Harrison Lake with breathtaking scenery of the Coastal Mountains. Students enjoyed relaxing in the five outdoor mineral hot springs and a special buffet dinner with spectacular views in the evening.

On our way to Whistler, we stopped at the famous Sea to Sky Gondola in Squamish. With clear blue skies, this gondola offered astounding views of Howe Sound, Sky Pilot mountain, Diamond Head Mountain and the mighty Stawamus Chief.  Students explored the different viewing platforms, suspension bridge and we enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Summit Lodge viewing platform. After lunch, Ms Aija had a surprise up her sleeve and booked a snow tubing session for the group in the afternoon. Students loved the adrenaline rush of snowtubing down the snow-covered hill. This became one of the highlights of the trip!  

Once arriving in Whistler, we skied and snowboarded over multiple days, and ziplined over the beautiful snow-covered forests and rivers of Whistler. At the end of each day, students enjoyed strolling through the charming Whistler Village surrounded by endless shops and restaurants.

"This trip was truly the perfect combination of adventure and fun! While the students were very enthusiastic that they enjoyed all of the adventure activities, it was really neat to hear that almost everyone had a different favourite part! That was great feedback to hear and exciting! Also, the overall morale of the group was fantastic! Each student was so keen and excited for the next adventure, and we all fed off of each others positive energy! We will never forget the special memories that we made on this trip together!" Ms.Aija

Canadian High Schools Model United Nations (CAHSMUN)

On the last weekend of Spring Break one of our grade 9 students, Tish, took part in the CAHSMUN in Vancouver. Tish has been an active and energetic participant in our Model United Nations ASA this term - where she has engaged in debates and discussions with the MUN group on a wide range of topics relating to the UN and global issues in general.

Tish took this knowledge and experience into the conference where she represented the Philippines as a delegate to the MUN. We are so proud of Tish and how she has taken up this challenge - stepping into a much larger arena - where her eloquence, insight and passion were noticed and highlighted by her fellow delegates from all across Canada. Well done Tish!

"Along with the exciting thrill provided by quick debates and speeches, The Canadian High Schools Model United Nations conference in Vancouver was an experience that I will never forget. I was given the opportunity to meet people from all over Canada and engage in incredible committee sessions that put one's critical thinking to the test including being nominated for a few awards within my committee. I represented the Philippines, formed alliances and blocs, and was a part of the International Criminal Police Organization committee as we delegates tackled the intricacies of maritime crime and financial fraud. The three days ranged from learning how to write speeches on the spot, all the way to singing my heart out during karaoke with new friends at the spring-themed delegate dance."

Tish, Grade 9.

Brookes UK Trip 2023

Students had a memorable trip to the UK over Spring Break - visiting our sister school in Risby and seeing the sites. We toured the Abbey Gardens in Bury Saint Edmunds, strolled through Cambridge, challenged ourselves at a local Clip n Climb, saw filming sites for Harry Potter in Oxford, shopped Covent Garden and Regent Street in London, ending our visit at Platform 9 and 3/4!

The honey-coloured stone of some of Cambridge's best known colleges.

Harry Potter fans will recognize this scene at Kings Cross Station!

Just before Spring Break, the DP 2 Biology class got the chance to go on a field trip last week to the BC Royal Museum Natural History exhibition. The students learned about topics such as Evolution and Ecology, which they will be starting to revise in preparation for their May IB exams. 

Do you have questions?

If you have a question about the school or just something on your mind, please feel free to contact our leadership team:

• Rui Li - Vice Principal and DP Coordinator
• Andrea Salvador - School Manager / Events
• Jacob Baumgartner - Community and Wellness Coordinator
• Melanie Moroz - MYP Coordinator