Alumnus Kim English, Class of 2018, with a message to our students.

Dear Brookes Westshore Families and Friends,

It’s hard to believe we are already in the sixth week of the school year! Time has flown by as our students continue to demonstrate their dedication to learning, and our staff remain committed to providing the best possible education.

It was a pleasure to meet with our Grade 4/5 parents today for the coffee morning. Thank you for engaging in meaningful conversations, forging connections with our staff, and taking an active role in your child’s educational journey. It’s through this collaboration that we can create an environment where our students can thrive, learn, and grow.

With the success of our coffee mornings in mind I would like to ask you all to complete this very short survey - to help us gather a snapshot of our families' perspectives on our school. We work hard to provide the best school environment we can, but we know there are always ways to improve. Here you can let us know what we are doing well (so we can keep building), where we are falling short (so we can adjust our approach wherever possible) and also share any ideas you might have that we may be able to adopt and implement to improve our school. Please click here. Thank you!

Welcoming Grade 4 and 5 families this morning for a chance to get to know each other and hear from Ms. Jesse and Ms. Alexe about the Grade 4/5 curriculum. 

Mental Health Awareness

October is the month of mental health awareness. We are committed to fostering a school environment that promotes mental health awareness and provides resources to those in need. We encourage parents to engage in open and supportive conversations with our teachers about any concerns or challenges your child(ren) may be facing. Our dedicated school counsellor, Ms. Kat, is available for students and families in need of support or guidance (you can read her bio below). Remember it’s okay not to be okay sometimes, and reaching out for help is a sign of strength. Together, we can ensure our students receive the best support possible.

Looking ahead:

October 20^th – No classes: ProD Day for staff

October 20^th – Term 1 interim learning update will be issued through ManageBac. Teachers' comments on students' engagement and work habits are provided in the interim update (no grades).

Thank you for your continued support; we look forward to another fantastic week at Brookes Westshore.

With gratitude,

Rui

Dr. Rui Li

Principal

Parents are lifelong learners - watching the Grade 4/5 curriculum presentation.

Welcome back Kim!

We love to welcome past students back to Brookes. This week we had the pleasure of seeing Kim E. back on campus. Kim graduated in 2018 from our Shawnigan Lake school and was excited to visit our new home in the Westshore. She has just graduated from UBC with a double major in English Lit. and Visual Arts - and is planning on pursuing a master's degree in Italy.

Kim had some excellent advice for our DP students - encouraging them to work hard and make the most of their opportunities. See below for her words of wisdom!

Kim English, class of 2018, and Mr. B who taught her at our Shawnigan Lake campus.

“Hello Brookes Students,

From someone who has been where you are now and has taken those steps from junior to senior year, the IB programme, and now just completing my undergrad at the University of British Columbia, here are a few things I want to leave you with.

I remember in grade 8 I was always thinking about being a senior, the cool blazers and not having to sign in for breakfast; and when I was a senior I was always thinking about graduating, about being on my own and not having to wear uniform.

We often spend a lot of our time in life looking behind or looking ahead - what we could’ve done differently or what could happen in the future.

I hope that in your time at Brookes you enjoy each day, each week, each month, and each year as it comes - be grateful for the friendships you make, the teachers that support you, the sports games and movie nights in the common rooms, be grateful for the mistakes and failures that you come across, the detentions and the visits to the principal; for all the good and all the not so good. Everything is meant to serve you in some way, to build your character; you may recognize it a week later, or maybe years later - but there always will be that lightbulb moment where it all clicks.

Without all of the love, guidance, support, and the odd scolding I would not be where I am today - Brookes gave me the confidence and courage to chase after my goals, and the skills to believe in myself, to trust in myself - and that will stay with you for a lifetime.

And most importantly, Brookes gave me the space and the opportunity to experience myself - to take risks and to try new things - to imagine and push beyond the bounds of the conventional and the comfortable.

You are all in the process of building a foundation for yourselves that you will spring out into the world from. Enjoy every moment laying those bricks down."

Monday, November 6^th  - photo retakes in the Tree House

You can now order your Brookes Westshore jackets online!

Through Passion Sports, we have set up an online store for the Brookes Puffy jackets and Rain jackets. The deadline to order by is October 22^nd at midnight.

Please click the link below to get to the store. There is a size chart for each jacket. Unfortunately, at this time we do not have sample jackets to try on for size. The puffy jackets are a different brand than the ones from last year.

Jackets will be shipped to Brookes for pick up after November 13^th.

https://store.passionsports.ca/brookeswestshore

Passion Sports does not offer returns, but if the size you order does not fit, we will purchase the jacket from you.

If you have any questions about this, please email Melanie at mgordon@westshore.brookes.org

Puffy jacket stock from last year

We have a limited stock of the Puffy jackets from last year’s order. The cost is $83.75 each and we have the following sizes available:

Youth Small
Youth Large
Ladies Small
Ladies Large
Mens Small
Mens Medium
Mens XL
Mens XXL

Please email uniforms@westshore.brookes.org if you would like to purchase one.

Ms. Jesse and Ms. Alexe presenting to Grade 4 and 5 families.

Diploma Programme Service

A group of DP students are organizing our annual Food and CFAX toy drive. You will receive more information about these service projects in upcoming newsletters. We plan to start the food drive on November 6th, and it will run until mid-December. To encourage some healthy competition, students will be earning house points for donations they bring to school!

House Shirts have arrived!

Mr. B and son Levi opening up the House Shirts order - revealed today at lunch time! If you haven't collected yours - see Mr. B!

Parent-Teacher Conference

The Parent-Teacher Conference dates are earlier this year and will be held on November 1^st from 15:30 to 17:30 and November 2^nd from 14:15 to 17:30. November 2^nd will be an early dismissal day at 14:00. There will be NO ASAs on these two days. The conferences will be virtual, and the sign up on SchoolsBuddy will open on October 24^th. More information to come.

 Grade 4 and Grade 7 Foundational Skills Assessments

The BC Ministry of Education recommends that all students in grade 4 and grade 7 complete provincial literacy and numeracy assessments each fall. The data collected is used to inform schools, districts and the province about how well students are prepared for academic success and assist in the planning of curriculum and core competency criteria. These assessments will be completed in school later in October, and feedback will be available in early January. Note that the outcome of these assessments will not impact a student’s assessment in their courses. More information can be found here.

BC Graduation Assessments

There are 3 assessments required to earn the BC Dogwood Diploma – Literacy 10, Literacy 12, and Numeracy 10 assessments. Our Grade 10 and 12 students will be writing these assessments during the week of October 30^th. They are done online, and students will use their own computers to complete the assessments. The grades from these assessments are scored on a 1-4 scale. Here is a link to an Information for Parents Brochure which helps to explain the BC assessments more completely. The grading scale for these assessments is:

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

University Applications

This is the time of year when our DP2 students start working on their university applications. Ms. Bayes will be holding a parent information session for DP2 parents on Wednesday, October 18th at 3.30 pm where she will outline in more detail the application process. Students are supported with the application process in their Career Ed class, but they can and should schedule individual meetings with Ms. Bayes to discuss their choices. The first step in this process is to create an account with My Education Planner BC which allows students to apply to colleges and universities in BC. There is also an Ontario Application Centre for all universities/colleges in Ontario. The sending of transcripts is now fully electronic, and students' BC grades/transcripts will sent via the BC Student Transcript Services to universities. All students have set up their accounts and are ready to go. 

English Language Requirements for Universities in Canada.  We encourage students whose first language is not English to check out the requirements for each university they apply to. Most universities require students to complete an English proficiency test (TOEFL or IELTS) if they have not attended high school in Canada for 4 consecutive years. For those students who require an English proficiency test, Ms. Bayes will help them to make the necessary arrangements.

Western University Presentation to DP 2 students

On Wednesday, we had a visit from an admission officer from Western University. A group of 10 students attended this session. They all found the information valuable, and we have another visit in November from the University of Alberta. 

On November 15th, Ms. Bayes will be taking a group of DP2 students to Vancouver for a tour of the University of BC campus.  We expect to take about 20 students and Mr. Baumgartner and Mr. Boxshall will accompany them. Students are very excited about this trip to see the campus. We will also be meeting with Brookes Westshore graduates who are currently attending UBC who will offer their insights into life as a student at UBC.

This is a very exciting time for our senior students, and the magnitude of choices for them can be daunting. They have our full support to ensure they make a smooth transition to post-secondary education.   

Over the past couple of weekends dorm students have been having lots of fun doing various activities - hot pot night with dorm parent Billie was super yummy!
We painted rocks to put around the school, and also picked out our own pumpkins, carved them, and placed them around the school to celebrate spooky 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.