Dear Brookes Westshore Families and Friends,

This week our Grade 9 students organized a Spirit Week for the whole school – starting with Valentine’s Day cupcakes (thanks to Lisa and Sage Dining!) and continuing with events and challenges every day of the week. You can see from the photos below that the students (and teachers) took part with great energy and enthusiasm. Our school was full of colour and laughter this week!

I would also like to let you know that our new sister school in Kyiv, Ukraine, has taken the difficult decision to delay their opening to September 2023. This was a very hard decision for the Board to make, but I am sure you all understand the need to prioritize the safety and security of students and staff. We look forward to the day they open and bring their unique flavour to the Brookes Education Group of schools.

For our boarding students and families – please keep an eye out for a message about an amazing trip around Western Canada organized for Spring Break.

I wish you all the best for the BC Family Day weekend,

With kind regards,

Jerry Salvador

Head of School

IB Learner Profile - Caring and Principled

As an IB school we focus on development of the IB Learner Profile and  learning activities are provided to support this growth. The IB Learner Profile attributes which were the focus this month were Caring and Principled. Students had a wonderful “spirit week” and I was also very impressed with student presentations on bullying and discrimination. The senior leadership council of students were able to provide all year levels with a presentation which was very well received by students.

Global Citizenship

The IBO publishes a newsletter for a general audience four times a year.  In the most recent publication, there is an article by Canada's current ambassador to Mexico, who was an IB Diploma graduate. In the article he talks about how the IB developed his global citizenship and influenced his career choices. Have a look at it here. 

Units of Inquiry

MYP faculty were busy today reviewing current Inquiry Questions for their Units of Inquiry and are striving to improve the focus of inquiry in their units. In each unit, there are three inquiry questions (one factual, one conceptual and one debatable).  These questions help students explore the statement of inquiry and develop conceptual understandings.

DP teachers are collaborating on the development of unit plans for each of the subject groups. It has been a very busy day for us but it is also a wonderful opportunity to spend the day collaborating and sharing knowledge.

University Acceptances

Grade 12 students continue to receive acceptances from universities and we currently have students accepted to:  University of Alberta, Western, University of Toronto, Vancouver Island University and Queens.  I have started helping the Grade 11 students explore university websites and our goal will be to have students choose which university and faculty they will be applying by the end of the school year. The Grade 12 year is very busy and they need to have a plan for transition to university in place.

Graduation

The Grade 12 IB Diploma students will start writing the IB exams on April 28th and the last exam is on May 20th.  We will be working on graduation plans in the upcoming week and will get more information out to you next week. Thankfully, event restrictions related to COVID 19 have been lifted in BC .

Important Dates

Term 2 ends on March 18th and Term 2 report cards will be issued on April 8th.

Spring Break is March 19th - April 3rd.  The first day back to school is April 4th.

Library Visit Program

To empower our students to be independent readers and learners, our Grade 4-8 students will now have a bi-weekly library visit to the JDF Library branch. The goals of the Library Visit Program are to let students experience the environment of the library which inspires the love of reading, to familiarize students with the variety of books and resources available at the public library, and to improve their research skills. Students can select their own books to read in their daily reading block. They also learn to be responsible for returning their library books on time. Parents, please help your students get a library card if they do not have one through this website and ask them to tell you about the books they picked at the library!

Rui Li, PhD

VP Academics / DP Coordinator

Brookes Westshore Master Chef 

Our intrepid dorm parent Carla has been the driving force for the Brookes Westshore Master Chef competition. The students have had such a great time cooking , creating and competing together. Carla has put together a cookbook of the Master Chef recipes to share with out community, along with the story of the competition - it was really exciting! You can find it online here!

For students - don't forget to sign up with Carla for Master Chef 2022!

Golf Academy

Spring is around the corner which means Golf Academy is starting back up!

The first day of the Academy is Tues, Feb 22 with the bus leaving campus at 15.30 and returning to campus 1700. Please direct questions to frontdesk@westshore.brookes.org. Please note the Academy is currently full.

Graduation Portraits

Graduation Portraits have been pushed back to February 28th to March 2nd. Students should be in formal uniform for their portraits. 

IB Design with Art Brendon - Sustainable Housing

The aim of this project is for grade 8 students to apply local knowledge of available materials, climate and culture to their housing designs. Once the students have designed their house plans in 2D diagrams and drawings they will build a scale model out of cardboard, wood, glue and other found materials.

Sustainability in material use and energy consumption must be part of the design planning and incorporated into the dwellings design. Design principles apply, for example: students should repeat design elements to give an appearance of consistency in their house design.

IB DP Geography

The DP1 students have been using Colwood Creek to study how physical processes influence drainage basin systems. You can see them hard at work in the photos below. We are so lucky to have a nature lab right on our doorstep!

Spirit Week 2022

This week started with Valentine's Day (with amazing cupcakes - thanks to Lisa and Sage Dining!) and the fun didn't stop! The Grade 9 students who organized the week did a great job - their fellow students (and teachers) took up the challenge, wearing PJ's, team jerseys, wacky hats (and hair) and a taking part in a Scavenger Hunt as the week progressed.

You can see there was lots of laughter and fun on the campus this week!

ASA Feedback

Spring term ASAs are being planned - we would like to ask you for your feedback!

Students and Parents can complete the form here that shows the ASA options and ideas for next term as well as a feedback option at the bottom.

Some examples of the new ASA options are paddle boarding, bowling, beach volleyball and WildPlay! We will only run the ASAs with the most interest and demand.

Please complete the form by February 17^th (next Thursday). Thank you in advance, we appreciate your feedback!

 ASA Feedback Form

Anti Bullying

Our monthly theme is anti-bullying. In support of this theme a group of grade 11 students sold snacks to support youth and anti-bullying programs in BC through the CKNW Kids Fund. The students also presented on bullying to the grade 4/5 class - a great example of peer to peer learning!

Dorm Activities for February 

• Thursday 8:00pm - Spa Night
• Thursday 8:00pm -  Capture the Flag in the gym
• Friday 2:00pm - Embroidery, sewing pictures
• Friday 8:00pm - Student Olympics & Prizes - sign up
• Saturday 1:15pm - Escape Room, must sign up
• Saturday 8:00pm - Movie night in the dining hall
• Sunday 1pm - Visit the town of Sidney & Aquarium - sign up
• Sunday 5:30pm - Master Chef Cooking Competition - sign up
• Monday 2:00pm - Mini Golf - sign up