Halloween cupcakes ready for snack time - thanks Lisa!

Dear Brookes Westshore Families and Friends,

We are so thrilled that three of the Ukrainian students arrived this Wednesday. We are very excited to have them join the Brookes community. They had a great field trip this morning to see the salmon run at Goldstream Park and are settling in well. On behalf of Brookes Westshore, I want to express our heartfelt gratitude for the support shown by our families. Your kindness and generosity mean a lot to our community and is deeply appreciated!

This afternoon we had the pumpkin carving House activity. Everyone had the chance to bond over the joy of carving pumpkins - fostering a sense of unity and collaboration that truly embodies the essence of our school community (pictures below).

Brookes Alumni

This week, we also had the pleasure of seeing two former graduates, Yuki and Brionna, back on campus. Yuki is currently studying Arts at the University of Alberta and Brionna is studying Psychology at the University of Victoria. We always welcome alumni back to campus to reconnect with current students, sharing their university life and words of wisdom. Their visit was a reminder of the lasting friendships and connections formed at Brookes!

Dr. Li and alumni Yuki

Social Media and students

In today’s digital age, social media plays a prominent role in our students’ lives. It’s a platform for connecting, sharing, and expressing themselves. However, with great power comes great responsibility. We encourage our students to maintain social media awareness, being mindful of what they post and share. It’s vital to understand the potential consequences of their online actions, from cyberbullying to maintaining a positive digital footprint. We also emphasize the importance of discerning credible information from the vast sea of content online.

Safer Schools Together

With this in mind, we are excited to share some complimentary student and family sessions about establishing safe, caring, and respectful digital communities coming up in November. The sessions are part of Safer Schools Togethers’ on-going work through the Ministry of Education’s erase strategy. All sessions can be found at the following link: erase-training-schedule.pdf (gov.bc.ca). Please note these are 60-minute sessions, with different days and times to accommodate different bell schedules.

Next week will be another busy and eventful week:

• BC Grade 10/12 Numeracy and Literacy Assessments throughout the week. Students need to come to school on those days with a fully charged computer and they should bring their charger with them.
• Halloween activities on October 31^st (whole school costume contest and Grades 4 to MYP 2 activities in the last block).
• Parent Teacher Conferences on November 1^st and November 2^nd. A reminder that November 2^nd is an early dismissal day at 2 pm. There will be no ASAs on these two days. Our teachers look forward to sharing insights and working together with parents to ensure your child’s success.
• Our school nurse, Melanie Penn RN, is organising a flu clinic here at Brookes for November 7th, 8th and 9th from 9:30 am to noon. More details coming soon.

With kind regards,

Dr. Rui Li

Principal

The dining hall is ready for the Halloween Dance tonight!

Winter PHE - clothing

As we enter the colder months of the year, we want to ensure that your child is well-prepared and comfortable during Physical and Health Education (PHE) lessons, especially when we have outdoor activities and when we walk to and from JDF. With this in mind, we kindly remind you to provide your child with suitable warm gear for PHE lessons. This includes:

1. Rain Jacket: A water-resistant or waterproof jacket is essential for keeping your child dry during wet and chilly days.
2. Brookes hoodie and sweatpants.
3. Appropriate footwear: running shoes with laces - not crocs or slip-ons, please.

We want to make sure they can fully participate in all activities and have a positive experience. Please ensure that your child brings their rain jacket and sweatpants to every PHE lesson, as we may have outdoor activities planned.

Thank you!

DP 1 Food Drive 2023

Hi! I'm Isabella! I and other DP1 students would like to invite you to donate for the first food drive this school year.

We are doing this as a CAS project (Creativity, Activity, Service), and it is a great opportunity for all of us to give back to our community. It will take place from November 6th to December 18th, there will be boxes placed at the front desk where students will be able to place the food they bring according to the school House they're in. The food will be taken to the Goldstream Foodbank.

According to this food bank, some of the foods they accept can be Canned Soup (Mushroom, Tomato, Vegetable and Chicken Noodle), Alternative Milk, Pasta Sauce/ Noodles, Canned Beans, Coffee, Personal Hygiene Items, Canned Fruits, School Snacks (Granola Bars, Puddings etc.) 

Do not hesitate to contact me or my classmate Nezvith for any doubts about what's eligible to donate. Thank you in advance! 

Isabella - itamez@westoshore.brookes.org 
Nezvith - nguardado@westshore.brookes.org 

Recruitment visits to Japan and South Korea in November

Ms. Sheri and Ms. Satsuki will be travelling to Japan next month to meet with prospective families to let them know about our school, and to encourage them to join our community. We love our local/international mix of students and are working hard to broaden our reach and strengthen the diversity of our student body.

They will be in Tokyo from November 1st to the 8th where they will be attending the Edu-Canada Fair on November 3rd.

If you have family or friends interested in meeting with Sheri and Satsuki, or coming to the fair, we would love to connect! Please email: admissions@westshore.brookes.org to set up a time or just drop by the fair!

Ms. Sheri will also be visiting Seoul, South Korea for three days from November 8^th to November 11th. Again, if you have friends or family living in the area, feel free to pass on our contact details.

We love to meet with friends and family of our current parents - we know our best referrals are from people who know us well!

11月に日本と韓国へ新入生募集の為の訪問

シェリさんとサツキさんは来月日本を訪れ、入学希望のご家族に会って私達の学校について知ってもらいブルックスコミュニティの一員となっていただけるよう働きかけます。私達は現地生と留学生の組み合わせを大切に思い、学生の多様性を高める ために懸命に取り組んでいます。 シェリとサツキは11月1日から8日まで東京に滞在し、11月3日に開催されるEdu-Canada Fair エデュ•カナダ•フェアに参加します。

シェリとサツキに会ったり、フェアに参加することに興味のあるご家族やご友人がいらっしゃいましたら是非ご連絡下さい。 お時間を指定される場合はadmissions@westshore.brookes.orgまでご連絡下さい。

またはフェアに直接お越し下さい！

シェリは11月8日から11月11日までの３日間、韓国のソウルを訪問する予定です。繰り返しになりますが、この地域にお住まいのご家族やご友人がいらっしゃいましたらお気軽に連絡先の詳細をお伝え下さい。

私達は在校生のご両親のご友人やご家族の方々とお会いする事が大好きです。–最良の紹介はブルックスをよく知っている方々からだと私達はわかっています！！

Susie explains her personal project to Mr. MacKnight at the expo earlier this year.

MYP5 Personal Project

The Brookes Westshore MYP5 group is already hard at work on their Personal Projects. This individual project, which is a rite of passage for all students in their final year in the MYP, engages students in a topic of their choice, and challenges them to use their approaches to learning (ATL) skills to gather the experience needed to achieve a learning goal of their choice.

After research, students will create a tangible product that demonstrates their new knowledge and understanding and celebrates their development as confident, resourceful and resilient learners. All throughout the process, students have direct support from teacher supervisors who motivate and mentor them to stay on task and meet the project benchmarks.

The experience that students gain during their project journey will carry forwards into the DP, where they will have more opportunities to complete independent projects in each of their IB subjects.  

For more insight into the personal project, please do not hesitate to check our Personal Project Student Handbook.

The projects will be completed in the new year and will be showcased during the personal project exhibition in April. We look forward to sharing these project outcomes with you then!  

MYP1 Visual Art

Our favorite MYP1 visual art project is almost complete! We started with practicing patterns on dollar store scratch boards and then learned how easy it is to make our own using oil pastels and black paint. Students have played with 2pt perspective with the imagery of Boop the Snoot to create original artworks. 

MYP 1 Science

With cold and flu season fast approaching, MYP 1 Science investigated different hand sanitizing techniques to determine which one is most effective. We used Glo Germ to visualize the germs on our hands and to show how well we washed them. Our investigation demonstrated how germs can be easily transmitted through physical contact and the touching of contaminated surfaces. We found that proper handwashing, with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, was the most effective way to reduce the presence of germs on hands.

Pumpkin Carving for Halloween

For Block 5 today students were put into House groups to carve pumpkins for Halloween. There was a lot of creativity and collaboration on display as House groups put their pumpkins forward in four categories - Scariest, Best Detail, Most Creative, and best House Logo. Results will be published on Monday!

Hiking ASA

Our Hiking ASA students have taken in some stunning scenery this term. Mr. Ward took these panoramas at Happy Hill, Slow Burn Trail, and Mount Wells Summit. We are so grateful to live, work and play in such a beautiful environment!

On a beautiful fall day the Sports Spirit Club went out into the woods for some fun and fresh air. 

Quinnlyn (MYP1/Grade 6) talks about her book: United, Book One: Two Lives

I love to read but I always also wanted to be out there myself. I decided to at least try and be an author myself. I first wanted to do a book about humans, then one about dragons, so I decided to combine them. I love to read adventure books, as well as sad books, so I tried to combine these in United.

This book – United Book One: Two Lives – has taken me about 3 or 4 months to write.

There are two worlds, split by a barrier made by the ancients. Each chapter alternates between the two worlds and two characters. Each has their own problems. In the end we are with Lavendar, a dragon, and Lily, a human, trapped on the dragon side of the barrier. It is a cliffhanger – ready for the second book: United Book Two: Nightshade Secrets.

Lavendar the dragon and her family are based off my own family. My sister and brother and dad and mum are all represented in the book!

The hardest thing was that I got really frustrated and sometimes felt like quitting. It is very hard to come up with new ideas that fit with the theme of the story. New ideas sometimes took me off into a different story. I almost quit this book to start another! Now I am writing the second book in the series, I can incorporate some of those ideas into the second book.

I was surprised, when I finished, that I really like my book – despite the frustrations of new ideas carrying me out of the story. I feel so proud of my book when I hold it in my hands. When you get to the end, you're going to look down and for me, it scared a smile out of me every time I look at it!

I have learned an important lesson while writing United– if you don’t quit you can come out with something amazing. You will be proud of what you can achieve. My family was always there to encourage me and helped me to keep going.

You can read United Book One: Two Lives on kindle or buy a copy from Quinnlyn for $7.

The Student Welfare Committee would like to thank all the students who completed the Student Welfare Survey and gave detailed responses as to what is going well, and how we can improve our school environment. We thought we’d share some of the results we received, and what we will make priority to work on. 

General feedback we received:

• The majority of students feel connected and supported within the Brookes Westshore Community. 
• Most students are understanding what is being taught and are getting extra support where needed. 
• Overall, students are managing the workload well, and are utilizing their self-management (ATL) skills. 
• And those who are in the living in the dorms, are settled in and comfortable in their living scenario. 

What improvements we are exploring

• Implementing more sports games into fun Fridays.
• Adding more creative options into the ASA’s (pottery, poetry, etc.)
• Giving DP1&DP2 students viewing access to the morning announcements (especially for when there are study blocks first block of the day).
• Lastly, we will talk to the kitchen staff about allowing MYP4-DP2 students to serve themselves for lunch. 

Thank you again for your thoughtful feedback! 

Student Welfare Committee, SLC 

Russell and Aristotle (DP2) present International Disarmament Week as part of their role on the SLC (Student Leadership Council) Global Awareness Committee.

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.