Dear Brookes Westshore Families and Friends,

As you will see from Linda’s information below that we are busy preparing for the Parent Teacher conferences. We hope that you will take this opportunity to talk with teachers and staff about your child’s progress, and to ask any questions you might have about our school. I would also draw your attention to the upcoming Powerful Youth summer Global Leadership Academy (see below ). This is a wonderful program that many Brookes students have benefitted from in past years. (There are still some spaces available, and Brookes Westshore students receive a significant discount!)

As you can imagine, this is a very intense time of year for our grade 12 students. They are all hard at work preparing for their exams - which start in two weeks. This is a challenging time for them, and we wish them all the best. We are very proud of their accomplishments – they have been receiving offers from some of the best universities in Canada, and around the world. Next year, our graduating students will be studying at key institutions in BC (UBC, UVic, Simon Fraser) as well as further afield (University of Toronto, University of Alberta, Queens, and Ryerson). We have several students heading to the UK to study in London (Imperial College and the London University School of Art) as well as in the US. Good luck to you all!

With kind regards

Jerry Salvador

Head of School

Parent Teacher Conferences

The spring Parent Teacher Conferences are scheduled for April 20th and 21st.  Please review the instructions below to ensure you are able to schedule a conference with your child’s teachers. 

For Local Parents – those who live in Canada.

Parent teacher conferences are quickly approaching and you will receive an invitation to book a conference through SchoolsBuddy on Monday, April 18th.  You can log on to SchoolsBuddy using your Managebac details. If you have any technical issues please contact Mr. Grant. The scheduling of appointments on SchoolsBuddy will be open from April 18th at 0900 until April 20th at 0900. Parents can choose up to 3 teachers for each child.

Conferences times and dates are:

April 21st  between 1530 - 1900 PST  -  Local parents (living in Canada)

For International Parents – those living outside of Canada

You may contact the Front Desk at frontdesk@westshore.brookes.org by Tuesday, April 19th with a request of the teachers who you would like to conference with. These conferences will organized via Skype, TEAMS or Zoom and we would appreciate if you could identify your preference in the request for a conference.

On April 25th all MYP 5 students will write the BC Numeracy 10 Assessment as part of the BC Dogwood Graduation requirements and on April 27th, you will write the BC Literacy 10 Assessment.  Both of these assessments will be completed online and we will support you in the week prior to the assessment to ensure your computer can load the program.  Teachers will be providing you with the necessary instructions prior to the assessments but there really isn't any special preparation. 

These assessments will be graded on a 1-4 scale.

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

Grade 12 students write a  BC Literacy 12 assessment and this is the only one of these assessments used by Universities for admissions.  UBC requires students to achieve a level 3 on the BC Literacy Assessment.  All of these assessments can be repeated and no one should feel stressed about them.

Graduation 2022

Graduation day is fast approaching and we are busy planning for this wonderful event.  Now that COVID 19 restrictions are lifted we are happy to invite parents to join us.  The ceremony will be held at 2:00 pm on the 20th of May followed by a dinner at Church and State Winery. 

Parents interested in attending the dinner must purchase tickets prior to the event. More information regarding graduation and information on ticket sales will be sent out soon. 

Graduation Itinerary for Friday, May 20th: 

• 2:00 pm:  Graduation Ceremony
• 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm: Appetizers for Graduates, parents and teachers in dining hall
• 5:30 pm: Graduating Students depart on buses for Church and State
• 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm:  Photos at Church and State
• 7:00 pm:  Dinner commences at Church and State
• 9:00 pm – 11:00 pm:  Dancing and entertainment at Church and State (Student planned)
• 11:00 pm:  Buses depart back to Brookes from Church and State

Lost and Found

Our lost and found is getting huge.  We will be putting a table out with everything displayed and whatever is not claimed by the end of next week will be taken to good will.  Please check the table before the end of next week!

Personal Project Exhibition

One of the most exciting things for MYP Year 5 (Grade 10) students is the MYP personal project, which is a student-centred and self-directed inquiry to demonstrate their approaches to learning (ATL) skills, to consolidate prior and subject-specific learning, to develop the attributes of the IB learner profile, and to develop an area of personal interest.

Students have spent a minimum of 25 hours on their personal project, which has three main components – a tangible product/outcome, process journals, and the final report.

Each personal project revolves around a challenge that motivates and interests the individual student, and each student must choose one global context to make their learning more relevant.

Today the MYP students presented their Personal Projects in-person, in the dining hall. We saw projects on a wide variety of topics - everything from the history of Victoria, earthquake preparedness, Japanese calligraphy, near and far sightedness, to cryptocurrencies and photography. There were many other equally interesting and challenging topics on display. The whole school took time to see the presentations, quiz the MYP 5 students and learn more about what they had learned from their project. 

Congratulations to our MYP 5 students for their hard work and enthusiasm!

This week was busy on campus with the launch of the Term 3 After School Activities! 

We are offering 48 ASAs from the dates of April 11th - June 10th. Students were seen and heard throughout the campus talking about how excited they were to begin their new activities as well as returning to their favourites from last term. This week we had great attendance and students were thrilled with their choices!

After School Activities are a great way to build community, learn new skills, develop new friendships, promote physical and mental health while also building confidence.

We are all looking forward to enjoying the warmer weather over the next 8 weeks! Here are some photos of our students enjoying themselves at their ASAs this week!

Tennis, Wildplay, Bouldering and Skateboarding - our ASA program for term 3 is up and running!

Grade 10 students working with their grade 4/5 reading buddies

UVic Honours Fest

Last week a group of Grade 11 and 12 students attended the Honours Fest at the University of Victoria. The Honours Fest is a conference-style poster presentation of research by undergraduate science students at UVic and is an excellent opportunity to view student work in science at University.

Each student’s project is the culmination of two semesters of grueling research. Students who place in the top three, as well as the top presenter in each department, win generous cash prizes.

Geography Field Studies with Brookes students getting hands-on experience in Colwood Creek.

Easter bunny basket weaving and yellow and blue - fundraising for Ukraine

And just relaxing in the sunshine with friends...

Grade 6 Immunizations:

Public Health Nurses will be back in schools this spring to complete the grade 6 immunization program. COVID-19 vaccines were not available for grade 6 students when consent forms for routine immunizations were sent home in the fall.

If you would like your child to receive their COVID-19 vaccine at school, please call your local health unit at 250-519-3490 to speak with a Public Health Nurse and provide consent.

In grade 6, immunizations will not be provided without parental consent.

Grade 6 immunizations will be offered at Brookes Westshore on April 21, 2021. 

We will also offer immunizations to grade 9 students who did not complete their immunizations last October.

A grade 9 student can make an informed decision about immunization regardless of their parent/guardian/representative decision to consent or refuse immunization.

For more information visit HealthLinkBC: The Infants Act, Mature Minor Consent and Immunization.

For more information about COVID-19 Vaccines visit: https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/sites/default/files/documents/hfile124a.pdf

If you have any questions, call the West Shore Health Unit at 250-519-3490 or visit www.immunizebc.ca

40% Discount for Powerful Youth Program for Brookes Westshore students!

This summer’s Powerful Youth Program is filling up fast! We would love to have students from Brookes Westshore be a part of the adventure!

We are offering a 40% discount for students at Brookes Westshore to join either the junior or senior Session One Program (see below for details).

Please contact Graham Brown (gbrown@brookes.org) if you are interested!

The Global Leadership Academy is full steam ahead! With both travel restrictions and local restrictions easing, we are excited to be safely and confidently moving forward with our summer 2022 programs. 

It's no surprise that youth are looking for opportunities to expand their skills, experience, comfort zones, and networks after two years at home. Because GLA combines the best of an abroad experience, summer camp, pre-university program, community service project, and leadership academy all into one program, we have received a huge number of applications from all around the world. We expect the programs to be at full capacity well before the application deadline of May 31st!

If you've been considering applying, now is the time. Apply on our website before spots are full! We have both 2-week and 3-week program options to choose from.

Questions? Contact us.

Download the GLA 2022 Program Guide

Key dates for the school year starting in September 2022 can be found here: Key Dates 2022/2023 - Brookes Westshore