We would love to see our whole community at our first ever Pancake Breakfast next Saturday - families, friends, co-workers and more! All are welcome! If you'd like to invite anyone, please copy the flyer above, or the QR code below, and invite as many people as you like! The more the merrier! See you all there!
Dear Brookes Westshore Families and Friends,
I hope everyone enjoyed the Winter Concert. It is always amazing to see how much talent we have at this school. It has been a journey back to reopening our school to the community in the wake of COVID 19, but I believe we are making some great strides in this direction. I look forward to seeing many of our families at the Pancake Breakfast on December 17th.
December 15th: Virtual Parent Teacher Conferences - sign up has been opened on SchoolsBuddy and I encourage parents to sign up for up to three teachers per child. The conferences will be conducted through software imbedded into SchoolsBuddy and no additional platforms are required. Each conference is 10 minutes in duration. Students will be released from school at 1405 on Thursday, December 15th.
December 14th – For those International parents who live outside the country and have significantly different time zones to manage, we typically arrange one conference. Please contact the frontdesk@westshore.brookes.org to schedule a conference on December 14th between 1530-1830. Indicate in your request the teachers you would like to meet and whether an interpreter will be required.
The last day of school before Winter Break is December 16th and students will be released at 1230. There will be supervision available if parent isn’t able to pick up their child at this time.
Grade 12 students continue to apply to Universities across Canada and around the world. I’ll keep you informed as the acceptances start rolling in. The application deadlines for most Universities in Canada are in January.
Reports cards are issued today, and I encourage all parents to download a copy of the report from ManageBac for their own files.
With kind regards,
Linda Bayes
Deputy Head of School
Slideshow of images of the Winter Concert - from the evening and day performances.
Winter Concert
In his introduction last night Mr. B (somewhat cheekily) asked for help in purchasing some sound and lighting equipment. We are delighted and grateful that two families came forward immediately and offered to help out! Thank you so much!
We, along with these families, would love to be able to give our students more opportunities to perform, to showcase their talents, to learn how to make the most of sound and lighting systems, and for us to enhance all our school and community events. With a relatively modest investment we can have a huge impact.
With this in mind, Grant has put together a wish-list of microphones, sound mixer, lighting arrays and the necessary cords and connections.
Our first priority is a sound mixing desk ($700) and three microphones ($1,100 each). If we can reach that goal, we would then look at a lighting controller ($500) and two lighting arrays ($1500 each). Once we have these? headset mics (we rented 8 last night), which are $1350 each.
If you are in a position to help us with this initiative and would like to donate (every donation helps!), please contact James (jboxshall@westshore.brookes.org) and together we will support the talent and energy showcased last night.
It has been an eventful week with sports games, winter concerts, and various learning activities in the classrooms. I am so proud to see our students demonstrate a range of skills and capabilities that go beyond academic success. As IB learners, our students learn to understand the importance of balancing different aspects of our lives - intellectual, physical, and emotional - to achieve personal well-being for themselves and others. Being balanced is one of the ten IB learner profile attributes that help IB students become responsible members of local, national, and global communities. The other nine IB learner profile attributes are: inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, risk-takers, principled, caring, open-minded, and reflective. More information about the IB learner profile can be found here.
With kind regards,
Rui Li
Vice Principal
The CFAX Santa's Anonymous team were moved to tears by the generosity of our community today when we delivered three shopping carts full of toys donated by our families. Thank you all!
Brookes Connections
Spring Break 2023 - Visit the United Kingdom, hosted by Brookes UK!
Thanks to everyone who came to the presentation on the chance to visit our Brookes UK school for Spring Break 2023. If you missed it - no problem. Below are links to the information shared at the session. If you would like to be a part of this amazing adventure - please email Graham at gbrown@brookes.org
Overview of Brookes Connections trips
Brookes Westshore Students - West Coast Adventure Tour!
Spring Break 2023: March 20th - 31st
12 days in Whistler, Vancouver, Mt. Washington and beyond!
Email Ms. Aija by December 15th to book your spot!
Cost: $3700 - Cost covers accommodation, food, travel, transportation, activities, admissions, and staffing.
Biology DP 2
The DP 2 / Grade 12s are learning about antibiotic and antimicrobial resistance as well as natural selection in our Evolution Unit. Using various types of beans as different strains of bacteria, they were able to understand why taking the full course of antibiotics (as prescribed by physicians) is so vital.
This week the Seaquaria Ocean Education team were back with the Grade 4 and 7 students. This series of six presentations will give students the opportunity to explore the invertebrates of our oceans. The first phlya explored lat week was Porifera, and this week it was the Cnidaria. The students learned a lot and had some hands-on encounters with some sea anemones.
CAS (Creativity Action Service)
Zack has been building intricate lego models for a local business as part of his Service module. If this sounds like fun, and you would like to join Zack - please email Ms. Sask.
Our Term 1 After School Activities (ASAs) have now come to an end. This past term we explored new passions, learned new skills, made new friendships and made new connections. ASAs are an important part of our physical, mental and social health, and we look forward to beginning our Term 2 ASAs starting on January 16th!
Parents and students can now sign up for the Term 2 ASAs in Schoolsbuddy.
Please sign up by December 16th, before the winter break, to help with our bookings and finalize our student numbers for activities.
We have a variety of new ASAs offered, as well as our most popular Term 1 ASAs continuing into Term 2.
Some of the new Term 2 ASAs are:
- Bowling
- Fencing
- Brookes Winter Rowing Training Program (see video above)
- American Sign Language
- Brookes Film Crew
- Fashion and Textiles
- 'Go with the flow' yoga
- Badminton
- Word Warriors
- Tutoring
- Power Up Training program
- + much more!
*Please note when signing up for ASAs - Select your top 3 preferred activities PER DAY, not per week. Your first choice being 1 and your last choice being 3. For example, if you are unable to get into your first choice due to large sign-up numbers, you will most likely get into your second choice, etc.
Please email Ms Aija if you have any questions or need help logging into schoolsbuddy!
Papier Mache ASA is complete for term 1!
Nate and Silas produced these fabulous works of art.
Student Leadership Council News:
Congratulations to Amira and Coen for completing their terms as President and Vice-President of the Student Leadership Council. Thank you for your great work!
Congratulations to the incoming President, Nina and Vice-President, Kura!
Applications for new members to join the Student Leadership Council in Term 2 will be available to students in MYP4, MYP5, and DP1 beginning Friday, at the Front Desk. They must be submitted before the holiday begins. We have about eight positions open. If you are interested but have questions, speak with a current member of the SLC, or with Mr. MacKnight.
Last week the dorm students were able to visit the ballet and watch the Nutcracker at the Royal Theatre featuring the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. The students really enjoyed the performance - as you can see in the picture!
On Saturday afternoon students went to a local senior's residence in Langford called the Alexander Mackie Lodge. the students were able to present their WInter Concert performance and had an audience of around 50 people. They did 4 short comic scenes and then after, dorm parents Ivan and Tom gave some quick direction and notes, and then students performed the scenes again with a little bit of improvement. Great practice for the Winter Concert! They all felt a sense of joy and community.
While there they met a Czech gentleman named Milos who had escaped from Prague in August of 1968 when the Soviet Union had invaded his country. He made it to Canada in November of '68 and had made Vancouver Island his home ever since. Milos had earlier heard Mariana speaking Czech and he came over to speak with us. A poignant moment of community and connection for everyone.
Dorm students also took to the ice of the local Juan de Fuca Recreation Center on the weekend - a very Canadian pastime and a great way to cool off and have fun!
The Senior Boys Volleyball team had an incredibly successful run at the BC Championships last week. The boys won 6 of their 7 games and represented Brookes Westshore with pride!
The team entered the tournament ranked 12th of 16 teams and finished in 9th place. They had an incredible run this season finishing 2nd in their Islands Tournament and finished 9th in ALL OF BC in their division. They have made Brookes Sporting history by placing higher than any other team! We are all very proud of their accomplishments!
Our Senior Boys Basketball Team starts off the season 2-0!
The team played two tough opponents this week, Claremont and Oak Bay, known for their talented, athletic and skilled basketball teams. On Monday, Brookes beat Claremont 76-66! Tristan was the player of the game with 20 points and 20 rebounds. Coen added 17 points, and Vigo and Alex both added another 15 points each.
On Thursday night, the team played Oak Bay, and they started off the first quarter on a 21-13 run. The game was close until the end, but the Brookes team pulled through with strong defense and won 73-68. The player of the game went to Alex, who ran the point guard position with poise. He scored 25 points, with 11 points in the 4th quarter, 9 of them 3 pointers. Jackson came out of the gates making a big impact, he scored in all four quarters, and finished up the game with 16 points!
The Senior boys are off today to play at the Nanaimo Christian Tournament this weekend. They will play against some of the top teams from Vancouver Island, more updated to come next week. Lets go Brookes!
Dorm students can enjoy the following activities this weekend:
- Friday 8:00pm - Gift Wrapping for white elephant in Cm Rm 1
- Saturday 10:30 am - Visit the town of Chemainus and watch the play "A Tiny Christmas Carol"
- Saturday 6:15 pm - Winter Wonderland Ice Skating: Sign up!
- Saturday 8:00 pm - Spring Flower planting with Ms. Billie
- Sunday 1 :30 pm - Care homer performances
- Sunday 6:00 pm - Dorm Christmas Party - Christmas dinner, white elephant gift exchange, gingerbread house competition
Please sign up for all activities in activities book!
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
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.
