Grade 6 students had fun skating at the Juan de Fuca Rec Centre this week!

Dear Brookes Westshore Families and Friends,

We continue working towards bringing 8 Ukrainian students to Brookes and I’m happy to announce all of them have successfully submitted their study permit/visa applications to Canada Immigration. Their arrival will now depend upon how quicky Canadian Immigration can process their documents and provide the necessary documentation for their travel to Canada. All 8 students will be in Grade 9 and the class is busy preparing for their arrival. See below for the Grade 9 plans to welcome our new students to Brookes.

MYP 5 students are in the process of choosing their courses for next year. We have an information session next week for families (see below for details).

Term 2 reports will be issued on April 7th and parent teachers conferences will happen the following week.

Our Salmon Eggs are hatching, and the Grade 4 students are very excited. We continue to incubate the alevin and will release to Goldstream Creek when they are ready.

Next week, is the last week before spring break and we are all looking forward to the opportunity to spend some time with our families and relax.

With kind regards,

Linda Bayes

Deputy Head of School

The last day of school before Spring Break is Friday, March 17th.  Classes resume on April 3rd. Please note that April 7th and 10th are holidays for Easter.

Dorm students visiting with seniors and enjoying time together.

ChatGPT and artificial intelligence in assessment and education

There has been a lot of discussion lately about the recent development of artificial intelligence (AI) software (i.e., ChatGPT) that can be used to generate written responses to anything entered in the software. The AI technology has and will continue to be part of our daily lives, just like Google, calculators, etc. The IB has recently published a statement about ChatGPT and AI in assessment and education. “The IB will not ban the use of AI software. The simplest reason is that it is an ineffective way to deal with innovation. However, the use of AI tools should be in line with the IB’s academic integrity policy.” (Statement from the IB about ChatGPT and artificial intelligence in assessment and education - International Baccalaureate® (ibo.org))

It is very important for students to use ChatGPT and AI tools ethically and effectively to ensure that they are learning and growing in a responsible and meaning way. Here are some tips for students:

• Use ChatGPT as a tool to generate ideas or check your work, not a replacement for your own thinking and writing. Make sure that you use your own voice and ideas to complete your assignments.
• Understand the limitations of ChatGPT – it is not perfect. It may not always provide the most accurate or appropriate response, so it is important to use it as a tool in conjunction with your own judgment and knowledge.
• Credit the AI software in the body of the text and appropriately reference in the bibliography when using AI-generated information.
• Avoid cheating! Using ChatGPT to generate answers or complete assignments without doing the work yourself is unethical and could lead to serious consequences.

The IB believes that the AI tools are not a crisis in education, although they do bring significant changes and challenges in assessment. We are encouraged to see the development of AI as an opportunity and educate our students the ethical use of the AI tools.

With gratitude,

Rui Li

Vice Principal of Academics / DP Coordinator

DP 1 Chemistry

In DP1 Chemistry, we are learning about kinetics. Students did a fun “X” lab, where they investigated the concentration effect on the rate of reaction. Students also need to write a full lab report to practice for their internal assessment (IA). Through this activity, students have practiced their thinking and communication skills.

MYP 1 Science

In Science, MYP 1 students have been investigating forces and motion. As their culminating summative assessment for the unit, students were tasked to use their knowledge of forces and motion to design an apparatus that could safely deliver an egg from the 6^th floor balcony—without breaking! MYP 1 students used a variety of techniques to slow the drop of their egg, like parachutes and balloons, with the majority of the eggs returning to the ground unbroken! Well done MYP 1!

MYP 1 French

This week the MYP 1 French class put on a fashion show for the Grade 4's and 5's! The theme of the fashion show was about the "purposes of clothing", and their outfits demonstrated great inquiry and thought into this topic. The energy was awesome and everyone had a great time! 

Students support for the Ukrainian students.

We have been so proud of how our students have mobilized around the arrival of the students from Ukraine. There has been so much positive and thoughtful engagement with their arrival – discussions around the dining tables, in the foyer, and across desks have been kind, mindful, and full of thoughts on how best to support the students once they arrive.

A group of Grade 9 students have taken on the challenge to raise the funds needed to ensure the new students can go on the trip to Tofino (which may be very soon after their arrival). The Grade 9s (in the photo above) have organized a free dress day, are putting together a BBQ for students on the 14^th April, and are fully engaged in the work of raising the money.

If any budding student artists are interested in a project over Spring Break - The Canadian Art Inspiration Student Challenge is now open. Contact Ms. Barton if you are interested.

Our Director of Admissions, Sheri Onushko, will be in Bangkok from March10th - 16th and in Vietnam from March 17th - 24th – working with agents there to find motivated and passionate students to join us in September. If anyone is interested in connecting with Sheri, you can email her here sonushko@westshore.brookes.org.  

Silent Auction for Ukrainian Students

We are working with some dedicated parents to put on a Silent Auction in support of the students from Ukraine. If you would like to be a part of the planning process for this event – we will be hosting a meeting (with coffee and cake!) on Thursday 16th at 9 am in the board room.  There will be a lot of work to solicit items from local businesses over the spring break and the more people we have helping, the more items will be available to bid on! If you can't make the meeting, please email Andrea and she will be in touch!

Parent Information Session

Dr. Li and Ms. Bayes will be holding a Parent Information Session for MYP 5 parents on Tuesday March 14 at 5 PM to go over the requirements for the IB Diploma and how it fits with the BC Dogwood for graduation. This is a very important session for parents to learn more about the last 2 years of high school for their child which will equip them to better support their child as they begin planning for their post-secondary learning.

Next Week is Spirit Week!

Next week (March 13th -17th) we will have a spirit week hosted by the SLC!

Monday will be a normal day, so please wear school uniform. 

Tuesday is National Pi Day! We will have a house captain pie eating competition for house points! Come support your house captains at lunch!

Wednesday is PJ Day! To participate it will be $5 paid to your first block teacher. The money raised will go towards the new Ukrainian students, as we’re hoping to send them on the Tofino trip with the rest of their class. 

Thursday is Fancy/Funky tie and Karaoke community block! Please wear formal, but you are encouraged to wear a different tie. Make sure to sign up for karaoke ASAP using the QR codes around the school! 

And Friday is a Lip Sync Battle during lunch for Fun Friday! 

Let’s have a fantastic last week before spring break!

Masquerade Ball

Last Friday the students put on an amazing Masquerade Ball. It was a huge success with everyone making the effort to dress in their best. 

"Hi, we are Mariana, Tish, and Abi and we are the organizers of the Masquerade ball. We have been working on this service action project since the beginning of the school year and we are very glad that the event ended up even better than we imagined. There was an amazing energy in the air as the students danced to Issac's and Marcela's exciting music. We want to thank everyone who attended the ball to support the newly arriving Ukrainian students. We have earned $676.55 including Amira's and Fawaz's donation box which is beyond incredible. We want to thank Ms. Dakota who helped us with both the sales of the tickets and the decorations. Mr. B for his support and ideas throughout the whole process. All the teachers that supervised the dances. Our DJ's Marcela and Issac, and our amazing Brookes community who made the whole dance an absolute success."

The Tofino trip sign up closes next week on Friday. There are fewer than 6 spots left on each trip, so please sign up soon to hold your spot! 

Sign up is done through schoolsbuddy by parents. All parents have received an email through schoolsbuddy to sign up. If you have any difficulties signing up, you can email Ms Aija for help.

We will stay at the beautiful Ocean Village Resort located right on Mackenzie beach! We will surf, and walk the beautiful beaches of Tofino, visit the local surf shops and have beach fires and smores + more!

Term 2 ASAs have come to an end this week! Students enjoyed the opportunity to try new activities as well as interacting and bonding with their classmates outside of the classroom. Activities keep our school community balanced and connected.

Next week sign up will open for our new spring term ASAs. These activities will run from the week of April 10th - June 10th. Keep an eye out for new activities like paddle-boarding, wildplay, beach volleyball, baking, tennis, chess, hiking and much more! Please sign up through our schoolsbuddy program!

Activities March 10th - 12th 

• Friday 6:15 pm - Creed 3 at the Movie Theatre 
• Saturday 12:00 pm - Swimming at Commonwealth Pool - 5- & 10-meter diving boards, wave pool and slide! 
• Saturday 8:00 pm - German Food Night with Billie  
• Sunday 2:00 pm - Fujiya Japanese Grocery Store   
• Sunday 7:30 pm - Wellness Meeting Floor 4-6 (mandatory) 

Our dorm students continue to visit the local seniors home - playing games, sharing stories, and building connections.

Grade 7 Girls Volleyball Team

Congratulations to the grade 7 girls volleyball team for their two victories in their exhibition games against St. Margaret’s and St. Andrew’s. They defeated St. Margaret’s 25-12 and 25-11 and St. Andrew’s 25-15 and 25-16.

The Senior Boys are at the Provincial Championships!

They came out hustling in the first game, showing determination and grit to get their first win. Alex Buhr won player of the game with 17 points, and Jackson, Vigo and Logan mastered the boards and brought the energy the entire game. Brookes won 53-41! 

In the second game we moved onto the quarter finals against the 2nd seed of the tournament. We fought hard till the end and played great defence but didn’t put enough points on the board. King David executed their defensive press and offensive plays. 

Today we play #6 ranked Deer Lake school. If we win, we will play for 5th/6th in the tournament and if we lose then we’ll play for 7th/8th out of 16 of the best teams in the Province! The team is hoping for a top 5 finish for BC!

If you would like to watch the team live tune in on a twitch link here

The boys take time to relax on the beach in between games.

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