Important Dates

• Oct 15 – Great BC Shakeout @ 10:18am
• Oct 16 – Semester 2 Starts (B Block)
• Oct 21 – Photo Retakes
• Oct 22 – Report Cards Published
• Oct 23 – Pro-D Provincial

Good afternoon Belmont students and families. Wow the year has certainly flown by so far as we have just completed the 1st course. Today we began our 2nd semester/blk. B course as we welcomed students into their next class. By all accounts today’s transition to the next class went extremely well as students demonstrated an awareness of where their next class was located and the “zone” entrance they need to use in order to enter and exit safely using our face mask and hand sanitizing protocols. We’re incredibly impressed with our students’ abilities to support our health & safety protocols.

Yesterday we also participated in the Great BC Shakeout along with hundreds of thousands of Canadians across the country. At 10:15am and 1:15pm we stopped, dropped, and took cover for 60 seconds as we practiced what to do in the case of en earthquake.

A reminder to families that the 1st semester/blk A class report card will be published electronically via the MyEd family portal. Please ask your son or daughter to share it with you through the student portal if you have any difficulties accessing the family one.

Today we also an opportunity for Mr. Rivollier’s Drumline to perform during the transition time between the AM & PM classes. Although a little “misty” out, the rainbows made up for the fall weather.

UVIC & VIU TEACHER CANDIDATES

Belmont is proud to host Teacher Candidates from UVic and VIU in different stages of their journeys in becoming a practicing teacher!

For the fall, we are home to a UVic Field Experience course where 20 Teacher Candidates come to our school all day to observe classes and then stay for an after school seminar course co-taught by Lauren Frodsham and Melissa Horner. This course is a wonderful opportunity for Teacher Candidates to become part of a classroom and help support students while learning from experienced Belmont teachers.

This fall, we are also proud to provide practicum experiences for seven Teacher Candidates; five from UVic and two from VIU. This is a time for candidates to experience planning and teaching, all while being supported by their Belmont teachers and University supervisors.

In the spring, we will provide a space for three long practicum Teacher Candidates to immerse themselves in the practice and teach up to 100% of a course. 

Supporting our early career teachers is a practice that Belmont school is deeply committed to, and our teachers truly enjoy. We look forward to welcoming them all back one day as an experienced educator!

Athletics News

XC News – The Belmont Bulldogs got out to a speedy start this year as students participated in a friendly & safe cross-country 3km run around the community Thursday morning and afternoon. In the morning, Mr. Allen, Julianne S. and Hailey S. led the runners with a quick pace. The afternoon race was fast with Evan W., Abbey B. and Naomi M. leading the way.  Special mention to the morning and afternoon basketball classes who displayed some impressive results.  Thank you Mr. Lowe, Ms. Sandberg, Mrs. Robertson, Mr. Allen, Mr. Toakley and the leadership students for making this happen!  Way to go Bulldogs!! 

Football, Volleyball, Basketball – As approved by our District’s Health & Safety protocols and supported by BC School Sport’s return to play plan, some of our students and coaches have begun to practice/train after school. In addition to yesterday’s XC race, our Football, Volleyball, and Basketball programs have all started to train with the hopes that inter-school competition will resume when safe to do so. Although things are not the same as they were pre-COVID, it is fantastic that our volunteer coaches have begun to provide training sessions for our student athletes.

Stay up to date through our Athletics Website

Spirit Week

Belmont Leadership is hosting a Spirit Week from October 26-October 30th! More information to come and yes there will be prizes! Reminder to students that masks (other than our PPE) are prohibited in Secondary Schools on Halloween.

• Monday – PJ Day
• Tuesday – Belmont Wear Day
• Wednesday – Denim Day
• Thursday – 80s Day
• Friday – Halloween Costume Day (a reminder no masks except for PPE:)

Gr. 9 Immunizations

Watch for immunization consent packages for grade 9 students that will be sent home early in the fall. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students in Grade 9 will be offered immunizations through a booked appointment at the health unit. Please review the consent packages, fill out the consent forms and return to the school. Please then contact the Westshore Health Unit at 250-519-3490 to book your appointment. If you have any questions please ask to speak with a School Health Nurse.

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.

Graduation Assessments

Graduation Assessments: Monday 2^nd – Friday 6^th November 2020

Please see our website for the latest information regarding the upcoming November Assessments:

http://belmont.web.sd62.bc.ca/students/graduation-assessments/.

The Wellness Centre at Belmont… is open!

Students wishing to book an appointment at the Wellness Centre at Belmont, please call 250-519-3580. 

Grad 2021 news

Last week, information was given to the class of 2021 regarding a number of items including grad status, Scholarships, Commencement Ceremonies, Prom, etc. Please see attached video we shared with the grade 12’s.

https://soapbox.wistia.com/videos/XEybLhjrJi

PSI (Post Secondary Info) 2020 Updates

Hi everyone, here is a recap of upcoming events at UVic. Some are specific for gr. 12’s, other opportunities may be of interest to the AVID groups as well. Stephanie Parker from UVic is also available for virtual classroom presentations. I am also trying to schedule a live evening presentation with both UVic and Camosun in late November for students and parents. Stay tuned. Love all the opportunities they are providing for students and parents alike.

1. Post-Secondary BC (PSBC) events are happening, regionally, for students throughout the fall, and UVic will be offering four virtual presentations at each of these events. The upcoming PSBC events are as follows:

• General Event (open to students from all regions): October 21 and November 14 (3-7pm)
• Victoria and South Island: November 16 (2-6pm) and November 17 (3-7pm)
• North/Mid-Island and the Sunshine Coast: November 18 (2-6pm) and November 19 (3-7pm)

Registration is available, here: https://postsecondarybcvirtualfair.easyvirtualfair.com/prefair/

2. Student Experience Panels will feature current students who will speak about student life at UVic and be available to answer questions. The upcoming Student Experience Panels are as follows:

• October 17 at 10am
• October 28 at 6:30pm         
• November 7 at 10am
• November 18 at 8:30pm (for international students)

Registration is available, here: https://www.uvic.ca/undergraduate/tours-events/events/#ipn-student-experience-panels

3. Parent Nights will provide parents/guardians/supporters the opportunity to learn more about UVic. Attendees will  enjoy a presentation by the amazing Dr. Lisa Surridge, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, with some helpful tips on being successful in post-secondary studies. The focus of the talk is helping parents (and students) navigate the transition from high school to university.  The upcoming Parent Nights are as follows:

• October 18 at 5pm
• November 8 at 5pm
• November 22 at 5pm

Registration is available, here: https://www.uvic.ca/undergraduate/tours-events/events/#ipn-parent-nights

4. Sample Lectures will be delivered by expert guest speakers from across the UVic community on a wide array of topics from modern marketing to sociology in the age of Covid-19.

Students can register and find a complete list of upcoming sample lectures on our website, here: https://www.uvic.ca/undergraduate/tours-events/events/index.php#ipn-lectures-seminars

5. Faculty-specific events will allow attendees to explore our faculties and the unique experiences they offer for UVic students.

Students can register and find a complete list of upcoming faculty-specific events on our website, here: https://www.uvic.ca/undergraduate/tours-events/events/index.php#ipn-faculty-events

Fine Arts

Belmont Music Fundraising

The Music Department is carrying on with fundraising this year, but everything is done ONLINE!

As usual, we are selling Hilltop Nursery Poinsettias (as local as you can get – their nursery is at the Saanich/View Royal border!) and Purdy’s Chocolates (a Canadian Favourite!)

If you go to our website – http://belmontmusic.weebly.com/fundraising.html  all of the order information & how-to videos are posted there.

If you do plan on ordering, here are the important dates;

• Poinsettias Orders Deadline – Monday November 2^nd.
• Purdy’s Order Deadline – Tuesday November 24^th
• Pick-Up Date for ALL orders – Thursday December 2^nd.

All fundraised money goes towards individual student accounts to help offset future travel/trip costs.  If you have a student that you would like to support, please indicate that in your online order forms (the instructions are listed).  If not, we can pool towards a student in need.

Outdoor Education

Outdoor Ed students doing great work learning skills and experiencing the outdoors!

career & College/university fairs

Dream It.Be it

Youth at the booth

Important Dates

• Oct 5 – World Teacher’s Day
• Oct 12 – Thanksgiving (school not in session)
• Oct 15 – Semester 1 End
• Oct 15 – Great BC Shakeout @ 10:18am
• Oct 16 – Semester 2 Starts (B Block)
• Oct 21 – Photo Retakes
• Oct 22 – Report Cards Published
• Oct 23 – Pro-D Provincial

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It is hard to believe with the wonderful summer weather we’ve had this week that September is behind us with many incredible “firsts” as we re-opened and welcomed students and staff back to school with our new protocols and 1/8th model of classes.

We have past the halfway point of the 1st semester/course and look forward to the transition to the 2nd semester/course. We will be sharing an updated course schedule, MyEd student/family login info, and an overview of the start of the next class on October 8. A reminder a formal report card will be electronically published via the MyEd student/family portal after each course is completed. The 1st course report card will be published on October 22 for guardians/parents to review.

A reminder to students and families that due to safety protocols and cleansing efforts prior to each class, we open the doors to the school approximately 15 minutes before the beginning of class. This is important to note with the weather changing as we head into the fall and winter months. Be prepared with the appropriate clothing for being outside if you arrive earlier than 15 minutes before class.

Considering schools and districts in other parts of our province have experienced positive COVID cases with students and staff, a reminder that Island Health provides Exposure in Schools on their website for updated info.

A reminder for students that the VIHA Wellness Centre is open for student self referrals Mon., Tues., Thurs., Fri. through the school day. In order for students to make an appointment, please

Although much of the freedom we used to experience in schools pre-COVID has changed due to protocols, below is an example of Ms. Dawson’s Choral class using the Learning Commons earlier today to finally rehearse as an entire group with physical distancing in place. It sure left many of us with “goose bumps.” A shout out to Ms. McKenzie and Ms. Court for supporting this and Ms. Dawson and her students for their efforts as well!

On this gorgeous sunny Friday the Belmont Learning Commons is filled with beautiful music as the Choir class rehearses for the first time as a full group. We are thrilled to have groups using this space again! #BelmontLLC #Sd62 #LearningCommons #Choir @BelmontSD62 @SD62_Sooke pic.twitter.com/8I8C0G76sV

— Belmont Learning Commons (@Belmont_LC) October 2, 2020

PAC (Parent Advisory Council) News

On this past Tuesday evening we hosted our first PAC meeting of the year via MS Teams. Our Executive is pleased to welcome parents to join our monthly meetings on the following days:

October 13, November 17, December 8, February 9, March 9, April 13, May 11, June 8

We will send out invite info prior to each meeting which will be hosted via MS teams at 7pm. This year’s Executive is: President – Ms. Alexander, Vice President – Mr. King, Treasurer – Ms. Elder, Secretary – Ms. Bingham We sure thank them for volunteering for these positions.

GRAD 2021 News

There is a Grad Google Classroom in place for all of our grads to receive the most current information, please contact Ms. Sandberg if students are not part of this group. A Powerpoint presentation will be shared with grads and sent to parents on October 7 with more information.

We’re currently working with our District on direction for the major graduation events (Winter Formal, Prom/Dry Grad, Commencement) and their status. We recommend families do not start making major purchases in preparation until we have further direction to share. We do really appreciate the efforts of our Grads so far as they hosted a Grad Spirit week in style.

PSI (Post Secondary Info) 2020 Updates

Hello Gr 12 students and families,

As distant of a memory high school will be one day, we will all remember the very unique experience of Grad year 2021!

Gr 12 brings closure to a student career in public education, and a springboard to great adventures that await after graduation. To that end, for those students who are considering a post-secondary program in the immediate or distant future, they may want to tap into some of the following resources. Parents, there are some things for you too. Have a look, mind the dates (some are soon!), and jump into exploring these great virtual opportunities.

• UVIC will be hosting numerous virtual events that would be very valuable to prospective students and their families, who are exploring the University of Victoria as a potential destination. These events can be found on our “Tours and Events” page https://www.uvic.ca/undergraduate/tours-events/events/index.php and include:

• Discover UVic Info Sessions – Virtual presentation of all things UVic in addition to a Q&A session.
• Student Experience Panels – Virtual panel of current UVic students sharing their experiences and answering questions about life at the University of Victoria!
• Lectures and Seminars – Series of online lectures and seminars with guest speakers from UVic talking about a variety of topics and answering questions.
• Registration is open now for all virtual student and parent events.

Canadian Universities Event

• Live events feature representatives from universities across Canada providing information and answering questions
• October 3, 10 am – 2 pm PST
• October 6, 8 4 pm – 8 pm PST
• Students need to register for this free event at https://cuebc.org/

• Univeristy of British Columbia – Live Virtual Campus Tours
  Tours are available for both the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses
• Visit the website to register https://you.ubc.ca/tours-info-sessions/campus-tours/
• Tours are offered regularly throughout September and October

Orange Shirt Day

This year Belmont classes participated in a school wide Orange Shirt Day activity in collaboration with the Aboriginal Education Department and Belmont Leadership to raise awareness of the history of residential schools in Canada and honour the survivors stories. The activities were completed in individual classes where each student created their own orange shirt to honour Phyllis Webstad’s story and display individuality and messages of listening, learning, and understanding”.

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The Culinary Program at Belmont would like to share the wonderful work that the students have accomplished. They made sugar cookies with orange Royal Icing.

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Cops for Cancer

Belmont Leadership welcomed Cops for Cancer- Tour de Rock on Wednesday, September 30th for a COVID friendly, socially distant ride through! We are so appreciative of these veteran riders and their commitment to raising money for paediatric cancer research. They are truly inspiring, and their visit meant a lot to all of us!  

If you would like to donate to Cops for Cancer on behalf of Belmont Secondary School please use the following link, choose any monetary amount, select “Belmont Secondary School” as the school, and add “Cops for Cancer” in the subject line:  https://sd62.schoolcashonline.com/Fee/Details/670/137/false/true

Thank you to everyone for their continued support”.

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ISP/ELL Gr. 12

This the ISP/ELL Careers 12 class honouring the memory of our residential school survivors by wearing orange and also celebrating Gr.12 Spirit Week.

Learning Commons

Our beautiful Belmont Learning Commons is open! We are so excited to open our doors, put on some relaxing music, and have staff and students back in this amazing collaborative learning space. We have put new protocols in place to ensure that everyone is kept healthy and safe while utilizing the room. At this time, we still unfortunately cannot have students dropping in to work or browse the shelves, but teachers can book the Learning Commons for their classes to use. Stay tuned for more programs and resources on the way as we settle in. 

Students are also very much encouraged to still take out books! The easiest way to do this is to browse our online catalogue which includes all of our physical books as well as some digital resources (the link for Belmont online library catalogue is: https://search.follettsoftware.com/metasearch/ui/45476) Students can sign in using the same credentials as they do for our Wi-Fi, they can look through all the books available or search for something specific, and then place a hold for whichever books they would like to check out. Then they can come down to the Learning Commons to pick them up at their convenience. We can coordinate a drop-off to their classroom as well.

If you have books, textbooks, computers, or any other materials to be returned to the Learning Commons you can drop them off to either Mrs. McKenzie or Ms. Court in the LC; you can also leave books in the Book Return bin just out front of the LC. We also have a book return box place at the front entrance of the school where you can leave materials (we check this regularly and bring it inside at the end of the school day). We appreciate your support with this! 

Becca McKenzie
Teacher Librarian

School District Job Posting

SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 62 (SOOKE)

TITLE:                       SUPERVISION ASSISTANT

QUALIFICATIONS:

1. Completion of Grade 11 plus additional vocational program of up to one year, or Grade 12 graduation or equivalent.

• Patience with, and care for, students and a demonstrated aptitude for the work to be performed.

• An ability to work well with other adults.

• A desire to help children.

• Self-assurance and a well modulated voice with the ability to speak fluently and communicate well.

• Appreciation of the confidential nature of all information relating to students, parents and teachers.

• Holder of a valid Occupational First Aid – Level One Certificate.

RESPONSIBLE TO:            Administrative Officer

SUPERVISES:                      N/A

JOB GOAL:                          To assist in providing a well organized, supervised school environment in which students can take full advantage of their non-instructional time.

Performance Responsibilities:

1.  Assists administration in duties relating to supervision of students during non-instructional time.

2.         Dispenses first aid and tends to children in sick room.

3.         Responsible for lunch, snack and clean-up routines.

4.         May assist children with clothing and dressing as required.

5.         Performs related work as required such as bus loading and unloading.

TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT:       Ten months.   Hours may vary but work is required only when students are at school.

** If interested please send a resume and cover letter to disrael@sd62.bc.ca

Important Dates

• Mar 5 – Evening of Jazz 7pm Langford Legion
• Mar 8 – Daylight Saving begins (clocks spring forward at 2am)
• Mar 8 – International Women’s Day
• Mar 10 – Badminton Practice after school
• Mar 12 – Important Kayak trip mtg. for Outdoor Ed students at lunch, portable 3
• Mar 12 – Badminton Practice after school
• Mar 17 – St. Patrick’s Day
• Mar 16-27 – Spring Break (school not in session)
• Mar 28 – Westcoast Jazz Festival
• Apr 6 – PAC Mtg.  7pm
• Apr 6 – Dry Grad Mtg. 8pm
• Apr 7-8 – Vancouver Island Concert Band Festival
• Apr 8 – Mid-Term Report Cards Published
• Apr 9 – Early Dismissal Learning Conferences
• Apr 10 – Good Friday (school not in session)
• Apr 13 – Easter Monday (school not in session)

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Athletics

Basketball Finishes

Boys:

Junior Boys B – placed 5^th in pool play and did not make playoffs

Junior Boys A – placed 21^st in BC

Senior Boys B – played in 3 tournaments and was ineligible for playoffs

Senior Boys A – 4^th on the Island missing the BC’s by 2 spots

Girls:

Junior Girls A – placed 11^th in BC

Senior Girls B –  played in 2 tournaments and was ineligible for playoffs

Senior Girls A – 4^th on the Island and had a very successful year

Total athletes for bball –  approximately 85-90 players

Up next the Spring season – Junior and Senior Girls soccer, Boys and girls rugby, Coed Ultimate frisbee, Coed track, Coed Golf

Track and Field

Interested in running, jumping or throwing for Belmont this year?  Please come to a meeting next Wednesday, March 4  during Focus block in room B210 or talk to Ms. Evans or Mr. Smith.

Badminton

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Careers

Dual Credit Courses

Grade 11 / 12 students interested in earning a free College course credit while still in High School?

Course options :  Psychology 130, Biology 103, Marketing 110, Accounting 110 and Criminology / Law 170 will be offered in the 2020/2021 school year

Information session – May 6^th  during Focus Block in the learning commons

Any questions please come to the Career Centre

Please come and see us in the Career Centre if you have any questions.

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Fines Arts

On March 5th, over 200 friends, families, and community members were treated to an evening of Jazz hosted by the Belmont Music Department.  Our students lead off the opening hour with amazing Jazz classics.  The audience was then treated to another set of incredible music performed by the Naden Band of the Royal Canadian Navy.

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Food Studies 9-12

Students in Food Studies 9-12 classes participated in a homemade beeswax wrap workshop with Aboriginal Education in an effort to raise awareness of and reduce food related waste.

 

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French Immersion Gr. 9 or 10 Students

Interested in participating in the BC Quebec exchange?  Please see Ms. Evans in room B210.

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France Exchange

Interested in an exchange to France with our sister school in Sarreguemines?  Please see Ms. Evans for an application form in room B210.

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Honour Roll (semester 1) – 43% of our entire school is on it! 

Grade 9 Honour Roll – 103 Grade 9 Honour Roll with Distinction – 60	Total Grade 9 = 376 Percentage 43%
Grade 10 Honour Roll – 71 Grade 10 Honour Roll with Distinction – 71	Total Grade 10 = 360 Percentage 34%
Grade 11 Honour Roll – 101 Grade 11 Honour Roll with Distinction – 50	Total Grade 11 – 356 Percentage 42%
Grade 12 Honour Roll – 75 Grade 12 Honour Roll with Distinction – 88	Total Grade 12 – 312 Percentage 52%
Total Certificates – 600	Total Students 1404 = 43%

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Post-Secondary Education

Message for Parents of Gr. 10-12-The Post-Secondary education system is our province is one of the best in the world, but it can also be difficult to understand. To assist both students and parents, the new Post-SecondaryBC website has been developed by 30 colleges and universities in our province as a resource to help everyone learn more about our system and how it works, the terminology, history, credentials and the many different options that are offered. Take a look and explore: www.postsecondarybc.ca.

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Provincial Graduation Assessments:  April 2020

Literacy (LTE) 10 & Numeracy (English/French – NME/F) 10

Date	Assessment	Who	How to Register
14-20 April	Literacy 10	Semester 2 English 10 & Math 10 students; and 2.       Grade 12 students who have not previously completed this/these assessments.	See Ms. Carlson & Ms. Nursey in the office by 12pm on March 9.
	Numeracy English/French 10

Further information regarding the Provincial Graduation Assessments:

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/administration/program-management/assessment/provincial-exams

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Regional Skills Canada Competition at Camosun!

Today at the Regional Skills Canada competition at Camosun College, two of our students below earned Silver and Bronze for their efforts in the Baking competition.

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Scholarship Info:

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District News:

Healthy Schools, Healthy People is our District’s Comprehensive School Health website with resources and information for students and families. Click on the title to have a look!

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Important Dates

• Feb 19 – Grad Assembly #2 Focus
• Feb 22 – FoodSafe Level 1 Certification 9am-4pm, Room B104
• Feb 22 – Choral Collaboration Day
• Feb 24 – Travis Price (co-founder of Pink Shirt Day) presentation
• Feb 26 – Pink Shirt Day
• Mar 2 – PAC Mtg. 7pm
• Mar 2 – Dry Grad Mtg. 8pm
• Mar 5 – Evening of Jazz 7pm Langford Legion
• Mar 8 – Daylight Saving
• Mar 8 – International Women’s Day
• Mar 17 – St. Patrick’s Day
• Mar 16-27 – Spring Break (school not in session)

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Aboriginal Education Team News

WEXES Moon – Moon of the Frog

This moon is significant because the frog acts as a witness and a messenger. The frog announces the Sacred Season of Plenty. Because the frog is honoured as the Keeper of the Sacred Season, it is often presented on Cedar Monuments (totem poles) and in artwork to show that an important event has occurred.

During this moon, the wonder of nature repeats in an amazing process: Mother Earth warms up and the hibernating frog wakes from its winter sleep. The frog announces the coming of spring. It is soon time to gather foods and medicine.

Upcoming Important Dates:

Ongoing- Traditional Tea Day (usually Mondays!) at lunch in the Lakeside Café. Rethink your drink! The purpose is to raise awareness about consuming healthy food and increase knowledge about local traditional plants and herbs such as nettle, nootka rose, licorice root and mint.

Feb 24- Moosehide Campaign

For information and lessons go to https://moosehidecampaign.ca/events/2020-moose-hide-campaign-day-in-b-c The AbEd team has pins available for classes or teachers. We are available to teach lessons on the subject and raise awareness about keeping women and girls safe and being an active participant in this decolonizing work.

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Athletics

Badminton Club

Attention all badminton players.  A very important meeting will take place in room B310 at lunch, Feb. 12.  See Mr. Willing for details.

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Boys’ Rugby

Jr. and Sr. Boys Rugby 7s practice has just begun, Mondays and Thursdays 3:30 – 5:30 on Goudy field. Everyone welcome, no experience necessary, just bring a mouth-guard, and cleats. See Mr. Beattie in A216, or Mr. Peacock in A304 if you have any questions.

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Ultimate Frisbee

Special Ultimate Meeting

Thursday [27 February] at lunch in A301 [Stee’s Room]

All are welcome! Come one come all …

Past players, present players, new players, novice players … any and all!!

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Girls Basketball Update

The Senior A girls Basketball team finished 3rd in the City and will be hosting the first ever AAAA Girls Island Championship on Feb 13th- 15th with games starting at 2pm on Thursday.

The Senior B girls Basketball team finished their exhibition season with a win over Claremont B team 39-34. Two weeks ago they competed hard in their 4 games as hosts for the Bill Spotswood Memorial tournament.

The Junior Girls Basketball team finished league play in 3rd place and won the first game of the city championship 55-31 over Stelly’s.  The top 4 teams in the City will qualify for the Island Championship.

We’re very proud of the accomplishments of our Girls’ Basketball program! Thanks to all of our coaches for their tie and leadership and too all our supportive parents too!

 

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Careers News

Women in Trades and Technology Exploration Day

Date: Feb 26^th     Location: Camosun College    Time: 9:30-2pm

Sign up at the Career Centre!

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Are you looking for work? 

Come to the Career Centre to check for volunteer and paid work opportunities in the community.

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Fine Arts News

Belmont Music Department (BMD)

What a year so far…                                                                                                                             Thank you to all the staff, parents and musicians for making 2019 such a wonderful year of music. It’s hard to believe a year has already flown by. Time sure does fly when you’re having fun. Winter is a time for the BMD to showcase what we’ve been working on and this year was no different. It started off with our Drumline, R&B Band and Jazz Band raising school spirit by playing at the November Pep Rally. Next up, the BMD carollers headed to Millstream Village to spread the cheer of the season with the community. Meanwhile, all musicians were hard at work preparing for the annual Winter Concert. This concert was a time for the entire BMD to put our best foot forward and show that all those early mornings and late nights paid off and boy did they! The Spotswood Gym was filled with wonderful music. From those in their first winter concert to those in their last, everyone did an amazing job to make this winter concert one to remember. A special shout out to our amazing MCs (Mrs.Fortin and Mrs. Orton) and our staff volunteers Ms.Frodsham, Ms McKechnie, and Ms. Christ-Rowling. Thank you to all the staff, students and parents who came out to see us perform!

As we head into 2020, the BMD is just ramping up! On Saturday, January 18th we had our first performance of the decade, with our Senior Winds and Concert Band 9’s joining bands from across the District and Greater Victoria in our now annual “Evolution of Band Concert”. The following weekend saw our Drumline members learning from some excellent clinicians on a Saturday Retreat. On Jan. 29^th the BMD was a part of a Fine Arts show for visiting grade 8 students from our Middle Schools. On Saturday, Feb. 1, our Vocal Jazz group headed to Oak Bay Highschool to take part in the Oak Bay Vocal Jazz Festival. We’re then onto the 3^rd Annual Choral Collaboration hosted at Belmont. Similar to the Evolution of Band, the Choral Collaboration will involve choirs from across Greater Victoria and the Island! Finally, to say goodbye to Winter, our Evening of Jazz will be held on March 5th in the theatre! Our R & B Band and Jazz Ensembles, along with student combos, will be joined by the Naden Jazz Band for a night of jazz! Here’s to an amazing 2020!

Dance

Ms. Conways 1st semester Dance classes performed for two nights (Jan. 24/25) to finish up the semester.  Thanks to our dancers for their hard work and preparation as well as all those who helped with the event!

Media Design

The Media Design class is working with the Adobe Creative Suite to develop their skills as artists and graphic designers. They also spend time using digital SLR cameras, as well as learning about principles and elements of design.

Visual Arts

 Highlights From Ms. Pampin’s Art Classes                                                                                This semester, we explored different media, ranging from white charcoal on black paper to acrylic on large canvases. These are some of the works that students so passionately created.

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Home Ec News

FoodSafe Level 1 Certification

Students, interested in getting your FoodSafe Level 1 Certificate? The FoodSafe Level 1 course will be offered here at Belmont on Saturday, February 22 from 9:00am-4:00pm. Space in the class is limited, register by paying the $50 fee at the office. If you have any questions about the course, see Mrs. M. Evans.

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Provincial Graduation Assessments:  April 2020

Literacy (LTE) 10 & Numeracy (English/French – NME/F) 10

Date	Assessment	Who	How to Register
14-20 April	Literacy 10	Semester 2 English 10 & Math 10 students; and 2.       Grade 12 students who have not previously completed this/these assessments.	See Ms. Court in the LLC by Friday 13th March 2020.
	Numeracy English/French 10

Further information regarding the Provincial Graduation Assessments:

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/administration/program-management/assessment/provincial-exams

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Sustainability

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Community Events

 

 

 

Important Dates

• Jan 19 – Dance Show Tech Rehearsal
• Jan 20 – ISP Farewell at lunch
• Jan 21 – Copernican Day Blks A/C (2:20 pm dismissal)
• Jan 21 – Graduation Assessments
• Jan 22 – Copernican Day Blks B/D (2:20 pm dismissal)
• Jan 22 – Dance Show Tech Rehearsal 3:30-9:00pm
• Jan 23 – Numeracy Assessments
• Jan 23 – Dance Show Dress Rehearsal 3:30-9:00pm
• Jan 24 – Literacy Assessments
• Jan 23/24 – “I” days
• Jan 24 – Dance Show Performance 7pm
• Jan 25 – Dance Show Performance 7pm
• Jan 25 – Chinese New Year – Year of the Rat
• Jan 27 – Semester 2 Begins ABCD
• Jan 30 –  ISP Chinese New Year Celebration 4-6pm

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 Careers News

A huge shout out to our Grade 12s for their efforts in presenting their Capstone projects on January 16th. Despite the snowy conditions we had many community members attend to help support our grads.  A huge shout out to Ms. Arkell, Ms. Bodman, and Ms. Robertson for all of their efforts in hosting this excellent event.  Our students shared their passions and learning with grace and enthusiasm.

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Available for Gr. 12’s:  RCMP – National Youth Engagement Week March 23-27^th, 2020

Opportunity to send two West Shore students to Depot (In Regina) to train like a Mountie for a week!

Applications available in the Career Centre or email Ms. Bodman at cbodman@sd62.bc.ca

Applications Due : Jan 31, 2020

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Women in Trades and Technology Exploration Day

Date: Feb 26^th       Location: Camosun College     Time: 9:30-2pm

Sign up at the Career Centre!

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UVIC’s School of Health Information Science Open House

The School of Health Information Science is hosting its Spring Open House on Thursday, February 13^th 4:30-6:00pm at the University of Victoria’s Hickman Building room 110. We invite you and your students to learn more about this exciting field by talking with our faculty and students. Please share this invitation with your students and please join us for pizza while learning about the rapidly expanding field of information technology in healthcare!

The world is becoming increasingly reliant on the use of information technology in health care delivery. The School of Health Information Science has the most comprehensive and established undergraduate program in the study of health informatics in Canada, offering two programs including a Bachelor of Science in Health Information Science and a Combined Major in Computer Science and Health Information Science. Students may enter directly from high school or transfer from college or other undergraduate programs.  Individuals graduate with a BSc degree, and benefit from excellent employment opportunities with starting salaries typically above $55,000 per year.

If you are unable to join us for the Open House, we would be pleased to meet with you in person or over the phone to let you know more about the Health Information Science programs offered at UVic. This is a dynamic expanding field of study which many of your students would excel at. Students interested in the life sciences, medicine and/or information technology would be especially interested in our programs. Please contact Sandy Polomark at his@uvic.ca or by phone at 250-721-8576 to schedule an appointment.

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Athletics

Jr. Girls Basketball

The Junior Girls Basketball Team continued their success in tournaments this season placing second in the Island Challenge held at Spectrum/Stellys. The girls now have 2 First place and 2 Second place finishes this year. This coming weekend they will be playing in the Provincial Qualifying Tournament in Nanaimo. 

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Community News & Info

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