We like a challenge!

On Saturday we took the challenge of ice skating by storm! Most of the girls headed to Oak Bay to participate in a public skate. For some, it was their first time on skates and some had little bits of experience. It was amazing to see how much they held each other up, metaphorically and literally, while getting skates on and actually being on the ice. They were each others personal cheerleaders!

On Sunday, we took the house games challenge! Badminton and teamwork challenges.

Happy 2019 !

We are all back from a wonderful Winter Break spent with family and friends. According to the Symons girls, this time was much needed after a busy first term! They have come back relaxed, rested (except for jet lag) and ready for another busy term.

The girls spent the week catching up with friends and were delighted to see that Karina brought back a huge cake for them to share! How did she find room in her luggage? The cake was a huge hit and allowed the girls time together.

Abby, Lucy and Reum participated in acro yoga in Ms. Kaufmann’s yoga class. Looks like a lot of fun!

Tomorrow is house games, hopefully this acro yoga comes in handy!

Christmas is near!

Last weekend the girls spent their Saturday getting ready for the annual Christmas Gala. They enjoyed a great buffet of food, lots of deserts to choose from, a photo booth and they danced to round off the night.

On Wednesday a few of the girls participated in the Carol service at Christ Cathedral. The junior, middle and senior school choir students all perform.

On Thursday we had our Secret Santa gift exchange. So exciting to see the girls enjoying giving and receiving gifts. They had hot apple cider, cookies, candies, popcorn  and cake to eat while opening gifts.

The last Saturday activities for the year got the girls baking, touring gingerbread houses, Butchart Gardens and voting for their favorite Christmas Tree

 

It’s beginning to look a lot like….GALA!

We can’t believe it but it is December already! How quickly the school year flies by when we are having so much fun. December is always an exciting time with so many festive events and the holiday break to look forward to. Each year our Parent’s Auxiliary host a SMUS Christmas Gala, which our whole boarding community attends. This is a much anticipated event for our boarders as it is a formal dinner and dance at a venue downtown Victoria. The few weeks leading up to the Gala is always a flurry of preparation, particularly for outfits! The day of the Gala is also very busy with ironing, accessorizing, polishing, hair-dos etc. Here are some photos of some of the girls during their preparations. Stay tuned for next week’s blog with photos from the Gala!

Last Weekend in November

November 24, 2018

After the long weekend, we had our last House Games competition before Christmas Break.  The events were handball, and “Minute to Win It.” The girls were very competitive in handball and played very hard! Of course Jooniper was there as Symons #1 fan.

Today, a group of girls decided to “throw their stress away.” They filled up water balloons, and wrote down what stressed them out on them, and then threw them away. A fun way to relax on a Saturday.

After November Long Weekend…

We all had a very restful long weekend – some went home to see family while others enjoyed a homestay or staying with friends here in Victoria. It seemed like everyone came back rested and ready for the next five weeks before we all head out for Christmas break.

Today a few Symons girls went to the Shelbourne kitchen to volunteer. Shelbourne kitchen is building a pantry for people in need so they are able to choose healthy options while grocery shopping – the girls helped with moving items around that the church donated. They all came back with smiles on their faces!

Carrie and Patty enjoyed making nachos with friends for their Saturday activity – even making pico de gallo and guacamole from scratch.

University applications are the talk of the boarding house, well at least for the Grade 12s who are working so hard to fill out applications AND get them in on time. A few of our girls went to Ontario and Quebec for a week to check out universities and they were even lucky enough to see some of their graduated Symons sisters. The trip helped them narrow their decisions or for some, made them broaden their scope.

Tomorrow we will head into our third house games – handball and minute-to-win-it games! Look for that update next week!

Annual Service Activity

We are very fortunate to have a long standing service activity at SMUS Junior School. Today Symons House headed to the Junior school and raked leaves for a couple of hours. They raked the leaves from the gardens of the houses surrounding the school. The money collected will go to the Me to We Foundation. It was great to see the girls so engaged and giving back to the community. The rain stopped just in time for the them to enjoy a morning of physical activity without getting too wet. As one of their houseparents I am very proud of the work they did today and the generosity they showed towards the community and one another.

On Wednesday the girls also were involved in many  Halloween activities. There was a costume parade, fireworks and trick or treating in the boarding houses.