News & updates

List of 5 news stories.

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  Beyond the Gates: Week Without Walls

  6/19/2026
  For the second year in a row, all of Shawnigan’s Grade 9 students ventured off campus for several days at the end of the year to learn more about the natural environment of Vancouver Island – and about themselves. And the School set an unofficial West Coast Trail record in the process

   

  It is the Week Without Walls, the capstone of Shawnigan’s Beyond the Gates program, one of the School’s foundational experiential learning programs. Beyond the Gates was launched with a small group of Grade 9s in 2021, but has grown exponentially. In 2025, the capstone experience expanded to include every student in that age group, with most venturing into the Vancouver Island backcountry and a smaller group staying closer to home. Once again, all Grade 9 students – 61 in total – took part in the Week Without Walls.

   

  Two groups of about 10 students each hiked the entire West Coast Trail that covers 75 kilometres on the rugged outer edge of Vancouver Island, and another two groups hiked half of that trail. Two more groups of 10 apiece kayaked the Broken Group Islands. The remaining 16 students spent four days at Camp Pringle, a short distance away from the School on the west shore of Shawnigan Lake, and one additional day engaging in activities on campus.

   
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  Ahoy! It's the Grade 9 Boat Race

  6/18/2026
  Spectators at the docks on Shawnigan Lake could hear tape being ripped off a roll as time ticked down to the beginning of the 10th annual Grade 9 boat race last Thursday.

   

  The Grade 9s were putting the finishing touches on their watercraft as they prepared for the race, which sees the hopeful sailors create a boat from (mostly) recycled material, then attempt to manoeuvre it from the shore, around a buoy at the end of the dock and back.

   

  It’s noisy and wet, and great fun for the participants and spectators. But it’s also a valuable learning experience: students are encouraged to be curious, support their community, find courage, and develop compassion; and it is an opportunity for discovery, team building, expression, and communication.

   
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  June Sports Update: CSSRA Gold!

  6/18/2026
  It has been another outstanding year of athletics at Shawnigan, highlighted down the stretch by remarkable results for our rowing, rugby and squash programs, along with some excellent work by individual athletes in sports that don’t always get recognition at Shawnigan.

   

  Rowing

   

  Shawnigan’s rowing team had an outstanding weekend at the 79th Canadian Secondary School Rowing Association in St. Catharines, Ontario on June 5-7. The School sent 10 rowers to the national championships, and they brought home three medals, including gold in the senior women’s quad.

   

  Isabella P., Charlotte L, Kalissa S., and Sam P. delivered a superb performance on the final day of the regatta to claim the national title after qualifying through a dramatic semifinal a day earlier.

   
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  5 Year Dinner

  6/12/2026
  A select cohort of graduating students who have spent the last five years at Shawnigan were treated to a special dinner with the Head of School, their Advisors, House Directors, and the Senior Leadership Team on Tuesday evening.

   

  The 24 students started their Shawnigan Journey in Grade 8 and have followed it through to Grade 12, developing unique relationships both with each other and the School as a whole. Every year, that group is celebrated near the end of the year at the 5 Year Dinner.

   
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  Under the Sorting Hat

  6/12/2026
  After spending their Grade 8 year in Samuel House – Shawnigan’s newest boarding house and Canada’s first co-ed Grade 8 boarding house – Shawnigan students go through a unique ceremony to learn where they will live for the rest of their respective Shawnigan Journeys.

   

  That would be the Sorting Hat Ceremony, which was inspired by a similar tradition in the Harry Potter universe. Under the auspices of Head of School Mr. Larry Lamont and Executive Director of Admissions Mrs. Gaynor Samuel, students take turns donning the floppy, conical headwear, where they are informed which “big” House they will join for the next four years.

   

  Boarding houses are a fundamental aspect of the Shawnigan experience, and special homes away from home for our students. The peers they live with and the House staff become family for them during their time at the School. For each student, their House automatically becomes “the best House on campus.”

   
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