Staff Opening Week

Prior to welcoming our students back to campus after the upcoming Labour Day long weekend, Shawnigan operations, administrative and education staff have been enjoying their own Opening Week.

This past week has represented an opportunity for our staff community to learn about the wide variety of activities that happened on campus during July and August, reconnect after the summer break, and engage in professional development and training in preparation for the beginning of the school year.

Opening Week for staff focuses largely on collaborative working and community building. We have been engaging in activities and sessions that provide guidance in how best to support one other as we, in turn, seek to support the students in our care.

This week has featured a wide variety of information and professional development sessions for the whole staff community, as well as a range of specialty breakout groups covering topics ranging from academics and athletics to transportation and boarding house life. Our teachers, advisors, residential staff, coaches and instructors enjoyed a refresher about the Shawnigan Life Curriculum in sessions led by our external consultants in the areas of Healthy Relationships, Drug & Alcohol Awareness, and Digital Literacy/Cyber Safety, while many of our educational and residential staff updated their first aid qualifications.

Several sports camps begin today to prepare our field hockey, ice hockey and volleyball athletes for the upcoming season. These camps will continue through this long weekend, wrapping up on Monday ahead of new student Opening Day on Tuesday and returning student Opening Day on Wednesday.

We look forward to welcoming all our students, new and returning, back to campus next week.

—Larry Lamont, Headmaster