Grade 8 Experience
Coming in Grade 8 was the best decision I ever made. - Adam
One of Shawnigan’s uniquely differentiating features is our carefully crafted Grade 8 experience. For our 12- and 13-year-old Grade 8 students, we have developed a nurturing program that acts as a supportive springboard into the wider Shawnigan community.
Within the Shawnigan Journey – a pathway that intentionally takes students through their time at the School – the Grade 8 year has been specially developed to care for and guide our youngest students. Students are provided the time and space to grow at an age-appropriate pace, learn more about themselves and the School, and develop their confidence. From Grade 8-specific activities to thoughtful integration into the School’s wider programming, students’ passions, skills, knowledge, and sense of belonging are all nurtured.
The foundational Grade 8 year is designed not only as a safe landing pad, but also as a gateway to the remainder of each student’s Shawnigan Journey. By the end of their first year, students are strong and confident citizens of the School, ready for what awaits in Grade 9 and beyond.
Within the Shawnigan Journey – a pathway that intentionally takes students through their time at the School – the Grade 8 year has been specially developed to care for and guide our youngest students. Students are provided the time and space to grow at an age-appropriate pace, learn more about themselves and the School, and develop their confidence. From Grade 8-specific activities to thoughtful integration into the School’s wider programming, students’ passions, skills, knowledge, and sense of belonging are all nurtured.
The foundational Grade 8 year is designed not only as a safe landing pad, but also as a gateway to the remainder of each student’s Shawnigan Journey. By the end of their first year, students are strong and confident citizens of the School, ready for what awaits in Grade 9 and beyond.
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Samuel House
The fact that you have your friends in the same House, they end up being like your family. Everybody’s there to support you – your House Director, your Grade 11 mentors, they’re all there for whatever you need.” – Sofia
Samuel House is at the heart of Shawnigan’s Grade 8 experience. Rather than being immersed in a “big House” from the get-go, our youngest students begin their Shawnigan Journey alongside their peers in a dedicated Grade 8 House.
Run by a caring team of House staff, Samuel House fosters a safe co-ed grade culture characterized by close friendships that will shape and support the students’ onward journey at Shawnigan. The House is built with one wing for girls and one wing for boys, with co-educational gathering spaces in the middle. These safe, supervised common spaces include a large kitchen, a crafts room, a games room, and a gym, in addition to the more traditional common rooms found in Shawnigan’s other boarding houses. These spaces are designed to allow students and staff to cook, eat, study, play, and socialize together in new and meaningful ways.
In order to ease the students’ transition into boarding school life, the House has more live-in staff than any other Shawnigan boarding house, along with a fulltime staff member who is based in the House during the day. This unprecedented level of staffing ensures the appropriate care, guidance, and supervision are delivered to the School’s youngest members at all times.
A popular aspect of the House sees a small group of Grade 11 students from each of the other nine boarding houses move into the House to take on mentoring roles. Their responsibilities include helping with homework and bedtimes and offering peer-to-peer support.
Run by a caring team of House staff, Samuel House fosters a safe co-ed grade culture characterized by close friendships that will shape and support the students’ onward journey at Shawnigan. The House is built with one wing for girls and one wing for boys, with co-educational gathering spaces in the middle. These safe, supervised common spaces include a large kitchen, a crafts room, a games room, and a gym, in addition to the more traditional common rooms found in Shawnigan’s other boarding houses. These spaces are designed to allow students and staff to cook, eat, study, play, and socialize together in new and meaningful ways.
In order to ease the students’ transition into boarding school life, the House has more live-in staff than any other Shawnigan boarding house, along with a fulltime staff member who is based in the House during the day. This unprecedented level of staffing ensures the appropriate care, guidance, and supervision are delivered to the School’s youngest members at all times.
A popular aspect of the House sees a small group of Grade 11 students from each of the other nine boarding houses move into the House to take on mentoring roles. Their responsibilities include helping with homework and bedtimes and offering peer-to-peer support.
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Grade 8 News
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A Visit from the Past
Read MoreBeing a Grade 8 student at Shawnigan includes learning about the School’s history, now at 109 years and counting. A big part of that is the annual trip to the School museum. This week, the current crop of Grade 8s heard directly from a Shawnigan alumnus about what it was like to attend the School in the 1960s.Don Manning (Copeman’s) graduated from Shawnigan in 1964, having started in Grade 7. He returned to the School this week to share some stories and context from his six years as a student. A lot of things have changed in the 60-plus years since he left.“When you drive in through the gates, it has the feel of the School, but it’s not the same School,” he said.The School was “harsh” and “not a caring environment” when Mr. Manning attended, and the student-to-faculty ratio was much higher than it is now. The senior boys – it was an all-boys’ school at the time – had more influence and control over the juniors, who often had to act as their personal servants. As things changed gradually, Shawnigan was a “marvellous place to be” in his later years at the School.
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Samuel House Shows Appreciation
Read MoreGrade 8 students in Samuel House showed their gratitude to the Grade 11 mentors who have been living in the House with them, and to other students and staff members, with a special evening of appreciation on Tuesday.A select group of Grade 11 students is given the opportunity to live in Samuel House with the Grade 8s, providing guidance and helping them get used to the School. The Grade 11s rotate through Samuel House, spending a few weeks there before returning to their regular Houses.
Although the annual celebration goes back many years, this was just the second one held in Samuel House since its opening last February. Last year’s appreciation night was held less than two months after Samuel House opened.
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Beauty and the Beast
Read MoreFrom the performances on stage to the building of the props and the operation of the lights and microphones, nearly everything was in the hands of the students themselves at this year’s Grade 8 musical, Beauty and the Beast.The students’ months of hard work paid off when the musical took the stage for a pair of showings on Friday, June 21, which none other than Head of School Mr. Larry Lamont called, “hysterical,” and absolutely brilliant.”“They’ve been working very hard,” Theatre teacher Mr. Sal Interlandi said of the Grade 8s. “It’s hard to do something like that in a short period of time, but it’s been a lot of fun. The spirit of the class has been fun to work with. There is a lot of great energy.”
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Grade 8 Appreciation Night
Read MoreGrade 8 students in Samuel House expressed their gratitude to several members of staff and fellow students on April 10, inviting them to the recently opened House for a small celebratory evening.“I spoke to the Grade 8s about what they can do to thank people and give back to the community,” House Director Mrs. Rainbow Bartlett said. The Grade 8s then came up with a long list of people they wanted to thank, including their Advisors; Prefects Ella R. and Zach P.; housekeepers Ms. Wendy Manley and Mrs. Charmaine King; Mr. Salim Rana, who served as Assistant House Director in Stanton until Samuel House opened; and Boarding Well-Being Assistant Mrs. Kathy Lowry for her help in getting them settled into Samuel House.
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Grade 8s Dive Into Shawnigan's Past
Read MoreGrade 8 students had an eye-opening opportunity to connect with Shawnigan’s history last week when they took a guided tour of the School museum with curator Ms. Rosemary Dolman.Located downstairs in Marion Hall, the museum charts the evolution of Shawnigan, beginning with its founding by C.W. Lonsdale in 1916. Opened in 2005, it contains more than 3,200 items, including Shawnigan memorabilia and other period-appropriate pieces collected over the years. The museum includes recreations of several specific School spaces, including C.W. Lonsdale’s office, classrooms from the 1910s and 1940s, and a dorm room from the 1970s.“The School’s history is so incredibly deep in how far it goes back,” student Quinn M. extolled. “It’s just super inspiring with all the cool stuff that’s here: how the rooms used to look, how the kitchen used to operate. How the whole School used to operate is incredible.”
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Grade 8s Honour Grade 11 Mentors
Read MoreIn this season of giving and gratitude, the Grade 8 girls of Stanton House wanted to express their appreciation to the Grade 11 students who provide guidance and mentorship in the House – and how better to do it than by throwing them a dinner party?In addition to the House staff, led by Mrs. Rainbow Bartlett and Mrs. Rayna Hyde-Lay, the Grade 8 girls are nurtured by a group of Grade 11 students from different Houses who rotate through Stanton in pairs. The Grade 11s interview for the privilege of assisting the Grade 8s, and help out with everything from homework to sports to baking. The Grade 11s become like big sisters to the Grade 8s: familiar faces on campus who will help them transition to their senior Houses in Grade 9.
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Grade 8s Set Sail
Read MoreA series of sailing trips on the Salish Sea on May 6 and 7 helped set our Grade 8s up for the Beyond the Gates program next year.The Grade 8s boarded the Providence, a historic, 121-year-old ship, in Mill Bay, and sailed to Russell Island, off the southern end of Salt Spring Island.Built in Denmark in 1903, the Providence originally served as a civilian vessel. It was chartered by the Royal Danish Navy during the Second World War, then commandeered by the German Navy. Repatriated by Denmark after the war, it returned to civilian life. It first sailed to the Pacific Northwest in 1979, then worked as a cargo vessel in the Caribbean in the 1980s. The Providence returned to BC in 1988, started working as a charter ship in 2005, and now offers both experiential adventures and cargo services throughout the Salish Sea.
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Welcome to Samuel House!
Read MoreOur Grade 8 program took a giant step forward this week as excited students moved into Samuel House, our specially designed and pioneering boarding house for all Grade 8 students. Grade 8 girls and boys are now under the same roof in Canada’s first co-ed boarding house for students of that age.Girls and boys are in separate wings, but have shared common areas. Rooms are designed to accommodate four students. Common spaces include fitness facilities, a kitchen, and lots of room for studying, socializing and relaxing. Furnishings have been specially selected by Ms. Kathini Cameron, and Ms. Cameron and Deputy Head Mr. William Nicholas designed custom-built bedroom furniture. Students are settling quickly into the comfortable atmosphere.Before moving into Samuel House, the students had a chance to tour the building and check out the new living spaces. Clad in new yellow hoodies emblazoned with a red dragon, the Grade 8s were delighted to explore the House and eager to move in.
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Grade 8s Take a Hike
Read MoreOur youngest students have been getting to know Vancouver Island in their first months at Shawnigan thanks to some off-campus excursions with our Outdoor Education teachers, part of our OuterEDGE experiential learning programs aimed at Grade 8s and 9s.In mid-September, the Grade 8s hiked through campus, and kayaked and canoed on Shawnigan Lake, and last week, the group hiked Maple Mountain near Duncan, exploring the fall colours and the way the environment changes as we move from summer into fall.“For the students, it’s an introduction to where we live and what’s in our backyard, and to outdoor activities they might not be familiar with,” says Outdoor Education Coordinator Ms. Jessica Dick. “It will help prepare them for the Beyond the Gates program next year and give them a little taste of activities and help them find things they might be interested in.”
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Grade 8 Sorting Hat Ceremony
The student journey at Shawnigan is a carefully crafted one, and for our youngest students, our Grade 8 program offers an experience unique to any other boarding school. From the moment they arrive on campus, the specially designed Grade 8 Houses, Stanton for the girls and Levien for the boys, welcome these students into an environment where they will be nurtured and cared for as they learn the ropes of Shawnigan and experience being away from home for the first time. These students get the opportunity to bond and create close friendships, an essential foundation for them as they finish their first year.Read More
The Shawnigan Journey
As part of the Shawnigan Journey, each grade experience is guided by a single overall concept that is linked to our core values of curiosity, compassion, community and courage. These guiding concepts have been further developed into concrete grade-specific goals—our distinctive “moments that matter”—that fall under each of our three strategic pillars of Academic Excellence, Co-curricular Distinction and Student Life Unparalleled. Read More
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Grade 8 Experience videos
Samuel House - Andrea
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Grade 8 Experience videos
Samuel House Interview - Adam Au
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Grade 8 Experience videos
Samuel House Interview - Carson
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Grade 8 Experience videos
Samuel House Interview - Head of School
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Grade 8 Experience videos
Samuel House Interview - Kelly Gave
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Grade 8 Experience videos
Samuel House Interview - Sofia
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We acknowledge with respect the Coast Salish Peoples on whose traditional lands and waterways we live, learn and play. We are grateful for the opportunity to share in this beautiful region, and we aspire to healthy and respectful relationships with those who have lived on and cared for these lands for millennia.
Shawnigan Lake School is an independent co-educational boarding school for ages 13 –18 on Canada’s beautiful Pacific Coast. Our diverse, interdisciplinary and innovative programming helps shape the next generation of global leaders.
