Branksome Hall News

It was bound to be an Installation like no other, because it was virtual—the first time in 92 years when the sound of live applause would not fill a shared space. 

And though Head Prefect Leighton Symons acknowledged the strangeness of Branksome Hall’s March shutdown and the many alterations and uncertainties that have accompanied students’ return to school this September, she delivered an unforgettable, inspiring speech in which she urged all to adopt and share responsibility for “a forward-focused mindset.”

Over the course of the summer, Dr. Mira Gambhir, Branksome Hall’s new Head, Research, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, has led foundational work in support of the strategic priority of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at the school. Many initiatives will be in place this fall and longer-term work is underway to support anti-discrimination and anti-racism, beginning with a focus on anti-Black racism. This important work will permeate the school’s culture, guide actions and be reflected in students’ and employees' lived experiences.

In the week of August 24, more than 160 Branksome Hall employees took part in the first session of five book clubs, designed to explore social justice issues and support anti-Black racism education at a systemic level.

Her stirring speech about the harms of the marketing practice known as “rainbow capitalism” earned Grade 11 student Maylee world-champion status in the persuasive speaking category, edging out students from all over the world, including the United States, Australia, South Africa, India and China. Congratulations are in order for Grade 11 student Amonda, as well, who also represented Branksome Hall in the competition. 

Just in time for September, the Branksome Hall Junior School will launch four new playground games, providing opportunities for collaborative, outdoor play that also support physical distancing guidelines. 

Dr. Mira Gambhir has been appointed Branksome Hall’s new Head, Research (Chandaria Research Centre) and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), effective Wednesday, July 1.

Recess can make or break a child’s day. Yet, despite its monumental impact on social development, it rarely has been researched.

Whether winning international space science competitions or piloting aircraft with the Royal Canadian Air Cadet Program, recent Branksome Hall graduate Adele Crete-Laurence’20 does it all with humility and integrity.

You know your Grade 6 school presentation is impactful when a prominent North American non-profit is inspired to share your group activity with all its Canadian staff.

There’s no true digital substitute for the excitement of an opening night art show, with real guests taking in the actual scale of the work and all the visual exploration on display.

We’d like to share with you the address I gave to employees and students in grades 5 - 11 in three separate Zoom assemblies today. We feel it is important that our entire Branksome community is aware of this important message.

The Branksome Hall community has been deeply impacted by the events that are unfolding in the United States, Canada and around the world in the wake of the death of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis. We are outraged, shocked and saddened, and we wish to extend our condolences to the Floyd family and to all those who are suffering, in particular communities of colour.

Who could have predicted that carefully chosen formal clothes would be replaced by “avatars” in leggings, toasting each other and dancing to “Dancing Queen” on a virtual stage, just three months ago?

Everyone is capable of making a music video. That was one of the take-away messages when music video directors Evan Morgan and Jared Raab spent an hour answering prepared, thoughtful questions from three Grade 10 English classes at Virtual Branksome on May 14.

Our top debaters didn’t press pause on competition when Branksome Hall went virtual. Grade 9 student Nia earned second place in the interpretive reading category and fourth overall at the Canadian Junior High National Speech Competition, May 16 and 17.

Ready, set, walk across Canada! That's the goal for four Toronto-area girls' schools, to keep fit and build community during quarantine. Along with Havergal College, St. Clement's School and the Bishop Strachan School—which initially mapped out the plan—Branksome Hall students, family and employees are in the midst of the 7,366-km virtual journey.

What do the films Alien and Arrival have in common? Or, how about La La Land and Singin' in the Rain, for that matter?

All these well-loved films were held up for examination by Branksome Hall students as part of the first ever Virtual Film Festival, held on Thursday, May 7.

What do “Lia’s Green Pancakes” and tigers have in common? Well, thanks to the new Grade 1 Recipe Book, close to 5,000 animals at the Toronto Zoo will be well-fed—as will all members of the Branksome Hall community who choose to support the Zoo Food for Life campaign through the students’ cookbook’s proceeds, available now for $10.

Academic programming was not on the schedule, at least not at the Junior School on Friday, May 1. The calendar was cleared to make room for the Graduating Year (GY) students’ Purpose Project, just one example of the extraordinary efforts and creative ideas emerging in these unprecedented times. 

It’s an annual highlight in the music-program calendar—the Conference of Independent Schools of Ontario’s Music Festival (CISMF), which gathers 1,400 students and educators for non-competitive performance each spring. Roy Thomson Hall is the illustrious venue.

Being “book smart” is just one dimension of an exceptional education. That’s why at Virtual Branksome’s Open Universe, which officially goes live today, April 22, there’s ample opportunity to jump into a “Day in the Life” career-shadowing course, sharpen your personal finance acumen, try your hand at coding or data analytics, take a Thai cooking class, and plenty more.

During these past weeks, we have learned and witnessed firsthand how compassion and resilience are essential as we support each other through challenging times.

The COVID-19 quarantine may be keeping competitive cyclists out of the race for now, but don’t count them out. That’s why Holly Clarke will be riding indoors for four hours straight, as part of her “Toronto Hustle” cycling team’s 24-hour, indoor stationary-bike marathon to support frontline healthcare workers, April 24 to 25. 

I am Tara, a new Grade 7 student here at Branksome Hall.

COVID-19 has affected everybody's daily lives and routines. Around the world, it has infected almost two-million people and killed over 129,000 people.

Kelly Holland’09 is an ER nurse in Calgary. We don’t have a photo of her because she is practising expert safety and didn’t want to bring her cellphone to work.

“What I want to share is more advice than anything else. I just don’t want people infecting themselves accidentally while using personal protective equipment (PPE) the wrong way,” she says.

Launching “Virtual Branksome,” the school’s first-ever distance-learning program, was only one item on Branksome Hall’s “to do” list last week.

Quick, look at this photo, then present a five-minute “persuasive speech” in French on that topic. Undaunted, Senior School students Christine and Dalia placed first and second respectively, in the new Impromptu category at the 36th annual Concours d’art oratoire at Havergal College on February 28.

It was an evening the Branksome Hall community won't soon forget. World-renowned photographer Edward Burtynsky shared a stunning overview of his life's work. Starting with his earliest landscape images—close-up tangles of bramble in Northern Ontario—he presented an unrelenting one-hour catalogue of human planetary devastation, mesmerizing the hushed audience of 400.

Bravo to both our Grades 9 and 10, and our Grade 8 Band classes, who earned silver medals on February 12 and 13, 2020 at the Ontario Band Association’s Provincial Band Festival in Thornhill, Ont.

Claiming top honours in the final event of Spirit Week, the Raptors-themed troupe performed an inventive, pumped-up version of a basketball game on February 13 in the Senior School gym. (Two students even wore cardboard backboards on their heads and used their arms as nets in which team-members could “score.”)

Widely considered the defining issue of our time, solving the problem of climate change was the weighty theme for this year’s Future Prize Challenge, a design-thinking competition for Grades 7 and 8, co-hosted by the Conference of Independent Schools (CIS) of Ontario and the Future Design School.

When learning a new language, it’s inspiring to see it come alive on stage. Experiential education was definitely the point of an eagerly anticipated excursion when Branksome Hall French teacher Nadia Talaat took her Grade 11 students to the Théâtre Français de Toronto, in collaboration with St. Mildred's-Lightbourn School on December 12.

In order to learn big concepts, Grade 8 Math students are shrinking things down. By walking around campus with measuring tapes and using 3D modelling software, students are taking the numbers off the page and thinking in 3D.

A mix of fashion, dance and talent always makes for a high-energy performance. Synthesis, the annual student presentation of culture and fashion, was held on Friday, January 17 this year and was no exception.

What do women’s pants and the Caribbean Unity flag have in common? They were both chosen as “personally meaningful” objects, thoughtfully selected by Grade 11 and 12 students as part of the second annual Theory of Knowledge (TOK) exhibition, held at Branksome Hall on Tuesday, January 14.

New bursary celebrates retiring Board Chair Wayne Barwise’s extraordinary volunteer service and his commitment to accessibility