Branksome Hall

Setting

Branksome Hall's 13-acre (53,000 m²) campus is in the Toronto neighbourhood of Rosedale. The campus contains a section of Carolinian forest with an outdoor classroom, four tennis courts, a large lower field used by teams and classes, two playgrounds, and a "quad" with an adaptive playground, where senior students often relax and eat lunch during the warmer months. There are about a dozen buildings on the Branksome Hall campus, including two that are home to the school's 70 boarding students (Sherborne House and Ainslie House). Tuition for the 2013-14 school year is 27,620 CAD for day girls (29,620 for IB1 and IB2) and over 51,000 CAD for boarders.

Junior School

Middle School

Senior School

Uniform

The most basic and formal uniform (also known as #1 Dress) consists of an off-white blouse, a blazer (green or, for Prefects, red), a tie, and a kilt.

Ties

There are five ties in Branksome. The most basic one is a tie featuring the same plaid (Hunting Stewart tartan) as the kilt. The second one is a navy blue tie with yellow stripes, for the Grade 10 clan chieftains and Grade 8 clan reps. The third one is a green tie with small crests, and is for Heads of Clubs and Societies. The fourth is a red plaid tie (Royal Stewart tartan) for girls in the Graduating Year. The fifth, for sports captains.

Kilts

There are two kilts at Branksome Hall. Most of the students wear the Hunting Stewart Kilt, which is green. Prefects wear red kilts that are Royal Stewart.

Blouses and Polo Shirts

There are long-sleeved and short-sleeved off-white blouses that students must wear with a tie for #1 Dress. Students may choose to wear long-sleeved or short-sleeved polo shirts on school days when #1 Dress is not necessary.

Blazers and Sweaters

There are two kinds of blazers: a green one for most students and a red one for elected Prefects. On non-#1 Dress days, students may choose to wear a zip-up green sweatshirt, a green wool sweater, green cardigan or the green button-up vest.

Gym Uniform

There are different team uniforms for all the sport teams, and all of them are green. During gym class, students usually wear a white T-shirt with the school crest, a pair of green shorts that says "Branksome Athletics", or a pair of black sweatpants. During some team games such as badminton and tennis, students must wear a "Branksome Athletes" polo shirt, Branksome shorts, and a red Branksome Hall athletic sweater. Branksome in 2007 adopted a team name: The Branksome Highlanders.

Prefects

Twelve Prefects are elected each year by the students, faculty and teachers to lead the school and represent the study body. Each Prefect has a different portfolio that represents an area of school life. Prefects wear a distinctive red kilt and red blazer. They, like the rest of the Graduating Class, also wear the red tie.

Clubs

Clubs play a very important part in the lives of the students of Branksome Hall. In the 07/08 school year, 39 clubs existed, with about 80 heads. Some of the clubs allow Branksome students to meet people from other schools in Canada, Toronto, and other countries. The school is also represented at conventions such as the International Model United Nations in The Hague, SSUNS in McGill, World Affairs Conference held at Upper Canada College, SOMA held by University of Toronto, and possibly the Ontario Model Parliament this coming school year. The Debating program at Branksome participates in numerous public speaking and debating tournaments, Canada-wide and international. Branksome Hall is a member of the Fulford League, a group of independent schools that compete in several tournaments each year to achieve the Fulford Cup at the end of the year.

Peer Support

There are approximately 40 Grade 11-12 students in Branksome Hall who act as mentors and "peer supporters" for the school community. This small group tackles issues such as drugs and alcohol, body image, bullying, and other issues that might concern girls. Potential peer supporters apply for these positions and go through interviews with a guidance counsellor and a current peer supporter. To identify themselves to fellow students, peer supporters wear a yellow patch in the bottom left corner of their kilts.

Arts

Drama, visual arts, and music are also important to the Branksome community, with several productions put on by both the drama students and other groups throughout the year. Celebrations of art such as Collage and Paper Magnolia happen regularly. The multicultural music, drama and reading show, Infusion, is held every two years. Students' prodigious literary and visual arts creations are celebrated through art shows and several publications, including the annual collection Perennial, and the school papers The Kilt Press and the annual yearbook, Slogan.

Music

Every year the music students and band members put on several concerts to show off their own distinct styles and tastes. There are many different music groups in Branksome:

Choirs

Strings

Bands

The heads are of the Music Council by default, along with the Music Department teachers.

Sport Teams

Under the Creativity, Action, Service (CAS) principle, girls are encouraged to participate in sports. Branksome Hall offers several sports teams each season:

Fall

Winter

Spring

Clans

There are 8 clans in Branksome Hall Senior and Middle School:

There are also 8 clans in the Junior School:

Other Community Activities

Each student is assigned to an Advisor Group. This is a group of students that meet several times during the school's eight-day schedule, and usually consists of 8-10 students and an Advisor teacher. The students in each advisor group all belong to the same clan.

Each year in February the school hosts a week of grade celebrations called "Spirit Week". Normal classes continue during this week, but the week is punctuated by lunchtime activities such as the arts event or the human scavenger hunt. The most celebrated events of the week are the lipsync and cheer that occur on the final days. Each grade is assigned a colour, which is used as a way of expressing grade pride. The grade is given a colour in Grade 7 and continues with that colour until they graduate, with new Grade 7s inheriting the colour of the previous year's graduates. Colours for each grade are as follows:

During each day of Spirit Week, students dress in a specific fun manner. Traditionally, during Spirit Week, Tuesday is Crazy Hair Day, followed by Crazy Tie day (Wednesday), Crazy Socks Day (Thursday), and then Friday is a "Grub Day" during which students are free to wear whatever they choose so as long as it meets the dress code. Typically, each grade orders an item of "grade wear" and wears them on Friday.

Currently, Grade 9 students go to Onandoga for outdoor camping, which helps them develop leadership skills. Grade 8 students travel to Camp Timberlane in Haliburton, Ontario, and Grade 7 students travel to Niagara Falls as part of their leadership program.

Alumnae

Generally, 100% of the graduates go to university. A list of university destinations of the graduates from 2006-2010 is provided on the Branksome website. One can get a more detailed brochure about the 2010 graduates' destinations in the school.

Noted alumnae

Related