Canteen
Learn More
Fostering Flexibility and Resilience
So that our students are happy at school, enjoy engaging in learning, and are comfortable and confident in social interactions, our staff foster opportunities to encourage healthy relationships, positive choices, wellbeing, and resilience. We believe wellbeing is multifaceted—mental, spiritual, physical, emotional and social.
Primary and Secondary Chaplains
Our Primary Secondary Chaplains work alongside teachers, other support staff and families. They enjoy taking time to sit with students, hear their stories and help them navigate the joys and challenges of school life, and to share about how much God loves them.
Early 2023 saw further support for our secondary students with the addition of our Secondary School Wellbeing Hub, built on the campus near the Science block. The Hub provides a home for our Chaplains and a welcome ‘resort-like’ addition for pastoral care and wellbeing.
Primary Wellbeing Initiatives
Primary URStrong
Running across Kindergarten to Year 6, Westside’s URStrong offers a whole-school approach program. Our ‘friendship skills curriculum’ centres around empowering children through lessons and opportunities that help develop common language about friendships, feelings, handling conflict and ways to build stronger positive relationships.
Year Level Coordinator Teachers
While the responsibilities of our Year Level Coordinators include overseeing curriculum development and implementation, they also foster a positive and supportive environment for the students, families and staff in their year level. This is offered in various ways, including through pastoral care, behavioural management, open communication and mentoring.
Secondary Wellbeing Initiatives
Our goal is for every student to feel a sense of satisfaction and belonging at Westside. Under the umbrella of mentoring, Westside Christian College has developed various programs that support student wellbeing and spiritual formation, as per below.
TAG
TAG —Together And Growing—is a vital part of Westside culture. Four mornings a week, students start the day in their 15-minute TAG groups. It’s a great opportunity for smaller groups of students from a mix of Years 7 – 12, to consistently build relationships with each other and their TAG teacher. They cover daily notices, catch up with each other, and share a devotion and a prayer time. Regularly relating to others from different age groups and backgrounds helps build personal confidence, strong relationships, and a sense of being ‘seen’, known and valued.
FIT Chicks: Fitness – Integrity – Tenacity
Birthed at Westside, our FIT Chicks program is led by a team of female staff in Terms 3. The program supports Year 9 -12 girls to become aware of their value, and how God made them. FIT Chick builds a sense of support and encouragement across year levels.
Even sporting teams can’t give girls the physical, mental, and spiritual goals FIT Chicks offers. It is unique. As girls struggle to meet challenges together to achieve seemingly unachievable goals, they realise what they really can do. Words such as determination, fun, overcoming, resilience, confidence, and self-worth, reflect their successes.
Secondary Year Level Coordinators
The Secondary Year Level Coordinators are passionate about supporting students in their year level. The role includes pastoral care and support, advocating for students, and liaising with parents and teachers.
Other Secondary Support
A number of our teachers and chaplains also offer different supportive opportunities to students throughout the year. These are aimed at building confidence in students, developing positive relationships with others, and celebration of cultural values in ways that help students to bring honour to both the culture they come from and the one they live in.