Student Well Being
A caring and nurturing environment that permeates the whole school is essential to the holistic development of Westwoodians. A culture of care is made possible with strong positive staff-student relationships. Westwood adopts Restorative Practice approaches to build a culture of positive relationships between staff and students, and among students in the school. Our approach to relationship building aims to help Westwoodians develop a strong sense of self-esteem and responsibility towards themselves and others, and the community around them.
Student well-being is one of the three components in the Westwood Student Development Framework. It involves looking into the social, emotional and mental needs of students, and ensuring sufficient support is provided, including preventive and/or intervention measures to help them become better achievers.
The various aspects of student well-being are managed by different departments/programme owners. For instance, the physical development of students comes under the direct purview of PE department, while academic departments look into adding value and stretching the cognitive development of students. To support the provision of student well-being processes, the Student Development Team looks into the following areas:
COUNSELLING
Westwoodians can approach any teacher for advice and guidance on any matters ranging from academic performance, to personal relationships to socio- emotional issues. Teachers will help to resolve the issues or if more help is needed, refer the student to relevant personnel. When feeling down, confused, upset or depressed, students can also approach the Full-Time School Counsellor at the Chit-Chat Room or the Learning Mentor. Helplines to external social agencies are also available.
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Westwood believes that no student should be deprived of learning. The school has various types of financial assistance schemes to support financially needy students. These students are provided with free textbooks, school uniforms, and some will receive meal and transport allowances. Further support can also be rendered to students in need of assistance to pay for enrichment courses on a case-by-case basis.