A Place to Flourish
At Westminster, we are committed to creating an environment where students thrive and flourish academically, physically, socially, and emotionally. As part of this, each week our students participate in the Wellbeing@West program. This program is based on positive psychology to continue to build student’s skills and knowledge around wellbeing and social and emotional growth. The Wellbeing@West program is evidence based, data driven, age-appropriate and developmentally sequenced to support our student’s needs.
Positive Education Enhanced Curriculum
The Positive Education Enhanced Curriculum is a research-based explicit Positive Education curriculum that has been developmentally sequenced from Early Learning through to Year 12. It is based on the PERMAH model, which stands for Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishment, and Health. This framework, developed by world-renowned psychologist Martin Seligman, helps individuals live a fulfilling life.
PERMAH Model
Students learn about the following topics throughout the year.
Positive Relationships
Encompass empathy, compassion, forgiveness, kindness, leadership, teamwork and connections
Positive Emotions
Encompass emotional intelligence, gratitude, positivity and self-control
Positive Health
Encompasses creativity, physical wellbeing, self-knowledge and resilience
Positive Engagement
Encompasses creativity, curiosity, interest, flow and motivation
Positive Accomplishment
Encompasses goal orientation, grit, persistence and mindsets
Positive Purpose
Encompasses caregiving, character development, core values and sense of meaning
Wellbeing in the Classroom
Every morning, students attend tutor group between 8.45 am and 9.00 am to start the day well with their tutor teacher and peers. It is important students arrive in time for this session to set them up well for the day ahead. Twice a week for Years 7 and 8 and once a week for Year 9 to 12, students attend a Wellbeing@West lesson. These lessons are based on the Positive Education Enhanced Curriculum as well as the Keeping Safe Child Protection Curriculum. Alongside this is a speaker program where external presenters share important information with our students around road safety, cyber safety, consent and respectful relationships, alcohol and other drugs, gaming and gambling and motivation and engagement for learning. Every student in Year 9 to 12 participates in a yoga lesson at least once throughout the year.
Grow Your Mind Program
The Grow Your Mind program in schools is an evidence-based, curriculum-aligned wellbeing initiative designed to enhance resilience and mental health among students, educators, and families. By using a playful animal analogy, the program links social and emotional education to brain development, fostering emotional regulation, growth mindset, and positive relationships. With engaging lessons and resources, Grow Your Mind supports the entire school community in nurturing a culture of wellbeing and resilience
The Grow Your Mind program is being explored and implemented across the prep school in classrooms and in our weekly assembly, where students have begun learning about the different animals and how these link with the emotions that they can encounter during the day.
Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum
The Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum is a child safety and respectful relationships curriculum providing age and developmentally appropriate activities for children and young people from birth to year 12 developed by the SA Education Department.
It teaches children and young people to:
- understand they have the right to be safe
- recognise abuse and unsafe situations
- apply knowledge, skills and understanding to be safe
- seek support for themselves or others.
- From year 10, this covers consent and respectful intimate relationships.
To add to this, Westminster is a pilot school with the Australian Independent Schools of South Australia in 2025 to develop the statewide Consent and Respectful Relationships program for independent schools to address consent and respectful relationships on a statewide scale.
Wellbeing@West Visitors
External presenters come to Westminster to work with our students in a range of areas. The speaking sessions for each year level are set out below.
Term 1
- Week 1 – Year 12 Retreat
- Week 3 – Year 11 Leadership Day with BurnBright
- Week 5 – Year 11 Road Awareness Program
- Week 6 – Year 10 Period Pain and Endometriosis session
- Week 7 – Year 12 Hope Accelerated with Glen Gerryn
- Year 12 – Yoga during W@W lessons
- Year 9 – Westventure program
Term 2
- Week 4 – Year 10, 11 and 12 Alcohol and other drugs with Paul Dillon
- Year 7-11 - Cyber and Online safety with Brett Lee
- Year 11 – Yoga during W@W lessons
Term 3
- Week 2-3 – Year 7, 8 and 9 Life Education about Alcohol and other drugs
- Week 10 – Year 11 RAA Street Smart Program
- Year 7-8 – Gaming with Relationships Australia
- Year 9-10 – Gambling with Relationships Australia
- Year 10 – Yoga during W@W lessons
Term 4
- Week 1 –Year 10, 11 and 12 Consent with In your Skin
- Year 9 – Yoga during W@W lessons
Wellbeing Surveys
In Terms 2 and 3, our students participate in external wellbeing surveys to inform our direction and programs. These surveys are as follows:
- Term 2: SA Wellbeing and Engagement and Collection survey which provides us with student wellbeing data comparative to South Australia.
- Term 3: Resilience Youth Survey which provides us with students wellbeing data comparative to the whole of Australia.
Both surveys are completed by students from Years 3 to Year 12.
Students in Years 11 and 12 also have the opportunity to participate in the national Mission Australia Youth survey which provides an immediate indication of distress and contributes data of the largest wellbeing survey in Australia to inform government initiatives.
Should you wish your child not to participate in the above surveys, please contact the student office or Anna Partridge, APartridge@westminster.sa.edu.au
Emotional and Psychological Distress Support
If your child is experiencing emotional or psychological distress, there is a tiered approach of support for our students at Westminster as outlined in the pyramid below.
The first point of contact should be to your child’s Head of Year 7 or 8 or Head of House from Years 9 to 12. They will recommend the most appropriate support. If your child requires further support, they can self-refer to our School Counsellors. This year, we have also partnered with an external School Psychologist who will work onsite where families can book directly via Allied Health Services - Westminster School.
As part of our adventurous education, we are committed to continuing to develop resilience, confidence and emotional intelligence with our students as they progress through Westminster and we look forward to working in partnership with you to support student’s wellbeing.