What Student Life and Wellbeing Support Does Star of the Sea College Provide?

Star of the Sea College in Brighton offers a structured student life and wellbeing program that runs alongside its academic curriculum for Years 7–12. The support covers four main areas: spirituality and social justice, day-to-day wellbeing through Mentor Groups and College Houses, formal counselling and online resources, and co-curricular and leadership opportunities. This article explains what each area involves so you can judge whether the school's approach fits your child.

Spirituality and social justice

The College describes itself as a Catholic school in the Kildare Ministries tradition, and its student life program reflects that identity. Two named strands appear in the College's own navigation:

• Spirituality — the faith dimension of school life, connected to the College's mission and guiding principles.
• Living Justice, Living Peace — the social justice strand, which frames service and justice work as part of the student experience.

The College motto, Facta non Verba ("Deeds, not words"), is used to express the idea that values are demonstrated through action rather than stated alone. In practice, this is the framing the school gives to its values-based education, which it says nurtures "the whole person."

Wellbeing, Mentor Groups, and College Houses

Wellbeing at Star is organised through everyday structures rather than only through formal intervention:

• Mentor Groups — small, ongoing groups that give each student a consistent staff point of contact.
• College Houses — a house system that provides belonging and inter-house activity across year levels.
• Year 7 Transition — a dedicated program to support students moving into secondary school.

These three elements work together: a new Year 7 student is placed in a Mentor Group and a House, which gives both a small-group anchor and a wider community to belong to. If you are weighing up how a school handles the jump from primary to secondary, the existence of a named transition program is a concrete thing to ask about on a tour.

Counselling and SchoolTV

For students who need more than everyday support, the College lists two formal resources:

• Counselling — an on-site counselling service listed under Student Life.
• SchoolTV — an online resource library, listed under both Student Life and Community, which typically provides parent- and student-facing material on wellbeing topics.

The College also lists Student Support and Learning Diversity under its Learning section, which sit alongside wellbeing rather than replacing it. If your child has specific learning or wellbeing needs, these are the areas to raise directly with the College, since the public site describes the services but not eligibility or referral processes.

Student Leadership

Leadership is treated as a distinct part of student life, with several named programs:

• Student Leadership — the overall leadership program.
• Student Leadership Voices: LIVE FM Podcast Project — a podcast-based leadership initiative.
• Student Leadership Podcast Series — a related series of student-produced episodes.

These give students a practical outlet — producing and presenting audio content — rather than leadership being limited to formal titles. For a student who is interested in media, communication, or public speaking, this is a specific opportunity worth asking about.

Co-curricular activities

The College's co-curricular offering spans performing arts, music, and sport:

Two details are worth noting. First, the Year 7 Music Scholarship Program means music entry points exist at the start of secondary school, so families interested in instrumental music should ask about it during enrolment rather than later. Second, Sport Signups and a Sport Uniform indicate that sport participation is organised through a sign-up process with its own uniform requirements — useful to know before term starts.

Careers and other student-facing services

Beyond wellbeing and activities, the College lists Careers and College Cafés under Student Life. Careers support is relevant to the senior years (VCE and VCE VM), while the cafés are part of daily campus life.

How to decide whether this fits your child

Star of the Sea College's student life model is best suited to families who want:

• A values-based Catholic education where spirituality and social justice are explicit parts of school life.
• Everyday wellbeing support through small Mentor Groups and a House system, not only formal counselling.
• A defined Year 7 transition program for students entering secondary school.
• Co-curricular options in debating, music, performing arts, and sport, with leadership pathways including student podcasting.

If your priorities are different — for example, a strongly competitive sports pathway or a non-religious ethos — the College's own materials make its Catholic, whole-person framing clear, and you can weigh that against your family's preferences.

The most reliable next step is to book a College tour and ask specifically about: how Mentor Groups are assigned, what the Year 7 Transition program involves week to week, how students access counselling, and how co-curricular signups and music scholarships work. Those are the details the website describes but does not fully specify.