Good News

End of Term Celebration Assembly 2023_24.pdf

End of Term Whole School
Celebration Assembly 

The aim of the end of term celebration assembly is to come together as a school community to celebrate pupil achievement, recognition and progress as we look back on this academic year. It is an opportunity to take stock and reflect on just how far we have come individually and as a school body. You may be wondering why we have a picture of a wave on slide 2. You may recall that originally the End of Term assembly was going to be held in the Sports Hall but unfortunately we had a massive flood that disrupted all our plans. This was a major setback, however, we did what Westside does best … we found a way and preserved nonetheless and here we are today! We hope that this serves as a reminder that no matter what life throws at you, there is always a solution to every problem. 

GBC TRIP.mp4

English trip: GBC studios

As part of their Identity in the Media Scheme of Work, our Year 7s were set a challenge to come up with a unique product and a convincing sales pitch to be in with the chance to go on a trip to GBC. Let’s watch this Behind the Scenes video to see what the most persuasive product-makers in their classes created at the GBC Studios. 

LETTER WRITING VIDEO for assebmly.MOV

Letter Writing Project 

The English Department launched its first Letter Writing Project earlier this year and it has been a great success! Our Year 7 students have been busy this year writing letters to the Year 6 students at Bishop and St Bernard’s to ease their transition into secondary school. All students both sent and received 2 letters each, and they all had a great time writing to their ‘pen friends’ and decorating their envelopes. Here’s a video of their experience…

My Movie.MOV

Art Mural Project

On to our next video put together by Mr Segovia. His year 8 Art students have all been working on a digital mural project inspired by different subject areas. Students have been hard at work coming up with ideas in teams and developing their ideas into digital final outcomes. Hopefully some of these might become actual school murals one day. Let’s have a look at what they came up with.

yr 7 pupil of the month.mp4

Yr 7 Pupil of the Month Awards

And now over to the Year 7/8 Form Tutor Pupil of the Month Awards. These students have been awarded the Pupil of Month Award for their consistent demonstration of good pupils skills. So well done to all!

yr 7 pastoral video 2024.mp4

'Stand by Your Side' Yr 7 Pastoral Project

The yr7s and their form tutors have been working on an interactive pastoral project involving music, dance, art and gymnastics. They have worked together as a form class to produce a fun and vibrant music video that tells a story of how we should all provide support for one another. They wanted to embrace the idea of family and demonstrate that by helping one another, we are essentially superheroes, BUT superheroes with no capes! A special thanks goes to all the teachers and students involved in making the video, Ms Bonfante and Ms Gonzalez for leading the gymnastic squad, Ms Bishop for leading her dancers, Mr Reyes for his brilliant video editing skills, Mr Soussi for some special footage and Mrs Mena for leading the project! Enjoy the Yr 7 Music Video called ‘Stand by Your Side.’ 

shortened Nautilus music video.mp4

'The Tide is Changing' Yr 7 Well-being Warriors

The Well-being Warriors wanted to do something for the world and so therefore entered the Nautilus Competition ‘The Tide is Changing’ by submitting a song. They actually got the ‘Runner’s Up’ title so well done for that! So the Well-being Warriors wanted to tell the story of Gibraltar’s coasts and how it is important to protect our oceans. Members of the club, wrote the song and had a exhilarating time creating the music video. A special thanks to the Music department for loaning out the instruments and finding the backing track, Ms Lia for her fantastic video editing skills, Ms Belilo for loaning us the hats and Mrs Mena for leading the project. Enjoy ‘Water of Love, Ever so Clear’ by the Well-being Warriors! 

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Yr 10 Fun Day

The Year 10 fundraising initiative was a resounding success, organising a fun day for Years 7, 8 and 9! Their efforts raised an impressive £2775 which has been donated to RICC, Cancer Relief Centre and Gib SAMS. A big round of applause to them! Westside has collectively raised an amazing £12,580 for a number of charities this academic year!!!! Well done to every single one of you who contributed in some way be it with your money or more importantly with your time and skills to help others. Never underestimate the power of your actions, it is amazing what we can achieve when we come together. 

A massive thank you to all those teachers and students who dedicated so many hours behind the scenes to make this a reality. The assembly truly captured Westside's collective school spirit. We look forward to next year's performances.

 Beach Volleyball Corporate Competition

Westside took part in the two day Gibraltar Beach Volleyball Corporate Tournament. 


The competition was tough with St Bernard's and Westside meeting in the final. Westside came in second to St Bernard's. 


Staff training sessions - fundraising. 

£110 donated to Cancer Relief .

 EV Foundation


The Library held a sponsored reading challenge, named 'The 100'. Students and staff members from both Bayside and Westside schools were given the task of choosing at least one book from a list compiled by the school librarians, and given 100 days in which to complete this. 


The challenge was launched on World Book Day, and ended on Friday 14th June. All money raised was presented to The EV Foundation, coming to a total of £600.63. 


Photo L-R: Mrs Pecino (School Librarian), Mr Edmunds (Bayside Deputy Headteacher), Nicole Jones (EV Foundation), Mrs Ballantine (School Librarian), Mrs Mercieca (Westside Senior Teacher). Mr Falzun (School Librarian).


Plant Life Exhibition now open at the Arts Gallery

The Horticultural Society continues with its Green Gibraltar Campaign, and last night, announced the winners for its Plant Life photography competition. 


The Society says the idea is for the photos to provoke thoughts and spark meaningful dialogues on how crucial it is to protect the planet. 

Short Story Competition winners 2024

We had several winners from Westside at the prize giving for the year’s Spring Short Story Competition. The English Department are extremely proud of them for their creative efforts. 

Best Story in Spanish Language: 

Runner-up: Erin Costa with ‘Unagi’ 

Highly Commended: Serina Manasco with ‘Cruzando Fronteras’ 


School Years 11 to 13: 

Winner: Eva De Vincenzi with ‘Your Old Friend, Lucifer’ – Westside Comprehensive School 


School Years 6 to 7: 

Winner: Isla Snape with ‘The Story of A Year’ – Westside Comprehensive School 


Full list of winners here: https://www.culture.gi/news/short-story-competition-winners/

“A generation which ignores history, has no past and no future."

Our Year 7s take part in a local history project producing replica artefacts like cannons used during the Great Siege. These artefacts were made from card board and students working in groups had to use their creative skills to make a project of their own choosing.


Our Year 8s, take part in the evacuation project which focuses on the evacuation which took place during World War 2. Students compete for a top cash prize kindly donated by the friends of Gibraltar. They use their artistic, creative or writing skills to produce a project. 


This task is a cross curricular activity as the Drama Department is also involved and a Year Assembly is organised to present the prizes.

Water of Love, Ever so Clear Entry

Well done to the Well-being Warriors for coming 'Runners Up' in this year's Nautilus Competition - The Tide is Changing.


The Well-being Warriors wanted to tell a story about Gibraltar’s coasts and how it is important to protect our oceans. Members of the club wrote the song and had an exhilarating time creating the music video.


We are so proud of their achievements. We are sure you will remember this project forever.


By Jaythan Corbacho, Reece Ibrahim, Erin Costa, Sam Bramall and Aaron Gines. Supported by Mrs Lia and Mrs Mena.

 Nautilus Project
Tides are changing competition'

Well done to our students on their awards at this year’s Nautilus Project ‘Tides are Changing’ competition. 


This initiative was a collaboration between Westside’s Science & English departments, where students learnt about Gibraltar’s coastlines in science lessons and then wrote about them in English lessons.


We are proud to announce that we managed to win four awards!  


 Year Group Award 1st place: E-book created by Year 8 students collaboratively between English and Science

 +Year Group Award Highly Commended: Song, ‘Water of Love, Ever so Clear’ Wellbeing Warriors Club

 +Individual Award 2nd place: Poem, Talia the Turtle’ by Sophie, Carys, Hannah and Sienna 

 + Individual Award Highly Commended: Song, ‘Ocean Life’ by Arianne, Julia and Louise. 


We are so proud of our learners and teachers for their hard work on this initiative. The creativity displayed in our e-book is fantastic! 


Check it out here: https://read.bookcreator.com/hvP99qGI6beWrWmbZ6nYST1ZxU43/YANKvnmRQXmf4sy6Q5O6cA 

5th June World Environment Day 

Just to say a massive thank you to everyone who has contributed to World Environment Week and who have worked so hard behind the scenes to showcase the amazing student work on display today for our guests. Our students are extremely privileged to have such amazing and inspirational teachers. 


The Deputy Chief Minister Dr J Garcia, Minister for the Environment & Education Dr J Cortes, Director of Education Ms K Scott, Education Adviser Ms J Linares and all the guests were extremely impressed with the environmental work that goes on throughout the year at Westside. They were truly inspired and wanted this to be conveyed to you.

GBC Open Day entry

As part of our pastoral initiative the Year7/8 cohort got involved in a fun music video to exemplify the need for peace and unity in the world. As part of the Year 7/8 ‘Heal the World’ pastoral initiative, over 100 students became performers for a truly breath-taking event. Students were then interviewed about their experience at Westside. You can view the videos below:

GBC open day entry .mp4
WESTSIDE INITIATIVE E02.mov
WESTSIDE INITIATIVE E01.mov