Health and Wellness

College Nurse
Lene Solheim

The College’s Care Centre is staffed with a public health nurse. The Care Centre is open each school day and is situated in the middle of the residential buildings for easy access.

The nearest doctors are in Dale (a 15km drive) and the nearest hospital is in Førde (one hour’s drive away). Students are advised to attend to non-urgent medical treatments at home during vacation periods. A psychologist visits as part of the College’s pastoral support system.

At the start of the College term, routine health checks are made.

For continuous first aid support, the need for which can arise suddenly at any time, we have a group of specially trained second year students who provide this service in the Student Village ‘out of hours’ and are duly supported by the First Aid Coordinator, Advisors and House Mentors.

Life at the College can be intense and many students undergo considerable emotional challenges triggered by leaving home, studying in a language which is not their own and personal demands. To assist students through all of this and to offer personal support, the College has a number of people and structures in place and encourage students to talk with their House Mentor, Advisor or nurse.

Health and Wellness are part of the essential foundation for the success of the UWC experience. If a student is happy, safe and secure on our campus, then he / she is in a position to succeed in other areas. Students are introduced to mindfulness, yoga and other activities – and, in order to create a balanced lifestyle, students are encouraged to ensure they receive adequate sleep, regular physical exercise and time for reflection.

The RCN Life Skills programme aims to equip first year students with the fundamentals for success at this College and beyond.

A student voice

Classes here can be very demanding. But what separates UWC the most from other school systems is not the amount of homework or the pace of the class, but being in a school with people completely different from oneself. Talking to other students about their culture is very different from simply reading about it in a book at school at home. That is to me what makes UWC something special.