All students, from the Early Learning Centre up to Year 9 at Westbourne, learn a second language, with the option to continue to VCE level in either of the languages on offer; German or Japanese. Learning a second language not only gives benefits in many fields of employment, it also teaches us about communication with people from other cultures, and we learn about our own language through the study of another.

At Westbourne we offer students many real opportunities to use their language abilities. We have sister schools in both Germany and Japan, giving students the chance to write to a penfriend by email and to take part in school trips or to host students when they visit us each year.

Our language programs are well resourced with dedicated German and Japanese rooms, and frequent use is made of the available technology. We encourage students to take part in our overseas trips as well as other Student Exchange Programs, and the school offers three part scholarships each year for Year 11 students to attend both our German and Japanese sister schools for two months over the Christmas break.