School Chaplain

A Welcoming School Says Bullying, No Way

As School Chaplain I 100% endorse our School Principal’s passionate vision of St George’s Anglican Grammar School being one of the leading ‘Welcoming Schools’ around. All our talks in Chapel this term are focused on “Being a Welcoming School.” This is not only because I would like to rally behind the School Principal’s vision, which of course is true, but also, it is a Christian value. Being ‘Welcoming and Hospitable’ are key values in the Christian Bible. 

Therefore, last Monday our Chapel talk was on one of the leading causes of students transferring from one school to another—BULLYING! We addressed this issue in Chapel to make sure that none of our students bullies or is bullied.

The Student Guild took the leading roles in a game we called “WELCOMING OR BULLYING?” Student leaders took turns on the podium asking students if their statement was “Welcoming” or “Bullying?” For example, they would say: “When I say, ‘Good afternoon, how has your day been?” or “If I say, ‘Give it to me right now or else”, “Is it welcoming or bulling?”. 

How encouraging and exciting it was hearing students roaring with all their might, “Bullying!” “Welcoming!” “That’s bullying!” “That’s welcoming!” And student leaders closed by saying together: “As your student leaders, we say NO to bullying.” It was important that our student leaders took that lead in saying NO to bullying. We will all do our best to say NO to bullying, making sure that St George’s Anglican Grammar School keeps shining as a “Welcoming School.”

My door is always open to our students to discuss any worries or concerns that they might have. 

Fr Gift Makwasha

School Chaplain