THE DRAGON

From the Principal

Tina Campbell

Our patronal festival celebrating St George’s Day saw us come together as a whole school to focus on the concept and value of service within our lives. There are many definitions of the word ‘service’. Service in its simplest of forms is an act of humility that places others before oneself, it is the act of giving value to someone through having their best interest in mind. True service is done without complaint or criticism, true service brings joy and touches other people’s lives and hearts, true service can change lives for the better and true service positively affects both the receiver of the act of service as well as the person carrying out an act of service – it is most definitely a win win scenario.

Mother Theresa acknowledges this importance of a mindset of giving service to others in her quote:

Being of service is not only about what you do however, but also about how you do it.

Service is both attitude and action – allowing someone in the queue to be served before you, smiling at the person selling ‘Big Issue’ in the city, buying a ‘Pay it Forward’ coffee when getting your Chai Latte from Game City or offering to help someone with their hands full. These gestures of service to others may well be small, but each one will send a ripple of kindness into the universe and often help to make someone else’s day brighter.

To live a legendary life and to be successful, it is important to balance all aspects of one’s life and being of service is a big part of finding that right balance. This is one of the reasons that we include service-learning activities and reflections as part of our St George’s Day celebrations – it is what we are and who we want to be here at St George’s Anglican Grammar School. When we act in service to others, we make a difference to their lives, and I challenge us all to strive to be of service to others as we go about our daily lives throughout this term.

St George’s Day culminated with a whole school Eucharist Service held at St George’s Cathedral with the support of The Right Reverend Kate Wilmot, Assistant Bishop of the Diocese of Perth.

The service was full of smiles as we considered the traditional story of St George and his slaying of the ferocious fire breathing dragon. It is indeed the classic mythical fairy tale of good versus evil and clearly depicts the choices that we all need to make in speaking out against our own metaphorical dragons and the many injustices that we each might face or are witness to in today’s modern world. By doing so, we demonstrate the bravery of St George and stand up for what is right – just as our school prayer references as we say it together each week.

We also recognised the prestigious Spirit of St George Awards presented annually to a junior and senior years student who consistently upholds and exemplifies the Schools ethos and values, actively seeking to live with Wisdom, Grace and Service. I am thrilled that the 2023 Spirit of St George Awards recipients were Tom Sweeney (Year 12) and Anouk Potter (Year 9) – two extremely humble and worthy recipients whose names will now be added to our Honour Boards on the ground floor.

As we commence Term Two, I encourage us all to seek to find ways to be of service to others, be they big or small. By looking outward and basing our lives on service we are likely to live happier, wealthier, and more purposeful lives grounded in the principals of kindness, gratitude, and humility.

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. —

Mahatma Gandhi

Yours in service,

Mrs Tina Campbell Principal