On the two Mondays either side of the Labour Day public holiday, our Year 7 students participated in an excursion to St George’s Cathedral. The aim of the excursion was to give students a sense of the broader Anglican Church to which our School belongs.
The day began with a welcome to the Cathedral by the Very Reverend Richard Pengelly, Dean of the Cathedral, who let students know that as members of an Anglican school, they would always be welcome at the Cathedral. Students then broke into groups which explored a number of aspects of the Cathedral.
Students were engaged in hearing stories about St George, learning about the significance of various clerical robes (with an opportunity to dress up), ringing the bells, understanding more about the cathedral itself and hearing stories of some of the people remembered in the Soldiers’ Chapel.
After lunch, students participated in the St George’s Anglican Grammar School’s Chapel service which is also held at the Cathedral.
We would like to thank the staff at the Cathedral and St George’s Anglican Grammar School for allowing us to feel so welcome.
Some comments from students were as follows:
It was nice to have a chapel service with another religious school and see how they have Chapel. (Cait Year 7)
I liked it when we got to stand up and ring the bells. The bells took a lot of energy to ring but finally I got my bell to start ringing. (Cormac Year 7)
The best part about St George’s Cathedral was the storytelling because it was really interesting to learn about the background of St George and whether it was a fable or real. (Ella Year 7)
I learnt about the story of the nurse who survived a fire in World War 1 then went on to establish a hospital in Melbourne. (Gabriel Year 7)