Each year our Middle Years students are welcomed back to school with a special service: the Chapel of Belonging. It is an important moment for new and returning Grammarians to pause during the flurry of the start of term, and consider the year ahead.
Year 12 Grammarian Tabitha Chamberlain (Clarke House Captain) shared a beautiful reflection on belonging at Melbourne Girls Grammar with Middle Years students, staff and parents at this year’s service. Read Tabitha’s reflection below.

I think that your sense of belonging is like a school uniform. The moment you put it on, from the outside, it is obvious that you are part of something bigger. Your uniform stands as a symbol that you are all part of the same team. But that doesn’t mean it feels right straight away. The tag is itching, the collar of your dress is stiff, your shoes are digging into your heels, and your fresh blazer weighs down your shoulders. For many of you, this physical discomfort might be a reminder that everything here is new – new people, new classrooms, a new routine.
That feeling won’t last. It takes time to settle in. Eventually, as the fabric softens and your shoes break in, you will start to recognise faces in the hallways, and you will stop second-guessing which staircase leads you where. Before you know it, MGGS won’t just be a place that you go to school, but it will feel like yours, like you belong.
However, it is inevitable that at some point, you will swap your worn-in, familiar school shoes, for ones that are stiff and sore again – interrupting the comfort that you were so used to. Similarly, during your time at school, friendships will evolve, your interests may shift, and you’ll have moments where you recognise that something must change to reignite your sense of belonging. But this is a part of life. And when you find the people and experiences that bring it back, you realise that a dimmer sense of belonging never lasts forever.
So here is my advice: with so many new people around, it can be easy to feel like you have to change to fit in. This is not the case. You must stay true to your values, and do not sacrifice being kind to be liked. Even if it is not always obvious, you will be liked far more when you treat people with compassion. One of the best ways to feel a sense of belonging is to create it for others.
You are a part of something so much bigger than yourself at MGGS, but that does not make you small. Stay true to your values, share all of your ideas, and reach for the stars, for Melbourne Girls Grammar is a better place now that you’re all here – no matter how new your uniform is.