Cultivating Belonging at WPGA

By Ms. Kirsten Bowles, Junior School Counsellor, and the CARE Team 

In the lobby of the Junior School, you will find a poster that highlights each student in our community. Smiling faces, featuring a beautiful variety of skin tones and hairstyles, carefully drawn by small hands, remind us that every child is unique and holds a special place here. 

Our older students reflect on this idea of belonging in ways that are both simple and profound. They describe belonging at WPGA as “someone saving me a spot at the lunch table” and “feeling wanted and cared for.” Their words remind us that belonging is not abstract. It lives in everyday gestures: in invitations, in noticing one another, in offering care. It is found in the quiet assurances that say you matter here. There is a place for you.

A sense of belonging is one of the most valuable strengths a school community can cultivate—and one in which bullying and discrimination struggle to take root. When students feel genuinely seen, respected, and valued for who they are, the conditions that allow exclusion or harm to flourish are diminished. Belonging fosters empathy, mutual responsibility, and courage; it encourages students to look out for one another. Just like the our pink shirts, worn proudly by every student from JK to grade 12, remind us: “We are ALL wolves. The pack has your back.”