‘Increasingly volatile’ protest shuts Wellington Girls’ College

February 22, 2022

Wellington Girls’ College will be shut until at least next Tuesday, with the school citing an “increasingly volatile” situation with protesters at Parliament.

In a statement on the school’s Facebook page on Tuesday night, principal Julia Davidson said the decision was made after incidents around Molesworth St on Monday and Tuesday. Among the incidents included a person driving a car into a line of police.

The Thorndon school is about a 10-minute walk from Parliament grounds, which has been occupied by protesters for the past 15 days.

“Up until yesterday staff have been volunteering for extra duty before and after school to ensure that the many hundreds of students who travel by trains and buses had a safe passage to and from school,” Davidson said.

“We asked the staff to let us know when this no longer felt OK for them.

“At a meeting this afternoon they have made us aware that they no longer feel safe doing this. They are continually abused, filmed and people try to engage them in conversation without wearing masks.”

She said the school had “real concerns”, especially considering Tuesday morning’s incident with the car happened when many staff arrived at work.

“The situation is increasingly volatile and we have real concerns about how we could care for the students were something to happen during the school day.”

Davidson said students would work from home until and including February 28, with the school re-assessing its choice on Sunday.

“As you know, the wellbeing of our students and staff is paramount. I don't think we ever imagined this sort of situation, but it has happened and we need to respond.

“I am incredibly grateful to the staff and students for their work so far and to the Board for their support. This is really challenging for us all.”

The anti-mandate protesters show no sign of leaving their camp.

In nearby St Mary’s College in Wellington, a person told 1News on Tuesday their sister hadn’t been able to go to the school for a week because she was tormented and verbally abused by protesters for wearing a mask.

The person alleged her sister was spat on when she didn’t give protesters attention.

“The school then had to come up with a longer route for kids to get to and from the train station to be able to get to school and home.

“I’m so sick of all this and just want simple things like my sister going to school to be possible without all of this harassment.”

St Mary’s College said last week it had put more safety procedures in place because of protest activity.

This included putting security guards around the campus.

Protesters pitch tents on the grounds of Victoria University's Pipitea Campus.

Victoria University chose to close its Pipitea campus last week while protesters pitched their tents on their grounds.

Vice-chancellor Grant Guilford said the campus would be closed to most students until April 11.

Protesters had tried to deflect bad behaviour by claiming dangerous or hostile actions were being carried out by “paid plants” and other Government operatives.

Police said there was nothing backing the claim.

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