On Friday 4th November 2022 the author and theatre instructor, Mrs Myrsini Lenoudia, visited our school to make a presentation of her latest book «Μια παράξενη καρδιά». Mrs Lenoudia talked to our pupils (Years 1 – 3) about the creation of the universe in an innovative, inventive, and unconventional way using rare musical instruments and interesting images. She finally signed the books our little pupils bought and promised to return to our school to present her next book.

On Monday 7^th November, Year 2 went to ‘Explore’ Entertainment Center at the Golden Hall in Athens. There, they saw a wonderful array of exhibits with everything from fish to teeth, electricity in action and much more. As the science topics this year focus on Habitats, The Human Body and other fascinating scientific areas of study, the children had ample opportunity to immerse themselves in an environment designed to inspire and encourage their curiosity.

On Friday 11 November 2022, Year 5 pupils who follow the Ancient Greek History course visited the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. The pupils toured the Prehistoric Collections (Cycladic, Minoan, and Mycenaean) and followed an educational programme on the main characteristics of these civilisations in Greece focusing on architecture, weaponry, pottery, sculpture, wall-paintings, jewellery and burial customs. The visit was concluded with a view of artefacts from the Geometric and Archaic periods.  

This October, all Year 2 classes visited the ARCHELON Sea Turtle Protection Society in Glyfada, to learn about how to protect sea turtles and their habitats. The children learnt about the organisation's facilities and efforts to rescue and rehabilitate injured turtles in Greece. With the donation we offered, we were able to cover the cost of a sea turtle’s rehabilitation for forty days!

Did you know turtles don’t have teeth?

Instead, they use their strong jaw muscles and hard beaks to crush the shells of their prey – crabs, sea urchins and clams. Amazing facts!

On Friday the 11^th of November our girls under 16 football team and boys under 16 volleyball team took part in their annual interschool tournament.

The girl’s tournament took place in Campion with four schools taking part in a round robin format. In the first game of the day, our girls faced St. Catherine's were in a close game they won 2-1. In their second game of the day our team faced host school Campion and again won 2-1. In the final game of the day our girls dominated the game and easily won 4-0 against ACS. The girls won the tournament with 3 out of 3 victories bringing the trophy back and placing it in our brand-new trophy cabinet in the indoor gym.

The boys’ volleyball tournament was a round robin format and took place in ISA school. Our boys lost their first game against Campion after a close game 2 sets to 1, and then faced host team ISA where they lost 2-0. In their final game of the day our team beat ACS 2-0. These results were just enough to earn the boy’s 3^rd place and receive bronze medals.

Congratulations to all members of both the girls under 16 football and boys under 16 volleyball teams for outstanding performances at these interschool tournaments!

A big thank you to our coaches Mr Styliatis and Ms Dikaioulia for their excellent work with their respective teams.

On Friday the 4^th of November 43 pupils from year 8 took part in a 3km cross-country race. The event took place in Syggrou park and was hosted by ACS with various international schools taking part.

The boys race took place first and our top 3 runners were Adam Kayssar, Leon Raptis and George Depolo. Out of 59 boys Adam Kayssar finished in 6^th overall with a time of 13:43. In 11^th place we had Leon Raptis with a time of 14:40. Finally, George Depolo finished in 16^th overall and had a time of 15:27.

Then in the girls race 56 girls took part. Our top 3 runners were Vivian Glymakopoulos who finished in 21^st place with a time of 19:13. Athena Bouillon in 25^th place with a time of 20:16 and Sophia Mikati in 26^th with a time of 20:18.

All boys were cheered on at the finish line by the girls and vice-versa in a light-hearted tournament.

Congratulations to everyone taking part in what was a very pleasant event!

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing,” George Bernard Shaw.

Never a truer word was said about how important it is to have time to play. Early Years pupils in the Reception class were treated to a wonderful morning of creative play at Playmobil on Tuesday, 11^th October. The children thoroughly enjoyed themselves in an environment specifically made for them to use their imagination in and have fun with the toys there. Their smiles say it all and it is always a trip they look forward to.  

On Friday 7^th October, our FS1 and FS2 classes took an excursion to Ktima Aristi, a super destination for young learners to explore nature and enjoy the outdoors. The children had a chance there, to plant vegetables as well as observe how different fruits and vegetables grow. Our little gardeners tended their crops and planted lettuces too – what fun!

On Wednesday 2^nd of November our school hosted the over 16 girls’ football and over 16 boys’ volleyball tournament.

Four schools took part in the girls football tournament; St.Lawrence, ACS, Campion and St.Catherines. The tournament was a round robin format where our girls faced Campion in their first game of the day. Our girls dominated the game beating Campion 4-0. In our second game we would face St.Catherines. Our girls took the lead winning 1-0 however, our team would concede later in the game and drew 1-1 after fighting hard. In the final match of the day our girls faced ACS. The girls scored an early goal winning the game 1-0. With two wins and a draw our girls finished the tournament in 1^st place lifting the trophy on home soil while shouting Lawrence in the centre of our newly built football pitch.

Five schools and six teams took part in the boys volleyball tournament; St.Lawrence over 16, St.Lawrence under 16, ACS, Byron, Campion and ISA. In the first game of the day our over 16 team faced Byron and won 2-1. Our next match for our over 16 team was a must win against ACS to advance to the final. Unfortunately, ACS would win the tiebreaker after a thrilling match. In the first game of the day for our under 16 volleyball team we faced a strong ISA team and lost 2-0.  In our last game of the day our under 16 team faced Campion. In the tiebreaker we were 1 point away from winning the game against Campion. However, that point did not come, and we lost 2-1 but the display of our young team shows how bright the future is for our school.

Congratulations to all team members for participating in the first tournament hosted by our school since covid. Thank you to the coaches Mr Styliatis and Ms Dikaioulia for doing a wonderful job with our teams.

Lastly, a shout out to this year’s sponsor of all our school’s football teams Lobo Del Mar yachting and the Kallimasia family who are ex-pupils of ours. Markello Kallimasia was a member of all our school teams and a super athlete but was best known for his footballing ability and love for the sport. Thank you, Markello, for being ‘Happy to do my part’ which in turn brought happiness to the faces of the girls dawning their brand-new football kit.

At the end of September a group of thirty Year 11s and 12s embarked on their first expedition for the International Award Silver scheme. This expedition is one of two they must complete and includes three days hiking and two nights camping, whilst carrying all their provisions and equipment themselves. Over the weekend, the pupils navigated and hiked from the picturesque village of Elati to the stunning hilltop settlement of Karytaina on routes they had planned in groups. In total the groups covered over 50km with a lot of ascent and descent. A particular highlight for all the students was the second day in which they hiked down the Lousios Gorge, passing through several cliffside monasteries, over many waterfalls and enjoying wonderful views down the gorge. The effort and resilience of all pupils was particularly impressive on a route which tested their fitness, navigation and map-reading skills. The fact all students made it to the end is a testament to their brilliant endeavour, with the fatigued faces, bodies and feet evidence of what they had put into the three days. Well done to all pupils involved and I wish them a well-deserved rest before the next expedition in Spring!

It's that time of year; the seasons are changing and all things autumnal are taking over.

Today, St Lawrence College was overrun by ghosts, ghouls, zombies, witches and all kinds of naughty Hallowe’en guests in place of our usual pupils. The children thoroughly enjoyed dressing up in costumes, painting their faces with weird and wonderful ghostly-white masks, wearing their spookiest clothes and making their friends jump - BOO!

The classes this week visited Ms Olympia's Spook House where they were amused, delighted and scared by the dark, creepy path through the maze of wickedness!

Of course, Hallowe’en at SLC would not be complete without the famous Jack O’ Lantern competition that is held every year. Our senior school judges took a good look at all the class entries and awarded a Year 1 class the top prize.

Well done to everyone who contributed their time and effort into making a splendid display of pumpkins for all to admire. What a fun day was had by all!

On Friday 14th October 2022, during lunchtime play, the Junior School Charity Ninjas held a walk-a-thon fundraiser in support of Ark of the World. This is a renowned Athenian philanthropic organisation, which makes significant efforts to provide accommodation and protection to children in unfortunate circumstances. Pupils had forty-five minutes to walk or jog around the school track with sponsorship from friends and family.

Furthermore, in pursuit of Hallowe’en thrills, our Charity Ninjas spent their breaks over the last 2 weeks creating hand-made gifts and jewellery to be sold on our Hallowe’en celebration day with all proceeds added to the pot. Both events were a success with the sizeable contribution they generated being donated in full to the designated charity.

What a ‘spooktacular’ day our Year 4 classes spent at Pedopolis learning all about Hallowe’en customs and traditions. The children were ‘mummified’, carved pumpkins and made pumpkin masks! 

On the Thursday before the half-term break, St. Lawrence College was visited by representatives from two British universities, Royal Holloway, London and Warwick. For our Year 13s who are in the middle of making their applications and our Year 12s who are beginning to explore their options moving forward, it was a wonderful opportunity to find out about these universities specifically and UK universities in general as well as to make some really useful contacts. The wide array of excellent questions at the end of the two presentations showed just how interested our pupils were and also how positive it was that we were able to host visitors from the UK for the first time since the pandemic.

On Thursday 6^th October, as part of their English and History curriculum, Year 3 took a trip to The Pottery Workshop in Alimos. There, they followed a step-by-step process to make their own handmade pottery. Afterwards, the children were treated to an outdoor picnic lunch on their way back. A fun day was had by all!