During the weekend Friday 16^th, Saturday 17^th and Sunday 18^th December 2022 twenty of our pupils took part in another Model United Nations conference at Costeas-Geitonas School. Our pupils represented two countries, France and Brazil, as Delegates in various Committees as diverse as the Disarmament and International Security Committee, the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee, the Special Political and Decolonization Committee, the Legal Committee, the Human Rights Committee and the Security Council. This time one of our pupils, Constantinos Zafeirakis, held the position of Co-Chair of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee.

The theme of this Conference was “Rebuilding Trust”, an extremely interesting and thought-provoking area of discussion. As the organisers point out in the CGSMUN Administrative Handbook, modern democracy and diplomacy depend on trust as it is vital to global stability and security. The United Nations itself runs on trust and partnership. Democracy’s key element is the communication between the political and civil societies, and when trust is lacking, democratic processes such as decision-making are severely impaired. In simple terms, in a democratic world, trust is a fundamental value and yet today we highly disregard it on a civil, domestic and international level. It is therefore more essential than ever that confidence between governments and people be improved as it is a prerequisite if confidence in relations between countries is to be restored. A lot of the topics that were debated in the Committees during the three days of intense work were therefore related to the theme of the Conference. Participating in this MUN event has given our pupils a better insight into today’s world challenges as they are preparing themselves to become international citizens, by providing them not only with valuable information but also with unique skills that they can use in their academic and professional lives.

We also need to congratulate Taylor Delight Goodall who, as the Delegate of Brazil, was named the Best Delegate Award of the UNICEF Committee.

Taking part in an MUN Conference has become very popular among both older and younger pupils, even as young as from Year 7. The pupils bravely sacrificed a whole weekend, debating over long hours on topics that are really challenging for them. Our older pupils are by now used to being Chairs of various Committees and help the younger members of the MUN Club of our school feel excited as well as informed and prepared. We are all looking forward to our next participation in February, at an MUN Conference which will see again one of our pupils, Kimberly Wang, as the Co-Chair of the WHO, the World Health Organisation Committee. Well done to all!

On Friday 20th January, a group of twenty Year 12 and Year 13 pupils accompanied by three members of staff travelled to Geneva, Switzerland on a trip organised by the Physics department in order to visit the research facilities at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire, CERN).

The visit to CERN took place on 21^st January where, after a short introduction to particle accelerators and the research that takes place there, our tour guide walked us through two research sites; the Antimatter Factory where researchers study if antimatter behaves the same way as ordinary matter and the Data Centre, where we found out how the insurmountable amount of data produced by CERN is filtered, stored, and then distributed to researchers. Our pupils asked a plethora of probing questions demonstrating their prior knowledge in Particle Physics and their genuine interest; in our tour guide’s own words, we were ‘quite the group’!

We did not, however, miss out on the opportunity to explore more than the wonders of Physics taking place in Geneva. On Sunday 22^nd January, we went on a guided tour of the city, visiting iconic locations such as the Alley of Flags and the Broken Chair, the La Grange Park, and St Peter’s Cathedral, all while learning about the city’s history.

On this first international St Lawrence College trip since the COVID pandemic, our pupils gained an insight on the research to uncover what the universe is made of and how it works, and thoroughly enjoyed themselves outside the school setting.

On Friday, 16th December, the Foundation Stage Two classes visited Santa Claus’ Kingdom at the Mediterranean Exhibition Centre in Peania for a morning of festive fun! The young adventurers had terrific fun playing with snow, riding horses on the carousel and to top it all off, meeting Olaf the snowman! 

On Thursday 15^th December, the Year 3 children visited Trofoupoli as part of their Science Unit and took part in an educational programme on nutrition, the digestive system and the human body. They had lots of fun playing numerous interactive games.

Later on, they visited the Ellinikon Experience Park for a picnic lunch and enjoyed playing on the playground equipment. A fun filled day for all!

On Friday, 16^th December, we held our traditional Annual Christmas Carol Concert at the Cataleya Venue in Anemon Street. The pupils from Years 1 to 6 as well as the members of our choir club, the talented and tuneful St. Lawrence Singers, sang to a delighted audience of families and friends. Our music teachers and other willing volunteers provided musical accompaniments. The holiday spirit was alive and well!

On Thursday 15^th December, the FS1, FS2 and Reception classes performed their Christmas Concert, ‘Our Merry Little Christmas Party!’ at the Efilena Estate which is located next door to our school campus. The air was filled with a joyous Christmas spirit as the children performed ‘Jingle Bells’ and ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.’ Everyone danced along and joined in with the fun finale, ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town.’ The show was quite the success! Well done, boys and girls!

On Thursday 15th December, the Foundation Stage 1 & 2 classes had their annual Baking Day. A variety of different holiday sweets, cookies and cupcakes were made and served at up at the end of their Christmas concert that day. The children wore their chef hats and aprons and had fun as they created their delicious treats, which were enjoyed by all who attended.

In early December, Santa Claus took time out of his busy schedule to pay us a visit here at SLC, and sit for a photo in Santa’s grotto. The children even got to see Mrs Claus, and Santa’s little helper, a Christmas elf who was allowed out of the workshop in Lapland to accept letters from our excited little children. What a fun time it was!

On Wednesday 7^th December, Year 1 visited the Cultural Park in Keratea as part of their topic on old toys and books. The children had the opportunity to play some ancient style games outdoors, which they thoroughly enjoyed as they learned about playtimes of the past such as spinning tops, clay marbles, paper balls and wooden puzzles. The Tug of War game and the sack race were particularly great fun!

During the third week of November, the junior school hosted a book exhibition with Kidzbooks, a company which has the greatest selection of English children's books in Greece. Teachers took their pupils along and helped them decide from the huge array of titles available, which books they would best enjoy. We thank Ms. Xilas from Kidzbooks for her continuous support through her generous donations to our school library.

On the last day of term, 20th December, Year 6 pupils and staff headed off to Glyfada to go on their annual Fun Day! On the list of fun things to do were bowling, rollerblading and footie in the soft-play area. The claw-grab machine was practically emptied as the children competed with it to win all kinds of goodies. And then the children returned to school full of tales of impossibly fabulous bowling scores, “Miss, I got 8 strik Final es!” “Well, I got 9 strikes and a spare!” they beamed and told anyone who would listen. What a great day they had before heading off for the holidays. 

Merry Christmas everyone! 

Brr, it's cold out there! 19^th December was the perfect time to stay indoors and get creative at Pedopolis! Hence, the children took part in a specially designed programme, to learn about the uniqueness of the Christmas holiday. Each child made a Holiday craft to take home, slime and a delicious cookie. To add to the fun holiday craft making and fun festivities the children explored concepts in a creative and hands-on way. All the children were delighted to share the fun with their reception teachers.

One of the topics examined in the Year 12 syllabus is “Climate change and its impact”. Therefore, on Friday 16^th December the Greek department invited Dr Sevastianos Moirasgentis to talk to our pupils online about the environment and climate change, the issues that arise, the impact it has globally and more importantly its mitigation.

Dr Moirasgentis is a Research Director in the National Observatory and is specialized in Climate Policies. He is also the Lead author in IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).

During the presentation our Year 12 pupils listened with great interest to the information Dr Moirasgentis conveyed to them and asked relevant questions to satisfy their curiosity in learning about this important issue.

A huge thank you to Dr Moirasgentis for sharing this essential information on Climate change with our pupils.

On Friday 9^th December the Greek department organised a trip for our Year 12 and Year 13 pupils. The pupils visited the Benaki museum in the centre of Athens, which hosts a unique exhibition on Greek culture arranged diachronically from prehistory to the 20th century. The pupils admired the Byzantine and the Ancient Greek exhibits and learned about the traditional architecture in Macedonia during the Ottoman occupation in the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

They also had the opportunity to visit the private art collection of Ioannis Moralis, a famous Greek painter. This collection is located on the 2^nd floor of the museum, and includes not only his paintings but many personal objects such as his diary, his brushes, his palette, etc.

The trip ended with a visit to Thiseio, the beautiful neighbourhood in the city of Athens, surrounded by archaeological sites and pedestrian streets, where the pupils enjoyed a traditional Greek meal with their classmates with a view of the Acropolis.

All the pupils enjoyed this outing, which was a lovely way to end a demanding term full of studying in preparation of their public exams.

On 20^th October 2022 Year 7s visited the castle of Acrocorinth and Stymphalia Environmental Museum. The pupils sketched the surrounding area to identify physical, human and environmental elements and looked at the defences while creating castle sketches to compare these with Norman castle building. These activities were planned in accordance with the Year 7 Geography and History syllabus showcasing how learning outside school is essential for and an integral part of our pupils’ educational development.

I liked the trips because they were lots of fun I couldn't stop laughing with my friends. It was fascinating and very interesting. I learnt many things I didn't know before and enjoyed them very much.

-Vanessa 

Stymphalia Lake

I enjoyed observing the dry Stymphalia Lake and learning about its past history. The fish were so cool especially how they functioned during dry season.

Castle of Acrocorinth

The castle was very interesting because I couldn't believed that where I was standing had been created gradually more than a thousand years ago.

-Carola