On Thursday 20^th October St. Lawrence College celebrated the 28^th October anniversary.

 Every year we honour those who gave their lives for the freedom of Greece. We admire the strength and mental fortitude of those who dared to oppose the legendary "OXI" against the fascists who tried to conquer our country. The Greeks shouted a loud "No" in those days of the 40's, which was admirable when the whole of Europe was at a standstill. 

All our pupils from Year 4 to Year 6 participated in the celebration, where they narrated the most important events of that historical period, recited poems and sang songs.

We are all excited that after two years of lockdown we were able to celebrate with our pupils this Greek National holiday.

On Tuesday 18th of October for the first time since covid struck our school took part in an interschool football and volleyball tournament hosted by ACS. Six schools participated in the boys over 16 football tournament and five for the over 16 girls’ volleyball tournament.

Our boys first game was against host team ACS where they found themselves in a very difficult situation losing 2-0 until late in the game. After fighting hard, the boys managed to score 2 goals in the last minutes of the game and drew 2-2. Then in a must win game against St. Catherines our boys showed their class and comfortably beat them 2-0 and advanced to the final where they faced Byron College. In the final although tired after back-to-back games the boys really came together as a team and simply could not be stopped, winning the game 5-0 and bringing home the gold.

Our girls’ volleyball team took part in a tournament format where they had to face all 4 other competing schools. The first game they defeated Campion in a close game 2 sets to 1. In the 2nd game against ISA our girls dominated the game from start to finish and won 2-0. In the 3rd game of the day the girls faced St. Catherines were they again won 2-1 after a hard fought match. In the last game of the day and with our boys’ football team cheering on from the stands our girls faced the host ACS to determine the winner of the tournament. The girls had a rough start going 1-0 down in sets and losing by 5 points in the second set. However, they managed to bring it back after a combined team effort and proceeded to win the second and third set ultimately winning 2-1 and not tasting defeat the whole tournament.

All our boys and girls celebrated their wins together in a wonderful moment for both of our teams chanting Lawrence in an iconic post covid moment.

A big congratulations to both teams for winning the trophies for our school and a special thanks to the coaches Mr Strzemiecki and Ms Dikaioulia.

Monday 10^th October was World Mental Health Day and some events took place in the senior school to ensure pupils discussed mental health, understand how to look after it, and realise how important it is to talk about things and get help if they, or a friend/family member are struggling. In form time pupils got the conversation going about aspects of mental health with their peers and form teacher. A wall display was produced with every pupil in Years 7-13 sharing something they are grateful for that helps their mental health. The Student Council joined in the celebrations by giving out fruit juice and cereal bars to their peers in the playground at short break. At lunchtime Ms Michaelides did a special session of yoga for pupils and teachers to promote strategies that help maintain well-being. More than 40 pupils and teachers joined in this relaxation activity! Ms Zarri, our school counsellor, brought Mailo, the well-being dog, to school for the day and popped into classes and the playground to discuss the importance of everyone looking after their mental health. It was great to see so many pupils and teachers talking about mental health.

On Tuesday 4^th October, 38 of our pupils in Years 10-13 participated in the Senior Mathematics Challenge, organised by the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust. The Senior Mathematics Challenge is addressed to pupils in Year 13 and below with the aim to promote the love for problem solving and encourage mathematical reasoning, precision of thought, and fluency.

All our pupils enjoyed taking part in the Challenge and we are looking forward to hearing about their performances soon. Last year 80% of all the pupils who participated were awarded either a Gold, a Silver or a Bronze certificate in the Senior Mathematics Challenge, having set an excellent example to be followed!

After the coming half term break, we invite pupils from Year 11 and below to participate in the Intermediate Mathematics Challenge that will take place on Wednesday February 1^st. And later on in the year our young Mathematicians from Years 8 and below can sign up to participate in the Junior Mathematics Challenge which this year will take place on April 26^th.

We congratulate all our pupils for their participation and their efforts, while special congratulations go to Xinyi Hu and Yifei Wang who were both qualified for the Hamilton Olympiad last year.

On Sunday 2^nd October, the annual race against breast cancer, The RACE for the CURE, took place in Zappeio, in the centre of Athens. As we do every year since this event first took place back in 2012, our school pupils, parents and teachers participated in the organised 2km walk and 5km run. The aim of this event is to raise awareness on the prevention of Breast Cancer through annual monitoring, and the money raised is used by the Panhellenic Society of Women with Breast Cancer, “ALMA ZOIS”, to support women who have or had breast cancer all around the country.

This event, which is a great celebration of life in the face of a serious disease, and is organised in many cities of the world, is the first event organised by our school’s Services Society every year and all the members are proud for encouraging and enabling our participation in an important and worthwhile cause like this.  Well done to all of those who took part in the hope that no more lives will be lost from this disease!

Our talented Year 12 and Year 13 Art pupils enjoyed a wonderful outing to the Goulandris Museum in Athens earlier this week. A guided tour explored famous works of art from a variety of art movements and genres and some traditional and non-traditional work was analysed with the aid of an excellent interactive program.

In addition to the pleasure and inspiration the trip generated, our A-Level pupils observed techniques and perceptions that will help them as they develop their own A-Level Art portfolios.

Seven of our pupils have participated in an MUN Conference held over the 8^th-9^th October weekend. The event was held at Campion School and our school was selected to represent the delegates of France throughout the conference.

This was the first Conference held in-person after two years of online Conferences due to Covid-19 measures. And although our MUN Club members participated with dedication and enjoyed the online Conferences, there is no comparison to the atmosphere, the interaction, the friendships and the bonds made during a live, in-person Model United Nations conference. Their smiles over the two days of the event said it all! As teachers we are very proud of our young generation of future leaders of the world and congratulate all those who participated.

Additionally, Lydia Marie Stephenson was voted the Best Delegate in the Social, Cultural and Humanitarian Committee while Kimberly Wang was voted Best Delegate of ECOSOC, the Economic and Social Council.

Further MUN Conferences are scheduled for later in the school year and our pupils are already looking ahead to those. All senior school pupils are invited to get involved and should see Ms Kladouchou or Ms Tsirigoti for further information.

Friday 7^th October saw the inauguration of the English Department's new mini-libraries. These precious resources were recently installed in each English classroom and feature the entire catalogue of novels in our Extended Reading Lists. The lists are designed to encourage pupils of all abilities to read widely and voraciously for pleasure and include a vast range of both classic and contemporary fiction - everything from Dickens and Austen to Michael Morpurgo and Suzanne Collins. 

The English team proudly celebrated the completion of the mini-libraries with a ceremony featuring a beautiful opening number sung by the talented Anna Argyrou (winner of Greece's 'The Voice' 2021), followed by a staff-led dramatic sketch which was accompanied by a range of superb dramatic readings from some of the featured novels, all expertly delivered by our pupils (please see names below). The ceremony was attended by key St Lawrence College stakeholders and was enjoyed by all.

The English Department would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all involved.

Pupils involved:

Olivia Sorlid (Year 7), reading from 'The Land of Stories' by Chris Colfer.

Georgina Kotsatou and Artemis Marrero (Year 8), reading from 'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen.

Melina Anastasopoulou and Cilia Konti (Year 9), reading from 'One' by Sarah Crossan.

Alexandra Mavromichalis, Eugenia Mitropoulou and Sofia Tzagkaraki-Kaseta (Year 10), reading from 'The Great Gatsby' by F.S. Fitzgerald.

Theodora Farmakidi, Alexandra Kefallonitis and Despoina Salacha (Year 11), reading from 'The Help' by Kathryn Stockett.

Lydia Stephenson (Year 12), reading from 'Small Island' by Andrea Levy.

Eleni Lomtatidze (Year 13), reading from 'A Streetcar Named Desire' by Tennessee Williams.

On Friday 30^th September, Year 6 took part in an active PE based trip to the Mesogeia Track & Field Festival – an event packed with sports fun at a venue in Spata, Attiki. The children saw a theatre show about the first Olympic Games, learned about recycling and participated in a number of energetic activities including the children's favourite – survivor games!

A major sports development has been accomplished at St. Lawrence College through a complete renewal and redesign of the large football field which features at the heart of the school’s sports facilities.

The time had come for a relaying of the football field and the opportunity was taken to establish additional features for the school’s sports provision. Through the summer, work was carried out to remove older broken spectator seating and completely remove, level, and relay a new football pitch surface. Now a high-quality 9-a-side football pitch has been laid, and with perfect timing, for post-pandemic interschool tournaments and matches are due to recommence. Likewise, within school, inter-house tournaments and PE lessons will make full use of the new facility.

Furthermore, surrounding the new football pitch, a running track has been developed. The running track, a feature we have not enjoyed at school until now, will lead the development of track events among the school’s athletics programme. It is already in use, and will be enhanced further, in due course, with a ‘cinders’ surface and the painting of running lanes. Further developments over the summer include a permanent long jump pit and the refurbishment of the spectators’ seating area.

Planning for an official celebratory opening of the new sports facilities is under way and announcements will be made soon. The whole area has been welcomed by sports staff and pupils alike, and with lunchtime try-outs for boys and girls football teams well under way, our pupils are already making the most of this new school feature.

This year’s competition was themed ‘Summer’ and many entries were received, being submitted by pupils from across all year groups. The teachers of the Art department judged the contest, and while it was a close call, all judges agreed on the winners from the Key Stage 3, 4 and 5 categories.

Photographs were judged on technical skill, artistry, and the overall effectiveness in conveying the theme. In Key Stage 3, the winner was Alexandros Roberts Taoufik with an impressive photograph of a summer storm; in Key Stage 4, Martina Cugat Gregoriadis’ photo of a sleeping cat with the sea was judged the best, and in Key Stage 5 Monica Colombo’s image of octopuses on a Greek harbourside captured the essence of a Greek summer.

All photographs that were submitted are soon to be displayed in school, providing a welcome reminder of summer as the autumn draws on.

Every summer, for one month, St. Lawrence runs a highly successful, action-packed, fun-filled summer programme suited to children aged from three to fourteen. Yet again this year, SLC is the place to be as we are busy preparing a productive and enjoyable course of activities for your children from June 20th to July 15th. 

This year, our children under the age of 7 will follow an English based programme full of activities, language and sports, while children over 7 have the option of three specific programmes: English Language, Sports or Creative Art & Drama .

We offer exceptional tuition in English language, sport, dance, chess, recycled art, 3D paper architecture art, robotics, yoga, field games/survivor field/parkour, mini golf, roller skating, crafts, drama, music fun and many more activities.

At St. Lawrence College, we actively encourage our pupils to develop independence, confidence and leadership skills.

We focus on forming friendships, inspiring creativity, building life skills and having fun.

Do join us for an unforgettable summer adventure.

Registration is now open and we look forward to seeing your child/children on Monday 20th June at 9:00 a.m. for the start of an exciting summer.

Please contact the Registrar, Mrs. Emily Naoum, for further details, either by email or by phone at +30210 8917000

On the pleasantly warm evening of Friday 17^th June 2022, we held our 42^nd Annual Awards Ceremony for pupils of the junior and senior schools. Our Guest of Honour was Mr Matthew Lodge, the British Ambassador to Greece since August 2021, who spoke of the importance of savouring every moment of the journey towards reaching life goals – a valid point for these challenging times that we live in.

The pupils proudly received their awards for academic excellence, for effort, progress, sportsmanship, and overall contributions to school life, in front of their families, friends and staff. Our graduating pupils in Year 13 were in high spirits as their prospective paths in life were announced by our Headmaster, Mr Holden. The mood was uplifting and there were smiles all around as everyone of us appreciated being able once more to participate in this special event on such a grand scale after a hiatus of several years through the pandemic. A fine reception with delicious foods and drinks was enjoyed by guests afterwards.

To the graduating class of 2022, we wish you every success in your future endeavours!

From Tuesday 14^th to Thursday 16^th June, Year 6 were taken on a residential trip to Milias Camps Village in central Greece. They spent a wonderfully enjoyable two nights in the countryside and took part in a range of fun-filled activities organised by Mr George and his team of instructors. After arriving there and taking a welcome dip in the pool, there was time for an early evening hike to a colossal cave high on a mountainside where it is said, in the olden days, whole villages would take shelter from invaders on the plains below. Wednesday was busy with a pleasant walk along the river in Pavliani, where art and adventure come together to create a unique countryside experience. Later, there was swimming, cycling, archery and climbing which carried on the following day too. The children’s only complaint was that it was too soon to leave when Thursday afternoon rolled around, and they had to pack their bags ready for their return to Athens. What an amazing experience the children had to finish off their junior school years!

On Wednesday 15th June, Year 2 visited the Vorres Museum as part of their art curriculum on super sculptures this term. As Pablo Picasso said, “Sculpture is the art of the intelligence.” The children appreciated the wide variety of sculptures and other artworks on display, no doubt enjoying the trip and the new environment they found themselves in for the day.