Greek Independence Day is a national holiday celebrated annually to commemorate the start of the War of Greek Independence in 1821. We commemorated this important occasion with our own assembly featuring pupils in our junior school working alongside teachers to present an array of performances to the school. This year, pupils in years 3, 4, 5 & 6 recited poetry, sang traditional songs with some pupils participating in traditional dances too along with some of our wonderful senior school girls. The performances were excellent all round!

During late March 2022, we held our Sports Day events for each year group separately. These pictures prove what a fun, family event we manage to make these occasions, as the parent races proved just as exciting as the pupils’ races on those days! The three Houses of Attica, Epirus and Macedonia were well represented by children and their mums & dads in a series of exciting races and competitive events!

We were very proud of two of our young pupils this Springtime when they appeared on Greece Has Got Talent. They danced a sweet ballet that told the story of friendship coming through COVID times and bringing them closer than ever. Ioanna and Nina were beautifully composed, graceful and polite showing the qualities that we make them role models to us all.

On Friday 4^th March 2022, we held another wonderful carnival celebration at SLC. It was the first big party in 3 years so everyone was ready to make the most of it and enjoy themselves to the fullest. In the warm spring sunshine, we were happy to see that the costumes were fabulous, the atmosphere amazing and the fun went on for hours!

On Thursday 3^rd March, FS1 & 2 visited the ‘Playmobil Fun Park’ in Kifissia. The children had the opportunity to spend a morning of fun playing with a wide range of small world toys, many of which have relevance to our Make-Believe topic as well as other topics and themes which are ongoing throughout the year. They loved it there!

During our annual Science Day on Friday 18th March, each class carried out investigations in both STEM and Scientific Enquiry activities. Year 4 created ‘elephant toothpaste’ and made containers to see which would float best and hold the greatest weight. Year 5 created invisible ink using lemon juice and used a heat source to reveal a secret message. In Reception classes, our pupils constructed weightbearing arches using pipe cleaners and beans. Across the school, science and technology ruled the day!  

The British Physics Olympiad provides a series of competitions to stretch and challenge talented young physicists. Following the increasing popularity of the competition among our pupils, the senior school Physics department took part in four of these competitions: the Intermediate Physics Challenge for Year 11, the Senior Physics Challenge for Year 12, the Physics Challenge for Year 13 and the BPhO Round 1 for Year 13.

A number of pupils embraced the challenge and won awards and certificates filling us, yet again, with pride!

Below is a list of all the contestants and their attainment per competition. We wish to congratulate them all and share the news of their success with you!

In each one of these competitions, top Physics problem-solvers of their age from UK and international schools alike took part, so attaining even a modest mark still includes our pupils in the very top rank of participants.

However, we would like to give a special shout out to:

Meng Xuchen, a Year 11 pupil, for achieving a Gold award in the Intermediate Physics Challenge, awarded only to the top 5.5% out of roughly 2400 contestants, as well as her success in the Senior Physics Challenge, a competition meant for Year 12 pupils!

Liao Yuqian, a Year 12 pupil, for achieving a Gold award in the Senior Physics Challenge, awarded only to the top 8.9% out of roughly 6900 contestants, as well as her successes in the Physics Challenge and BPhO Round 1, competitions meant for Year 13 pupils!

On Friday 8^th April, we held our first junior school disco in a long time and boy oh boy, did the children have a blast! In the plush surroundings of the new venue next door to our school campus, Cataleya, our years 5 & 6 pupils danced, sang and laughed their way through an evening of fun. The dance offs always provide a competitive element of excitement to the proceedings so there's a bit of everything for everyone. Disco time is back in town!

February and March were dedicated to all things basketball! Our  Under and Over 16, boys and girls school teams competed in several games against ACS. It was great fun getting back on the basketball court and getting into a game situation after two years. Congratulations to all who took part and we can't wait for more fixtures in the near future.

On the 21^st of March, our St. Lawrence swimming team took part in a swimming tournament at ACS. Our team was comprised of thirteen KS3 pupils. After a very successful tournament, our team won two medals in individual events and one in a team effort. Foivi Maggiorou won a bronze medal in girls 50m breaststroke. Apollon Filipopoulos won a silver medal in boys 100m butterfly. Our relay team of Alexis Mylonas, Ermolaos Mylonas, Apollon Filipopoulos and Sergios Velidis  finished in 2^nd place in 4x50m freestyle. The children enjoyed a fun day and displayed exceptional team spirit as they were able to compete in a school tournament once again. 

At the end of the Spring term, the Junior School held their annual Interhouse Quiz Finals between Attica, Epirus and Macedonia. The four finalists from each KS2 team were super excited to represent their Houses and turned up ready to bring their best effort to the occasion, having succeeded in getting through the earlier rounds and semi-finals. Questions in three categories: spelling, mental maths and general knowledge proved challenging but worth the brain strain as each child chewed over possibilities or sometimes confidently shot out their answers. The competitions were hard fought!

Congratulations to all who tried and particularly to those who succeeded in gaining victory for their teams!

Year 3 winners: Attica

Year 4 winners: Macedonia

Year 5 winners: Epirus

Year 6 winners: Epirus

What a great time was had by everyone as we celebrated the awesomeness of poetry this week at St Lawrence. The power and joy that can be obtained from words was palpable in every activity that was arranged for World Poetry Day, 2022. On Monday morning pupils were greeted to the delightful spectacle of their lockers covered in gorgeous postcards each one bearing a beautifully handwritten stanza or two. I cannot emphasize enough what a joy it was when pupils brought their postcards to class for inspiration and discussion. Fantastic stuff!  Later that day we experienced the immediacy of being ambushed by Pop Up Poetry recitals in the middle of our lessons  - it’s always healthy to be bombarded with the wit and wisdom of verse when you least expect it.  

We were then treated to a star studded and lively assembly broadcast from the hallowed halls of the English Department. We also had a blast creating our own Limericks in lessons which were then chalked up graffiti artist style on the corridor walls of the English Department with great gusto. Finally, many an intrepid explorer embarked upon The Poetry Treasure Hunt   - boldly searching out clues and braving the elements in these bracing times. A humongous thank you to everybody involved – we all had rhymes presented to us on colourful picture postcards, messed about with words, ambushed each other with recitals, tracked down an elusive ode and had buckets of fun making up some pretty punchy Limericks.  

This week, our Year 9 students of Spanish have had the rare chance to step onto a real Spanish naval ship! To commemorate the 500^th anniversary of the first circumnavigation of the world, the Juan Sebastián de Elcano training ship has been visiting Piraeus and has let members of the public and our school onboard to see the workings of the modern Spanish Navy. The tours given by the crew were not only a valuable Spanish language experience, but also gave us insight into the features of the ship, history of the Spanish Navy, and life at sea.

The last week of February 2022 in Early Years classes saw life on the high seas take over. Sea life comes in all shapes and sizes. The children learned all about drama, dressing up and how to spot far off lands from on board their pirate ship too. 

Learning through play is what they do best in FS1! 

As part of British Science Week, we are planning a very special Science Day for our pupils. On Friday 18th March, Reception to Year 6 classes will enjoy a fun-filled day of experiments and STEM activities! We are looking forward to seeing them use their creativity and knowledge to tackle the challenges they will be faced with.