On the 15th of November,Year 1 pupils visited the Toy Museum in Faliro as part of their topic on Old Books and Toys. The children were fascinated as they had never seen so many different kinds of old playthings.They were introduced to the first 'toys' from thousands years ago, learning how they changed through the ages. The children's tour was led by a guide and a doll with a mop. When asked what they thought, the children all agreed, "It was brilliant!"

On Wednesday 20th November 2019, Year 5 English History students had a fun-filled, fascinating day out at the Archaeological Museum in Athens where they enriched their knowledge of Ancient Egypt. They had the chance to see various Egyptian tools and treasures, but the highlight was definitely an authentic sarcophagus, complete with a real mummy inside!

In commemoration of the Greek national holiday on 28th October, St Lawrence College junior school put on a terrific performance with acting, singing and dancing. The pupils of year 6 re-enacted scenes set in Epirus at the beginning of the Greek-Italian war when soldiers went off to fight in the mountains of Pindos. There were newspaper boys who shared the news, villagers preparing clothes and blankets for the war effort and the glorious return of victorious soldiers. What a marvellous performance that our talented Ms Tsirigoti, Ms Giannakou and the Greek department put on. 

The ‘On-The-Spot’ Painting and Drawing Competition took place last weekend at Campion School and it was a lovely event that saw a number of international schools from the Attica area take part. Contestant’s ages ranged from 5-16 years.
The following five pupils from St. Lawrence College took part:

Alexandra Mavromichalis (Year 7)
Dorothea Svistunova ( Year 8)
Chen Yunhan (Emily) (Year 9 )
Yang Xueying (Rose) (Year 9) 
Elene Lomtatidze (Year 10)

It was an exciting  morning for our pupils, there was a lot of energy and artistic passion shown. They had worked very hard to prepare their ideas on the theme of ‘Nature’ in the weeks prior to the competition. We wish them the best of luck for the judging, but most importantly congratulate them all for taking the time to participate in this worthy event. A special thanks to Ms. Poulimenakos and Ms. Delikoura for accompanying and supporting the pupils. Congratulations too to Dorothea and Emily who came runner up in their age group!

Sunday 10th November was Remembrance Sunday, the day when British and Commonwealth countries remember servicemen and women who lost their lives during active service. This year’s Remembrance Sunday had special meaning as it was the 100th anniversary since the first Remembrance Sunday, held in 1919, one year after the end of the First World War.

Pupils of St. Lawrence College were asked by the British Embassy in Greece defence section to sing and read at the Remembrance Day ceremony held at the War Graves Commission cemetery in Falero. Year 12 pupil Jake Paternoster read a letter that a British soldier sent to his mother from the trenches of northern France in 1915. Eleni Kalendi, also Year 12, read the poem “To Germany”, written by Charles Sorley in 1915, which talks of longing for peace between the countries after the war. Both pupils’ readings were beautifully delivered and the attention of ambassadors from many countries, many military dignitaries and other members of the public was held as everyone reflected on the poignant words read by Jake and Eleni.

Later in the service wreaths were laid by a large number of ambassadors and representatives of countries, of army units and schools. Headmaster Mr Phil Holden laid a wreath on behalf of St. Lawrence College. While the wreaths were laid, a group of ten senior school pupils sang “Mansions of the Lord”, having been prepared for the occasion over a number of weeks by music teacher Ms Diana Romeos and accompanied on the acoustic guitar by guitar teacher Mr George Theofanidis.

After the event our pupils were thanked and congratulated by the British Ambassador Kate Smith and by the British Defence Attaché Tim Ferns. Everyone who attended the event was moved by the occasion and undoubtedly it was an honour for our school to be asked to play a central role in the proceedings.
 

We are only 2 months in and already our school has participated in several sports tournaments. 

On 24^th October it was the turn of the over 16 boys volleyball and girls football teams at ACS, with 6 international schools participating. We came a respectable 4^th in volleyball and 3^rd in girls football.

On 5^th November, we took 1^st place in girls over 16 volleyball tournament, which took place at ISA school, with 6 international schools participating.

November 6^th saw us hosting the under 16 boys volleyball tournament, with 6 school participating. Our boys narrowly missed out on the win coming 2^nd place overall.

On the same day ( November 6^th) our girls under 16 football team, although the youngest team of all with 5 year 7 pupils in the roster, came an impressive second.

Congratulations to all involved!

Last week in Durham University, England, two of our former St. Lawrence College Head Pupils, Bella Kontogianni (2018-2019) and Rosie Vorri (2016-2017) showed that they are still close friends working towards their goals and enjoying the new challenges of university life at Durham. They are pictured together here at the Durham IV, a prestigious debate competition which draws on finely tuned debating skills. Both of these students represented Greece, while at St. Lawrence College, in the WSDC (World Schools Debating Championship)and we wish them continued success in all their future endeavours. 

On Friday 15th November, St Lawrence Junior School held an Odd Socks Day to celebrate Anti-Bullying Week. Designed to be an opportunity to encourage people to express themselves and celebrate their individuality, it allowed everyone to show what makes us unique and to celebrate differences! 

Year 6 pupils at St. Lawrence College have been using their artistic skills and understanding of the style of artist, Georgia O Keefe, to decorate the school in preparation for Remembrance Sunday and then Armistice Day, held on 11th November to commemorate the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France to end World War I. This took effect on the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of 1918.  

As school gets into full swing once again, the thoughts of our Year 12 and Year 13 pupils have begun to turn towards the future and life after St. Lawrence College. With university application deadlines looming, Year 13 pupils have been working closely with their form tutors who offer guidance on all aspects of the application process. Our A-Level pupils have also been given the opportunity to ask questions directly of representatives from UK universities, such as Imperial and King’s College, who have visited the school over the last few weeks to talk about specific information relating to their university but also about campus life in general. As well as that, we were delighted to host diplomats from the Irish embassy who came to tell our pupils more about studying in Ireland; a destination that will undoubtedly increase in popularity in the next few years as the reputation of its excellent universities continues to grow.

On Tuesday 15th October, 2019, our 6 and 7 year olds in year 2 took a short trip up north to the leafy suburb of Kifissia where they visited the Goulandris Museum. They have been learning all about living things in their unit of topic work, studying insects and all kinds of animals. They played some engaging learning games and took a good look at all the exhibits on display there. Taking your learning out of the classroom always adds that extra element of fun!

On the mildest of evenings, Friday 11th October 2019, St. Lawrence College held its annual celebration of all things autumnal. 

The classic pumpkin display, which has become a legendary affair, was taken to new heights this year with families showing there are no limits to the imagination when it comes to carving a Jack o' Lantern. Whether it was cute, ghoulish, harvest themed or just funny, they impressed all who set eyes upon them. 

Costumes of pupils, families and friends were particularly enthusiastic this year with everything from replicas of The Adams Family to skeletons, witches, cats and vampires plus everything in between. 

Stalls selling a wide range of products both creative and fun were as busy as the food and drinks counters ensuring all guests had their fill of hot dogs, souvlaki and sweet ‘loukoumades’ and the rest. All in all, another amazing night of celebration that is surely the highlight of the season!
 

The debate season has already begun and SLC has its first success of the year already. Over 50 teams took part in the 10th St Catherine's Debate Cup on Saturday 21 September and not only did our less experienced debaters do well, with Anna Sokolova and Elene Lomtatidze placing amongst the top ten novices, but we also won the main competition. Penny Haratza and Markella Papadopoulou performed superbly in the final arguing against the motion that we should remove soldiers' ability to feel fear.