41 pupils in Year 8 went to Mt. Parnassos, the most well-developed ski centre in Greece, to enjoy a two-day ski trip last week. It was an action-packed adventure with pupils partaking in seven hours of ski or snowboard lessons with certified instructors. For some it was their first chance to have a go at learning these winter sports, whilst for others it was an opportunity to hone their skiing or snowboarding skills to a more advanced level. The pupils enjoyed the beautiful mountain scenery, fresh air and glorious weather. After hitting the slopes, they were able to enjoy some ice skating and there was plenty of opportunity to sample traditional local cuisine in mountain tavernas. Great fun was had by all and their huge smiles said it all!

Panhellenic Forensics Association Tournament at ACS

On Monday 12^th February, sixteen Year 7 pupils visited the library of Saronida and the soup kitchen in Anavyssos as part of the school’s Services Society work for helping people in need. Our pupils made use of money that had been collected from bake sales, non-uniform days and other pre-Christmas functions and visited a local supermarket where they purchased goods needed by the charity in Anavyssos for the meals prepared there every day. All pupils were very happy to participate in such a worthy activity and they proved to be extremely careful in spending the money wisely, so that they could buy the most with it!

When visiting the library, they were shown books that pupils from our school have donated in previous years and, later on, in the soup kitchen it was like visiting old friends! People there were expecting us with great pleasure and were full of praise for the pupils, their parents and our school for teaching compassion and dedication through charity work. Our pupils not only delivered the food items but placed everything on the shelves, visited the kitchen, the storage rooms for food and clothes and enjoyed talking to the volunteers.

As expected, pupil behaviour was of the highest quality. They really enjoyed this different experience which gave them an insight into the point of delivery of the charity work. The pupils now understand how the results of our charity drives really get delivered and make a difference. What is more, our school’s well-established bond with the Saronida and Anavyssos charities was strengthened further, with younger pupils taking over in the Services Society work conducted by St. Lawrence College.

On Friday 9th February 2018, Years 4, 5 & 6 spent an evening in a dancing mood at the Cultural Hall. With all their favourite tunes playing and a fair share of trending dance moves on show, there were smiles and laughs all round. 

The kids had a blast doing their best to better one another with such confidence and joy - what a sight! Pizza and juice supplied them with the energy they needed to keep going and by the time the lights went on, we had certainly made sure they'd be sleeping well later!  

Even on schooldays, our youngest children need the opportunity to explore creative play with the freedom that an outing to the right destination can offer.  On Friday 9th February 2018, with this aim in mind, the children of our Early Years section were taken for a delightful day of fun and adventure in the ideal environment at Playmobil. In this place, the little ones had the chance for extended periods of play with some super exciting oversized toys and games. 

They built, created and role played their way through hours of fun there and each one of them came back smiling. What fun!

On Monday 5^th February the Business Studies department organized a trip for Year 10 and 11 pupils to Freshline ltd., a Greek family business which manufactures fresh organic cosmetics. Pupils were shown around the factory by the C.E.O., attended a corporate presentation and participated in a workshop which taught them how to make soap cakes with natural ingredients.

The pupils returned to school with valuable experience, and also the fragant results of their creations.

Last Monday all the pupils in Years 7, 8 and 9 spent an afternoon with Ms. Ioanna-Maria Gertsou and Mei, her guide dog, from the Lara Guide Dog School. Our incredible guest was able to tell the pupils of her own experiences living as a blind person in Athens with great clarity, emotion and sincerity. She showed them how she trains these dedicated working dogs by doing a demonstration with Mei. All the pupils were in awe of Ms. Ioanna-Maria’s great resilience, her passion for animals and her strong determination to make the most of every opportunity in life; they had so many interesting questions to ask her! This visit really gave our pupils an insight into the huge role that working dogs can play in the lives of people with disabilities. Pupils were also pleased to donate 420 euros, that they had fundraised through a bake-sale, to the Lara Guide Dog School. This donation will be used to purchase a guide dog puppy that will hopefully pass the training to be able to give another blind person in Greece a more independent life. If you would like to read more about the role of this worthwhile organisation or may even like to be a guide dog puppy walker please find out more at http://www.laraguidedogs.gr/en/index.php.       

On Friday 2nd February, both Reception classes visited Keratea's Cultural Park with its special exhibition in its Dinosaur Park. The children played the part of real palaeontologists as they explored the environment with its models of these fearsome creatures of times gone by. Guides taught them fascinating snippets of information about the "terrible lizards", as they dug for fossils in the soft earth. Then it was time to hop onto the little train which took them to the cosy museum on site where they saw many more relevant exhibits. 

What an enjoyable day it was!

Women today, even in developed countries, often suffer discrimination, harassment and, in some cases, violence. The motive may be robbery, racism, sexual violence, etc. It is, therefore extremely important that women are able to protect themselves in difficult situations by staying calm, knowing when to move away and if necessary informing the authorities. 

This is why the school organised a self-defence seminar on Friday 02/02/2018. The seminar, organized by Krav Maga Global instructors: Pavlos Gyparis and Philippos Salapatas, offered an introduction to women's self-defence techniques that can help a woman be more in control if she finds herself in a threatening situation. We hope that it also helped  the girls of Years 11, 12 and 13 who took part and are preparing to leave home to go to university, acquire a useful skill that will stimulate their self-confidence. 

On Thursday February 1^st St Lawrence College hosted the over 16 boys basketball tournament. Six international schools participated and we managed a respectable 3^rd, missing out on the final by an extremely close 37-39 with St. Catherine’s school.

Well done to everyone involved!

The robotics club, which began in October, has been a great success for all those involved. In pairs the children started with building their first robot, Milo, which only took two weeks. 

Since then, they have built race cars which they had enormous fun with as they raced them through the corridors! In addition, they have constructed trucks and programmed them to lift things too! Not only did they build flowers, bees and dolphins but also fans to cool themselves down when the weather gets warmer!

"It's very exciting to build and then program our robots!" shared Nicholas with a smile. we're glad to hear that! What will you have them create next, Ms Dova? 

On Wednesday, 31st January 2018, St Lawrence College successfully hosted an inter-schools mini-basketball tournament. Almost 200 children from St Lawrence, St Catherine's, Campion, Byron and ΔΕΣ, participated in an exciting 'friendly' session that gave them a unique opportunity to play against pupils of other schools.

The games were fast-paced and competitive enough for real matches - but who's keeping score? There were smiles and screams, shouts and scuffles over the ball, proving that all of these children were dying to prove themselves as worthy opponents to their rivals.

Following on from the success of this day, St Lawrence College and St Catherine's have each planned to host more events before the end of this term. More fun to come then! We look forward to it!

The Senior Drama Club presents:
An adaptation of Lemony Snicket’s   ‘A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS’.

The Athens Round of the World Scholar’s Cup will be held at Costeas- Geitonas School.
A team of pupils will be going along to compete in this multidisciplinary competition.  
This year’s topic: An Entangled World.

Business Studies trip for Years 10 and 11 to the FRESH LINE organisation at Kifissia.