On Tuesday 15^th November our Year 10 pupils went on a trip to Lavrio, organised by the Greek Department.

The pupils visited the Technological & Cultural Museum of Lavrio where they took part in a guided tour around the museum and the mining galleries, interviewed miners that used to work in the metallurgical factory and participated in a number of interactive workshops on ancient mining.

Then they visited the ancient theatre of Thoriko, the oldest theatre in Greece, a unique sample of the architectural evolution of ancient Greek theatres.

Finally, the pupils went to a traditional Greek tavern in Kalyvia where they enjoyed a lovely meal.

A wonderful day full of new knowledge, culture, and tradition!

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.

On Thursday 2nd December 2021, the Foundation Stage One classes visited the Cultural Park in Keratea to participate in an educational programme called ‘At the Olive Press.’ 

In the olive groves, the pupils worked as a team to collect the olives, take them to the traditional press and observe how the pressed olives produced oil. They also learned how olive oil makes soap as well as being a food source, even in freshly baked bread. A fascinating day out for our youngest children! 

On Friday 15th November 2019, our youngest pupils in FS1 visited the Cultural Park in Keratea for a little olive farming fun in the sun. The traditional stone press for olives provided an interesting living history experience for them as they learned about where our food comes from and what it takes to make a little oil. 

We start them young at St Lawrence College with their love of nature and all things in the countryside! On Friday 16th November 2018, FS1 and FS2, our two and three year olds that is, visited the Cultural Park in Keratea. Since it's olive harvest season all over Greece right now, the children experienced picking olives using different kinds of equipment like mini rakes, scoops and more. They loved learning about how olive oil is made and they even had a hand in making olive bread. What a lovely time was had by all! 

On Thursday 4^th April at 7 p.m. in the Cultural Hall, St Lawrence College will be showcasing a number of its talented performers from both the junior and senior school. The evening will include performances from the St Lawrence Singers, Junior Instrumental Club, Senior and Junior Greek Dance Club, Junior Dance Club and instrumentalist soloists from the Senior and Junior Music schools.

On Friday 26th October, at 11:30 am in the Cultural Hall, the Junior School’s Year 5 & Year 6 pupils will commemorate the 28th October 1940 anniversary of OXI Day by singing traditional songs and presenting skits.

On Wednesday 3rd October 2018, some of our youngest pupils in the Early Years class in FS2 took a super trip to The Cultural Park of Keratea. The children had the opportunity to pick grapes and squish them under their feet in the traditional wine-making manner! That brought a lot of giggles as the sensations they felt were quite unusual. In addition, they also took part in a fun activity to make raisin bread. They all loved it and had a super day out! 

This term, year 2 have been out and about in Athens visiting places of interest. On Friday 4th May, they went to the Benaki Museum to experience its rich cultural history. 

On Tuesday May 29th, they went to the Vorres Museum where they learned about abstract art. The children talked about particular artists and how they create such pieces. They also considered how your feelings can sometimes dictate which colours you choose to use in a piece of  art.

Finally, the children got to create some art of their own using scraps, straws and different types of paper! What fun!
 

On Friday 18th May 2018, the junior school was treated to a visit by the raucously hilarious English Theatre Company. Their series of shows kicked off with 'The Crab and the Little Mermaid'  for Early Years, Reception & year 1, then 'The Emperor' for years 2, 3 & 4 and finally closed with 'Charlie' for years 5 & 6 in the afternoon. The theatre company had the children laughing as they watched the actors take over the cultural hall. No performance went without a good dose of audience participation and plenty of children got the chance to join the actors on stage and show off their own acting talents! 

A super set of entertaining episodes we'd all agree!

On Thursday 26th and Friday 27th April 2018, 413 pupils, staff members and parents from St Lawrence College made a fantastic contribution to the world-famous charity sporting event known as No Finish Line. The Senior School took its turn first as they ran the circuit at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center on Athens' southern coast. They were followed by the Junior School taking its turn the next day and with even more participants, they exceeded the impressive number of km run on Thursday. In total, St Lawrence College ran an astounding 2997km and in fact won the Champions' Trophy for the greatest overall distance of any of the eleven participating schools as well as 3rd place overall from all organisations who took part! The highest individual distances were the 32 km run by Mr Dimitris Karakostas and 22 km from an 11 year old pupil with a lot of energy, stamina and determination: Konstantinos Chachamopoulos! 

Congratulations to everyone who participated in putting both charity and fitness at the top of their priority lists - a winning combination I can tell you!

During the weekend of 16th – 18th March 2018, eight pupils took part in an MUN Conference held at Pierce College, representing our school as Delegates of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Venezuela in Committees as diverse as the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural, the Disarmament and International Security, the Legal, and the Political and Decolonization Committees, the World Health Organization and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. This time one of our pupils served as the Deputy President of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

By taking part in a Model United Nations event our pupils are exposed to the world’s most delicate and pressing contemporary issues and get an insight into the problems that the international community faces today. They also learn about the solutions to those problems that are proposed, discussed and implemented by the UN through diplomacy and international cooperation. They themselves propose solutions during the discussion and debating of the resolutions they write and present.

This was the last of our participations for this year but our pupils, who are completely dedicated to MUN, are looking forward to the already scheduled Conferences of the next academic year.
 

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!  

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!

Year 7 pupils thoroughly enjoyed their recent excursion to the centre of Athens. In surprisingly warm December sunshine they climbed the 150m high Acropolis to visit the ancient citadel above the city, including the Parthenon. The guide told them about the ancient Greek civilisation and informed them about the history of this UNESCO World Heritage Site. They were also given the opportunity to take in the panoramic views over the modern city.   

Then the pupils enjoyed a guided tour of the Acropolis museum. They saw finds from the sanctuaries on the slopes of the Acropolis, as well as objects that Athenians used in everyday life from all historic periods. They walked amongst the statues from 7 B.C. to the Persian wars. Moreover, they visited the Parthenon gallery to learn about the construction, inscriptions and cultural decorations of the architecture at this world-famous site.

Pupils certainly were able to enjoy the day out and they learnt plenty about the history of the city in which we live. An interesting time was had by all!