On Tuesday, 14^th November, we hosted an American children’s author here at school. Mr Kentrell Martin is a writer of children’s stories which raise awareness of the issues surrounding being challenged by hearing loss. In our school where inclusivity and community are key values we live by, the opportunity to identify with such issues was invaluable for our pupils. 

Mr Martin entertained the children with a reading of his most popular book but also taught the children an array of signs from the American Sign Language (ASL) system of communication. Our pupils were totally enthralled and excited to discover this new means of communication from our delightful guest. We thank him for his time and effort with our children!

St. Lawrence College is pleased to be a Junior Duke School.

Junior Duke is not associated with nor endorsed by the Duke of Edinburgh's Award. It is an original and creative initiative from Capable Kids, and is an award that offers opportunities for growth, achievement and learning. It covers a wide range of practical, real-life skills. This Award has been running in schools since 2007 and has helped thousands of children aged 5 to 13 to realise their abilities and, for some, to discover new talents and passions.

In Quality Improvement and Professional Engagement (QUIPE) inspections at its original Scottish school, the report made special mention of the scheme and received a special commendation for its 'innovative practice.’ It was described as 'sector leading' and expansion was recommended.

St. Lawrence College has a well-established history of offering its pupil body more than simply classroom learning. This award is key in developing young children's life skills in a safe but adventurous manner, so is a welcome addition to our home learning programme. The award is voluntary, non-competitive and very family oriented. It does of course, require dedicated time out of school for successful completion of its annual goals. It is available for all pupils, starting from the Reception level children who strive for the Micro Duke award, through to children in Year 6 who persevere for the Platinum Junior Duke award.

“I hope that, over the years, thousands more children can achieve new heights and grow in confidence through taking up this Junior Duke challenge,” says founder, Dawn Waugh.

Further information can be found at Capable Kids - Creators of the Mini Duke, Junior Duke & Senior Duke Awards

On Monday the 20th of November our school participated in two school tournaments. The boys took part in the under 16 volleyball tournament hosted by ISA. Whereas the girls took part in the under 16 football tournament hosted by Campion.
The boys just narrowly missed out on the final by losing their final match in a tiebreak. The girls won their tournament scoring 7 goals in 3 matches and only conceding once.
Congratulations to everyone who represented our school so valiantly during these tournaments and a big thank you to our coaches Ms Dikaioulia and Mr Styliatis.

Our school hosted the Under 16 boys’ football and girls’ volleyball tournaments with six international schools taking part.
After a long hard-fought day both our boys and girls won their respective tournaments without a single defeat.
These excellent results, reflect all the hard work the team members put in throughout practises this academic year. Well done to all those who took part! And a special thank you to the coaches Mr Strzemiecki and Ms Dikaioulia!
 

With university application season in full swing, the first half of term saw several experts from the UK and US visit our school to discuss options both with Year 13s and with Year 12s who are just starting to seriously consider life after St. Lawrence College. At a mini university fair and presentation, representatives from four UK universities were on hand to talk to pupils both collectively and on an individual basis, giving them guidance and advice. This was followed just before the half-term break by a visit from a representative of St. Andrew’s whose interesting talk helped pupils understand why this university is one of the highest regarded in the UK. With the US becoming increasingly popular amongst our pupils, we were also pleased to be able to host a representative from Boston University who talked to pupils and also did a workshop with teachers on writing effective references.

During the half-term break, the Year 4 classrooms fell victim to some rather unwelcome visitors who left quite a mess behind them when they left. DRAGONS were caught on camera getting up to the kind of mischief only dragons can do, leaving tables and chairs overturned and books tipped out of cupboards! The children and their teachers were shocked to learn of this event so got straight to work tidying the messy rooms and writing newspaper reports about these terrible crimes. Evidence of the dragons’ presence was examined, eyewitnesses were interviewed, and the authorities were contacted to help solve the mystery of the dragons at SLC!

On Friday 27^th October, the whole of the Junior School gathered in the auditorium under a warm October sun, to honour the important historical event now known as Oxi Day. Our pupils proudly portrayed the events of 1940 with enthusiasm, respect and understanding of what had happened when the Prime Minister of Greece, Ioannis Metaxas refused to comply with the Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini’s demand for troops to enter Greece unopposed. He responded to the Italian ultimatum in French, the diplomatic language at the time, “Alors, c’est la guerre!” or “Then it is War!”. His courageous stand spread around the country with Greeks taking to the streets shouting “Oxi!”. This occasion is commemorated each year as a day that represents bravery and heroism for millions of Greeks all around the world. Our pupils participated in this national celebration with Year 6 pupils narrating the most important events of that historical period, reciting poems and literacy extracts and finally singing songs together with Year 5 pupils.

On Thursday 26^th October, our three Year 2 classes were taken to visit the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation as part of this term’s art & design curriculum on Portraits & Sculptures. The guides at this wonderful museum introduced the children to contemporary art pieces from both Greek and foreign artists including works by Cézanne, Van Gogh, Gaugin, Degas and Kandinsky. The pupils were taught about the use of colour in art and were especially happy to be given the opportunity at the end to create their own interpretations of what they had seen.

On Tuesday 24th of October, the Reception classes took a trip to Pedopolis in Glyfada to celebrate Hallowe’en as they explored this term’s topic of “Celebrations and Holidays around the World.” Each child decorated a pumpkin mask and played some traditional Hallowe’en games. They took part in an apple race and were very excited to carve a pumpkin. Each class had their own Jack O’ Lantern to take back to school. The children left with smiles on their faces as they had such a fun time investigating Hallowe’en!

On Friday 20^th October, the St Lawrence community gathered together on a very mild evening to celebrate the changing season with an outdoor family fun-filled party at school. There were pumpkins galore as our junior school families did not disappoint with a range of creatively carved and painted pumpkins to add to the Hallowe’en atmosphere.

There was food and drink to enjoy and this year we were especially proud of our fund-raising endeavours too. The junior school Charity Ninjas along with the senior school staff and PE department organised many fun games and a photo booth to raise money for the animal victims of the floods in central Greece some weeks ago. “Play for Thessaly” was a great success with almost two and a half thousand euros earned on the night and subsequently contributed to this worthy cause. Thank you to all our families for the continued support!

At St Lawrence College, we believe in fostering responsibility for learning as well as responsibility for each other at all levels. For this reason, we have important posts of responsibility across the school. We recently selected this year's House Captains for Attica, Epirus and Macedonia from an enthusiastic Year 6 cohort. These pupils applied for the position and were chosen due to their being diligent, considerate and very friendly individuals. Congratulations to them all!

Our school hosted the Over 16 boys’ football and girls’ volleyball tournaments on Wednesday the 18th of October. 
There were six schools that took part in the boys' tournament. After one draw and one win the group stage our team advanced to the final. In the final we lost to St. Catherine's ultimately finishing in 2nd place. Following this very pleasing display, our boys now look forward to competing in the Aegean tournament in Thessaloniki, which commences on the 30th of November. 
Both the girls Under 16 and Over 16 team took part in the volleyball tournament where 5 schools took part. The Over 16 team managed to get into the final where they faced Campion. After a very close final which was decided via a tie break, our girls finished in 2nd place. 
Congratulations to all our athletes for their excellent display in this tournament and a big thank you to the coaches Ms Dikaioulia and Mr Strzemiecki for all the effort they put into preparing our teams for this big event.

On Thursday the 12th of October the first over 16 tournament of the year took place in ACS. Six international schools took part in the tournament. Our boys competed in volleyball and our girls in football.
After a long day, packed full of matches, our girls finished in 3rd place and our boys in 4th. Well done to all the team members for their valiant effort.
A special thank you to the coaches Mr Styliati and Ms Dikaioulia for their work with the school teams.
Finally, we look forward to the tournament which our school will host on Wednesday the 18th of October.

From 9^th-13^th October the senior school had some interesting events happening for Mental Health Awareness Week.

To get the ball rolling, on World Mental Health Day the assembly by Ms Perraki was all about ending the stigma attached to mental health. All pupils and teachers in the senior school wore stickers of a green ribbon for the day showing our support for reaching out and talking about mental health. Also, some Year 12 and 13 pupils took fun photos of senior school pupils and staff with helium balloons and our St. Lawrence College mental health matters photo frame at short break and lunch. It was incredibly popular, and it was great to see so many people enjoying the photoshoot!    

On Wednesday 10^th October all the senior school had extended form for ‘Friendship Form’. An older and younger form group were paired up and pupils had the opportunity to discuss scenarios about mental health support and the older pupils shares advice with younger pupils. We will have some more Friendship Form opportunities at regular intervals in the year to encourage the cooperation and interaction between different year groups. At lunchtime on Wednesday, Ms Michaelides ran a yoga session for staff and pupils to enjoy. The Year 7 and 8 pupils that attended really enjoyed the session. 

During the week the Art, PE, Science, EAL and PSHE lessons had an array of happenings related to mental health. Pupils in Years 10-13 did an activity about managing stress in form time to get pupils to consider how to manage pressures they may face.

Around school, wall displays also raised awareness of the importance of looking after your mental wellbeing and ending the stigma attached to mental health.

The Pastoral Team ensure that mental health is considered every day at St. Lawrence College, but this very varied week was much appreciated and supported by all our school community.