"A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men," Roald Dahl

Last week saw the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of the renowned children's writer Roald Dahl. His books are numerous and widely appreciated by children all over the world. With this in mind, the pupils here at St Lawrence took the opportunity to join in with the celebrations that have been going on in his honour. There were readings by children and teachers both in class and in our morning assembly, thus the whole school took on a 'whizzpopping' atmosphere! This was especially true on Friday 17th September, when many children wore yellow to school. Why yellow? Well it was the author's favourite colour of course! In addition, the children contributed a small fee for the privilege of being out of uniform with the money raised donated to Roald Dahl's Marvellous Charity for Children.

"Us giants is making whizzpoppers all the time! Whizzpopping is a sign of happiness. It is music in our ears! You surely is not telling me that a little whizzpopping if forbidden among human beans?” as the Big Friendly Giant said!

This week at SLC saw two exciting events for the Junior School children in years 3 to 6 as we held both the High Jump Finals on Tuesday 30th May and the Annual Swimming Gala on Friday 2nd June, 2017. 

The children who jumped on Tuesday were determined and strong, showing their skill and their desire to reach ever higher goals! Despite the absence of a new school record this year, no one can fault the children's efforts. 

And in the swimming events, the children were more than happy to dive into the cool water on a very hot day that saw some really fast races. From freestyle to breastroke to backstroke, the swimmers really made waves!

Well done to our dedicated staff who enabled our sporty pupils to have these opportunities to excel outside of the classroom. And congratulations to all eager participants too! Take a look at our new school 25 metre swimming records from Years 3 to 5.

Year 3 Girls Backstroke
Nicci Dardanis 26.92 sec

Year 4 Girls Freestyle & backstroke
Estheleen Charalabidi 17.79 sec & 22.42 sec

Year 4 Boys  Breaststroke
Alexios Mylonas 21.51 sec

Year 5 Girls Breaststroke
Konstantina Bograkou-Tzanetakou 23.80 sec

Year 5 Boys Freestyle, backstroke & breaststroke
Konstantinos Chachamopoulos 15.62 sec;  18.84 sec; 21.19 sec

We have started back for a fresh new term and the beginning of the new year with our very best intentions. Today, in the junior school, we held an assembly to think about what our new year's resolutions could be for playtime conduct outdoors.

We thought about our three school rules and how important it is to follow them in the playground. Be ready, be respectful and be safe! Our pupils shared their own playground resolutions and promises to make this year one filled with playtime kindness and consideration. Now that's cause for celebration!

Over the last week the annual sports days for pupils from year 7-10 took place. Pupils came and took part in sports events that included high jump, shot put, running and tug of war.

Over 300 pupils represented their houses from across the four year groups. This year four previous school records were broken! In year 7, Lauren Koutsogianni and Katerina Zagoridou broke the school records for year 7 high jump and shot put respectively. Lauren managed to jump an incredible 1.36m breaking the previous school record (1.33) which stood since 2018. Katerina broke the year 7 girls shot put record that stood since 2012 (7.37)by throwing the shot put 7.41m!

In year 8, the boys and girls high jump records were broken by George Depolo and Sofia Mikati respectively. Sofia Mikati achieved a magnificent jump of 1.44m breaking the record previously standing since 2013(1.37). George Depolo smashed the record from 2019 by 12cm as he jumped an astounding 1.64m.

All sports days finished with fun and big smiles as pupils from opposing houses showed off their strength trying to pull the other team across the finish line in the tug of war event.

Well done to all those who took part and cheered from the stands. Thank you to the parents in attendance who witnessed all the entertaining events. And a special congratulations to the four pupils who managed to set new school records!

Across the current academic year, a total of 114 pupils from Years 7 to 13 participated in the “Mathematics Challenges” organised by the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust. This is a mathematics competition where pupils from schools across the world compete to show their skills in mathematics.

We now have the results of our pupils who competed and they are outstanding!

In summary:

• 65% of our Year 12 and 13 participants were awarded a certificate.
• 68% of our Year 9, 10, and 11 participants earned a certificate.
• 60% of our Year 7 and 8 participants received recognition.

We are extremely proud of our pupils for both their enthusiasm and their success in achieving Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards.

Truly exceptional

A very special congratulations goes to our Year 10 pupil, Injun. From a total of 247,374 participants in the Intermediate Mathematics Challenge, he was placed among the top 500 and therefore qualified for the Hamilton Olympiad.

His outstanding achievement did not stop there, as Injun ranked in the top 100 pupils, earning a Bronze Medal in the Hamilton Olympiad, and thus marking the first Olympiad medal ever achieved by a pupil at our school. Put another way, this means that Injun was in the top 100 of nearly a quarter of a million competitors! Congratulations Injun!

We hope this remarkable success will inspire even more pupils to take part in next year’s mathematics challenges!