On Thursday 18^th May, Year 3 led a SunSmart day for St Lawrence College junior school, which has become their happy responsibility over the last few years. The children presented a fun assembly about how to stay safe in the sunshine – a most important consideration as we are living in sunny climes! They were supported by the ISDIN company which provided a range of sun-protective products for all our children, and we sang along to the well-known refrain: ‘Slip, Slop, Slap, Seek and Slide song as sung by the SunSmart mascot, Sid the Seagull. Remember – slip on a top, slop on some sunscreen, slap on a hat, seek shade and slide on the coolest sunglasses you can find!

We were particularly pleased with the high levels of participation in the UK Junior Maths Challenge at St Lawrence College this term. Pupils from Years 5 to 8 achieved some respectably high scores. A number of our Junior School pupils in Years 5 – 6 received Bronze and Silver awards, whilst some senior school pupils in Years 7 – 8 received Bronze, Silver and even Gold awards with excellent results. We would particularly like to commend Lawrence Papadakis, who achieved the school's highest result and will be going on to take part in an international competition of some renown, the Junior Maths Olympiad, on 14^th June. We wish him the very best of luck!

Congratulations to all who participated and tried their very best!

The IA Bronze group have successfully completed their final two expeditions of the year over the past few weeks. The practice expedition was completed in Western Parnitha, with pupils hiking from the village of Fyli to the Fyli Fortress, where they camped, before returning to Fyli the next day. During this journey all groups focused on improving their navigational skills, using physical and human features in the landscape to help them navigate as well as compass bearings. The final expedition to Kea was an opportunity for pupils to showcase what they had learnt over the year with all pupils demonstrating excellent skills and knowledge. The pupils enjoyed two days of brilliant hiking from Coressia to Pisses in beautiful weather whilst taking in the wonderful vistas offered by Kea as well as the local flora and fauna, including vibrant wildflowers, snakes and spiders (which some pupils were not too keen on!). The first day ended at the beach of Pisses which allowed students to relax, play ball games on the beach and swim. A speedy return to the port on the second day was made by all groups, passing the Monastery of Agia Marina and through the Flea valley, and then it was back on the ferry to Lavrio.  It has been a pleasure to guide this group through their IA Bronze and we have immensely enjoyed seeing these pupils develop into independent, confident and resilient young adults.

On Wednesday 10^th May, Year 2 took a pleasant trip to the Vorres Museum to enhance learning in their art curriculum. The children have been learning about Super Sculptures, so this museum was an ideal choice as it so full of fascinating pieces of work of all shapes and sizes. The children engaged in some super artwork of their own too for a fascinating day filled with creativity!

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!

On Tuesday 16^th and Thursday 18^th May the boys and girls under 14 and under 16 tennis teams, took part in tournaments hosted by ACS.

Fourteen of our pupils took part in the under 14 tournament and a total of over 60 pupils from various international schools competed. Our school achieved one 2^nd place finish in boys’ singles and one 1^st place finish in girls’ doubles.

In the under 16 tournament there was a total of 47 participants from various schools. After a very close final in the girls’ singles our school achieved a 2^nd place finish.

Congratulations to all those who took part and competed so admirably in the tournaments.

We were particularly touched by the thoughtful letter of appreciation that we recently received from the Consul General of Turkiye in Athens-Piraeus. After the tragic earthquake in February, the school held a successful bake sale and made a significant donation of funds and materials to the earthquake relief funds. Please see the image below.

On Tuesday 9th and Thursday 11th May the boys and girls in the school’s tennis club from year 3 all the way up to year 9 took part in a tennis tournament in OAKA.
Over 10 schools took part in the tournament with every pupil playing multiple matches on the day.
The skills our pupils developed throughout the year were on full display with our senior school pupils achieving one 1st place finish and two 3rd place finishes.
All pupils thoroughly enjoyed this tournament and received medals of participation for their outstanding effort.
A special thank you to the coaches for their excellent work with our pupils this academic year.
 

On Thursday 11th May, the Y3 and Y4 pupils enthusiastically took part in the No Finish Line charity race at the Olympic Stadium in Maroussi.

We had 127 runners and walkers, and in the Schools' category, we achieved an incredible 4th place finish. We completed 1220 laps altogether, which amounted to a grand total of 1172km.

Well done to all those who came along and participated with such energy and dynamic positivity for an excellent cause.

On Friday 12^th – Saturday 13^th May, a group of 33 Year 10 pupils had the opportunity to travel down to Messinia in the Peloponnese to see the sights, get a taste of the local area and enjoy each other’s company for their end-of-year trip. They visited the fantastic archaeological site of Ancient Messini, the historic centre of Kalamata and the wonderful fortress in Pylos. Lots of fun was had by all and plenty of lasting memories made.

On Friday 28^th April, the children of our Early Years classes, FS1, FS2 and Reception, took a trip to the Oasis Activity Farm Park for an adventurous day meeting all kinds of creatures great and small. The children loved feeding the curious donkeys, the hungry chickens and cuddly rabbits. They brushed the horses and visited the vegetable garden where they harvested some of the produce straight from the ground.  It is so important that we teach children where their food comes from and that we help them develop respect for all animals too. A great day of learning in the springtime sunshine!

On Tuesday, 9th May, Year 8 went on a Geography trip to the Ellinikon Experience Centre and Park, to study sustainable living and development. This was a great chance to learn about the urban development of our local area, and emphasised their study on sustainable cities earlier in the year. They enjoyed a guided tour of the centre and activities based around the park, with a focus on how the former airport space is environmentally friendly and going to be used for the people of Athens in the future. The students left a great impression of the school on this trip thanks to their excellent behaviour. 

Last week, the Year 8s went on an exciting trip to Lake Plastiras. Once we arrived in the Lake, we enjoyed an afternoon with activities, such as canoe-kayak, mountain bike, archery and teambuilding games. We developed our cooperation, teamwork skills and admired the beauty of this significant location.

On the next day, we headed to Agrafa mountain where we started our hike. We followed a trail through a forest area and continued in the “alpine zone” from where we enjoyed the views to the Thessalian plain, the Agrafa peaks and Lake Plastiras.  After reaching the top, we crossed four consecutive peaks, until we started our descent on the west side of Tembla. After the hike, we enjoyed our lunch at the Agrafa Mountain Hut.

This was a highly engaging educational experience enjoyed by all. We spent some quality time as a year group and created memories we will never forget.

Last weekend two of our Year 10 pupils Elise Katholos & Kimberly Wang travelled to Cambridge University to take part in the finals of the International Competition for Young Debaters based on their performance at the Greek qualifying round in February. The competition took place at the world-famous Cambridge Union Debating Society. There were teams from all over the world and all over the UK, each of which was the best in their region, so the competition was extremely tough.

Our debaters had just 15 minutes to prepare for motions like whether for-profit universities should be banned, whether prisoners should be allowed to volunteer for medical trials in exchange for lighter sentences, and whether immigrants should prioritise the protection of their traditional culture over assimilation. It was a fantastic opportunity not only to test their debating skills, but also to meet some of the brightest minds of their generation in one of the most iconic academic locations in the world. When asked about the whirlwind 48-hour trip, Elise said, “the entire experience was so much fun, I learnt so much and I have made many memories I will never forget.” 

Parents of our junior school and Early Years Foundation Stage pupils are invited to a parental workshop that will be presented by our visiting school psychologist, Dr. Hadjipateras Giannoulis, and our school counsellor, Ms Stefania Zarri.

Dr. Hadjipateras Giannoulis and Ms Zarri will be presenting on the topic of ‘Dealing with peer conflict and bullying: promoting your child’s friendships’.

The workshop will take place on Monday 15th May at 9:15-11:00 a.m., and will be held at the Efilena Estate, next door to the school campus. There will be time for questions and coffee and refreshments will be available. Parents will be able to drop off their children at the school gates and continue to make their way up Anemon Street to park inside the Efilena grounds.

If you would like to attend the workshop, please contact juniorschool@slc.gr