On Wednesday the 15^th of February 21 pupils from our school participated in a swimming tournament hosted by ACS. Three schools took part with a total of 110 participants.

Our school won an incredible 22 medals, 7 of which were gold, 10 silver and 5 bronze. In the medley relay our boys finished in first place and our girls finished in second place.

Congratulations to all swimmers and a special thank you to coach Pablo Antonakoglou for his excellent work with the team.

On Wednesday 15^th February 2023, our school hosted a mini-basketball tournament for a lot of very excited Year 6 pupils. Another five international schools from Athens took part (ACS, BYRON, CAMPION, ST. CATHERINE'S and DES). A total of one-hundred-and-sixty young basketball players participated and played in teams of three for a riveting two hours in a packed gymnasium. There was a real sense of unity and cooperation as well as friendly competition of course. Many parents and pupils cheered along for the players creating a great experience for all those who took part.

Our next basketball event will take place in March when this time it will be the turn of Year 5 pupils to revel in the electric atmosphere. Good luck to all!

St. Lawrence College opens and operates as normal on Thursday 9^th February. All school buses operate their usual schedules.

Due to a late decision from the Prefecture of East Attica, which has ordered schools in East Attica of a non-local character to close, our school will stay closed on Wednesday 8^th February.

Lessons continue online.

The Greek authorities have ordered nearly all school districts in East Attica to remain closed tomorrow, Tuesday 7^th February, due to the weather concerns. St. Lawrence College is in an area in which schools must stay closed for safety reasons. For this reason St. Lawrence College remains closed on Tuesday 7^th February and all lessons will be conducted online in the same way they took place on Monday 6^th February.

The Greek authorities have ordered schools across Attica to remain closed tomorrow, Monday 6^th February, for safety reasons given the current bad weather. This order applies to St. Lawrence College, and all British schools in Athens, as well as Greek schools.

Although our school remains closed, our pupils will have lessons online according to their normal timetable. Teachers will start lessons at their normal time and pupils are expected to be online, joining the lesson as scheduled in each class Team by the relevant teacher.

Further information, when known, will be shared through online channels and through emails to pupils’ parents.

On Wednesday the 1^st of February our boys and girls under 14 basketball teams took part in a school tournament hosted by Campion.

In the girl's tournament 4 schools took part. Our girls first faced St. Catherine's and won comfortably which meant they would face ISA in the finals. The girls beat ISA and won the tournament.

In the boy's tournament 6 schools took part. The boys faced ISA for their first match which they won. In a must win match against ACS to reach the final the boys won again. In the final, the boys faced and lost to St. Catherine's, ultimately finishing in 2^nd place.

Congratulations  to all participants for such great results and a special thank you to the coaches Mr Karamatsios and Ms Tzavella for their exceptional work with their respective teams.  

At the end of November, a group of 30 Year 11 pupils had the wonderful opportunity to visit the unique natural landmark of Meteora in Thessaly, Central Greece. This UNESCO World Heritage site was an ideal setting for plenty of outdoor activities, including hiking and rafting on the nearby Venetikos river. A visit to the local Natural History Museum also enabled pupils to experience the variegated flora and fauna of the area in an interactive and visually-stimulating way. A lot of fun was had by all and plenty of memories were made on this last school trip for the current Year 11s. 

During the weekend Friday 16^th, Saturday 17^th and Sunday 18^th December 2022 twenty of our pupils took part in another Model United Nations conference at Costeas-Geitonas School. Our pupils represented two countries, France and Brazil, as Delegates in various Committees as diverse as the Disarmament and International Security Committee, the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee, the Special Political and Decolonization Committee, the Legal Committee, the Human Rights Committee and the Security Council. This time one of our pupils, Constantinos Zafeirakis, held the position of Co-Chair of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee.

The theme of this Conference was “Rebuilding Trust”, an extremely interesting and thought-provoking area of discussion. As the organisers point out in the CGSMUN Administrative Handbook, modern democracy and diplomacy depend on trust as it is vital to global stability and security. The United Nations itself runs on trust and partnership. Democracy’s key element is the communication between the political and civil societies, and when trust is lacking, democratic processes such as decision-making are severely impaired. In simple terms, in a democratic world, trust is a fundamental value and yet today we highly disregard it on a civil, domestic and international level. It is therefore more essential than ever that confidence between governments and people be improved as it is a prerequisite if confidence in relations between countries is to be restored. A lot of the topics that were debated in the Committees during the three days of intense work were therefore related to the theme of the Conference. Participating in this MUN event has given our pupils a better insight into today’s world challenges as they are preparing themselves to become international citizens, by providing them not only with valuable information but also with unique skills that they can use in their academic and professional lives.

We also need to congratulate Taylor Delight Goodall who, as the Delegate of Brazil, was named the Best Delegate Award of the UNICEF Committee.

Taking part in an MUN Conference has become very popular among both older and younger pupils, even as young as from Year 7. The pupils bravely sacrificed a whole weekend, debating over long hours on topics that are really challenging for them. Our older pupils are by now used to being Chairs of various Committees and help the younger members of the MUN Club of our school feel excited as well as informed and prepared. We are all looking forward to our next participation in February, at an MUN Conference which will see again one of our pupils, Kimberly Wang, as the Co-Chair of the WHO, the World Health Organisation Committee. Well done to all!

On Friday 20th January, a group of twenty Year 12 and Year 13 pupils accompanied by three members of staff travelled to Geneva, Switzerland on a trip organised by the Physics department in order to visit the research facilities at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire, CERN).

The visit to CERN took place on 21^st January where, after a short introduction to particle accelerators and the research that takes place there, our tour guide walked us through two research sites; the Antimatter Factory where researchers study if antimatter behaves the same way as ordinary matter and the Data Centre, where we found out how the insurmountable amount of data produced by CERN is filtered, stored, and then distributed to researchers. Our pupils asked a plethora of probing questions demonstrating their prior knowledge in Particle Physics and their genuine interest; in our tour guide’s own words, we were ‘quite the group’!

We did not, however, miss out on the opportunity to explore more than the wonders of Physics taking place in Geneva. On Sunday 22^nd January, we went on a guided tour of the city, visiting iconic locations such as the Alley of Flags and the Broken Chair, the La Grange Park, and St Peter’s Cathedral, all while learning about the city’s history.

On this first international St Lawrence College trip since the COVID pandemic, our pupils gained an insight on the research to uncover what the universe is made of and how it works, and thoroughly enjoyed themselves outside the school setting.

On Friday, 16th December, the Foundation Stage Two classes visited Santa Claus’ Kingdom at the Mediterranean Exhibition Centre in Peania for a morning of festive fun! The young adventurers had terrific fun playing with snow, riding horses on the carousel and to top it all off, meeting Olaf the snowman! 

On Thursday 15^th December, the Year 3 children visited Trofoupoli as part of their Science Unit and took part in an educational programme on nutrition, the digestive system and the human body. They had lots of fun playing numerous interactive games.

Later on, they visited the Ellinikon Experience Park for a picnic lunch and enjoyed playing on the playground equipment. A fun filled day for all!

On Friday, 16^th December, we held our traditional Annual Christmas Carol Concert at the Cataleya Venue in Anemon Street. The pupils from Years 1 to 6 as well as the members of our choir club, the talented and tuneful St. Lawrence Singers, sang to a delighted audience of families and friends. Our music teachers and other willing volunteers provided musical accompaniments. The holiday spirit was alive and well!

On Thursday 15^th December, the FS1, FS2 and Reception classes performed their Christmas Concert, ‘Our Merry Little Christmas Party!’ at the Efilena Estate which is located next door to our school campus. The air was filled with a joyous Christmas spirit as the children performed ‘Jingle Bells’ and ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.’ Everyone danced along and joined in with the fun finale, ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town.’ The show was quite the success! Well done, boys and girls!

On Thursday 15th December, the Foundation Stage 1 & 2 classes had their annual Baking Day. A variety of different holiday sweets, cookies and cupcakes were made and served at up at the end of their Christmas concert that day. The children wore their chef hats and aprons and had fun as they created their delicious treats, which were enjoyed by all who attended.