On Friday the 11^th of November our girls under 16 football team and boys under 16 volleyball team took part in their annual interschool tournament.

The girl’s tournament took place in Campion with four schools taking part in a round robin format. In the first game of the day, our girls faced St. Catherine's were in a close game they won 2-1. In their second game of the day our team faced host school Campion and again won 2-1. In the final game of the day our girls dominated the game and easily won 4-0 against ACS. The girls won the tournament with 3 out of 3 victories bringing the trophy back and placing it in our brand-new trophy cabinet in the indoor gym.

The boys’ volleyball tournament was a round robin format and took place in ISA school. Our boys lost their first game against Campion after a close game 2 sets to 1, and then faced host team ISA where they lost 2-0. In their final game of the day our team beat ACS 2-0. These results were just enough to earn the boy’s 3^rd place and receive bronze medals.

Congratulations to all members of both the girls under 16 football and boys under 16 volleyball teams for outstanding performances at these interschool tournaments!

A big thank you to our coaches Mr Styliatis and Ms Dikaioulia for their excellent work with their respective teams.

On Friday the 4^th of November 43 pupils from year 8 took part in a 3km cross-country race. The event took place in Syggrou park and was hosted by ACS with various international schools taking part.

The boys race took place first and our top 3 runners were Adam Kayssar, Leon Raptis and George Depolo. Out of 59 boys Adam Kayssar finished in 6^th overall with a time of 13:43. In 11^th place we had Leon Raptis with a time of 14:40. Finally, George Depolo finished in 16^th overall and had a time of 15:27.

Then in the girls race 56 girls took part. Our top 3 runners were Vivian Glymakopoulos who finished in 21^st place with a time of 19:13. Athena Bouillon in 25^th place with a time of 20:16 and Sophia Mikati in 26^th with a time of 20:18.

All boys were cheered on at the finish line by the girls and vice-versa in a light-hearted tournament.

Congratulations to everyone taking part in what was a very pleasant event!

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing,” George Bernard Shaw.

Never a truer word was said about how important it is to have time to play. Early Years pupils in the Reception class were treated to a wonderful morning of creative play at Playmobil on Tuesday, 11^th October. The children thoroughly enjoyed themselves in an environment specifically made for them to use their imagination in and have fun with the toys there. Their smiles say it all and it is always a trip they look forward to.  

On Friday 7^th October, our FS1 and FS2 classes took an excursion to Ktima Aristi, a super destination for young learners to explore nature and enjoy the outdoors. The children had a chance there, to plant vegetables as well as observe how different fruits and vegetables grow. Our little gardeners tended their crops and planted lettuces too – what fun!

On Wednesday 2^nd of November our school hosted the over 16 girls’ football and over 16 boys’ volleyball tournament.

Four schools took part in the girls football tournament; St.Lawrence, ACS, Campion and St.Catherines. The tournament was a round robin format where our girls faced Campion in their first game of the day. Our girls dominated the game beating Campion 4-0. In our second game we would face St.Catherines. Our girls took the lead winning 1-0 however, our team would concede later in the game and drew 1-1 after fighting hard. In the final match of the day our girls faced ACS. The girls scored an early goal winning the game 1-0. With two wins and a draw our girls finished the tournament in 1^st place lifting the trophy on home soil while shouting Lawrence in the centre of our newly built football pitch.

Five schools and six teams took part in the boys volleyball tournament; St.Lawrence over 16, St.Lawrence under 16, ACS, Byron, Campion and ISA. In the first game of the day our over 16 team faced Byron and won 2-1. Our next match for our over 16 team was a must win against ACS to advance to the final. Unfortunately, ACS would win the tiebreaker after a thrilling match. In the first game of the day for our under 16 volleyball team we faced a strong ISA team and lost 2-0.  In our last game of the day our under 16 team faced Campion. In the tiebreaker we were 1 point away from winning the game against Campion. However, that point did not come, and we lost 2-1 but the display of our young team shows how bright the future is for our school.

Congratulations to all team members for participating in the first tournament hosted by our school since covid. Thank you to the coaches Mr Styliatis and Ms Dikaioulia for doing a wonderful job with our teams.

Lastly, a shout out to this year’s sponsor of all our school’s football teams Lobo Del Mar yachting and the Kallimasia family who are ex-pupils of ours. Markello Kallimasia was a member of all our school teams and a super athlete but was best known for his footballing ability and love for the sport. Thank you, Markello, for being ‘Happy to do my part’ which in turn brought happiness to the faces of the girls dawning their brand-new football kit.

At the end of September a group of thirty Year 11s and 12s embarked on their first expedition for the International Award Silver scheme. This expedition is one of two they must complete and includes three days hiking and two nights camping, whilst carrying all their provisions and equipment themselves. Over the weekend, the pupils navigated and hiked from the picturesque village of Elati to the stunning hilltop settlement of Karytaina on routes they had planned in groups. In total the groups covered over 50km with a lot of ascent and descent. A particular highlight for all the students was the second day in which they hiked down the Lousios Gorge, passing through several cliffside monasteries, over many waterfalls and enjoying wonderful views down the gorge. The effort and resilience of all pupils was particularly impressive on a route which tested their fitness, navigation and map-reading skills. The fact all students made it to the end is a testament to their brilliant endeavour, with the fatigued faces, bodies and feet evidence of what they had put into the three days. Well done to all pupils involved and I wish them a well-deserved rest before the next expedition in Spring!

It's that time of year; the seasons are changing and all things autumnal are taking over.

Today, St Lawrence College was overrun by ghosts, ghouls, zombies, witches and all kinds of naughty Hallowe’en guests in place of our usual pupils. The children thoroughly enjoyed dressing up in costumes, painting their faces with weird and wonderful ghostly-white masks, wearing their spookiest clothes and making their friends jump - BOO!

The classes this week visited Ms Olympia's Spook House where they were amused, delighted and scared by the dark, creepy path through the maze of wickedness!

Of course, Hallowe’en at SLC would not be complete without the famous Jack O’ Lantern competition that is held every year. Our senior school judges took a good look at all the class entries and awarded a Year 1 class the top prize.

Well done to everyone who contributed their time and effort into making a splendid display of pumpkins for all to admire. What a fun day was had by all!

On Friday 14th October 2022, during lunchtime play, the Junior School Charity Ninjas held a walk-a-thon fundraiser in support of Ark of the World. This is a renowned Athenian philanthropic organisation, which makes significant efforts to provide accommodation and protection to children in unfortunate circumstances. Pupils had forty-five minutes to walk or jog around the school track with sponsorship from friends and family.

Furthermore, in pursuit of Hallowe’en thrills, our Charity Ninjas spent their breaks over the last 2 weeks creating hand-made gifts and jewellery to be sold on our Hallowe’en celebration day with all proceeds added to the pot. Both events were a success with the sizeable contribution they generated being donated in full to the designated charity.

What a ‘spooktacular’ day our Year 4 classes spent at Pedopolis learning all about Hallowe’en customs and traditions. The children were ‘mummified’, carved pumpkins and made pumpkin masks! 

On the Thursday before the half-term break, St. Lawrence College was visited by representatives from two British universities, Royal Holloway, London and Warwick. For our Year 13s who are in the middle of making their applications and our Year 12s who are beginning to explore their options moving forward, it was a wonderful opportunity to find out about these universities specifically and UK universities in general as well as to make some really useful contacts. The wide array of excellent questions at the end of the two presentations showed just how interested our pupils were and also how positive it was that we were able to host visitors from the UK for the first time since the pandemic.

On Thursday 6^th October, as part of their English and History curriculum, Year 3 took a trip to The Pottery Workshop in Alimos. There, they followed a step-by-step process to make their own handmade pottery. Afterwards, the children were treated to an outdoor picnic lunch on their way back. A fun day was had by all!

On Thursday 20^th October St. Lawrence College celebrated the 28^th October anniversary.

 Every year we honour those who gave their lives for the freedom of Greece. We admire the strength and mental fortitude of those who dared to oppose the legendary "OXI" against the fascists who tried to conquer our country. The Greeks shouted a loud "No" in those days of the 40's, which was admirable when the whole of Europe was at a standstill. 

All our pupils from Year 4 to Year 6 participated in the celebration, where they narrated the most important events of that historical period, recited poems and sang songs.

We are all excited that after two years of lockdown we were able to celebrate with our pupils this Greek National holiday.

On Tuesday 18th of October for the first time since covid struck our school took part in an interschool football and volleyball tournament hosted by ACS. Six schools participated in the boys over 16 football tournament and five for the over 16 girls’ volleyball tournament.

Our boys first game was against host team ACS where they found themselves in a very difficult situation losing 2-0 until late in the game. After fighting hard, the boys managed to score 2 goals in the last minutes of the game and drew 2-2. Then in a must win game against St. Catherines our boys showed their class and comfortably beat them 2-0 and advanced to the final where they faced Byron College. In the final although tired after back-to-back games the boys really came together as a team and simply could not be stopped, winning the game 5-0 and bringing home the gold.

Our girls’ volleyball team took part in a tournament format where they had to face all 4 other competing schools. The first game they defeated Campion in a close game 2 sets to 1. In the 2nd game against ISA our girls dominated the game from start to finish and won 2-0. In the 3rd game of the day the girls faced St. Catherines were they again won 2-1 after a hard fought match. In the last game of the day and with our boys’ football team cheering on from the stands our girls faced the host ACS to determine the winner of the tournament. The girls had a rough start going 1-0 down in sets and losing by 5 points in the second set. However, they managed to bring it back after a combined team effort and proceeded to win the second and third set ultimately winning 2-1 and not tasting defeat the whole tournament.

All our boys and girls celebrated their wins together in a wonderful moment for both of our teams chanting Lawrence in an iconic post covid moment.

A big congratulations to both teams for winning the trophies for our school and a special thanks to the coaches Mr Strzemiecki and Ms Dikaioulia.

Monday 10^th October was World Mental Health Day and some events took place in the senior school to ensure pupils discussed mental health, understand how to look after it, and realise how important it is to talk about things and get help if they, or a friend/family member are struggling. In form time pupils got the conversation going about aspects of mental health with their peers and form teacher. A wall display was produced with every pupil in Years 7-13 sharing something they are grateful for that helps their mental health. The Student Council joined in the celebrations by giving out fruit juice and cereal bars to their peers in the playground at short break. At lunchtime Ms Michaelides did a special session of yoga for pupils and teachers to promote strategies that help maintain well-being. More than 40 pupils and teachers joined in this relaxation activity! Ms Zarri, our school counsellor, brought Mailo, the well-being dog, to school for the day and popped into classes and the playground to discuss the importance of everyone looking after their mental health. It was great to see so many pupils and teachers talking about mental health.

On Tuesday 4^th October, 38 of our pupils in Years 10-13 participated in the Senior Mathematics Challenge, organised by the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust. The Senior Mathematics Challenge is addressed to pupils in Year 13 and below with the aim to promote the love for problem solving and encourage mathematical reasoning, precision of thought, and fluency.

All our pupils enjoyed taking part in the Challenge and we are looking forward to hearing about their performances soon. Last year 80% of all the pupils who participated were awarded either a Gold, a Silver or a Bronze certificate in the Senior Mathematics Challenge, having set an excellent example to be followed!

After the coming half term break, we invite pupils from Year 11 and below to participate in the Intermediate Mathematics Challenge that will take place on Wednesday February 1^st. And later on in the year our young Mathematicians from Years 8 and below can sign up to participate in the Junior Mathematics Challenge which this year will take place on April 26^th.

We congratulate all our pupils for their participation and their efforts, while special congratulations go to Xinyi Hu and Yifei Wang who were both qualified for the Hamilton Olympiad last year.