Even in Year 1 here at St Lawrence College, we value the vital skill of oracy so having children undertake presentations is an important element of their learning. As the Year 1 pupils have been learning about the continents and climate zones, they were asked to complete a Geography project entitled “Going on Holiday.” Each child did some research about their chosen country and created information posters about it, which they then shared with their class. They showed maps, famous sights, flags, local animals and a range of other points of interest. Well done children on your super successful projects!

On Monday 29^th May, we warmly welcomed friends and family across our junior and senior schools to the Efilena Estate adjacent to the school for an evening of pleasant listening. The children taught by tutors in our peripatetic music school, practised their craft for many hours in preparation of this event to display their talent and hard work. Whether in Year 1 or year 13, the pride in parents’ faces was evident as they saw how beautifully their children played to the packed audience. Singers too, put on a show with a performance that enchanted the audience. Congratulations to all those children who participated and exhibited their musical accomplishments.

The pupils of year 4,5 and 6 enjoyed a few hours in the sun, with their parents in attendance while competing in one individual and two team events.

Pupils wore their house colours and competed against other houses in a display of speed during the running relays and strength in the tug of war.

In the high jump finals, pupils jumped as high as they could producing many thrilling moments. To honour their outstanding efforts, the top 3 boys and girls received medals from each year group.

The day was filled with joy, laughter, support for one another and friendly competition between peers, as pupils did their best to earn points for their respective houses.

We were enormously proud of our little tennis stars who made their mini-tennis club coaches smile in their celebratory day on 25^th May. The children of the Early Years section enjoy access to a range of clubs and extra-curricular activities, so it was a real pleasure to showcase the skills of our youngest athletes in an open day event for family and friends.

All who attended enjoyed the event as they saw how much learning and physical dexterity has developed over the year. Bravo, children!

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!

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.

Every summer, for one month St. Lawrence College runs a highly successful, fun-filled summer programme suited to children aged from three to fourteen. Yet again this year, SLC is the place to be as we are busy preparing an action-packed and enjoyable course of activities for your children from Thursday 22^nd June to Friday 21^st July.

We offer exceptional tuition in English language, sport, dance, chess, recycled art, 3D paper architecture art, robotics, yoga, field games (survivor) parkour, mini-golf, roller-skating, crafts and drama.

Children up to the age of 7 follow an English programme full of activities, language, and sports.

Children over 7 years old have the option of three specific programmes:

• The English language and learning course.
• Sports
• Creative Arts including Drama.

At St. Lawrence College, we actively encourage our pupils to develop independence, confidence, and leadership skills. We focus on forming, inspiring creativity, building life skills, and having fun.

Do join us for an unforgettable summer adventure!

Registration is now open and we look forward to seeing your child/children on Thursday 22^nd June at 9:00 a.m. for the start of an exciting summer.

Please contact the Registrar, Mrs Emily Naoum, for further details, either by email or by phone at +302108917000

On Friday the 28^th of April our junior school Rugby club took part in a school tournament hosted by St.Catherines. Three schools participated with 4 teams and a total of 50 pupils! Our club team had pupils from year 2 all the way up to year 6.

Our team played 3 rugby matches in what was a tiring but extremely fun day for our young rugby players. All pupils arrived back in school with big smiles and were rewarded for their efforts with medals.

Congratulations to our school’s rugby club and a special thank you to the coach Mr Stefanos Stephanou.

On the 6^th of April the Year 3 and 4 pupils of the after-school football club took part in a football tournament alongside three other schools. The skills our pupils learned throughout the year were on full display with our school participating in six matches of 5-aside football. This was the first taste of a school tournament for our young footballers. After the games all pupils agreed that they thoroughly enjoyed the friendly competition and received medals for their amazing effort.

Again this year, St Lawrence pupils in Years 5 & 6 have the opportunity to participate in the UK Mathematical Trust's Junior Mathematical Challenge competition. The Junior Mathematical Challenge is a 60-minute multiple-choice competition for children aged 9-12, which encourages mathematical reasoning, precision of thought and fluency in using mathematical techniques to solve problems.

The competition will take place on Wednesday the 26th of April so the children excitedly attended a meeting in the staff room this week with Ms Tsabanakis, the Junior School Maths Lead. They enjoyed hot chocolate and cookies as they listened to the expectations on them for successful participation in this prestigious event. Good luck to all our candidates!

On Friday 24^th March, the community of St. Lawrence College took great pride in celebrating Greek Independence Day with a wonderful show in the gym. Staff, pupils and their families revelled in the warm, sincere atmosphere as the children from Years 5 & 6 acted, sang and danced their way through an hour of entertainment in honour of the heroes of 1821. They were joined on stage by dancers from the senior school who showed their skills traditionally dancing to some rousing tunes that had the pulse racing and the heart soaring.

A thoroughly enjoyable and much appreciated event signifying a welcome return to normality after years of restrictions in recent times. Bravo to all who contributed to this excellent occasion.

The Charity Ninjas Club of St Lawrence College Junior School have continued their super efforts to raise money for charity throughout this term. They organised a wonderful bake sale on Tuesday 21^st February with our generous families from all classes donating all kinds of home baked and shop bought sweets & treats. Pupils right from Early Years through to Year 6 queued up in delight to buy all that they could – the sugar rush was real!

On Wednesday 8^th March, they proudly presented a cheque for €3000 to Mrs Mavrikou from Doctors of the World who visited our school to give her thanks to the children. Ms Diplas’ club look as pleased as punch with themselves and rightly so. Bravo, children, and thank you to our wider school community for their continued support in these worthy endeavours.

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!

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 9^th December the Greek department organised a trip for our Year 12 and Year 13 pupils. The pupils visited the Benaki museum in the centre of Athens, which hosts a unique exhibition on Greek culture arranged diachronically from prehistory to the 20th century. The pupils admired the Byzantine and the Ancient Greek exhibits and learned about the traditional architecture in Macedonia during the Ottoman occupation in the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

They also had the opportunity to visit the private art collection of Ioannis Moralis, a famous Greek painter. This collection is located on the 2^nd floor of the museum, and includes not only his paintings but many personal objects such as his diary, his brushes, his palette, etc.

The trip ended with a visit to Thiseio, the beautiful neighbourhood in the city of Athens, surrounded by archaeological sites and pedestrian streets, where the pupils enjoyed a traditional Greek meal with their classmates with a view of the Acropolis.

All the pupils enjoyed this outing, which was a lovely way to end a demanding term full of studying in preparation of their public exams.