Friday 7^th October saw the inauguration of the English Department's new mini-libraries. These precious resources were recently installed in each English classroom and feature the entire catalogue of novels in our Extended Reading Lists. The lists are designed to encourage pupils of all abilities to read widely and voraciously for pleasure and include a vast range of both classic and contemporary fiction - everything from Dickens and Austen to Michael Morpurgo and Suzanne Collins. 

The English team proudly celebrated the completion of the mini-libraries with a ceremony featuring a beautiful opening number sung by the talented Anna Argyrou (winner of Greece's 'The Voice' 2021), followed by a staff-led dramatic sketch which was accompanied by a range of superb dramatic readings from some of the featured novels, all expertly delivered by our pupils (please see names below). The ceremony was attended by key St Lawrence College stakeholders and was enjoyed by all.

The English Department would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all involved.

Pupils involved:

Olivia Sorlid (Year 7), reading from 'The Land of Stories' by Chris Colfer.

Georgina Kotsatou and Artemis Marrero (Year 8), reading from 'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen.

Melina Anastasopoulou and Cilia Konti (Year 9), reading from 'One' by Sarah Crossan.

Alexandra Mavromichalis, Eugenia Mitropoulou and Sofia Tzagkaraki-Kaseta (Year 10), reading from 'The Great Gatsby' by F.S. Fitzgerald.

Theodora Farmakidi, Alexandra Kefallonitis and Despoina Salacha (Year 11), reading from 'The Help' by Kathryn Stockett.

Lydia Stephenson (Year 12), reading from 'Small Island' by Andrea Levy.

Eleni Lomtatidze (Year 13), reading from 'A Streetcar Named Desire' by Tennessee Williams.

On the pleasantly warm evening of Friday 17^th June 2022, we held our 42^nd Annual Awards Ceremony for pupils of the junior and senior schools. Our Guest of Honour was Mr Matthew Lodge, the British Ambassador to Greece since August 2021, who spoke of the importance of savouring every moment of the journey towards reaching life goals – a valid point for these challenging times that we live in.

The pupils proudly received their awards for academic excellence, for effort, progress, sportsmanship, and overall contributions to school life, in front of their families, friends and staff. Our graduating pupils in Year 13 were in high spirits as their prospective paths in life were announced by our Headmaster, Mr Holden. The mood was uplifting and there were smiles all around as everyone of us appreciated being able once more to participate in this special event on such a grand scale after a hiatus of several years through the pandemic. A fine reception with delicious foods and drinks was enjoyed by guests afterwards.

To the graduating class of 2022, we wish you every success in your future endeavours!

Green fingers everywhere have helped to create an impressive little collection of plants in our junior school. The children in our lunchtime gardening club have worked with some enthusiastic members of staff to plant, water and harvest a modest range of vegetables. The flowers too, that have blossomed this springtime have really brightened the entrance to our school with colour and beauty.  

The next crop we are waiting to pull up is the pumpkins. Let's see how they do! Pumpkin soup orders at the ready! 

With the reopening of schools anticipated for Monday 31^st January, pupils and parents should be aware of covid self-testing requirements for the coming week.

Pupils will need to bring evidence of a negative covid self-test on Monday, Tuesday and Friday mornings. This means pupils should take a self-test on the afternoon/evening of Sunday, Monday and Thursday. School staff are following the same schedule of self-testing.

Congratulations to our pupils who participated with great success once again in the Panhellenic Forensics Tournament which, for the first time, was held online on 1 – 4 April.

St Lawrence participated in many events: Oral Interpretation, Monologue, Impromptu, Group Discussion and of course Debate. We had two finalists: Harry Courts (Comic Oral interpretation) and Dimitris Thodis (Impromptu Speaking), both Year 12. We also had three Honourable Mentions: Charlotte Galatis (Dramatic Oral Interpretation), Jason Spanoudis (Comic Monologue) and Lenora Kirkland (Comic Monologue), all Year 12 pupils. 15 schools and around 400 pupils from many parts of Greece were involved, making it a very successful tournament.

Many thanks to our teachers who helped by coaching and/or judging, Ms Stephanie Stafford (Head Coach and Judge), Mr Russell Courts (Debate Coach and Judge), Ms Argyri Kladouchou (Coach and Judge), Ms Peggy Iliadou (Coach and Judge), Ms Rania Kouvari (Judge) but also to SLC alumni who came back to help coach and judge: Stefanos Strzemiecki (Coach and Judge), Rosie Vorri (Coach), Achilleas Papadimitriou (Coach), Melina Spanoudi (Judge) and Arietta Valmas (Judge). 

Ms Despina Panagiotopoulou and her team of staff in the canteen have been helping the pupils of St. Lawrence College to do their bit for the planet with the launch of a full range of more environmentally friendly containers, cutlery, napkins, cups and biodegradable straws. A member of the senior school Environmental Club, when asked about her opinion on these changes that have been made in the canteen, commented, ‘With climate change posing a threat to life itself nowadays, it is important to see that our school is taking steps to be as environmentally friendly as possible. Reducing the plastic use in the canteen is showing pupils of all ages that even small actions can have a great impact!’

We are all very proud of the efforts that are being made at our school to reduce our ecological footprints and to consider the future of the planet.

The Junior School commemorative event for Greece’s Οχι Day was a wonderful affair held for pupils, staff, friends and family over 2 days so that all could make the most of it. Our Years 5 and 6 pupils put on a marvellous performance under the watchful eye of Ms Tsirigoti and the Greek department. They took a different look at the events of the second world war through the eyes of civilians who were affected, re-enacting their testimonies and tributes. 

The musical elements of the production were beautifully added by the Greek choir which sang several of the most iconic war songs, bringing a tear to many an eye of the parents and grandparents who’d joined us for the day. Well done to all who participated with such vigour and talent in this very memorable event!

On Thursday 20^thJune, parents are invited to come and watch their children sing, recite poems and receive their end of year certificate. The day will end with a picnic where parents, pupils and staff will enjoy a sampling of traditional foods.

On Thursday 26th and Friday 27th April 2018, 413 pupils, staff members and parents from St Lawrence College made a fantastic contribution to the world-famous charity sporting event known as No Finish Line. The Senior School took its turn first as they ran the circuit at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center on Athens' southern coast. They were followed by the Junior School taking its turn the next day and with even more participants, they exceeded the impressive number of km run on Thursday. In total, St Lawrence College ran an astounding 2997km and in fact won the Champions' Trophy for the greatest overall distance of any of the eleven participating schools as well as 3rd place overall from all organisations who took part! The highest individual distances were the 32 km run by Mr Dimitris Karakostas and 22 km from an 11 year old pupil with a lot of energy, stamina and determination: Konstantinos Chachamopoulos! 

Congratulations to everyone who participated in putting both charity and fitness at the top of their priority lists - a winning combination I can tell you!

On Thursday 26th April 2018, a wonderful evening of entertainment was held at the school. Children from both the Junior and Senior schools returned for an event in which they showed off a marvellous array of talents and skills that they have been working at for some time in preparation for the show. There were young dancers from our Junior Dance and Movement Club; Ms Tsirigoti's Senior and Year 6 Greek Dance Clubs; pupils in the Senior Drama Club; our choir, the St Lawrence Singers; as well as a wide range of musicians who receive tuition at school on instruments ranging from the piano, the violin, the guitar and drums too. 

The audience was delighted to view such a fine combination of pieces: both dramatic and musical, both traditional and modern. Congratulations are in order to all who took part, pupils and staff, as their efforts resulted in a successful evening all round. Well done to all!

The SLC Forensics team once again participated in this year’s Panhellenic Forensics Tournament which was held at ACS on the 8^th – 11^th March, competing against 19 other schools from different parts of Greece.

After many practices on Saturdays, the team made the school proud with an impressive number of finalists: 2 in the Oral Interpretation of Literature category (1 Dramatic, 1 Comic) and 3 in the Duet Acting Category (1 Dramatic, 2 Comic), which made it 5 in all, and 2 Honourable Mentions. The Debaters were also very successful in reaching the Semi Finals. Overall, this gave the team the 4^th place.

Many thanks to all the coaches who helped: the Head Coach, Ms Stafford; the Debate Coach Mr Courts; Ms Grivas, Ms Iliadou, Ms Kladouchou, Ms Kouvari and our own SLC graduate Eirini Geleklidis. Congratulations to all the participants for representing the school so successfully.

Through the week of 19th March 2018, the pupils of Key Stage 2 took part in the hotly contested Interhouse Quiz Finals watched by staff, friends and family. The results were always hard fought for and very close indeed - in one instance coming down to a nail-biting one point difference! The finalists all excelled themselves but someone always had to emerge victorious. The results were:

• Year 3 - Epirus
• Year 4 - Macedonia
• Year 5 - Epirus
• Year 6 - Epirus

Counselling psychologist Marialena Kalyva Dragazi will be talking to parents, and taking questions, on the subject of “Internet and Gaming Addiction”. The presentation will be in English and will take place in senior school. Parents who are attending should make their way to the senior school reception area from where they will be directed to the room hosting the presentation. 
The problem of children suffering addictions to the internet and online gaming is a concern for many parents, I know, and so I ask you to contact either telephone or email the senior school (seniorschool@slc.gr) or junior school (juniorschool@slc.gr) to let us know if you plan to attend this presentation. 
Ms Kalyva Dragazi has worked with the staff of St. Lawrence College in the past and, being aware of how knowledgeable she is, and what an effective communicator she is, I am very pleased that she has agreed to return to our school to speak to parents on this important theme. In addition to making this presentation, Ms Kalyva Dragazi will be in school for two full days working in several year group sessions with pupils from Years 9-13 on the theme of self-esteem and the worrying problem of self-harming among teenagers.  

The presentation will take place at 9:00 am on Monday 11th December
 

In an annual tradition of remembering the sacrifices and courage of those before us, St Lawrence College had a number of memorable events to mark the national day of remembrance in Greece - 28th October.

Under the guidance of Ms Tsirigoti and the Greek department, the children of Years 5 and 6 in the Junior School performed a beautiful piece which saw them show empathy and understanding of the great hardship and suffering that the people of Greece endured during the harsh war years. 

Over in the senior school, the national day was celebrated with a play presented by pupils of Years 8-11, members of the Greek Drama Club. The play was a dramatized adaptation of the second part of the Alki Zei’s novel Petros’ War on the topic of the Nazi Occupation in Greece and the changes in people’s lives. At the same time, a PowerPoint presentation showed images, audio and video extracts from that time.

Very well done to the children and staff who gave us every reason to feel proud of their heartfelt performance.

Our school has been asked to take part in the celebration of the United Nations International Peace Day, which promotes and strengthens the ideals of peace and non-violence amongst all nations. The celebration will take place on Saturday 23rd September at Epidavros and Nafplion and our school will be represented by a group of St. Lawrence College pupils (Years 9 to 13) and staff. 
First of all the pupils will go to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Epidavros and will be met by the Mayor. They will enjoy a formal tour of the archaeological site and ancient theatre. Then they will meet with other students from all over Greece to discuss the following issues in the ancient theatre:
•    What is peace?
•    What stands in the way of peace?
•    What is the meaning of ‘Ekeheria’?
•    How can we achieve world peace?

They will be involved in creating a video on how the vision and the voice of youth can inspire world peace among nations and this will then be viewed in 180 countries.
Afterwards, pupils will depart for Nafplion. They will have time to enjoy a taverna meal (not included) before going to the square for the ‘International Peacejam’. UNESCO officials, Olympic and Para-Olympic athletes and choirs from around the world will be there too! The event is due to end at 9pm.  
Some of the discussions will be in Greek so pupils need to be made aware of this. However, non-Greek speakers are equally welcome as long as they are aware that this will be the case.  
We will be departing from school at 8am precisely and returning to school again at approximately 11.30pm.