On Friday 17^th February, the children of Years 4, 5 & 6 happily travelled back to school after hours for an evening of dancing at the disco. The pupils wore their coolest outfits and their glitziest trainers ready to strut their stuff across the dancefloor all night long. With pizza and juice to fill their bellies in the mid-way break, they were reinvigorated to carry on and tear up the dance floor until the lights were turned on at the end.

A fun-filled way indeed to kick off the weekend!

On Monday 13^th February, the FS1 & 2 classes from our Early Years section visited the Playmobil park in Kifissia. 

There, all the children thoroughly enjoyed playing with a variety of toys, including castles, animals, fire engines, hospitals and dragons. This fantasy play, which is essential in any young mind, reinforced their current topic of 'Make Believe’ and gave each child a valuable opportunity to express themselves in a fun setting. 

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 the last day of term, 20th December, Year 6 pupils and staff headed off to Glyfada to go on their annual Fun Day! On the list of fun things to do were bowling, rollerblading and footie in the soft-play area. The claw-grab machine was practically emptied as the children competed with it to win all kinds of goodies. And then the children returned to school full of tales of impossibly fabulous bowling scores, “Miss, I got 8 strik Final es!” “Well, I got 9 strikes and a spare!” they beamed and told anyone who would listen. What a great day they had before heading off for the holidays. 

Merry Christmas everyone! 

As part of our Anti-bullying week, the Year 3 children performed the anti-bullying song ‘Don’t be mean’. Through their song they defined bullying and expressed many ways we can be kind to each other.  The importance of REACHING OUT to someone you trust and to someone you know is being bullied was stressed. Lots of positive messages were shared and a wonderful start to our day, full of song and dance!  

On Friday, 18^th November, we ended the week in the best way possible for our Year 5 and 6 children: we held a disco at the gym where the children danced their socks off! The outfits were the coolest, the dance moves were the grooviest, and the ‘toons’ played by DJ OK were enough to keep everyone on the dance floor all night long, including the teachers.

Pizza and juice gave everybody enough energy to carry on till the lights went on and parents collected their exhausted but happy offspring. Fun times indeed!

After 3 years of online tournaments, our debaters were back debating face to face over the past two weekends. On the 12^th of November,  a team of 10 pupils took part in the St Catherines tournament and last weekend 6 debaters went to the Deree University Invitational. At St Catherines, Theodora Farmakidi and Constantinos Zafeirakis broke to the semi-finals, but lost a close debate about how to deal with the cost-of-living crisis. At Deree, Kimberley Wang and Dora Svitsunova made it to the final for novice teams but didn't manage to defend the idea that they regret the 'chosen one' trope in popular culture.  It was great to be back in person and we are looking forward to continuing the tradition of successful debating at St. Lawrence.

Year 1 had the opportunity to meet some small, wild animals from Attica Zoo Park, such as snakes, baby sea turtles and geckos. We learned about what they look like, what they eat and their habitats. 

We had a WILD time!  

Mummies, coffins, canopic jars, gods and goddesses, writing tools, hieroglyphics, jewellery etc… Ancient Egypt and its breath-taking artifacts came to life when Year 5 visited the National Archaeological Museum in the centre of Athens last Friday. We loved learning even more about this ancient culture and seeing up close the incredible work of ancient Egyptian artisans. We learned everything from how their society was structured, to how they buried their dead, to the significance of scarabs and the ankh, and even how they made beer! We marvelled at alabaster statues, mummies of cats and crocodiles, and miniature carvings of servants who accompanied their masters to the afterlife. What a marvellous way to augment what we learned in class about ancient Egypt!

On Friday 11 November 2022, Year 5 pupils who follow the Ancient Greek History course visited the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. The pupils toured the Prehistoric Collections (Cycladic, Minoan, and Mycenaean) and followed an educational programme on the main characteristics of these civilisations in Greece focusing on architecture, weaponry, pottery, sculpture, wall-paintings, jewellery and burial customs. The visit was concluded with a view of artefacts from the Geometric and Archaic periods.  

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.  

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!

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 Friday 30^th September, Year 6 took part in an active PE based trip to the Mesogeia Track & Field Festival – an event packed with sports fun at a venue in Spata, Attiki. The children saw a theatre show about the first Olympic Games, learned about recycling and participated in a number of energetic activities including the children's favourite – survivor games!