29/01/2017

Dear parents, students and friends,

We hope that you and your families are all well.

It is the end of January and the Christmas holidays already feel a long time ago. Most of us are back to the normal routine with work, school run, school activities and checking over our children for the completion of their homework! Luckily, we had a mild winter so far and we have avoided the heavy snow that even some of the small Greek islands had to cope with a couple of weeks ago. Whilst the snow is often viewed as beautiful and majestic on a photograph in reality it can certainly be hard and challenging for the local residents.

On the Greek school of St. Nicholas Liverpool front, we enjoyed the lovely children's performances and the Greek food during the Christmas play the last day before the Christmas holidays, we had an enjoyable and relaxing outing to the 'Dreamwork Lights experience' at the beginning of January and last Saturday we were all very keen to find the piece of the 'Vassilopita' (St. Vasilios/ New Year cake) with the lucky coin.

At the same time there were some developments in the structure and activities of the school. With the start of the 2nd term after the holidays the two adult Greek language classes and the reception class on the Saturday school had to close down due to the low number of students. The children in the reception class were moved to the next class where there is already a teacher and a teaching assistant to support this transition. These are difficult and unpleasant decisions but vital for the smooth operation of the school.

We faced a similar situation last year when the two classes in our Wavertree branch were merged to one. We understand that it is difficult to predict the demographic statistics and the requirement for educational provisions to a certain age group especially in a supplementary/community school but the school committee and the teachers are always active to promote our school and our activities. Through that we constantly aim to attract new students and we hope that the number of the students in those age groups will increase in the future so we will be able to re-instate the classes.

On another subject the school committee and the teachers have started the planning and the preparation for the next level (Gold Award) of accreditation by the National Resource Centre of Supplementary Education. The target is for the portfolio to be ready for review by May and the auditors visit to be completed by the end of that month. This activity in conjunction with the visit from the coordinator of the Central Educational Office sometime in spring will create an interesting and busy time for the whole school in the next few months.

This week we will also carry on the consultation with our parents and students on the subject of preparing a small event for the Greek Carnival either in the school or in an external facility at the end of February. We would like to hear ideas and suggestions from all of you with the intention to finalize a proposal by the end of this week.

Finally, we would like to introduce monthly school committee 'drop in' sessions for the parents to discuss in a safe and confidential environment any matter related to the school or your child(ren). The sessions could be used for the parents to learn about the operation of the school, share opinions, ideas and suggestions with the members of the school committee, or even offer to run or help with any future events and activities. Parents will be able to just come and see us or book 10-15 min time slots. The first one will take place this Saturday 04th February, from 12:30pm until 1:30pm. We are looking forward to seeing you there.

Best regards,

Panagiotis Maropakis

President of the School Committee

Greek school of St. Nicholas Liverpool

14/10/2016

Dear all,

We are already half way through October and even though we have been blessed with some bright and sunny days the low temperature every morning and the layers of leaves on the pavements, gardens and parks reminds us that we are well into autumn. Warm clothes, coats and the ignition of the central heating boiler are getting in the daily routine.

The last few weeks in the Greek School of St. Nicholas have seen the start of the beginners Level 1 adult Greek class and we were pleased to welcome ft. Iakovos from the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox church in Liverpool for our 'Agiasmo' - start of the academic year blessing.

We were also very proud to participate and support the 'International Day of Languages' event with Liverpool Council, NRCSE and Liverpool Supplementary schools network last week. During the event we received our certificates for the Bronze and Silver Award of the NRCSE Quality Framework and met representatives from the NRCSE to plan the preparations for the portfolio and application for the Gold Award later this year.

Following from the recent enquiries from parents for a toddlers (2-4 years old) group in the school we are in the unfortunate position to report that the matter have met some legal roadblocks with our insurance and the Broadgreen International School. If there are any changes to the circumstances in the future we will send updated information.

At the same time a list that was distributed to the parents and friends of the school to express interest for a Greek School Christmas dinner around the end of November had collected signatures from 12 families. We are currently looking for a minimum of 50 people in order to make the event meaningful. Please contact any member of the school committee if you have not been able to sign the list but wish to express your interest.

We would like to say a thank you to all the parents that offered to assist with organising and making available the coffee/tea supplies and utensils every Saturday for the parents meeting room. A rota for the whole first term has been drafted and distributed to the parents/volunteers.

A recent initiative from parents has been the planning of 5 a side football match for parents and friends of the school on Saturdays normally around 2:00pm at the Broadgreen International School indoor gym. If you wish to polish your football boots and be part of the team please feel free to contact Mr. Leonida Makri.

We are looking forward to your comments and suggestions as always.

Best regards,

Panagiotis Maropakis

President of the school committee

Greek school of St. Nicholas Liverpool

16/09/2016

Dear all,

First of all we would like to welcome you all to the school and wish you the best for the new school year! We are sure that with the start of the mainstream English schools full days this week most of our children found it a bit harder to wake up in the mornings!

This week our main school in Liverpool, the Greek dance class, our branches in Crosby and Wavertree and the beginners Level 2 adult Greek class have started successfully. We were very pleased to see familiar and new faces!

The updated information pack and the annual planner have been distributed to all parents and published on our website. A few of our dates/events in the annual planner (i.e. Christmas dinner) are only a proposal at this stage and they will go ahead only if we have enough interest. We will provide more details in the next couple of weeks.

Last Saturday we also found out that there were a few enquiries from parents for a toddlers (2-4 years old) group in the school. We were excited with this opportunity and we are interested to hear from parents that will wish to use the service during the school time on Saturday. Please feel free to email us if you would like to register your interest and we promise to explore this opportunity.

We would also request from all parents to fill the updated registration forms, if you have not done already, especially if any of your contact details have changed. Forms will be available in school or we are happy to email you a blank copy.

We are also looking forward to develop and expand the Greek school students choir that started last year under the supervision and guidance of Mr. Andrea Tofi. We would be grateful if parents and students supported this initiative. For more information please feel free to contact the members of the school committee or Mr. Andrea Tofi.

Any parents that would like to assist with organising and making available the coffee/tea supplies and utensils every Saturday for the parents meeting room please contact Mrs. Fitoulla Neophitou in order to draft a rota.

Finally we would like to inform you that tomorrow 17th September we will not be able to use the main hall and the canteen of the Broadgreen International School as they are booked for an event by the local Indian community. Separate arrangements for the Greek school lunch break will be communicated to the parents at the start of the day. Apologies in advance for any inconvenience this might cause.

We are looking forward to your comments and suggestions as always.

Best regards,

Panagiotis Maropakis

President of the school committee

Greek School of St. Nicholas Liverpool