Campion School (Athens)

Campion School is a leading English-language private international school in Athens, Greece, which provides an adapted British educational curriculum to approximately 600 children of foreign residents, the Greek diaspora and local Greeks, from Nursery through to Year 13 (ages three to eighteen). The pupils include children coming from more than 40 different countries.

History

Campion School was founded in 1970 in Athens, Greece, by American banker and philhellene Thomas Shortell, his wife Betsy Shortell, and American businessman and later diplomat Burke O'Connor, as an independent, non-profit Anglo-American school governed by a board of trustees.

The academic programme is based on the National Curriculum (England and Wales) adapted to make full use of the location and culture of Greece. Courses lead to IGCSE and the International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB). Class sizes are generally small, and children's progress is carefully monitored by a system of class teachers, advisers and Year Tutors. The school's IGCSE and IB results are consistently well above the UK and IB averages and the school has had five students complete the IB Diploma with a score of 45, the highest grade possible. Although most students aim at university education in the United Kingdom, preparation and guidance is also given to students wishing to apply to universities in the USA, Europe and Greece.

The performing arts are well represented both inside and outside the curriculum, and dramatic performances take place in each school at least once a term. Choral and instrumental groups meet on a regular basis, and individual tuition is provided for a variety of musical instruments. There is a wide range of competitive sports on offer, and students are encouraged to take part. Football (soccer), volleyball and basketball teams regularly play against opponents from Greece and abroad. Other activities include tennis, athletics, cross-country running, trampolining and modern dance. The School is now located in purpose-built premises in the suburb of Pallini, 16km east of the city centre, where a full range of academic, sporting and artistic facilities has been constructed. A new sports facility which includes a professional soccer pitch, running track and changing pavilion was inaugurated in May 2012. Classrooms are equipped with interactive whiteboards and Wi-Fi. The school organizes a bus service covering many suburbs in the greater Athens area. Each bus has an adult supervisor in addition to the driver.

Campion is an accredited member of the COBIS (Council of British International Schools),[1] the ECIS (European Council of International Schools),[2] and the headmaster is an overseas member of the HMC (Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference) [3] In the most recent ISI inspection of the campus in 2014, Campion School scored "Excellent in all categories".

Pupils

Each student is organised into one of the houses, which are named after the titans Atlas, Hyperion and Prometheus (houses in the junior school are named after legendary Greek heroes Alexander, Pericles, Theseus and Heracles). Merits and house points are given to students when exceptional effort is made to encourage students and allow them to have their confidence in learning and improving themselves. The pupils are required to wear a uniform up to and including year eleven;[4] students in years twelve and thirteen must adhere to a dress code.[5]

The Campion school uniform has, since its introduction, always consisted of a combination of blue, white, and red. Boys wear navy blue trousers, a white polo shirt and a navy jumper, while girls wear navy blue trousers or a skirt, a white blouse and a red (Junior School) or navy blue (Senior School) jumper.

The pupils are divided into Nursery, Reception, Junior (years one through six) and Senior (years seven through thirteen) divisions which, while previously housed at different locations, are now combined on the same premises but in separate buildings.

School activities and curriculum

The campion pupils enjoy a wide variety of extra-cuccircular activities, including the weekly after school activities. Students may choose musical instrument lessons including piano, violin, cello, guitar etc. In addition, pupils are provided with the choices of joining sport clubs. These include football, softball, tennis (the school has 4 full sized multi-use tennis court), basketball, hockey, track-and-field and many more. There is a debate club in which students prepare the motions and debate every week. Every year the debate team participate in various different tournaments across Greece, for example the Penhellenic Forensics tournament.

Annually, Campion School holds their MUN (Model United Nations), named CSMUN, which has been taking place for more than 12 years consecutively and achieved successful results during the conference.

Campion school has a PRC (Parents recreational community), which is a group of parents and guardians in Campion School which meet to discuss about the school and arrange charity sales, fundraisers, international days, as well as special activities to celebrate world's different traditions. They also take up the responsibility to decorate the school building during every year's festivals such as Halloween. Campion school holds performances such as the Christmas concert (organised by the music department), summer concert, staff concert, drama musicals (arranged by the drama department), and some talks during assemblies from professionals outside the school. Valentine's dance and carnivals are also held every year.

Furthermore, Campion School is known for its wide range of choices for trips around Greece and Europe. Not only does it provide trips to famous places in Greece such as Delphi, Mount Olympus and Santorini, it also holds trips going to different countries in Europe, such as Spain, France, and Italy. Students in Campion have been skydiving and even scuba dived.

Campion school's curriculum is extremely well organised and thorough, with the assistance of many very well-educated teachers, some even graduated from the best universities in the world such as Oxford. The courses provided fit the students' choices, with 5 different courses of languages other than English, as well as drama and design. During students' year 10 and 11, they prepare for IGCSE exams which take place at the end of year 11, and during year 12 and 13 they do IB (International Baccalaureate). In the most recent results in 2021, the students in Campion achieved exceptional IB results, with the average mark of 39 (out of 45), 9 marks higher than the global average and higher than any other international schools in Greece. The pass rate was 100%. The former headmaster of Campion, Mr Stephen Atherton, received MBE (Member of the order of the British Empire) in 2022.

Staff

The majority of the staff are graduates of UK universities and all members of staff are dedicated specialists in their subject area. The current Headmaster is Michael Henderson. The IB coordinator is Kate Varey and the Head of Juniors is Judi Korakaki.

Leading staff and head of Depts
  • Mr Calafatis - Business Manager
  • Ms Michael - HM executive
  • Ms Baker - Director of communications and admission
  • Ms Rylander - Systems & Data manager
  • Mrs Andrinanaki - C.A.S co-ordinator
  • Mrs Misirli - UCAS Advisor
  • Mr Politsopoulous - Computer Administrator and facilities manager
  • Miss Andrinaki - Reception
  • Mr Psaromatis - Exams officier
  • Miss Papadimitriou - Head of English
  • Ms Salter - Librarian
  • Mr Dimakos - Head of Maths
  • Ms Varey - Head of History
  • Ms Bakalis - Head of Classics
  • Miss Meidana - Head of Greek
  • Mr Brosnan - Head of Science
  • Ms Helsby - Head of Music
  • Mr Tilley - Head of Geography
  • Mr Pasios - Head of Physical Education
  • Mr Higgins - Head of Economics
  • Mr Psarrou - Head of Psychology and humanities
  • Mr Dres - Head of Art
  • Ms Rogakou - Head of Drama
  • Ms Marti - Head of Languages

Former headmasters
  • 1970-1973 Richard Forbes, MA (Cantab)
  • 1980-1983 Thomas Howarth.
  • 1983-1988 Anthony F Eggleston.
  • 1988-1990 C. Douglas Juckes.
  • 1990-1991 Dennis Mackinnon.
  • 1991-2020 Stephen W Atherton (educator and pianist).
  • 2020-2021 Duncan Rose.
  • 2021-Present, Mike Henderson (Former Head of Seniors)

Notable alumni

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-05-29. Retrieved 2011-05-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-08-15. Retrieved 2011-05-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-03-15. Retrieved 2008-03-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. http://www.campion.edu.gr/images/stories/uniform%2009.pdf%5B%5D
  5. http://www.campion.edu.gr/images/stories/uniform%2009.pdf%5B%5D

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.