St. Catherine's British School

Greece

Location: Greece

Type: Mainstream School

Phase: All-through

Funding status: Independent

Gender: Mixed

Age range: 3 - 18 years

About St. Catherine's British School

About us

St. Catherine’s British School is an independent day school for 1,350 students aged 3 to 18, situated in Lykovrissi, near the vibrant area of Kifissia and just a short ride from the historic centre of Athens. The School was established in 1956 in the grounds of the British Embassy in Athens. Although originally intended to provide education for children from Britain and the Commonwealth, it now teaches 1400 pupils, aged 3 to 18 years, from over 50 nationalities.

Our purpose is to empower young people to understand, care, and create a better future, delivering a high-quality British education that equips students for global success. We are proud to be an IBO World School, teaching the EYFS curriculum, IGCSEs, and the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme. As one of the select few British Schools Overseas (BSO) accredited schools in Greece, we uphold the highest international standards whilst also maintaining our British heritage.

The school is an ambitious, high-quality environment, as well as being a warm and inclusive community. Our modern facilities, including an impressive new Upper School campus, offer inspiring spaces that enhance the learning experience. Our public exam results are outstanding, and we also place great importance on student and staff wellbeing, outdoor experiences (the Duke of Edinburgh International Award), sport, music and the performing arts. The parents are supportive and engaged and we are fortunate to have an impressive board of governors to support and guide us.

St Catherine’s is a ‘not for profit organisation’. It is, however, a private school and is registered at Companies House in the UK (reg. no. 860288). It is also registered as a charity with the UK Charities Commission (Charity No. 313909).

St. Catherine’s endeavours to foster a love of learning through a well taught, appropriately challenging, clearly defined, broad and balanced curriculum. Our aim is to fully develop pupils’ intellectual, social, physical, and creative potential, in anticipation that they will develop into sensitive, informed, decisive and capable global citizens of the future.

Character building and interpersonal skills are developed through a range of relevant educational experiences and extra-curricular activities. As a leading exponent of global citizenship, St Catherine’s pupils are encouraged to develop problem-solving skills, conflict resolution skills, negotiation strategies and an understanding of multicultural, multi-faith, and multiracial concepts within the context of cultural pluralism. Pupils are expected to seek solutions to environmental and ecological problems and actively demonstrate responsibilities and sound practices for good global, European, and national citizenship, as well as having clear expectations of the relevance and benefits of personal, social and health strategies.

ISI Inspection in March 2023

St Catherine’s was inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate in March 2023 and received the highest rating of “excellent” in all categories:

The quality of the pupil’s achievements and their learning, attitudes, and skills
The contribution of curricular and extra-curricular provision (including community links of benefit to pupils)
The contribution of teaching
The spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development of the pupils
The contribution of arrangements for welfare, health, and safety
The quality of governance
The quality of leadership and management
The quality of links with parents, carers, and guardians

Academic Programme and Accreditation

The school is divided into six stages, in line with legal requirements for England and Wales. These departments are:

Foundation Stage - Nursery and Reception (ages 3 – 5 years)
Key Stage One - Years 1 and 2 (ages 5 – 7 years)
Key Stage Two - Years 3 – 6 (ages 7 – 11 years)
Key Stage Three - Years 7 – 9 (ages 11 – 14 years)
Key Stage Four - Years 10 and 11 (ages 14 – 16 years) culminating in (I)GCSE examinations.
International Baccalaureate - Years 12 and 13 (ages 16 – 18 years) culminating in the IB Diploma qualification.

The school follows a curriculum that is closely based on the National Curriculum of England and Wales between the ages of 5 and 16 years, with all students being taught English, Mathematics, Science, ICT, Physical Education and one of four Modern Languages. In addition, there are a range of creative and humanities subjects delivered within the different Key Stages. For the final two years all students can study for the full IB Diploma, and a range of subjects are available in the six Diploma subject groups.

The school is an HMC school as well as an Executive Member of the Council of British International Schools (COBIS) and is IBO World School 1370. It submits itself for the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) inspection on a three-year cycle.

Community

St Catherine’s is situated within its own grounds in northern Athens, near the elegant suburb of Kifisia. In 2020, we expanded into our new Upper School building adjacent to the Lower School. The school currently has excellent teaching, sporting, and recreational facilities, including a large open-air swimming pool and two libraries. We are currently a Microsoft ‘Incubator School’ sporting the most up-to-date technology.

The school has a good balance of long term local (Greek) pupils and expatriate pupils from all over the world. Due to its academic excellence, St Catherine’s is the first-choice school for most local and expatriate families, who want their children to gain a British education within an international context. The parents of St Catherine’s come from a variety of professional backgrounds and are intricately linked to the school through the PTSA (Parents and Teachers Support Association), as well as many other parent – student links. We also launched our Community Digital Space "StCatsConnect", again with all our community staying connected at the heart of our thinking and vision.

St Catherine’s takes every opportunity to benefit from the rich heritage of Greece and every class looks at a different aspect of Greek history or culture, usually supported by educational visits.

Extracurricular Activities

St Catherine's students are encouraged to take part in the extensive range of clubs and societies that the school has to offer, which take place within the lunch hour and after school. Arts, sciences, and sports flourish at the school. The school participates in sports matches with other schools in Greece and abroad. Debating, oration and drama competitions at both national and international level, take place throughout the year.

Drama, dance, and music opportunities are on offer to all. Pupils can learn virtually any musical instrument of their choosing and can study for graded music examinations.

The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts’ examinations in speech and drama are also open to pupils of the school. A strong feature of the school is its International Award / Duke of Edinburgh scheme. This links most appropriately to the CAS element of the IB diploma.

Overseas trips are a regular part of school life, as is the exploration and discovery of the history and geography of Greece. Inter-house activities and the elected School Council ensure pupil involvement in the commitment and delivery of school improvement at all levels.

Service Opportunities

Service opportunities are hand in hand with our social responsibility programme, giving students a chance to give back at every opportunity. Senior students have numerous opportunities to involve themselves in service projects both within Greece and further afield. especially within the IB CAS Programme. Beach clean-up, language teaching in local refugee centres, and a Sea Turtle rescue scheme are examples of local projects. Additionally, several students have embarked on international programmes in developing countries.

University Support

St Catherine’s provides extensive college counselling and careers advice by specialists with considerable experience in US and UK admissions. In addition to the IGCSE and IB programmes, the school provides SAT preparation running from September to January every academic year.

Several events take place every year, including university visits, guest speakers and a careers and universities fair which encourages our alumni to come in and give back to our senior students, always a momentous day for teachers and alumni alike.

(I)GCSE Results 2024