His Eminence Archbishop Nikitas visited St Andrew the Apostle School on Wednesday 13 October and delivered an inspiring Assembly and Service of Blessing to the new cohort of Year 7 students. His Eminence was accompanied by the Very Reverend Nephon Tsimalis and Father John Hookway.

This was the first visit since the pandemic for His Eminence, who after the Service of Blessing invited questions from the students. His Eminence covered a range of topics, speaking about his life and upbringing in Florida and his journey to becoming the Archbishop.

The visit of His Eminence is important to our community as St Andrew the Apostle School is the only state funded Greek Orthodox Secondary School in the UK. The school provides a high quality, academic and inclusive education to 750 students. St Andrew the Apostle School prides itself on enabling students to make excellent progress because of the personal attention and positive relationships the school builds with each child and their family. Once the planned new state of the art buildings are constructed, the school will increase to over 1,000 students.

Headteacher Mrs Indira Warwick said, “I would like to give thanks to His Eminence for delivering an inspiring sermon to our staff and students. I would especially like to thank His Eminence, The Worshipful the Mayor of Barnet and our other esteemed guests for spending quality time with our students and staff. Our students were eager to ask many questions and I am delighted to say that all were answered. We feel truly blessed and Wednesday 13 October will always be treasured as a spiritually memorable day that we will never forget.”

The order of service included an accomplished musical performance by St Andrew the Apostle students followed by speeches from Mrs Karen Lynch (Chair of the board of Trustees of The Russell Education Trust); Mrs Indira Warwick (Headteacher) and Mr Michael Vassiliou (Spiritual Director). One of the most moving moments of the service was hearing students from various year groups reciting together the Lord’s prayer in English, Greek, Albanian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Russian and Serbian.

Chair of Governors Mrs Mary Karaolis OBE said “His Eminence Archbishop Nikitas spoke to many students during his visit; enthusiastically answering their questions and encouraging them to work hard and have high aspirations”.

Upon completion of the Service, His Eminence Archbishop Nikitas, The Worshipful The Mayor of Barnet and other esteemed guests were given a tour of the school where they visited a range of lessons and met staff and students.

Students in A Level Philosophy and Ethics were able have a unique opportunity to have a discussion with His Eminence on the ethical issues surrounding poverty, whilst The Worshipful The Mayor of Barnet impressed staff and students with her fluency in French whilst visiting a GCSE language lesson. Senior Deputy Headteacher, Mr Mike Michael said “We offer our students a broad and balanced curriculum including Classics, Latin and Greek. These subjects are only rarely found in the state sector. Today’s visit has further enriched our curriculum offer as all students have been able to develop their cultural capital.”

The visit was concluded with some light refreshments and an opportunity for the Sixth Form student leadership team to meet His Eminence Archbishop Nikitas and The Worshipful The Mayor of Barnet to discuss their planned applications to top Russell Group universities including Oxbridge.

The visit emphasised what inspectors from Ofsted said about our school in their most recent visit:
The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding. Pupils are self-confident and very articulate. They like the school and want to do well. Pupils said that there is a ‘family atmosphere’ in the school and that there is warmth in the relationships between pupils.

From left to right: School Governor Maria Frangeskides; Mr Andreas Karaolis, Executive Secretary of the National Federation of Cypriots in the UK; Headteacher Mrs Indira Warwick; His Eminence Archbishop Nikitas; The Worshipful The Mayor of Barnet Councillor Alison Cornelius; Chair of Governors Mrs Mary Karaolis OBE; Chair of the Board of Russell Education Trust, Mrs Karen Lynch; School Governor Mr Danny Lynch; Barnet Schools Adviser, Mr Charles Rice; Chair of the Cypriot Community Centre, Mrs Suzy Constantinides MBE.

His Eminence delivering the service of Blessing with Father Nephon and Father John.

Year 7 students at the end of the service with His Eminence, The Worshipful The Mayor of Barnet and other esteemed guests.

Standing to His Eminence’s right is Antonia in Year 8. Antonia is a Young Carer who lives in Enfield and was recognised for her work for charity. Antonia was interviewed in March on Heart FM and her inspirational story of support and care for her family was shared across the radio waves. In response to this interview, over a million pounds was raised for charity.

His Eminence with Headteacher Mrs Indira Warwick at the end of a memorable and inspiring visit.

Details of our Sixth Form Open Evening.
Please see our website for more details and information about St Andrew the Apostle School.