Hellenic School of St Peter and Paul, Bristol
- Published in School
After our community was granted its own church building in March 1959, our School found a new home in the Orthodox church of St Peter and St Pau
The “Hellenic School of St Peter and Paul” is the cultural centre of the Greek Orthodox Community of Bristol.
The centre is promoting the Hellenic culture, heritage, history and language, providing lessons to adults and children. It is supported by the Greek Embassy and the Cyprus High Commission.
Classes
Classes for children of school age aim to complement the education they are receiving from their education in the UK. Classes for children of pre-school age 4-5, aim to introduce them to the Greek language and culture with elements of the foundation stage of British schools.
For children between the ages of 4-12 lessons are held on Saturday mornings and midweek evenings for older children and adults. The school classes are organized according to age and ability.
The “Hellenic School of St Peter and Paul” is registered and recognised as an examination centre for GCSE and “EDEXCEL” "A" level in Modern Greek language.
History
The efforts to establish a Greek school in Bristol started in 1951. In 1958 the Greek School of Bristol founded and began to operate on a regular basis due to the efforts of the community priest Archimandrite Eirinaios Athanasiades and Mrs. Marika Matthew, who were also the first teachers. The school was operating in the Orthodox church of St Peter and St Paul.
In 1962 in addition to the above teachers and the new community priest Archimandrite Eirinaios Vasileiou, new teachers joined them, sisters Vasiliki and Alexandra Nikolaidou and Aglaia Hill.
In 1967 the new priest Father Thomas Tsevas worked to transfer the School to the premises of the English ST. Gabriel’s High School, located in the city centre.
In 1968 the school has been reorganised by a six-member Committee headed by priest Nikodimos Velalopoulos.
In 1972 the Greek School of Bristol was housed in Filton Technical College Language Department due to the efforts of Mr. Charalampos Stamboulieh, Teacher of Economics of the college and head of the Greek school.
From 1974-1979 the school was transferred to Redland College after the suggestion of Mrs. Aglaia Hill. Father Loukas Michaelides was the community priest at that time.
In 1982 the School was operating 5 days a week and the children were attending lessons according to their level and ability.
After 1982 the Greek School has a large number of students achieving “O” levels and “A” levels in Modern Greek. Also classes for adults were added for those who wanted to learn Greek, Greeks and people of other ethnicity.
The Hellenic School of St. Peter & St. Paul,
The Old Vicarage,
Claremont Street,
Easton, Bristol BS5 0YL
Tel. 0117 9354431 (school hours)
