14 July 2023
Dear Parents, Guardians and Students/Annwyl Rieni, Gwarchodwyr a Myfyrwyr
A spectacular Year 11 Prom…
On behalf of Year 11, I would like to say a massive thank you to Mr Hampton and Mrs Evans for organising a dazzling Year 11 prom. I’ve been thinking about how much this rite of passage has grown in recent years. I think the Year 11 team can spend as much time planning the prom as they do planning their own weddings! When you have 220+ young people to worry about, you don’t relax for one single second! However, it was a sparkling evening at the Hilton hotel on Friday 7th July and I think these photographs say it far more eloquently than I can! Congratulations to the Year 11 parents for creating this amazing cohort of young people.
Behind the scenes in our very own LHS hair and beauty salon…..
Year 6 Transition Day
Before Mr Hampton and team could even begin getting ready for the prom, they had a full day before them. On Friday 7th July we welcomed 308 excited/nervous/anxious/buoyant Year 6’s to join us for a full day of energetic transition. Our Year 6 transition day is designed to do one very special thing…..to build teams and to build relationships. The magic happens when we all pull together….. how better to do this than with a tug of war in your new form group/family.
We hope they had a fabulous day and we hope they are a little less anxious about September and a little more excited.
Mind boggling exam statistics!
The next feature has become an annual staple in my Headteachers Blog and I absolutely love to include it because it blows my mind.
In the words of our amazing exams team….
“The 2023 Summer Exam Season has ended for the students, and we would like to thank all the invigilators for their hard work and support over the last three months.
The exams team would also like to thank the students, they excelled themselves. They displayed exemplary behaviour and superb time keeping. The exams were back up to full pace this year which leads to some staggering statistics!
Practically all of these numbers have increased on last year which reflects on our growing community. Here are the numbers for this year:
- 817 individual timetables were handed out and then emailed to each student
- 194 different exam papers were invigilated (that’s 31 more exam papers than last year!)
- The number of students taking each paper varied from just 1 person to 342
- The biggest session was Tuesday 23rd May with 478 candidates in one morning
- 32 different venues were used throughout the whole season
- 8,421 papers were handed out and collected in
- 484 pages of seating plans were created
- 7639 ID cards were set out, then collected and resorted
- Over 300 5-minute warnings were given and countless warnings about mobile phones!
- 245 supervised toilet breaks were taken in the Barn
- Approximately 340 stationary sets were handed out and collected and checked
- 14 boxes of black ink pens were used
- 19 boxes of tissues – mostly for hay fever but some for tears (mainly the staff not the students)
- An average of 14,100 steps were achieved each day
- The exams team included 23 invigilators this year
- Finally, just 8 bags of sweets (some sugar free!) and only 4 packs of biscuits were consumed over the duration of the exams. (I think Slimming World had a part to play, for some, in the reduced consumption of sweets and biscuits this year!)
University experience day for Year 12
On Wednesday 5th July, Year 12 had the opportunity to attend a Cardiff Met University Experience Day. Whilst the day was not quite as we expected for all, there were some fun and interactive sessions including Coaching, Psychology, Podiatry and Careers in ICT to name a few. Students were able to see first-hand some of the different teaching styles used in university education and the kinds of facilities they will have at their disposal if they decide to pursue a degree after Year 13.
Athletics success!
We would like to say a huge well done to Florence Davies in Year 8 and Chloe Farmer in Year 10 for competing in the Welsh Schools Athletics Finals for Cardiff & Vale on Saturday 1st July. Both girls performed extremely well, and we could not be prouder.
The girls finished in:
Florence- silver medal (race walk)
Prior to selection Flo had never race walked before. After agreeing to participate to bring back valuable team points, Flo surpassed all expectations winning her race and gaining selection for the Welsh schools finals where she finished in 2nd place. We are all so proud of Flo for taking the opportunities presented to her and doing so well.
Chloe farmer – gold medal (300m)
A stunning win for Chloe in the 300m has resulted in her qualifying for the SIAB schools under 17 track and field international on Saturday 15th July where she will be representing Wales up in Grangemouth, Scotland!
What an amazing achievement to be representing your country. We wish you all the best Chloe and can’t wait to hear how you get on. LHS are behind you all the way.
A new Fire Cadet recruit!
We would also like to congratulate Destiny Jones from Year 11 on her successful passing out as a fire cadet. Amazing!
Final Foodbank collection of this academic year
On Wednesday 19th July the Rotary Club of Llanishen will be hosting their final collection for this academic year on our bus bays. Our continued help in supporting local families with needed supplies is always welcomed and received with great thanks. Any donations will be greatly appreciated and can be dropped into our school reception in advance.
Thank you for reading/Diolch am ddarllen,
Mrs Sarah Parry, Headteacher