21 November 2024
Dear Parents, Guardians and Students/Annwyl Rhieni, Gwarchodwyr a Myfyrwyr
We come to the end of a week that included the surprise arrival of snow on Wednesday morning, and the less surprising arrival of winter chill as the week crept on. Yet, there was warmth and activity aplenty in school and beyond. Here is a round up from the week.
LHS at Youth COP Cymru!
Mrs Griffiths described it ‘a joy’ to take ten Year 9 students to the Youth Cop Cymru event last week. This is an event that mirrors COP 29 which is currently taking place in Azerbaijan.
The students took part in interactive workshops looking at solutions to climate change. They also met and questioned Huw Irranca-Davies, the Cabinet secretary for climate change. They suggested some very creative ideas including the removal of palm oil from our school canteen. Their ideas have been added to the charter for consideration.
The best part was meeting leaders of the Wampis Nation. The Wampis Nation is an indigenous community who are on the front line of the climate crisis in the Peruvian Amazon. They shared the devastating impact of climate change on their home and shared ways that they are protecting their rainforest from illegal logging and poaching. A powerful day with some powerful messages. Well done Year 9.
Reading Special! The library Halloween writing competition winners!
Last week, our Sixth Form senior librarians announced the winners of the Halloween story writing competition for Years 7 and 8.
Below are the talented winners of some truly terrifying stories. Well done everyone! We can’t wait to see what the budding writers produce next.
Keep an eye out for the next Library writing competition (open to all year groups) which is to write a poem with the theme of ‘Celebration’. Winners will win a £5 book token to spend at our Christmas Scholastic book fair which is from the 25th November to 9th of December in the Library (perfect for buying Christmas presents or something to read over the holiday). More details at the bottom of this blog!
Congratulations to the Year 7 winners:
1st Alice Miles
2nd Hope Voisey
3rd Haydn Ashcroft
Congratulations to the Year 8 winners:
1st Jennifer Long
2nd Oscar Peterson (not pictured)
3rd Libbie Ainsworth
Buddy Reading
Last week our ‘Buddy Reading programme began in the Sixth Form PSA. Our fabulous Year 12 students will be reading twice a week in registration with Year 7 students to help develop their reading. Last week was a ‘meet your buddy’ breakfast and this week the reading starts.
We are very grateful to the PTA for funding breakfast last week and to McDonalds in Llanishen who will be providing fruit and drinks for students for the 12-week programme.
Visit from the award-winning author Jenny Valentine.
Last week we were thrilled to be visited by the award-winning writer Jenny Valentine. Jenny inspired our Year 10, 11 and 12 students to create their own characters and narratives from lists. Jenny also read us an extract from her new brilliant new novel ‘Us in the Before and After’ which has been nominated for the Carnegie Medal for Writing. Thank you to Griffin Books in Penarth for giving our students such an amazing opportunity.
Peer Mentors
Whilst the Sixth Form Buddy Mentor scheme got underway in the PSA, our Wellbeing Peer Mentors were also launching their support provision. The Peer Mentors are a group of Sixth Form students who volunteer their time to pair up with younger students and guide them through any challenges that they might be facing in school.
The Peer Mentors receive external training from the mental health practitioners within our NHS In-Reach team. During this training they are provided with skills, techniques and interventions to support younger students through difficult times, provide helpful guidance and know when to refer concerns on to members of staff.
Our Peer Mentors work on both a 1:1 and group basis. We find students are often more comfortable admitting their true feelings to someone their own age and are very thankful to our wonderful group of mentors who give up their time.
Construction in action
In another part of the school last week there was 100% engagement and concentration from our Year 10 Construction group as they set about decorating our construction booths. They are refining their skills in fitting skirting boards and dado rails. Their accuracy and finish are impressive. Their next job is to tile the area around the sinks in our Food Tech rooms. I wonder if we could hire this team out?!
It’s Movember!
It’s Movember again! Which means only one thing. The male members of the PE department are growing moustaches through the month of November to raise awareness for men’s health. The early morning Year 7 training session has been showing their support! Each year group has also had an assembly this week shining a light on a range of health issues and focussing on men’s health in particular.
Budding linguists!
We would also like to congratulate two students who have gone above and beyond in French this past month.
First, Adyan Mohammad from Year 7 for producing a poster for Miss Hinchey’s wall display on the months of the year in French (pictured below). An excellent effort!
Also, Alan Nazemi from Year 8 has a whole year streak on Duolingo! He has been practicing his French every day for the past year which is fantastic!
Plans for the month of December!
As November creeps on, we are planning for a very busy time of year in December. We thought this would be a good opportunity to make you aware of the various activities that we have coming up.
Friday 29th November: INSET day. School closed to students
Monday 2nd December: INSET day. School closed to students
Thursday 5th December: Year 12 and 13 Parents Evening
Friday 6th December: Christmas in Llanishen Village! The whole village will be joining in the late afternoon/early evening celebrations, including the switching on of the lights in the village. The LHS choirs and solo instrumentalists will be performing for three hours in St Isan’s Church where visitors can step in for as long as they like! Please be aware that road closures could impact on your commute home on this day.
Wednesday 11th December: LHS will be hosting the final collection of the year for the Cardiff Foodbank. We will be joining the Rotary Club on the school bus bays from 5-6pm. All donations welcome on the evening or at our school reception in advance
Thursday 12th December: Christmas lunch in the school canteens, followed by the rewards afternoon for high merit earners
Friday 13th December: Jolly Jumpers Day! All members of the school community are invited to switch their normal school jumper for a jolly one. We invite everyone to make a donation of £1 with all proceeds going to City Hospice
Monday 16th December: LHS choirs will be singing at St David’s Centre in town to raise money for City Hospice
Tuesday 17th December: LHS Sixth Form will be performing for the Rotary Club of Llanishen at their Christmas lunch at Llanishen Golf Club
Wednesday 18th and Thursday 19th December: The LHS Christmas Concert!! This will run over two nights this year. Timings are 6:00 – 8.30pm each night. This year we are going to be selling tickets at a cost of £4 per person. Tickets can be purchased from ParentPay with the proceeds going towards funding instrument lessons for some of our Year 7 learners
Friday 20th December: Break up for the holidays! We will wave our students off after lunch
Monday 6th January 2025: Everyone returns for 2025
Before we sign off this week, let’s have a reminder of the writing competition that students can take part in as well as the book fair.
Well done everyone! We look forward to bringing you more news and updates next week.
Thank you for reading/Diolch am ddarllen,
Mrs Sarah Parry, Headteacher