19 December 2024
Dear Parents, Guardians and Students/Annwyl Rhieni, Gwarchodwyr a Myfyrwyr
Here we are. The end of the autumn term has come around. As we close the door on 2024 it is an opportunity for us all to reflect on a year that has been filled with learning, laughter and friendship. That has culminated in many community and team activities this week that have kept our festive spirits high! Well done to everyone who supported the City Hospice Jolly Jumpers Day last week to raise essential funds for their invaluable work. Here’s a sample of the Jolly Jumpers and a good effort from staff and Sixth Form students!
Now we move into even more festive territory!
After the disappointment of the Llanishen ‘Village Lights’ event being cancelled due to Storm Darragh, it’s been a bumper fortnight for the Performing Arts department. Here is a round up from Mr Grimstead….
“On Tuesday 10th December, students from our ASD base attended a workshop at Cardiff University School of Music. As part of the Paul Robeson foundation, named after a famous American singer and civil rights activist, we were treated to a session of singing (including Mrs Lithgow demonstrating excellent coordination with the standing and sitting whilst singing!).
This was followed by a djembe drumming workshop, where the students performed polyrhythms and improvised on large West African drums. At the end we were beautifully serenaded by Turhan Miah, who took to the grand piano to give us some Christmas classics and pop songs.
This trip also allowed our ASD students to practice their life skills, and I was very proud to see the boys buying their bus tickets, asking for directions and staying safe when walking to the university. A top day; but, don’t take my word for it, here are some of the thoughts from the boys:
Shaun: “The trip made me feel very happy, because I liked playing the drum!”
Codey: “The trip was amazing! I felt like I was in a rock band!”
Aayan: “It made me feel very brilliant!”
Turhan: “Very cool, I played the piano for the Uni students!”
Donal: “The drums were awesome!”
Kairon: “I liked playing the drums really fast!”
Richard: “It was great! I loved singing!”
Thursday 12th December saw our annual visit to Ty Coch Care Home. It was lovely to see how appreciative the local residents were to our Senior and Junior Choirs, who sang a mixture of traditional carols and pop songs. We left with warmth in our hearts and lots of smiling faces. The students then went from one temperature to another, singing outside Boots Llanishen in the freezing cold in aid of Marie Curie – a charity which supports families within our school community. In just one hour of singing, we are delighted to have raised £196.
On Monday 16th December our Senior and Junior choirs took to St David’s shopping centre as part of the City Hospice Takeover event, where we sang underneath the glorious and sparkling Christmas tree. By the second hour the shopping centre was heaving with shoppers watching our choirs sing with gusto, and we even had to relocate to the other side of the tree as the audience was blocking up the general foot flow!
By the third hour the collection buckets were overflowing with donations to City Hospice – at the time of writing this we still don’t know the final amount raised, but we will share this with you in the future. City Hospice is another charity very close to our hearts due to the invaluable work supporting some of our families.
Our final, and most intimate, function was the opportunity for our lovely sixth form students to perform at the annual Llanishen Rotary Club Christmas Luncheon, held at Llanishen Golf Club. Students beautifully performed a set that included classical music, musical theatre and festive favourites. This was our opportunity to say thank you to the Rotary Club for their support of our school over the year. We are incredibly proud of all of our students for their hard work, energy and enthusiasm at the end of a busy term.”
We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Mr Grimstead, Mrs Brown, Mrs Cumpstone and Mr Wolverson. As the rest of us start to wind down at the end of a long term, the Expressive Arts team work around the clock to organise, co-ordinate, orchestrate, choreograph, transport, conduct, assemble, construct, deconstruct and calm the activities outlined above, whilst also putting on a spectacular Christmas concert over two nights. They deserve to hibernate for a while now!
An invite to Westminster Abbey!
The next story is also a particularly lovely one. We would like to commend Millie Exintaris from Sixth Form. Millie does a lot of volunteering and fundraising for Marie Curie and was recently invited to Westminster Abbey and the Carol Service.
Millie has raised a lot of money for Marie Curie through her bake sale and it has been part of her Leadership and Development Programme and the Welsh Baccalaureate. In Millie’s own words…
“We attended Westminster Abbey following an invitation from the Lord Lieutenant of the Vale of Glamorgan for my mum’s care and support she has shown to her patients, and the volunteering I have and continue to do at Marie Curie. The Prince and Princess of Wales and their children were in attendance at the carol service organised by Princess Kate. My mum works for Marie Curie and has done so for 6 years. She works in the hospice and in the community providing end of life care.
The Together at Christmas carol service was organised by Princess Kate to thank those who have shown love, kindness, and empathy to others in their community. During the service carols were sung and well-known faces like Prince William and Adam Peaty (OBE) spoke. It was a privilege to be among those like my mum who take time to help others, and it was a very special and surreal evening for both of us.”
Creative festivities!
In Fashion and Textiles this week the students have been refining their skills and having fun, along with a little bit of music and dancing! Years 7 and 8 have been making a Christmas decoration to take home for their families, using 2 types of stitching techniques.
Year 10 have been making “gnomes” based on macramé along with lavender bags, attaching a button, pom poms and decorations. They even had a bit of cheeky balloon decoration going on with the theme of Wicked. They had lots of fun whilst increasing their skill levels.
Parent and Teacher Association (PTA)
The PTA have also been busy growing its’ membership. They have been fundraising by selling refreshments at this term’s school events. A trickle of plants has been sold in the school to help boost the funds and the polytunnel has benefited from donations of herbs. The group is not simply a Parents and Teachers organisation anymore!
They welcome all staff members and carers and value the input of students into helping run the refreshment stall. They are busy building those business skills! There is also a growing relationship with the local McDonalds branch who have offered help to students with CV writing and interview technique, as well as donating breakfast refreshments twice a week for our ‘reading buddies’ group, where older students help younger students with their reading.
In the final week of term, the PTA are running the refreshment stall at the Christmas show and have created a Christmas themed balloon arch for those essential cast and family photos of what will surely be a great night. The next PTA meeting is Thursday 9th January at 4 pm and we hope to welcome new members.
If you would like to join the PTA (they are a very friendly group!) please email them on:
Week 6 of Couch to 5K!
If anyone needs some inspiration for some January health, wellbeing and fitness, then look no further!
Members of The Grove are now on week 6 of their Couch to 5K challenge and their numbers are growing all the time. Here is a picture of the team taken after they had finished their Friday run! We are incredibly proud of them all. Everyone is putting in 100% effort.
Tocyn Iaith Winners for the Autumn Term
We are also delighted to announce the Tocyn Iaith winners from Year 7 and 8. They all received WH Smith vouchers as prizes. They were given a Tocyn Iaith for using incidental Welsh around the school. Congratulations everyone!
The winners for Year 7 are:-
- Faris Rafiq 7E
- Megan Coleman 7E
- Berry Fraser 7A
The winners for Year 8 are:-
- Ethan Watts 8D
- Daniel Micklewright 8H
- Ella Jones 8C
Learning Support Star of the Week
The final nomination of 2024 goes to Will Fisher in Year 10. Will has had a really positive week. This comes at end of a long and exhausting term so it’s great to see Will finish the year with style!
After that substantial round up, all that remains is for me to wish all of our readers a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and hopeful 2025. We look forward to welcoming everyone back to school on Monday 6th January 2025.
Thank you for reading/Diolch am ddarllen,
Mrs Sarah Parry, Headteacher