6 March 2025
Dear Parents, Guardians and Students/Annwyl Rhieni, Gwarchodwyr a Myfyrwyr
Let us make a dramatic entrance to the first blog of the new half-term!
LHS performs the Merchant of Venice
Following the success of Romeo and Juliette last year, our Shakespeare Players really challenged themselves this year and staged a phenomenal performance of The Merchant of Venice over two nights on 19th and 20th February. The play explores complex themes including justice, mercy, and prejudice. It was an absolute privilege to be in the audience to see the story brought to life with such passion. Let us introduce you to the cast and tell you a little more about it.
Mr Wolverson and his creative team of Elinor Maizey and Joel White aimed to create an intimate atmosphere to allow the audience to be closer to the Shakespearean characters, and they certainly achieved this!
Although originally intended as a comedy, Mr Wolverson adapted the rendition to reflect tragedy and to draw out the themes of prejudice and antisemitism.
So, the cast were ready and the set was assembled. As the performance unfolded, we saw a young Venetian, Bassanio, seeking to win the hand of the wealthy heiress, Portia. To do so, he turns to his friend Antonio, a merchant, who secures a loan from a moneylender by the name of Shylock. But there are unusual terms attached to the agreement. Meanwhile, Portia faces a test of her own as suitors attempt to solve a riddle to win her love. With romance, rivalry and a very dramatic final trial, this play has it all.
Move over Oscars… Congratulations to the LHS star-studded cast of 2025 players that include….
Freya Curtis, Jacob Parsons, Rhianna Hayes, Lily Jackson, Seren Hayes, Destiny Jones, Molly Davies, Charley Lewis, Grace Lee, Izzy Fisher, Hayden Watkins, Emma Brown, Morgan Howden, Ozzy Russel, Fiona Garbutt, Isla Howells, Charlie Freedman, Emilee Harp, Jessica Clayton and Imogen Hughes.
Our huge respect goes to Mr Wolverson for leading this triumphant achievement! Thank you to Mr Grimstead, Mrs Brown and Mrs Cumpstone for their support. We are delighted to see this group growing in numbers as well as talent.
I wonder what adventures await in 2026?
Succeeding together – Right to Confidence
We would now like to introduce you to 4 stunning Year 10 students who are our ‘Right to Confidence’ Group. Alex, Grace, Adds, and Matilde came together last year to tackle the growing issue of hygiene poverty, and to support the students of LHS. A bit of background:
The girls are passionate about supporting the students in our school that find themselves in hygiene poverty. So, they started by baking some cakes and raised £160 through the cake sale in school.
They carried out research across all the supermarkets in Cardiff to find the best value for the products they wanted to provide, including toothbrushes, toothpaste, shower gel, shampoo, conditioner and deodorant.
They shopped and set up the Wellbeing Bank which runs out of our Wellbeing Centre. The girls carefully stock take and replenish stocks as they get low.
They have named their initiative the ‘Wellbeing Bank.’
The Wellbeing Bank is in our Wellbeing Centre and is available for anyone to access.
The group are taking assemblies each day next week to further raise awareness of the availability of products.
They are also seeking the support of any local businesses/supermarkets that help support the supply of these key items. Please spread the word if you have any links!
Here they are from their humble beginnings through to the items that are disappearing rapidly.
In addition to seeking the support of local supermarkets and suppliers, we would also like to invite any parents or community partners to make a contribution of your choosing to the Wellbeing Bank. You can do this via Parent Pay, and every penny will go into sourcing the products.
Back to school for study skills!
On Wednesday the 5th March Mrs Tyler and her team welcomed Year 10 parents and students to our Revision Techniques and Study Skills workshop event in our Learning Support Centre. Our wonderful sixth formers presented a variety of revision strategies on the evening ranging from the more familiar flash cards and mind mapping to trigger words and knowledge organisers, Blurting, Teach yourself and Framing techniques.
The sixth formers also gave an insight into what they love about our sixth form at LHS and gave some amazing practical advice on getting through the exams. It was wonderful to see our older students mixing with our younger students and sharing their experiences with some of our parents. It was interesting seeing many of our parents honing their IT skills making notes on their mobile phones rather than using pen and paper. We hope this session will help our Year 10 students approach this summer’s exam season with enthusiasm and confidence.
We will continue to work on developing our exam skills during form time over the coming weeks too. A huge DIOLCH to our sixth form students for their efforts. Here are a few snaps from the night….
Meeting a Welsh star!
Next today, an update from our sixth form Welsh crew. On Thursday 20th February our Welsh A-Level students, along with students from Cardiff West, attended Howells school in Llandaff to meet with the actress Nia Roberts. Nia is the star in the film ‘Patagonia’, studied as part of the course. She has also appeared in Keeping Faith, The Crown, Tree on a Hill and much more.
Nia talked about the film in detail and the students had the opportunity to ask questions to contribute to their exam. Nia was incredibly open and honest and inspired the students to want to visit the Welsh speaking areas of Patagonia!
They then went to Canna Deli in Pontcanna where they ordered drinks in Welsh, followed by the Caban bookstore where they conversed in Welsh with the staff to purchase some items. The students reported that it was an amazing experience – if a little scary at first, being given the opportunity to use Welsh outside of the classroom in real situations. They heard lots of Welsh being used generally in the community and can’t wait to go again with family and friends to show them!
Good to see the Welsh weather was on form for the trip!
Learning Support Star of the Week
This week, Learning Support have nominated the gorgeous Jessica Dacey from Year 8 as their SOTW. Jess was nominated because she has shown fantastic resilience and has been making significant progress in her written work. We are all super proud of Jess!
February and March collections for the Cardiff Foodbank
Thank you to everyone who supported the February collection for the Cardiff Foodbank. The collection of 188.3kgs will provide 18 local people with 3 days of supplies.
The next collection will be Wednesday 19th March between 5-6pm on the bus bays and any donations are gratefully received in main reception in advance.
Other updates from our first week back
As we settle back in to the new half-term and embrace the signs of spring, we are gearing up for a busy Friday as we celebrate our school Eisteddfod for Years 7 and 8 as well as World Book Day.
For some members of our school community, Shrove Tuesday was more than just an excuse to cover pancakes with Nutella. The six-week period of Lent began on Wednesday 5th March and will last for 6 weeks.
For some members of our school community, the month of Ramadan started during the half-term break and will run for 30 days until sundown on 29th March. Many of our students are rising with their families before dawn to take food and water and are fasting through the day until they break the fast with prayers followed by food after sundown.
At lunchtime in school, our Muslim students observing Ramadan can go to one of the prayer rooms that are set aside for boys and girls.
The week ahead
Another busy week is on the horizon. Monday 10th March is an INSET day for all Cardiff secondary schools. Our teaching staff will be in different schools across the city to plan for the new Wave 1 GCSE qualifications that will commence in September 2025.
We look forward to welcoming everyone back to school on Tuesday 11th March.
Until then, we wish you all a very happy and healthy (and hopefully sunny) weekend.
Thank you for reading/Diolch am ddarllen,
Mrs Sarah Parry, Headteacher