12 September 2025
Dear Parents, Guardians and Students/Annwyl Rhieni, Gwarchodwyr a Myfyrwyr
Enrichment begins…
Much like the big Hollywood movie franchises, I’ve added the word ‘begins’ to the title of this opening feature. Wednesday 10th September was the inaugural Enrichment session and let us not underestimate the scale of the challenge for Mrs Geare in placing 1765 students into the widest variety of different activities. It would be fair to say that we launched with gusto! Thank you to those who managed to reach for a camera to grab a couple of snaps from the opening session.
Bicycle maintenance got straight down to business. Mrs Couston nailed the skateboarding. The LHS Darts Academy was teaching numeracy by stealth. No-one stayed dry at Llanishen reservoir. And we all underestimated the joy of soft play at Jump and LHS possibly set a new world record for a conga line as 140 students made their way from school!
The next enrichment activity comes with a warning for anyone who is squeamish. The ‘theatrical make-up’ class is the one that has really blown us away!
Now the first session has run, we have captured some areas for improvement and will be addressing these on a fortnightly basis.
Before the students make their next selection for the Spring term 2026, they will be able to talk to friends to get a better understanding of some of the sessions on offer. We will also be streamlining the system for selecting your enrichment activity.
Rome wasn’t built in a day but we’ve certainly put down some excellent foundations. We wanted everyone to step out of their comfort zone to try something new. Many students have certainly embraced that ambition.
The other significant difference is the vertical groupings. We are already seeing some early bonds and relationships forming across the age groups. More to follow through the autumn term as we have 6 more enrichment sessions before the Christmas break. Later in the term, students will have the opportunity to select their spring term activity. For now, I’ll leave you with the bake-off…
Two wonderful Alumni and an Oxbridge masterclass!
On Monday 8th September we were absolutely delighted to welcome LHS Alumni Katie and Isaac back to school.
We did a double take as they walked through the school gates as if they had never been away!
Katie and Isaac are now second year students at Oxford and Cambridge respectively. They spoke to our current Year 13 students about the Oxbridge application process. They shared their own experiences, discussing personal statements, university tests and interviews, giving invaluable guidance and advice to the group.
They also kindly offered their own time, giving students their email addresses, should they have any queries throughout the application process. Both said how keen they were to help other LHS students impress admissions tutors like they did.
As always, it was fantastic to welcome Katie and Isaac back to LHS and lovely to see them continuing to excel. You can see how helpful their insights are…..(and we hope they will return again soon).
Shoot for the stars!
Apologies Naina. I’m sure you’ll have a stern word with me for coming up with such a cheesy strapline for this next feature.
However, we would like to congratulate Naina Luchman in Year 13 on some extraordinary endeavours this summer. In the summer term, Naina attended a gruelling multiday assessment in order to try to obtain a scholarship form the British Army. It was both a physical and academic test which was incredibly tough.
Naina was one of only two state school students that attended and we are delighted to say that she came in the top 10 of 500 students and has secured a scholarship for university and a job secured for when she graduates (WOW!).
Naina has also spent the summer shooting for GBU18s. She has travelled to Canada, Jersey, Guernsey and France. She won the Long Range International for U18s and was placed 5th overall. Naina’s global ranking is 5th and we are immensely proud of her (and maybe a little scared too).
LHS TV Station – CORE
Finally, let us introduce you to the new look CORE, the School’s TV Station, formerly called One Llanishen. Core are looking for new people to come and join them, to help them make a show over the course of this year. You can come and join them in Room 18 every Tuesday afterschool. Everyone is welcome!
It’s been a soggy week but we are powering through.
Wishing all our readers a lovely weekend and we’ll return for week A on Monday.
Mrs Sarah Parry, Headteacher