5 December 2025
5th December 2025
Dear Parents, Guardians and Students/Annwyl Rieni, Gwarchodwyr a Myfyrwyr
It’s officially December!
So, Mariah is defrosting, Mr Grimstead is conducting the choir from a plastic chair (although he hasn’t had his Christmas haircut yet) and the junior and senior choirs are in sublime voice!
Let’s go behind the scenes as the choirs are practising for a myriad of events.
Our Christmas concert promises to be an uplifting experience that will ease us towards the end of the term. In order to accommodate the high demand, our LHS Christmas Concert will again run over two nights this year. These nights are Wednesday 17th and Thursday 18th December. The timings for each night are 6:30 – 8.30pm but we encourage you to join us from 6:00pm to purchase some refreshments and some all-important raffle tickets!
Tickets for the Christmas Concert can be purchased via ParentPay at the cost of £5 per person. All proceeds will go towards funding instrument lessons for Year 7 learners to ensure our talented cohorts continue to flourish, as well as the summer production 2026.
Traitors and Movember!
Over recent weeks we have been having some important conversations. These continue next week. They centre on a core LHS value – Respect. We need to have respect for ourselves, respect for others and the confidence to speak up honestly when things don’t feel right.
Talking about issues such as our mental health, equality and consent can feel awkward. But every time someone chooses to have that conversation, they make it easier for the next person to do the same.
On Thursday 11th December the Series 2 Traitors Finalist, Andrew Jenkins, will be coming to speak to the Llanishen Faithful. He will be taking assemblies with Years 8, 9, 10 and 11 to talk about self-esteem, body image and mental health. None of us have immunity, We are looking forward to hearing what he brings to the round-table.
Well done to our PE staff who have been raising awareness of men’s health in their own way. As Movember gives way to December, it’s back to relative normal on the facial hair front.
Enrichment and next steps
Wednesday 10th December will be the final Enrichment session of the autumn term. Our groups have been an absolute pleasure to spend time with.
This means it is time to pick the next activity for the Spring term 2026 and this time, it’s over to the students.
The Enrichment Booklet has been tweaked in response to feedback from the School Council and a new process is being rolled out that will allow students to select their next activity. Mrs Geare led assemblies last week to outline the new selection system to students.
This will also be communicated to parents ahead of the 8th December. For now, time to contemplate options! The Enrichment Booklet is on the school website so we are encouraging students to have at least 5 activities in mind!
Honing their skills in GCSE Product Design
Meanwhile, learning continues at pace for the last few weeks of term. Here are our GCSE Product Design students getting creative and accurate. Here they are designing and beginning to model ideas on CAD and in 3D.
Also, remember those benches that we saw in the very early stages of construction a few blogs ago? Well they progressed to this… and then this…
An amazing outdoor seating area and outdoor
classroom area. Superb!
Staff Seren yr wythnos
This week, our student Criw Cymraeg group have nominated Miss Whitchurch for her use of the Welsh language. Staff can be nominated for their effort or their accuracy and pronunciation! Well done Miss! Da iawn!
Plans for the end of term 2025 and start of term 2026
Before signing off, here’s a reminder of some of the activities that are still to come….
Friday 5th December – Christmas in Llanishen Village!
Between 5pm and 6pm on Friday 5th December the whole of Llanishen village will be joining in the late afternoon/early evening celebrations organised by the Rotary Club of Llanishen, including the switching on of the lights in the village. The LHS choirs will be in good voice so please come along and sing with us under the tree. Local traders will be open for a range of warming Christmas treats.
Please be aware that road closures could impact on your travel plans around the area.
Wednesday 10th December – Final Enrichment session of 2025
Lesson 5 on Wednesday will be the final session of our Enrichment Curriculum for this term. Mrs Geare will shortly be releasing details on the options process for their Spring term option, giving the students ownership over the selection process.
Wednesday 10th December – Christmas collection for the Cardiff Foodbank
Along with the Rotary Club of Llanishen,LHS will be hosting the final collection of the year for the Cardiff Foodbank on our school bus bays between 5pm and 6pm. Our Sixth Form LDP group will be collecting donations in advance. Don’t forget to Bring them your Beans!
Any donations are welcome on the evening or at our school reception in advance.
Monday 15th – Friday 19th December – Christmas week
During the last week of 2025, each year group will have a special assembly to reward students on a range of effort and achievement during the term. We will also be rewarding attendance through the last week. There may be various challenges including the infamous ‘mince pie’ eating contest. And students will need to be in fine voice for our annual performances of the 12 days of Christmas.
We will also be serving Christmas lunch in our school canteens this week.
Monday 15th December – LHS choirs on tour
LHS choirs will be singing at St David’s Centre in Cardiff through the morning to raise money for City Hospice. In the afternoon, they will be singing with the Cardiff East Rotary Club outside Boots in Llanishen to raise money for Noah’s Ark.
Tuesday 16th December – Christmas performance
Our LHS Sixth Form will be performing for the Rotary Club of Llanishen at their Christmas lunch at Llanishen Golf Club. This is a small token of appreciation for the many opportunities they provide for students at our school every year.
Wednesday 17th and Thursday 18th December – The LHS Christmas Concert!
In order to accommodate the high demand, our LHS Christmas Concert will again run over two nights this year. The timings for each night are 6:30 – 8.30pm. Tickets can be purchased via ParentPay at the cost of £5 per person. All proceeds will go towards funding instrument lessons for some of our Year 7 learners to ensure our rich and talented cohorts continue to flourish.
Thursday 18th December – Jolly Jumpers Day!
On Thursday 18th December, all members of the school community are invited to switch their wonderful school uniform for something more festive. We invite everyone to make a donation of £1 with all proceeds going to City Hospice. Last year, we raised £1,100 for City Hospice.
Friday 19th December – Arrangements for the last day of term
As is customary, our timetable for the last day of term includes opportunities for the staff and students to spend time together in a slightly less formal way. This includes pastoral time for the students to be with their form tutor and form group and to take lunch together.
We will dismiss students at 1:30pm. The school bus service provided by NAT travel will depart from the school at 1:30pm. ALN transport will also depart at this time.
If any parent would prefer for their child to remain in school until 2:45 pm for any reason, we are only too happy to accommodate this. Please inform your child’s Year Team Leader where this is the case.
Monday 5th January 2026 – INSET Day
School will be closed to students on Monday 5th January as the staff engage in INSET activities around our school priority of developing literacy.
Tuesday 6th January 2026 – Welcome back to all students
We look forward to welcoming all year groups back to school to show 2026 what we’re made of.
Thank you for reading/Diolch am ddarllen,
Mrs Sarah Parry, Headteacher