6 March 2026
6th March 2026
Dear Parents, Guardians and Students/Annwyl Rieni, Gwarchodwyr a Myfyrwyr
World Book Day 2026!
Thank you to every member of staff for the enthusiasm, creativity, and commitment you have shown in making our World Book Day celebrations such a success this year. Extending the event across the whole week has brought a wonderful buzz to the school, and your willingness to get involved—especially by dressing up last Friday—has made a real impact on our students.
Seeing the corridors filled with characters from every corner of literature has reminded students that reading is something to enjoy, share, and celebrate together.
Throughout the week, students have had the chance to take part in a wide range of activities designed to spark curiosity and encourage a love of reading. The Scholastic Book Fair in the main foyer has been busy every day, with many students using their World Book Day vouchers to discover new stories. Assemblies have launched our competitions and the Book Bingo reading challenge, giving students fun and accessible ways to explore different genres.
Friday’s launch day was a particular highlight. Staff costumes brought smiles across the school, the Year 12 Reading Buddies ran a brilliant bake sale, and pupils threw themselves into the scavenger hunt with great enthusiasm. The World Book Day quiz added a lively start to registration, and themed lessons across KS3 have helped bring books to life in classrooms all week.
World Book Day 2026 matters because it continues to champion the importance of reading at a time when young people are surrounded by fast, digital distractions.
It reminds us that stories build empathy, strengthen imagination, and open doors to new ideas and opportunities. By celebrating together, we show our students that reading is not just a school task—it’s a lifelong joy.
On Thursday 5th March it is the turn of our Sixth Form students to dress up for World Book Day. They are also hosting a football match on the 3G afterschool and a bake sale at break. So watch this space for photographs of their costumes. For now, I’ll leave you with the staff.
In the week that all students are selecting their Enrichment activity for the summer term, it’s a good time to share some photos from the Creative Writing Enrichment. Mrs Hazeltine-Rees has been blown away by the creativity and talent.
We made the National Finals of the European Youth Parliament!
On the Monday after half term, a team of seven Year 12 students made the short hop to Howells school in Llandaff to take on 8 other schools in the European Youth Parliament (EYP) regional competition. A fast-paced, quick-thinking day where students step into the shoes of policymakers to tackle some of the world’s most pressing issues.
On the agenda was AI, childhood hunger, management of migration, military defence, the impact of tourism and misogyny. The LHS committee gave impassioned speeches and fierce, yet considered rebuttals to defend their proposed policy propositions. When other teams proposed they were forensic in their scrutiny of the plans and their confidence in speaking in front of the whole forum was impressive.
A panel of judges from the EYP were awarding points based on the team’s preparation, active listening, teamwork and attitude – all of which the LHS team displayed in abundance which saw us awarded a place at the 2026 national finals in Newcastle.
Also, a massive shout out to Ruben Kelman, who excelled as a delegate last year, and this year was chief organiser and host of the regional event following a trip to Krakow on an international EYP conference. Will this year’s cohort follow a similar international path?
Well done to Harry, Mruthu, MIllie, Ali, Vita, Jess and Toni. A huge shout out to Mr Mann for rallying the troops and helping the magic to happen! This is such an outstanding accomplishment.
Health and Wellbeing
Before half term we were joined by Public Health Wales, in collaboration with Careers Wales, to take part if a project where Year 9 Health and Social Care students were asked to create a campaign to promote the uptake of the HPV vaccine.
Public Health Wales came into school and explained the importance of the vaccine and their goal of vaccinating 90% of people before the age of 25. Year 9 then came up with a number of brilliant ideas on how to reach young people; suggesting which social media platforms would deliver the message far and wide. They also gave feedback on what PHW should be sharing on these platforms to secure maximum engagement.
PHW were particularly impressed with Jaycie Fry who recruited her friends to make a series of TikTok videos, as well as her own song! Well done everyone. You have raised awareness of a really important health issue.
Raising awareness of the Welsh Blood Service
Continuing the theme of health and wellbeing, the Sixth Form were absolutely delighted to host the Welsh Blood Service for an important assembly last week. The Sixth Form students were incredibly interested and engaged.
This actually resulted in 65 amazing individuals joining the Stem Cell Registry and there was real interest in blood donation across Year 12 and Year 13. We look forward to developing our partnership with the Welsh Blood Service further.
Signs of Spring!
Also great for our collective health and wellbeing is SPRING!
There are definitely some signs of spring in our midst so it was great to get Year 7 into the polytunnel and garden. There have been some pockets of gorgeous weather and the fresh air was much needed. Now, the hard work begins. More updates to follow!
Pokémon turns 30!
Now we have a different type of wellbeing activity. There was much excitement last week at Pokémon turned 30. From trading cards, POGO walks and Quick-Fire Battle Showdowns, Pokémon has always been a winner for finding your people and that is exactly what happens at our Pokémon Club that runs after school every Thursday. Miss Daley and her crew welcome any new recruits!
More athletics success!
Following on from a busy and successful cross-country season, the following students were selected to represent Cardiff and Vale at the Welsh Schools cross country finals held in Brecon on Wednesday 25th February. Battling a tough course with adverse weather conditions, Isabelle Goodall (42nd), Emily Dando (6th), Riley Nealon (36th), Rhys Pladdy (8th) and Jack Stewart (28th) were exceptional, making themselves and all of us at Llanishen extremely proud.
A special mention goes to Emily Dando who competed in the junior girls category with the most amount of entries securing that 6th place out of 84 contenders. She was the first Cardiff and Vale finisher past the line and instrumental in securing the gold medal for the Cardiff and Vale junior girls team!
Selection in itself is an extremely tough process and just highlights the talent and commitment of all that took part. As we now transition to outdoors and track and field season begins, we look forward to seeing how they convert their brilliance in cross-country to mid and long-distance disciplines on track! Watch this space…
Also, further congratulations to Isabelle Goodall who not only completed the cross-country race and made it back in time to help Year 7 qualify for the netball finals. She has also been selected for the indoor Cardiff and Vales Sports-Hall athletics team on 22nd March! What a talent!
Talking of talent…massive congratulations to our U13 Girls Basketball team who have been crowned Regional Champions after an incredible performance. Their amazing team work and determination has earned them a well-deserved place at the Welsh Schools National Basketball Finals in Cardiff on 26th March.
Good luck Lucas!
We would also like to wish Lucas Ho massive success for his competition in the Warriors Open 2026 this Saturday! The anticipation will build with the official weigh-in process! At the latest GTI English Open 2026, held in Hinckley on 15th February, Lucas achieved 1st place in both Sparring and Patterns in the 14–17-year category.
What dedication and hard work! Lucas – all of LHS are behind you!
That’s it for now but the blog items are flying in for #346 already so we look forward to bringing you another bumper round up next week!
Thank you for reading/Diolch am ddarllen,
Mrs Sarah Parry
Headteacher