29 February 2024
Dear Parents, Guardians and Students/Annwyl Rhieni, Gwarchodwyr a Myfyrwyr
Welcome to a diverse and colourful blog. Our students have been exploring different locations, cultures, religions and debate topics, and they have done it in style.
Philosophy, Religion and Ethics (PRE) Field Trip to London 2024
Last weekend our Sixth form PRE students enjoyed an action-packed two-day trip to London. On the first day of the trip, the group had a talk at the London Buddhist Centre in Bethnal Green before heading across London to Wimbledon’s Thai Buddhist Temple where they marvelled at the murals and tried their hand at walking meditation.
The second day began with a visit to Freud Museum London, located at the house in which the famous psychologist lived during the last year of his life (as you can see from the pictures, students couldn’t resist engaging in a bit of psychoanalysis for themselves!). This was then followed by a jaunt through the British Museum where the group were able to view artefacts of religious significance, particularly those related to Chinese and Tibetan expressions of Buddhism. A tiring two days of rush hour Tube travel and battling through the hordes of tourists, but an extremely worthwhile trip that students are unlikely to forget in a hurry!
‘The PRE Field trip for 2024 was an incredible experience. It was amazing and extremely useful to gain a deeper understanding of two different interpretations of Buddhism. Visiting the Thai Buddhapadipa temple allowed me to gain a greater appreciation of the devout beliefs of a more traditionalist form of Theravada Buddhism, whereas visiting the Triratna community at the London Buddhist Centre allowed me to also appreciate a more contemporary/secular approach to Buddhism.
I also enjoyed visiting the British Museum, specifically looking at Ancient Buddhist artifacts that visually placed Buddhism within the historical cultural spheres that we learn about’ – Isaac Simin, Year 13.
‘Freud’s house was inspiring, to say the least. Two words can sum up the experience: inspirational and educational!’ – Jaafer El-Kaddu, Year 13.
Oxford bound…
On Monday 26th February LHS, once again, visited our fantastic alumni Thomas Newman, studying at St Anne’s College, Oxford, for a talk and tour of the university. Thomas spoke to students about how he succeeded in the application process helping others who might follow his lead. Katie Gill, our Head Girl, who has been given an offer to study Economics at Trinity College next year, also joined us for the trip. It was lovely to see Tom give Katie advice about where to go and what to expect when she arrives in Oxford in September. Seeing past students delight in helping others succeed is inspiring to see.
LHS Youth Speaks travels West!
From London, to Oxford, and now to Carmarthen. Last weekend, our intermediate and senior debating teams travelled to complete in the next round of the Youth Speaks competition. It is beautifully told by Alan (competitor and member of 7H!)…
‘Now, we look at our debate team, last Saturday they went to Carmarthen to compete against a group of other schools. Schools such as Crickhowell, St Joseph’s, Queen Elizabeth High School, Cwmtawe Community School and obviously our school for the Rotary Youth Speaks Southern Wales Finals. I hate to say the following exasperating news, but the Intermediate Team (Ben Samuels, Alan Nazemi and Jack Hegarty) did not quality to the ‘cluster’ finals. On the other hand, our LHS Senior Debate Team (Fiona Garbutt, Maiwen Beynon Bernard and Jacob Parsons) did qualify to the cluster finals where the competition will take place in Howells School on the 23rd of March and involve 3 districts of Wales and South West England. Fiona Garbutt also won the award for the best chairperson of the whole event. We may not have all won the finals but we’re already winners, if we went to the finals.
That’s all from me, the pictures down below show you everything that happened!’
Written by: Alan Nazemi (7H)
Gearing up for World Book Day!
Sticking to the theme of communication, Mrs. Hennessy and Dave are delighted to announce that some students from two of their classes are set to be published authors, just in time for World Book Day!
7G and 8F both wrote mini sagas on the topic of “The Glitch”. The idea being to use their imagination and creativity and consider a world of change, in just a hundred words. Their stories varied considerably in topic and direction, which was praised by the Young Writers team. A very proud day for Mrs. Hennessy and Dave, of course!
Collection for Cardiff Foodbank
Thank you very much to everyone who contributed to our monthly collection for the Cardiff Foodbank. On this occasion, the Rotary Club of Llanishen collected enough to provide 10 local people in crisis with 3 days’ supply of food.
The collection takes place on our bus bays between 5-6pm on the third Wednesday of every month.
If you would like to support this work, we welcome any donations to our main school reception area at any time.
The next collection will on Wednesday 20th March.
Learning Support Stars of the Week!
This week we celebrate the success of two fabulous and hardworking stars in Year 8.
Jamie Walker is nominated for working extremely hard in all his lessons.
Keep up the good work Jamie!
Logan Cocks is nominated for his excellent news presentation in Drama. Well done Logan!
We promise you they were both very happy to be nominated!
Finally, as I finish writing this blog on 29th February, we would like to wish a very happy birthday to all those in our community who are celebrating their birthday today – a rare treat that comes around every 4 years.
Happy birthday to Emily Wilson in Year 11. She officially turned 4 today! Hence it was only right that her form group threw her a party and adorned her with a suitable tiara!
Wishing Emily and our other leap year babies a wonderful day!
I look forward to bringing you more news and stories next week. We held our second school Question Time event on 29th February, we have our school Eisteddfod on Friday 1st March and then have many plans next week for World Book Day and International Women’s Day. So, much to share!
Thank you for reading/Diolch am ddarllen,
Mrs Sarah Parry, Headteacher