8 May 2025
Dear Parents, Guardians and Students/Annwyl Rhieni, Gwarchodwyr a Myfyrwyr
Exam season, the importance of community, and some light hearted relief
It’s Wednesday evening as I’m writing this blog. On the radio on my way into school this morning, I listened to a debate about plans for schools in England to move entirely to an App based approach to deliver GCSE and A-Level results to students on results days in August, meaning that they receive their results remotely, rather than coming together.
Whilst the discussion was balanced, and embraced the convenience that technology can provide, I came down firmly and resolutely on the side of community. There are certain events and moments in life that stay with us. For better or for worse, results days should be one of those moments, in my opinion.
These photos from A-Level-results day in 2023 and GCSE results day in 2024 demonstrate why we believe in coming together as a community to celebrate and support one another.
With that in mind, we extend a very warm welcome to our students and their families this summer. A-Level-results day is Thursday 14th August. GCSE results day is Thursday 21st August. Our doors open at 8am on both days and we look forward to seeing you all then.
Before we can get to the results days, we need to graft. Exam season is fully underway. Years 7 to 9 have already completed their Welsh National Tests that give us important information about individual student progress and areas for development, and Thursday 8th May was the first full GCSE for the whole Year 11 cohort. We are properly underway.
As we adjust to the rhythm of the exam period, let us share a few moments of light hearted relief from a few weeks ago. Every year we acknowledge that Prom is not everyone’s cup of tea. But for the majority of our students, it is a hugely important milestone and something to look forward to.
This year, our Year 11 Prom will be held on 27th June at the Mercure Holland House Hotel. In preparation, some brave volunteers from Year 11 visited our Sustainable Prom Store to experience the humour that can come from putting on a big frock and laughing with friends.
We very much enjoyed watching some of the boys attempt to tie an actual tie. It’s a big step up from the school clip-on tie. By a rough calculation, having a clip-on tie saves the average student approximately 79 hours of their morning routine over their time in years 7 through to 11! Kids… You’re welcome!
Our Sustainable Prom Store is back again for 2025. At Llanishen High School we are taking a whole school approach to sustainability and reducing the waste that we create.
In terms of uniform and clothes, we want to tackle the throwaway culture that exists, particularly in fast fashion. Many of us have expensive dresses and suits hanging in our wardrobes that will never see the light of day and just take up valuable space.
Here is a small sample of the bounty that we stock. This includes items have never been worn and still have the price tags attached. They are yet to fulfil their destiny. Some items have enjoyed one happy outing but have laid dormant and unfulfilled in wardrobes across the city. We have shoes, handbags, suits and more. Just speak to the Year 11 to arrange a visit!
Year 10 Brilliant Club!
With equal sparkle, we would also like to congratulate the Year 10 Llanishen High students who graduated from the Brilliant Club after completing their Scholars Programme.
After embracing this challenging programme with a great attitude and a great approach to problem solving, there students will now be classed as Alumni of the Brilliant Club. They delved into the divisive debate on the use of smart phones in Generation Z.
Their graduation ceremony took place at Bath University and we are extremely proud of them all.
Victory in Europe – 80 years on
Thursday 8th May marked 80 years since Victory in Europe (VE) Day, the day the fighting in Europe came to an end, in World War II.
Students in Year 7 have been engaging in a variety of activities to honour the resilience, strength and hope that characterised the nation in such uncertain times.
In their lessons and in after-school craft club they have been making flags and 3D spitfires. They have also been writing letters of appreciation to the veterans of the war.
Josh and Faye were very proud to show the three spitfires that are displayed in our reception to honour the 3 pilots of the parish of St Isan’s who lost their lives.
LHS in training….
It’s that time of year when many members of our school community are in training mode.
A big shout out to Jess Collins in Year 7. Jess nailed the Whitchurch 5k on Sunday. She ran really well and even managed a sprint finish.
Perfect training ready for the LHS charity 5k run next Friday! So, let’s tell you a little bit about that.
The elite athletes from our Grove and Learning Support provisions are raising money for a very special charity, the Little Princess Trust. On Friday, May 16th at 9am, students and staff will be participating in a couch to 5K, running, walking, skipping, hopping, and rolling their way to the finish line.
The chosen charity – The Little Princess Trust – is one that is close to our hearts in LHS, and we would be grateful for any support on the day. Your encouragement and contributions will make a real difference, and we truly appreciate any support from friends and family. Thank you for helping us make this event a success!
Please see the below link to our fundraising page. Any contributions will be most welcome for this amazing charity. We’ll share plenty of photos from our adventures next Friday!
https://www.justgiving.com/page/couchto5kfundraiser
Youth Service Support services in school and in the local community
Next today, we would like to reintroduce and remind everyone about a key person that we are delighted to have working in school, LHS Alumni – Mr Jordan Edwards. He has an important message to deliver so I’ll let him to that in his own words;
Hi All,
My name is Jordan I am the youth support worker for Llanishen High and the Cardiff North East area. Some of you may know me or may have seen me around school.
My work in school mainly focuses on 1-1 caseload work with Year 11 and Year 10, as well as delivering project work. But outside of Llanishen we offer open access, projects, and community case loaded work. If you would like to get involved, reach out to myself for information, support and guidance or just have a look at what we offer.
Make sure to look at the attached flier. Feel free to email me with any questions on
Finally today, a huge thank you to everyone who contributed to the collection for Cardiff Foodbank last week. A weight of 133.6kgs will provide 12 local people with supplies.
The next collection date will be on the 21st May at the Llanishen High School, as usual. Any donations are welcome at our school reception in advance.
I look forward to bringing you more news and stories next week.
Thank you for reading/Diolch am ddarllen,
Mrs Sarah Parry, Headteacher