17 April 2026
17th April 2026
Dear Parents, Guardians and Students/Annwyl Rieni, Gwarchodwyr a Myfyrwyr
Welcome back! Back away from the chocolate. Focus on finishing this year strong
As we approach the Senedd Elections next month, you’ll be hearing from our students as they get ready to vote, and we will be hosting our very own LHS mock election process to decide what takes precedent. Fix the potholes? Or invest in education?
A lot of our students are now able to vote at 16, which means decisions about education and the communities we live in aren’t just being made on their behalf. They can be part of them. If you are 16 or over, you’ll get ONE vote. The number of elected members will increase from 60 to 96. There will be 16 constituencies – each one sending six members to the Senedd. You don’t have to agree with everyone. You probably won’t. But be informed. Ask questions. And then form your own views. We started back in March…
With election fever approaching…
At the start of March, a small number of Sixth Form students were invited to the Senedd to take part in the ‘My Vote Matters’ event. The purpose of the event was to provide students with a better understanding of the voting system in Wales and why it is important to engage in democracy. The students who attended were able to speak directly with Members of the Senedd about the issues that matter most to them – an extremely valuable opportunity.
Watch this space for more updates.
In the meantime, if you are 16 and want to vote, make sure you’re registered by Monday 20th April.
Find you Zen…
If life is becoming a little overwhelming, then let’s stop to take stock and find some balance. The summer term is most definitely a time for balance. Here is some very good advice from our Philosophy, Religion, and Ethics (PRE) team
Last term, our PRE-AS and A-Level students visited two very different Buddhist centres: the Cardiff Buddhist Centre on City Road and a Tibetan Buddhist temple in Brynmawr.
Head Boy Ali Nehan Khan explains the experience:
“As an A-Level PRE experience, the Buddhism trip was both insightful and genuinely thought-provoking. During our visit to the first centre, we had the privilege of speaking with an academic who has extensively studied Buddhism and is even referenced within our specification. What I found particularly compelling was the idea that Buddhism is continually evolving over time, becoming, in some respects, more secular as it adapts to modern contexts.
However, the most striking part of the trip was our visit to the Tibetan temple in the afternoon. Witnessing a real-life monk highlighted just how distinct and disciplined such a way of life is. The vivid blur of colours and the flowers within the temple created an atmosphere that felt both serene and overwhelming, capturing a dimension of Buddhism that is rarely conveyed in classroom study.
Overall, the experience expanded my understanding of how Buddhism not only functions as a lived religion but can also intersect with other ideas, particularly within metaphysics. I believe it was extremely useful to witness a visual representation of the very concepts we study in a classroom.”
A celebration of Vaisakhi!
This week also gave us the opportunity to hear from some of the Sikh members of our school community. A massive thank you to Danny, Tyson and Anandveer who explained to me how they celebrate and what this means to their community.
The festival of Vaisakhi is an important festival in the Sikh calendar. It celebrates the founding of the Khalsa in 1699, when Guru Gobind Singh called for Sikhs to live with courage, equality and service to others.
The festival is also linked to the spring harvest in Punjab and food plays a big part! Many of the festivities include Langar, where volunteers prepare and serve a free meal so that everyone sits and eats together as equals.
Our mix of cultures, traditions and beliefs – how you respect and learn alongside each other – is what makes our school community so special.
Planting for hope and planting with attitude!
I hope you all found some time to get outdoors over the Easter break. That was certainly the case for many of our students prior to the holidays. They threw themselves wholeheartedly into some serious tree planting with Coed Caerdydd.
Coed Caerdydd kindly donated more trees that we can count, which our students planted on the school grounds and in the local community.
The group of students involved included Year 7, our Year 11 Learning in the Outdoors students, and students from the Autism Base.
With Mr Winters keeping a close eye, they planted a range of tree species alongside the pathway of the back field (Alder, Birch, Cherry, Hawthorn, Hazel, Rowan, and Spindle) and also a selection of Welsh heritage species alongside the polytunnel. These included Snowdon Queen Pear, Cariad Cherry and Denbigh Plum. My mouth is already watering!
Coed Caerdydd Tree Planting aims to get students out in the fresh air, taking part in fun and healthy exercise. They also aim to develop teamwork and safe tool use skills. They create homes and food sources for wildlife, improve air, soil and water quality, provide more fruit in local spaces and help students to feel connected to their local community. It was a massive tick from us on all counts. Here they are in action.
What has Koda been up to?
Whilst we are fully immersed in wellbeing activities, it is a perfect time to see what our wonderful wellbeing dog, Koda, has been up to. Like every other member of staff at Llanishen High School, Koda has a timetable that he follows! He is so excited on a school day to see his orange vest appear. He goes into an excited frenzy as soon as he sees it!
Within his week he has timetabled slots with the students from the Grove, our nurture provision, our autism base and our hearing-impaired resource base. He also welcomes students to our well-being garden where he interacts with them and plays with them. His favourite thing to do is to dig holes in the garden. I’m sure this dog actually smiles!
He certainly makes everyone else smile.
Amazing achievements beyond LHS
Nothing makes us prouder than hearing about the adventures of our students when they are not in school. Just before Easter, Emma Judd was in a CAST production in the Riverfront Theatre, Newport. Emma was the narrator in Joseph’s Technicolour Dreamcoat. Here she is in action on stage….
During her time at LHS, Emma has been unassuming but effervescent in every single school production in living memory. From Shakespeare to Shrek. She shines.
From Year 13 to Year 7…
We would also like to give a massive shout out to Emily Buckley in Year 7. Emily plays for Cardiff Met Hockey Club U12 Girls (Goalkeeper) and is coached by another wonderful LHS 6th form student, Morven Donohoe.
They were recently part of the team South Wales Cup Tournament that played against tough opposition from Gwent, Swansea, Cowbridge and Whitchurch, and have qualified for the All-Wales finals being held in early May. Here are Emily and Morven with the silverware!
How wonderful to see LHS students succeeding away from the school environment as well as within it. Well done both! Nothing makes my heart grow more than seeing the mentoring, coaching, relationships, and bonds that develop across our 7-year groups.
Spring term Enrichment Round-up
Now, to finish today, we have a compilation of energetic activity.
On our last Enrichment session of the spring term, our Water Sports on the Reservoir session was cancelled due to high wind.
After I had finished sulking (because it is absolutely awesome), I realised that I had a unique opportunity.
I had the opportunity that I don’t normally get. I got to walk around all the activities that were taking place on the school site. And my heart grew a little bit bigger again. I’ll show you why…
The Cycling and Bike Maintenance team were on fire…
Mrs Geare was judging the nail biting final of Pizza Club. Whilst the Biscoff pizza was rather morish, the ultimate victory went to a Thai sweet chilli beef pizza. Each group designed their own unique topping, and Mrs Geare was thorough in her judging.
Theatrical make-up took it to another level…
Skateboarding in the East Wing Hall was skilled and chilled in equal measure…
Cricket was bathed in such a warm lovely light in the Boys Gymnasium…
LHS Hyrox on the basketball courts was intense.
Mr Perry, I didn’t see you doing any burpees?
Badminton in the Sports Hall was more energetic that I thought possible…
One of our lovely Estates Team, Mr Davies, was not to be left out. I found him in the hair styling club sporting rather more hair than normal.
Let’s finish on a cerebral high. I will leave you with Chess Club. The staff v student edge was competitive on a whole new level.
The student v student dynamic was slightly more chilled…
But I would really like to know who won this game… What a cliff hanger of an ending!
Until next week…
Next Friday, we will be shining a light on the outstanding achievements of our PE teams across a wide range of sports. There is so much to share and celebrate that it requires a blog in its’ own right.
In the meantime, we leave you with the extra-curricular calendar for the summer term, brimming with opportunities beyond the school day.
Wishing all of our readers a very happy and healthy weekend.
Thank you for reading/Diolch am ddarllen,
Mrs Sarah Parry
Headteacher