Freddie's Focus
For Parents & Carers
- Issue 143
- November 28, 2025
Freddie's Focus
For Parents & Carers
- Issue 143
- November 28, 2025
Message from the Headteacher
Dear Parents & Carers,
I’d like to start my message this week by wishing all parents of students in Year 11 the very best of luck as the students approach their mock exams next week. This is a stressful time not just for students but their families as well. If you or your child needs any additional support during this period, please do not hesitate to contact us. A key resource for your children is our Self-Directed Study Hub which students can access via our website.
In recent meetings with parents, we have become aware that some parents do not realise that your child has free access to all the Microsoft Office 365 software packages including Word and Power Point. So that all are aware, these pieces of software can be accessed on any device through your child’s Office 365 account.
Finally, next week will be rolling out the YONDR pouches to Years 8 and 9 which will complete the roll out in school. For ease of reference for all parents, please find attached a copy of our revised mobile phone policy. So that you can support us with this policy and to avoid any unnecessary sanctions for your child, please ensure that your child brings their YONDR pouch to school each day. This avoids us having to confiscate their phone. We have been very pleased with the impact of this policy so far with a number of
students telling us already that they feel less distracted in school knowing that they cannot access their phone. With parents placing their own restrictions on phone use at home as well, we are all helping young people to better manage their use of devices. This can only be a good thing for the overall well-being and mental health of our young people. I think long term – we will all start to see the benefits of this approach.
Thank-you for your continued support.
Mr Davies
Message from the Headteacher
Dear Parents & Carers,
I’d like to start my message this week by wishing all parents of students in Year 11 the very best of luck as the students approach their mock exams next week. This is a stressful time not just for students but their families as well. If you or your child needs any additional support during this period, please do not hesitate to contact us. A key resource for your children is our Self-Directed Study Hub which students can access via our website.
In recent meetings with parents, we have become aware that some parents do not realise that your child has free access to all the Microsoft Office 365 software packages including Word and Power Point. So that all are aware, these pieces of software can be accessed on any device through your child’s Office 365 account.
Finally, next week will be rolling out the YONDR pouches to Years 8 and 9 which will complete the roll out in school. For ease of reference for all parents, please find attached a copy of our revised mobile phone policy. So that you can support us with this policy and to avoid any unnecessary sanctions for your child, please ensure that your child brings their YONDR pouch to school each day. This avoids us having to confiscate their phone. We have been very pleased with the impact of this policy so far with a number of students telling us already that they feel less distracted in school knowing that they cannot access their phone. With parents placing their own restrictions on phone use at home as well, we are all helping young people to better manage their use of devices. This can only be a good thing for the overall well-being and mental health of our young people. I think long term – we will all start to see the benefits of this approach.
Thank-you for your continued support.
Mr Davies
Things to celebrate
- This week we once again celebrate our Freddie’s Focus stars. This happens every fortnight at Freddie’s and is our way of celebrating the outstanding work of five students from every Year group in all of our subject areas. Our Headteacher Award is also presented as part of our celebrations. Please ask your child if they have received a shout out this time.
- We are delighted with the number of students who are taking up our extra-curricular offer at the moment. If your child is not yet involved in an extra-curricular activity, please encourage them to get involved. This link will take you directly to our offer: https://flhs.org.uk/extra-curricular-activities/extra-curricular-timetables/
- Sporting Success this week
- Oscar Clancy – Player of tour of Scotland
- Alfie Church – U15’s Most Improved
- Ellis Almond – U15’s Bowler of the year
- Louis Norman – U15’s Player of the year & X1 Most Improved player
- Rocco Walker – U15’s Batter of the Year. 3rd X1 Batter of the year. 3rd X1 Player of the year & Astley and Tyldesley Young Player of the year award
- Hugo Vincent-Dootson (Y8) – KS3 boys Intermediate Gold
- Jaxon Hancock (Y10) – KS4 boys Intermediate Gold
- Sophie Dudley (Y10) – KS4 girls novice Gold
- Phoebe Harris (Y8) – KS3 girls Intermediate Silver
- Overall KS4 girls Novice Bronze
We are always excited to learn of any sporting successes outside of school so we can celebrate the student’s achievements. Please email Mr Gregory with any information so we can share with everyone on Freddie’s Focus – gregoryi@flhs.wigan.sch.uk
Sporting Success this week
- Oscar Clancy – Player of tour of Scotland
- Alfie Church – U15’s Most Improved
- Ellis Almond – U15’s Bowler of the year
- Louis Norman – U15’s Player of the year & X1 Most Improved player
- Rocco Walker – U15’s Batter of the Year. 3rd X1 Batter of the year. 3rd X1 Player of the year & Astley and Tyldesley Young Player of the year award
- Hugo Vincent-Dootson (Y8) – KS3 boys Intermediate Gold
- Jaxon Hancock (Y10) – KS4 boys Intermediate Gold
- Sophie Dudley (Y10) – KS4 girls novice Gold
- Phoebe Harris (Y8) – KS3 girls Intermediate Silver
- Overall KS4 girls Novice Bronze
We are always excited to learn of any sporting successes outside of school so we can celebrate the student’s achievements. Please email Mr Gregory with any information so we can share with everyone on Freddie’s Focus – gregoryi@flhs.wigan.sch.uk
School Reminders
Your child can now find new revision materials in the Develop My Knowledge > Subject Specific Revision section for English, History, Drama, Music, PE, and Business Studies.
In the Apply My Knowledge area, there are also brand-new past papers and quizzes available for English, History, Drama, and PE.
Please discuss the new materials with your child. If they need any help using the Self-Directed Study Hub, please ask them to speak with Mrs Potter.
School Reminders
Your child can now find new revision materials in the Develop My Knowledge > Subject Specific Revision section for English, History, Drama, Music, PE, and Business Studies.
In the Apply My Knowledge area, there are also brand-new past papers and quizzes available for English, History, Drama, and PE.
Please discuss the new materials with your child. If they need any help using the Self-Directed Study Hub, please ask them to speak with Mrs Potter.
What we do at Freddie's and why we do it
At Freddie’s, we encourage our students to use their manners at all times. This is a way of explicitly teaching what good manners look and sound like. It is also something which we feel contributes to a positive school environment and the Freddie’s community. ‘STEPS’ is used as a reminder in all classrooms and around school. Where we see students exhibiting good manners, we praise and reward them. If students forget to use their manners or need to be supported to correct their behaviour, ‘STEPS’ is something we would refer them to.
Year 7 to Year 10
100 HoY Mug/Earphones/Water Bottle/Skip the queue pass
175 MTA Power Bank/Skip the queue pass/Calculator/£5 Amazon voucher
250 MTA £10 Amazon voucher/Skip the queue pass
350 PDA £15 Amazon voucher/Skip the queue pass
Year 11
100 HoY £5 Amazon voucher/£5 off Prom
150 MTA £10 Amazon voucher/£10 off Prom
200 PDA £15 Amazon voucher/£15 off Prom
How to support your child to become an independent learner
At Freddie’s we set six specific types of homework to broaden, consolidate and enhance learning. All homework is set on ‘Satchel One’. Below are the types of homework that you child can expect:
Applications that we use for learning
The following applications are used by our students during their time at FLHS to aid their learning. You can learn more about them below.
Microsoft Office
Did you know that your child can access Microsoft Office at home for free? As a student at Fred Longworth High School, your child is allowed to download a fully working free copy of Microsoft Office 365 to use on their computer, smartphone and tablet whilst they are a student at our school. Click on the button below to learn more.
Satchel:One
Satchel:One is the school online learning platform for students and is the parental portal for all information related to your child’s overall progress within school. You can keep track of your child’s homework using Satchel:One. It is advisable to remind your child to get into the habit of checking their homework on Satchel:One regularly. Relying upon notifications is not the right approach and we advise students to turn off notifications so that they are not disturbed by them.
GCSEPod
GCSEPod is an online study platform and is the perfect resource to help your child learn, retain and recall all the information they need to achieve their GCSE goals. GCSEPod provides 3-5 minute bursts of audio-visual, teacher written learning which can help to reinforce and consolidate key GCSE topics covered in lessons. Experts read and explain everything clearly including all the right facts, quotes, keywords, dates and diagrams on screen. GCSEPod is only available to students in Year 10 and Year 11.
Homework Club
Please remind your child that homework club is available to all students Monday to Thursday where they can complete work in a quiet environment with staff on hand to support them, and computers for online quizzes and research.
Homework Intervention
If your child is not meeting deadlines or completing homework to the best of their ability, their teachers and/or Head of Year will refer them to our homework intervention group. Parents/ carers will receive a letter notifying you and to explain the night that your child will be required and for how long. This is a supportive intervention which is used to get students back on track with homework if they are struggling in this area.
Attendance
We want to do all we can to support your child to be in school every day and ask that you support this important message from home, encouraging your child to avoid missing curriculum content through absence. Here is a breakdown of the absences for the following attendance percentages:
Thank you for your continued support with attendance.
Please encourage your child to be in school every day.
Can we please remind all our parents and carers to use the correct channels of communication should they wish to raise a concern or question. Your continued support is invaluable to us.
Belonging, Engaging, Succeeding Together.
Can we please remind all our parents and carers to use the correct channels of communication should they wish to raise a concern or question. Your continued support is invaluable to us.
