Freddie's Focus
For Parents & Carers
- Issue 163
- May 22, 2026
Freddie's Focus
For Parents & Carers
- Issue 163
- May 22, 2026
Message from the Headteacher
Dear Parents & Carers,
As we reach the end of another busy and rewarding half term, I would like to take a moment to thank you sincerely for your ongoing support. Your partnership with the school continues to make a real difference to the success and wellbeing of our students, and it is greatly appreciated by all of us.
It has been a particular pleasure in recent weeks to receive a number of emails from members of the public commenting on the positive behaviour, politeness and conduct of our students in the community. These messages are always a delight to read and stand as a powerful reminder of the values our young people demonstrate every day. They also serve to challenge the often-negative narrative we hear about young people, highlighting instead the respect, kindness and maturity that the majority of our students consistently show.
I would also like to commend our Year 11 students, who have approached the start of their examination period with determination and resilience. We are proud of the way they have conducted themselves so far and encourage them to maintain their focus in the weeks ahead.
Looking ahead to next half term, Year 10 students will also be preparing for and sitting important examinations. These assessments provide a valuable opportunity to build good habits and gain experience ahead of next year, and we encourage all Year 10 students to take them seriously and prepare well.
As we move into the half term break, it is important for all students – particularly those in Years 10 and 11 – to find the right balance between rest and productivity. This is a valuable opportunity to recharge and reset, whilst also setting aside time for structured revision to support continued progress.
Thank you once again for your continued support. I wish you and your families a restful and enjoyable half term.
Mr Davies
Message from the Headteacher
Dear Parents & Carers,
As we reach the end of another busy and rewarding half term, I would like to take a moment to thank you sincerely for your ongoing support. Your partnership with the school continues to make a real difference to the success and wellbeing of our students, and it is greatly appreciated by all of us.
It has been a particular pleasure in recent weeks to receive a number of emails from members of the public commenting on the positive behaviour, politeness and conduct of our students in the community. These messages are always a delight to read and stand as a powerful reminder of the values our young people demonstrate every day. They also serve to challenge the often-negative narrative we hear about young people, highlighting instead the respect, kindness and maturity that the majority of our students consistently show.
I would also like to commend our Year 11 students, who have approached the start of their examination period with determination and resilience. We are proud of the way they have conducted themselves so far and encourage them to maintain their focus in the weeks ahead.
Looking ahead to next half term, Year 10 students will also be preparing for and sitting important examinations. These assessments provide a valuable opportunity to build good habits and gain experience ahead of next year, and we encourage all Year 10 students to take them seriously and prepare well.
As we move into the half term break, it is important for all students – particularly those in Years 10 and 11 – to find the right balance between rest and productivity. This is a valuable opportunity to recharge and reset, whilst also setting aside time for structured revision to support continued progress.
Thank you once again for your continued support. I wish you and your families a restful and enjoyable half term.
Mr Davies
Things to celebrate
- Another successful week of exams for our Year 11 students and again we would like to praise our Year 7 to 10 students for their continued support.
- This week we have celebrated Freddie’s Focus stars and our BEST awards. We are incredibly proud of all of our students who received either award this week.
- On Tuesday a group of our Year 10 Art students visited Yorkshire Sculpture Park as part of their studies.
- Congratulations to Year 11 student Emily Wild, who has been offered a place at Liverpool Theatre School to study a Level 6 Professional Dance Diploma in a class of just 16 others.Emily performed at an Evening of Dance and played a key role in Oliver during Year 11, which involved attending many after-school rehearsals. This is a testament to how hard Emily has worked and her dedication not just to dance but also her ongoing revision and studies.
- Congratulations to former student Ella Toone, who received her MBE from Prince William at Windsor Castle on Tuesday. She is a true inspiration and an excellent role model for our students. Well done Ella!
- Sporting Success this week
It has been another busy and successful week for sport at Freddie’s.
“I enjoy playing flat green bowls, a sport that combines precision, focus, and strategy. It allows me to stay active while developing concentration, teamwork, and patience in a competitive but social environment. Being involved in bowls has helped me build confidence and strong communication skills, and I value the sense of community and sportsmanship that also comes with the game.”
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
“I enjoy playing flat green bowls, a sport that combines precision, focus, and strategy. It allows me to stay active while developing concentration, teamwork, and patience in a competitive but social environment. Being involved in bowls has helped me build confidence and strong communication skills, and I value the sense of community and sportsmanship that also comes with the game.”
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
Information for parents of SEND students
A huge thank-you to all parents who attended our SEND parent forum on 27th April. Your feedback and insights were invaluable. We intend to follow up the discussions from that meeting through this newsletter and Mr Davies will be in touch with the of the next meetings.
A reminder that the following workshop is taking place in school on Thursday 21st May.
Embrace offer a range of on-line courses to support parents. Details of these can be found here:
https://www.embracewiganandleigh.org.uk/behaviour-support-workshops/?cn-reloaded=1
The following link provides a useful gateway to all services that support children in the Wigan area. This page is regularly updated so it is worthwhile frequently checking-in for current information and updates.
https://padlet.com/WiganCAMHS/wigan-mhst-info-board-nu69chp8ifamla8q
We can also recommend this website as a source of useful information for the parents of neurodiverse children and teens.
What we do at Freddie's and why we do it
BEST AWARDS
Today, four students from every form received a BEST Award. This is because they have demonstrated one or more of our character values seen above. We do this to highlight the importance of good character and to make sure that our students know that their positive contribution to our school is valued.
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
O.S.C.A.R
The ‘OSCAR’ model is something that we are promoting at Freddie’s in order to support your child with independent/self-directed study at home.
The ‘C’ stands for creativity. We know that learning happens when we have to think hard and actively do something with the information that we are trying to learn (and store in our long-term memory).
To support your child with this, the following tasks may be useful:
- Creating a set of flashcards (there could be key questions or vocabulary on one side and the answers or definitions on the other);
- Creating graphic organisers- this is a method of capturing information in a visual way. For example:
- Creating their own mini quizzes based on a topic so that they can self-test.
- Capturing information as images alongside words (this technique is called Dual Coding). For example:
Add Your Heading Text Here
We strongly encourage all of our KS4 students to access the self-directed study hub.
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.