Freddie's Focus
For Parents & Carers
- Issue 160
- May 1, 2026
Freddie's Focus
For Parents & Carers
- Issue 160
- May 1, 2026
Message from the Headteacher
Dear Parents & Carers,
Thank you to those who recently shared feedback about the importance of personal development within our school. We value your perspectives and fully recognise that education extends beyond academic success. Helping young people develop confidence, resilience, respect, and the ability to navigate complex social issues is essential to their future wellbeing.
In school, we address topics such as relationships, mental health, online safety, and equality in a thoughtful and age-appropriate way. These can sometimes be sensitive areas, and we approach them with care, professionalism, and respect for the diverse values within our community.
Your role is vital. We encourage you to continue these conversations at home, as young people benefit most when school and family messages are aligned. Taking time to listen, ask open questions, and guide them through differing viewpoints helps them build understanding and make informed choices.
Following parental requests, I have been asked to signpost our PD curriculum and what is covered each term. A link to this can be found here:
https://flhs.org.uk/personal-development-curriculum/
We will continue to keep you informed about the themes covered in school and provide guidance where helpful. If you have any questions or would like further support in discussing these topics with your child, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Thank you for your ongoing support in helping our students grow into thoughtful, responsible, and well-rounded individuals.
Mr Davies
Message from the Headteacher
Dear Parents & Carers,
Thank you to those who recently shared feedback about the importance of personal development within our school. We value your perspectives and fully recognise that education extends beyond academic success. Helping young people develop confidence, resilience, respect, and the ability to navigate complex social issues is essential to their future wellbeing.
In school, we address topics such as relationships, mental health, online safety, and equality in a thoughtful and age-appropriate way. These can sometimes be sensitive areas, and we approach them with care, professionalism, and respect for the diverse values within our community.
Your role is vital. We encourage you to continue these conversations at home, as young people benefit most when school and family messages are aligned. Taking time to listen, ask open questions, and guide them through differing viewpoints helps them build understanding and make informed choices.
Following parental requests, I have been asked to signpost our PD curriculum and what is covered each term. A link to this can be found here:
https://flhs.org.uk/personal-development-curriculum/
We will continue to keep you informed about the themes covered in school and provide guidance where helpful. If you have any questions or would like further support in discussing these topics with your child, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Thank you for your ongoing support in helping our students grow into thoughtful, responsible, and well-rounded individuals.
Mr Davies
Things to celebrate
- On Thursday evening we welcomed parents and carers of Year 7 into school for their first Parents’ Evening. It was wonderful to see such high attendance to this important event.
- On Friday morning, we hosted an event for school leaders and Local Authority representatives to showcase our mobile phone-free policy. They observed the morning routines and our Yondr pouching process.
- Sporting Success this week
This latest achievement builds on what has already been a standout season for Rocco. Having been selected for the Inter‑League squad (one level below county cricket), expectations were high that he would feature in the opening fixture. However, Rocco exceeded all expectations by not only being selected for the first game, but also being named captain – a fantastic reflection of both his ability and leadership qualities. An exceptional accomplishment and very well deserved.
These achievements are a credit to both students’ dedication, resilience, and commitment to developing their sporting talents. They are excellent role models for younger students and a real source of pride for the school community.
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
This latest achievement builds on what has already been a standout season for Rocco. Having been selected for the Inter‑League squad (one level below county cricket), expectations were high that he would feature in the opening fixture. However, Rocco exceeded all expectations by not only being selected for the first game, but also being named captain – a fantastic reflection of both his ability and leadership qualities. An exceptional accomplishment and very well deserved.
These achievements are a credit to both students’ dedication, resilience, and commitment to developing their sporting talents. They are excellent role models for younger students and a real source of pride for the school community.
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.
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
‘Habits accelerate learning’
During lessons we use the ‘Learning behaviour wheel’ to ensure that all talk in lessons is purposeful and enhances your child’s learning experience. We want our students to be excellent orators and communicators which is why partner and group work is an aspect of our teaching that we encourage where appropriate.
‘Independent silent study’ is a vital part of your child’s learning experience. At key points in lessons teachers will use this for a period of time to allow students to fully focus and apply their understanding to a specific task without any distractions. This is a valuable opportunity for teachers to then circulate and see how well students have understood the work and offer support where necessary.
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 ‘O’ stands for organisation. To support your child with this important skill, the following questions and prompts may be useful:
- Start by checking your satchel on ‘Satchel One’ to see what homework has been set and what your priority homework is tonight.
- Prepare your resources and equipment so that you have everything to hand before you start your homework.
- Decide on your outcome: What are you aiming to know or have practised in this time?
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.