WELCOME

WELCOME

Freddie's Focus

For Parents & Carers

Freddie's Focus

For Parents & Carers

Message from the Headteacher

Dear Parents and Carers,

Thank-you to all parents who attended last week’s Year 7 Parents’ Evening. Attendance was extremely high and I cannot stress enough the importance of positive parental involvement at events of this nature. We appreciate it.

On Thursday this week we had our first Parents’ Forum in the new school. I would like to thank all the parents who took the time to attend and to thank you for your valuable feedback.

The GCSE exams start in earnest next week on Thursday 9th May. We wish all of our Year 11 students the very best of luck. The examination period is a stressful time for students – and parents! Please remember that we are here to help – do visit school or contact us by phone if you have any concerns or questions, no matter how trivial you think they are. Often, a brief conversation with someone at school can put minds at rest. Please also help your child by encouraging them to plan their revision time carefully, and by making sure that they turn up to their examinations on time, in uniform and with the correct equipment. I will be writing to Year 11 parents soon with the final arrangements for their final weeks at school. Good luck to all! 

Wishing you a pleasant bank holiday weekend and with fingers crossed for some sunshine.

Mr Davies.

Message from the Headteacher

Dear Parents and Carers, 

Thank-you to all parents who attended last week’s Year 7 Parents’ Evening. Attendance was extremely high and I cannot stress enough the importance of positive parental involvement at events of this nature. We appreciate it.

On Thursday this week we had our first Parents’ Forum in the new school. I would like to thank all the parents who took the time to attend and to thank you for your valuable feedback.

The GCSE exams start in earnest next week on Thursday 9th May. We wish all of our Year 11 students the very best of luck. The examination period is a stressful time for students – and parents! Please remember that we are here to help – do visit school or contact us by phone if you have any concerns or questions, no matter how trivial you think they are. Often, a brief conversation with someone at school can put minds at rest. Please also help your child by encouraging them to plan their revision time carefully, and by making sure that they turn up to their examinations on time, in uniform and with the correct equipment. I will be writing to Year 11 parents soon with the final arrangements for their final weeks at school. Good luck to all! 

Wishing you a pleasant bank holiday weekend and with fingers crossed for some sunshine.

Mr Davies.

Things to celebrate

  • On Thursday we launched our peer mentoring programme.  This has involved a team of our Year 9 students mentoring some Year 7 students. It was wonderful to see such maturity, care and support for one another.
  • On Thursday evening we hosted our Parents’ Forum event.  We would like to thank all parents and carers who attended.
  • Congratulations to our Music Department for a successful ‘Evening at the Movies’ which took place last Friday night.
  • Year 7 Rugby

    A great effort from the Year 7 rugby team in a competitive match against St. Edmund Arrowsmith this week. The boys showed excellent teamwork. Well done to all involved!

  • GCSE Moderation

    Our school was used for GCSE moderation on Wednesday. All our students showed great character as well as those from other local schools. Well done and good luck to them all!

Sporting Success this week

  • Year 7 Rugby

    A great effort from the Year 7 rugby team in a competitive match against St. Edmund Arrowsmith this week. The boys showed excellent teamwork. Well done to all involved!

  • GCSE Moderation

    Our school was used for GCSE moderation on Wednesday. All our students showed great character as well as those from other local schools. Well done and good luck to them all!

Extra Curricular Activities

Our PE department have changed their Extra Curricular Programme for the summer term. To see all of the new events they are offering during both lunchtime and after school, see below.

At FLHS we also offer our students a wide variety of other extra curricular activities, including STEM club, Music, Drama, Art and many more. For further details, click here.

School Reminders

  • Year 11 GCSE Examinations Timetable

    Year 11 GCSE examination timetables are available on the website under ‘Examinations’ and all students have a copy of this timetable. Once the exams are up and running, you will receive regular reminders of upcoming examinations and revision slots.

  • School Bank Holiday Closure

    School will be closed on Monday 6th May owing to the Bank Holiday.

  • Careers Facebook Page

    We have launched our new careers Facebook page which contains careers, post 16 and college information. The link below will take you directly to the page.

  • General Reminder

    Could we please remind all parents and carers that it is not always possible for staff to meet with you if you arrive at reception without an appointment. Should you wish to see a member of staff and they are unavailable, please email, ring or liaise with the reception staff who will then forward your request, and someone will get back to you to arrange an appropriate time. Thank you for your understanding.

Did you know that you can read previous editions of Freddie’s Focus from this Academic Year? To do so, click here.

School Reminders

  • Year 11 GCSE Examinations Timetable

    Year 11 GCSE examination timetables are available on the website under ‘Examinations’ and all students have a copy of this timetable. Once the exams are up and running, you will receive regular reminders of upcoming examinations and revision slots.

  • School Bank Holiday Closure

    School will be closed on Monday 6th May owing to the Bank Holiday.

  • Careers Facebook Page

    We have launched our new careers Facebook page which contains careers, post 16 and college information. The link below will take you directly to the page.

  • General Reminder

    Could we please remind all parents and carers that it is not always possible for staff to meet with you if you arrive at reception without an appointment. Should you wish to see a member of staff and they are unavailable, please email, ring or liaise with the reception staff who will then forward your request, and someone will get back to you to arrange an appropriate time. Thank you for your understanding.

Did you know that you can read previous editions of Freddie’s Focus from this Academic Year? To do so, click here.

What we do at Freddie's and why we do it

Our ‘BEST Awards’ are awarded to four students in every Form class who have demonstrated great strength of character over the past Term. It is a way of us letting our students know how proud we are of them and how valued they are for the role that they play at Freddie’s.

The ‘BEST Awards’ take place three times a Year. The students who are chosen will have demonstrated one or more of our character traits below. Every winner receives 5 reward points and a parent text will be sent home on the last day of term.

Homework and Self-directed study

Below are some of our study skills strategies which we encourage students to use as a method of helping them to retain information in the long-term memory.  Actively doing something with the information that they have been taught is a really useful way of learning and remembering.

Applications that we use for learning

The following applications are used by our students during their time at FLHS to aid with 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-Thursday in the Library (apart from Monday week B) where support and IT equipment is is available.

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.

How Yondr Works

Frequently Asked Questions

We want our students to be engaged in their learning. A child at high school should not really have a reason to contact a parent during the day; however, if there is a genuine reason e.g. they have forgotten their packed lunch, a phone call can be made home from the school office. If a parent needs to contact their child in an emergency, they should contact the school office. If you need to contact your child during the school day, contact the main office on 01942 883796.

In case of a school emergency, we direct our students to safety first, following our school emergency procedures.

 

Students are in possession of their phone - in their Yondr pouch - for the entire school day. We will advise students to store the pouch safely in their school bag or blazer pockets.

If a student damages their Pouch or is caught on their phone, we will confiscate the phone and issue a sanction which is likely to be a suspension.

Note: Damage consists of any signs that the physical integrity of the pouch has been compromised, whether intentional or unintentional, as determined by the school or Yondr staff.

Damaged pouches will be charged to parents at a cost of £20.

They will be searched and wanded with a handheld scanner by a member of SLT. If they are found to have their phone on their person they will be expected to place it in their pouch. Refusal will be met with suspension.

If a student forgets their Pouch, their phone will be confiscated.

As per our previous mobile phone policy;

  • Confiscated phones will be taken to reception where the phone will be secured in the school safe.
  • Parents will be alerted to the phone confiscation via the school office.

Parents will have the option to collect the phone at the end of the day. If parents do not collect the phone, the phone will remain in school until the end of the week or until the student has their pouch.

In Yondr’s experience, this almost never happens. All students funnel past the unlocking stations at the exits, they want their phones back and don’t forget to unlock their pouches. If they do arrive home with a phone in a pouch, they can either come back to school to unlock it, or have a phone free evening!

The unlocking process is quick and takes under a second per student. 

As a privilege, Year 11 will be able to unlock their phones as they go off site at lunchtime; however, they will be expected to put their phones back into their pouches when they return to school for period 5.

Yes. There is an adapted version of the pouch which uses a Velcro fastener instead of a magnetic lock. This means the student still follows the policy, but the adapted pouch gives them easy access to their phone when required. If the student abuses this, they will face a sanction. We are already aware of these students.

Your Office 365 account username is your school network account username followed by @flhs.wigan.sch.uk 
The password is the same password that you use in school to access computers.