Freddie's Focus
For Parents & Carers
- Issue 176
- October 16, 2026
Freddie's Focus
For Parents & Carers
- Issue 176
- October 16, 2026
Message from the Headteacher
Dear Parents & Carers,
At Freddie’s, we are committed to ensuring that every student leaves with not only strong academic qualifications, but also the confidence, knowledge and ambition to succeed in adult life. Through our Personal Development programme, we seek to broaden horizons, raise aspirations and help students understand the important role they play in society.
Before highlighting some of the exciting opportunities our students have recently experienced, I would like to take this opportunity to remind families about the importance of road safety. Following recent events in our local community, we have been working closely with Greater Manchester Police, who have been in school speaking directly with students about staying safe when travelling to and from school. Through our daily Line Ups, we have also been providing regular reminders about road safety, cycle safety and the importance of making sensible decisions around roads and traffic. We would be grateful if parents and carers could reinforce these messages at home and take the opportunity to discuss safe road use with their children. Working together, we can help ensure our young people remain safe both in school and within the wider community.
A particular highlight this half-term has been our Year 11 Careers Convention, which was held on Friday at The Edge, Wigan, and was our first major Personal Development event of the academic year. The event was a tremendous success, providing students with the opportunity to meet employers, colleges, apprenticeship providers and training organisations. Students engaged thoughtfully with exhibitors, explored a wide range of pathways and gained valuable insight into the opportunities available to them after Year 11. The event played an important role in building confidence, increasing aspiration and helping students make informed decisions about their future destinations.
Alongside developing students’ aspirations, we are also committed to helping them understand the importance of their voice in shaping society. One of the key British Values we promote is democracy. We encourage students to express their views, contribute to discussions and recognise that their opinions can help influence positive change.
To support this, we are encouraging all students to participate in The Big Future, a national survey led by the Children’s Commissioner for England. The survey provides young people with an opportunity to share their views on the issues that matter most to them, their hopes for the future and the changes they would like to see for children and young people across the country.
By taking part, students are engaging with democracy in action. Just as our Year 11 students were encouraged to think ambitiously about their future careers at the Careers Convention, this survey allows all young people to contribute to wider conversations about the future of education, opportunities and support available to them.
Parents and carers may wish to discuss the survey with their child and encourage them to take part before it closes:
https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/thebigfuture/
We are proud of the many ways our students engage with opportunities that raise aspirations, strengthen character and prepare them to be active, informed citizens in modern Britain.
Mr Davies.
Message from the Headteacher
Dear Parents & Carers,
At Freddie’s, we are committed to ensuring that every student leaves with not only strong academic qualifications, but also the confidence, knowledge and ambition to succeed in adult life. Through our Personal Development programme, we seek to broaden horizons, raise aspirations and help students understand the important role they play in society.
Before highlighting some of the exciting opportunities our students have recently experienced, I would like to take this opportunity to remind families about the importance of road safety. Following recent events in our local community, we have been working closely with Greater Manchester Police, who have been in school speaking directly with students about staying safe when travelling to and from school. Through our daily Line Ups, we have also been providing regular reminders about road safety, cycle safety and the importance of making sensible decisions around roads and traffic. We would be grateful if parents and carers could reinforce these messages at home and take the opportunity to discuss safe road use with their children. Working together, we can help ensure our young people remain safe both in school and within the wider community.
A particular highlight this half-term has been our Year 11 Careers Convention, which was held on Friday at The Edge, Wigan, and was our first major Personal Development event of the academic year. The event was a tremendous success, providing students with the opportunity to meet employers, colleges, apprenticeship providers and training organisations. Students engaged thoughtfully with exhibitors, explored a wide range of pathways and gained valuable insight into the opportunities available to them after Year 11. The event played an important role in building confidence, increasing aspiration and helping students make informed decisions about their future destinations.
Alongside developing students’ aspirations, we are also committed to helping them understand the importance of their voice in shaping society. One of the key British Values we promote is democracy. We encourage students to express their views, contribute to discussions and recognise that their opinions can help influence positive change.
To support this, we are encouraging all students to participate in The Big Future, a national survey led by the Children’s Commissioner for England. The survey provides young people with an opportunity to share their views on the issues that matter most to them, their hopes for the future and the changes they would like to see for children and young people across the country.
By taking part, students are engaging with democracy in action. Just as our Year 11 students were encouraged to think ambitiously about their future careers at the Careers Convention, this survey allows all young people to contribute to wider conversations about the future of education, opportunities and support available to them.
Parents and carers may wish to discuss the survey with their child and encourage them to take part before it closes:
https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/thebigfuture/
We are proud of the many ways our students engage with opportunities that raise aspirations, strengthen character and prepare them to be active, informed citizens in modern Britain.
Mr Davies.
Things to celebrate
- Last week we re-launched ‘Freddie’s Focus on the Stars’. This is where all subject areas give a shout out to five students who have excelled in their subject area over the previous fortnight. We are incredibly proud of all students who received a shout out last week.
- On Thursday evening we hosted our Year 10 GCSE launch event to parents and carers. We would like to thank everyone who attended for their continued support.
- We are incredibly proud of the number of our students who are now taking part in one or more of the extra-curricular activities on offer to them. If your child has not yet signed up to take part in an extra-curricular activity, please encourage them to do so.
- On Thursday, our dancers were at the Wigan Healthy Schools & Colleges celebration event, where they opened the event with an amazing performance. Well done all!
- Today we held our Personal Development drop down day. This day launches the start of our Personal Development curriculum. All year groups took part in a variety of activities throughout the day which were planned to develop character, support personal development and build wider knowledge and understanding. As always, the feedback that we received from external visitors regarding the conduct and engagement of our students was highly complementary.
- Sporting Success this week
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
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
For those who were unable to attend, a reminder that further information about the Study Hub can be found on the school website. This section also includes an instructional video to guide your child through accessing and using the resources available.
You can access the KS4 Study Hub here: https://flhs.org.uk/self-directed-study/
As always, if you have any questions or would like any further information, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Thank you for your continued support – Mrs Potter.
School Reminders
For those who were unable to attend, a reminder that further information about the Study Hub can be found on the school website. This section also includes an instructional video to guide your child through accessing and using the resources available.
You can access the KS4 Study Hub here: https://flhs.org.uk/self-directed-study/
As always, if you have any questions or would like any further information, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Thank you for your continued support – Mrs Potter.
Information for parents of SEND students
We’d like to signpost to parents a new PADLET that has been created by Wigan LA to make parents aware of specific services that are available to support neuro-diverse students.
https://padlet.com/Thrive_in_Wigan/neurodevelopmental-support-n944neepu5gjvosy
This is additional to the other Wigan PADLET which serves as a useful gateway to all the services that support children in the Wigan area. Both PADLETS are regularly updated so it is worthwhile frequently checking-in for current information and updates.
https://padlet.com/WiganCAMHS/wigan-mhst-info-board-nu69chp8ifamla8q
Embrace also 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
Our Personal Development curriculum:
The Department for Education specify that it is your child’s entitlement to a Personal Development education. The aim is “to promote discussion, challenge misconceptions and allow students to reflect on matters that are usually outside a typical lesson.” We therefore build our PD curriculum into our timetable once per fortnight starting after half term. To launch the PD curriculum, we begin with a carefully planned drop down day in which all year groups take part in a variety of activities linked to their wider PD curriculum.
How to support your child to become an independent learner
The diagram below demonstrates the fact to learn means to remember. Remembering means that information is embedded into the long-term memory.
Our working memory can only hold a few pieces of information for up to 30 seconds until it is lost/forgotten. This is why we have to do something with that information to make sure it is not lost. Actively engaging with information and tasks which involve retrieval and repetition help information to stick.
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.
Please ensure your child speaks to staff of any lessons where they miss work due to absence, this is to mitigate any impact of absence.
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.
