WELCOME

WELCOME

Freddie's Focus

For Parents & Carers

Freddie's Focus

For Parents & Carers

Things to celebrate

  • We hosted our Year 11 Parents’ Evening on Thursday night.  It was wonderful to see so many parents and carers attending this event with our students with some quality conversations about their final months in school.
  • A group of our Year 10 students attended a trip to Spinners Mill in Leigh as part of their studies in Photography.

School Reminders

  • Personal Development Lesson

    On Tuesday 24th January period 2, your child will take part in their next Personal Development lesson.

  • Year 11 - Date for the diary

    On Thursday 9th February from 6pm, we are hosting an event in school for parents only offering advice and guidance on how to support your child with their management of exam stress and anxiety as they approach the GCSEs. More information to follow.

  • Year 9 - Dates for the diary

    Our Year 9 Parents’ Evening will take place on Thursday 2nd February in school from 16.30. On the 15th and 16th February, Year 9 Options interviews will be held. Further information on this to follow.

  • General Reminder

    Could we please ask all parents and carers to support us in ensuring that your child does not wear false eyelashes, false tan or false nails to school. We are incredibly grateful for your support.

School Reminders

  • Personal Development Lesson

    On Tuesday 24th January period 2, your child will take part in their next Personal Development lesson.

  • Year 11 - Date for the diary

    On Thursday 9th February from 6pm, we are hosting an event in school for parents only offering advice and guidance on how to support your child with their management of exam stress and anxiety as they approach the GCSEs. More information to follow.

  • Year 9 - Dates for the diary

    Our Year 9 Parents’ Evening will take place on Thursday 2nd February in school from 16.30. On the 15th and 16th February, Year 9 Options interviews will be held. Further information on this to follow.

  • General Reminder

    Could we please ask all parents and carers to support us in ensuring that your child does not wear false eyelashes, false tan or false nails to school. We are incredibly grateful for your support.

Homework and Self-directed study

We have six types of homework which we set in order to broaden, consolidate and enhance your child’s learning.  Each week we will share with you one of the types of homework.

Please see below for this week’s ‘Retrieve it’ examples and our reason for setting this type of homework task:

Satchel:One

You can keep track of your child’s homework using Satchel:One

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.

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Attendance

Dear Parents and Carers,

We are very keen to ensure that as many of our students as possible have good attendance. Please see the information below on the importance of good attendance.

Why is attendance at school so important?

When students are not frequently absent, their grades and reading skills often improv – even among those students who are struggling in school. Students who frequently attend school feel more connected to their community and develop strong social skills and friendships, which are important life skills.

How does attendance affect achievement in UK schools?

Of those who were persistently absent (below 90% attendance), 40.2% achieved the expected standard in reading, writing and maths compared to 83.9% of pupils with no missed sessions, and 71.9% who missed between 0 and 5%.(May 2022).

Does attendance affect GCSE results?

Students whose attendance drops below 94% will have missed 2 weeks of school. This has a significant impact on GCSE results. Students with no absence are over twice as likely to achieve 5 or more GCSEs at grades 5-9 including English and Mathematics.

Is attendance truly important?

Missing 10 percent, or about 18 days, of the school year can drastically affect a student’s academic success. Students can be chronically absent even if they only miss a day or two every few weeks. Attendance is an important life skill that will help your child do well beyond school and secure employment in later life.

Message from the Headteacher

Dear Parents and Carers,

On Thursday this week, we had a fantastic turn out at our Year 11 Parents’ Evening. To all the parents who came, thank you! We hope you found the evening informative. Our Year 9 Parents’ Evening is next – on Thursday 2nd February. Please look out for communications about this evening and about the Year 9 Options Choices. I will be giving talks to parents that evening about the Option Process and you will obviously have the opportunity to discuss your child’s current progress with their individual teachers.

This week, the Mayor of Greater Manchester – Andy Burnham – visited our new build and lay the first brick of our new school. Our Head Boy and Head Girl also attended the ceremony and they had lots of questions for Andy. He gave some fascinating and insightful answers about his career in politics and about Parliament. It was also the first time that I have had a real opportunity to walk onto the new site. Standing in what will be the new school hall really was quite exciting. You can read about the visit in this article that was published in the Leigh Journal.

Regards,

Mr Davies.

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.