Freddie's Focus
For Parents & Carers
- Issue 96
- September 20, 2024
Freddie's Focus
For Parents & Carers
- Issue 96
- September 20, 2024
Message from the Headteacher
Dear Parents & Carers,
Each day at Freddie’s we want to provide each child with the BEST experience possible. Over the last weekend, I had the distinct pleasure of attending a training session with all of our Subject Leaders and Heads of Year to plan how we can refine and develop our curriculum and to improve the systems and routines we have implemented in our school. I was incredibly grateful to our staff for giving up their time at the weekend to work on these important areas. Your children are very lucky to be taught by such a dedicated team. Two external visitors toured the school last week and visited lessons. The atmosphere around school was incredible and the focus and behaviour of our students was exceptional.
As students come into school each day, we want them to feel very much part of the Freddie’s Family and to give them every opportunity to excel and to be the BEST version of themselves. Some of our children, sadly, come to school facing many challenges and bring with them difficulties. We want them all to know that we are here to support them. I share with you the signs that welcome our children at the entrance to the school.
Thank-you for your continued support.
Mr Davies.
Message from the Headteacher
Dear Parents & Carers,
Each day at Freddie’s we want to provide each child with the BEST experience possible. Over the last weekend, I had the distinct pleasure of attending a training session with all of our Subject Leaders and Heads of Year to plan how we can refine and develop our curriculum and to improve the systems and routines we have implemented in our school. I was incredibly grateful to our staff for giving up their time at the weekend to work on these important areas. Your children are very lucky to be taught by such a dedicated team. Two external visitors toured the school last week and visited lessons. The atmosphere around school was incredible and the focus and behaviour of our students was exceptional.
As students come into school each day, we want them to feel very much part of the Freddie’s Family and to give them every opportunity to excel and to be the BEST version of themselves. Some of our children, sadly, come to school facing many challenges and bring with them difficulties. We want them all to know that we are here to support them. I share with you the signs that welcome our children at the entrance to the school.
Thank-you for your continued support.
Mr Davies.
Things to celebrate
- This week, we have welcomed Year 6 students into school for their Taster sessions. It has been lovely to see their engagement in lessons.
- On Thursday evening, we hosted our Year 11 launch night. It was wonderful to see so many parents and carers in attendance.
- We have been incredibly impressed with the number of students who are already taking part in our extra-curricular activities. There is so much on offer at Freddie’s. Please encourage your child to get involved.
- This week, our Y10 GCSE Dance students visited the home of Phoenix Dance Theatre to take part in a conference about one of the GCSE Anthology works. This was an incredibly valuable opportunity, and our students were a credit to our school.
- Our Deputy Head Girl, Isabella Paxford, is performing as Miss Hannigan in a production of ‘Annie’ over the weekend at the Darwen Library Theatre. Break a leg, Izzy!
- 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 can parents 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 can parents email Mr Gregory with any information so we can share with everyone on Freddie’s Focus – gregoryi@flhs.wigan.sch.uk
Extra Curricular Activities
The PE extra-curricular timetable is now available for everyone to see and the programme is now up and running. All students are welcome to attend the sessions, and we look forward to seeing you.
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.
Homework and Independent Learning
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-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:
