WELCOME

WELCOME

Freddie's Focus

For Parents & Carers

Freddie's Focus

For Parents & Carers

Things to celebrate

  • Last weekend, a number of our students and staff took part in their Duke of Edinburgh expedition. They were a credit to our school, even in some adverse weather conditions!
  • On Tuesday night, we hosted our annual Summer Concert in the Sports Hall. This was an incredible event and highlighted the superb talent of all of our young musicians and singers. There were also a number of our past and present students supporting the event in a technical capacity who worked tirelessly to make the evening a success. As this was our last concert to be held in the ‘old school’, we were joined by staff and students from the past who performed alongside our current students. The event highlighted what a true ‘Freddie’s Family’ we are, and the support of so many parents, carers and members of the community was overwhelming.
  • On Thursday, all of our students took part in school-based activities or trips outside of school including Chester Zoo, Go Ape and Blackpool Pleasure Beach. It was a lovely celebration of their hard work, commitment and attitude to learning.
Year Group / Team / Individual
Jack Chapman Jack has been selected for the Great Britain water polo team for his age group. This is a fantastic achievement! For anyone to represent their country at sport is very special indeed. Congratulations Jack.
Millie Briggs Millie competed in the world championships slow dance finals and came third. Well done on a fantastic achievement, Millie.

School Reminders

  • End of Term

    School will close for the Summer holiday at 12.15 on Friday 21st July and will re-open to our new Year 7 students on Tuesday 5th September. All other year groups will start on Wednesday 6th September.

  • GCSE Results Day

    Our Year 11 GCSE results day will take place on Thursday 24th August in the school canteen.

  • General Reminder

    So that we can start the term as we mean to go on, could we please ask all parents and carers to support us in ensuring that your child returns to school without false nails, eye lashes or false tan? All information about our uniform policy (including hair styles) can be found on our website below.

School Reminders

  • End of Term

    School will close for the Summer holiday at 12.15 on Friday 21st July and will re-open to our new Year 7 students on Tuesday 5th September. All other year groups will start on Wednesday 6th September.

  • GCSE Results Day

    Our Year 11 GCSE results day will take place on Thursday 24th August in the school canteen.

  • General Reminder

    So that we can start the term as we mean to go on, could we please ask all parents and carers to support us in ensuring that your child returns to school without false nails, eye lashes or false tan? All information about our uniform policy (including hair styles) can be found on our website below.

The Gift of a Summer Read

Please can we encourage all parents of our new Y7 students to ensure they have read their gifted, award-winning novel: 'When the Sky Falls'. We will be welcoming the author, Phil Earle, into school in the new year, and the text is a key part of the Y7 English curriculum. We recommend 10 minutes of reading per day.

For further information about this book, along with audio chapters, as read by a selection of our teaching staff, click here.

SummerPod 2023

Year 10 parents, please be aware that Summer homework has been set in preparation for the start of Year 11. KS4 parents may also be interested in the GCSEPod ‘Summerpod’ information which can be found via the link below on our website.

Attendance

Attendance Messages to Parents and Carers – please read to be aware of what good attendance is and the impact of poor attendance. Our key message is EVERY DAY COUNTS.

Why is it important to have good attendance?

Good attendance habits pay off! More school days attended increases a child’s academic success, improves their chances to achieve good GCSE grades leading to greater chances of success at college and later in life, so they can earn higher pay in their careers. 80% of success is showing up! School keeps you safe, it educates you, it prepares you for your future.

What is a good school attendance percentage?

95%

An attendance rate of 95% is generally considered good; this still allows for children to miss 9.5 days across the school year. Persistent absence (PA) is defined as an attendance rate of 90% or below.

At Freddie’s we would like all students to aim for 97% attendance – this equates to 6 days absence per year.

How many days off is 90% attendance?

90% attendance means that your child is absent from lessons for the equivalent of one half day every week. Over five years this is the equivalent of about one half of a school year.

Examples of poor attendance and what this means in terms of days lost:

School Attendance Percentage Days Absent
85
29 days off
86
27 days off
87
25 days off
88
23 days off

Message from the Headteacher

Dear Parents and Carers,

We wish you all a safe and enjoyable summer and look forward to welcoming back all our students in September.
 
A link to my end of term letter can be found below.
 
All the very best from everyone here at Freddie’s.
 
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.