Freddie's Focus
For Parents & Carers
- Issue 149
- January 23, 2026
Freddie's Focus
For Parents & Carers
- Issue 149
- January 23, 2026
Message from the Headteacher
Dear Parents & Carers,
It has been a very busy and focused two weeks for students in Year 11. There was anticipation and excitement from the students in equal measure when they received their results on Mock Results Day. The event was facilitated by Mrs Ward and students opened their results during an excellent assembly which encouraged the students to reflect on their emotions and their next steps once in receipt of their grades. Nobody has yet passed or failed but the students’ learning from this exercise will be a critical and formative stage in their journey towards the final exams this summer. We hope that you as parents found Year 11 Parents’ Evening useful and I’d like to thank you for your attendance and support.
A huge thank you to all parents who attended the Neuro Diversity in School’s Coffee Morning which took place on Wednesday. A follow up meeting is being arranged and we will share the details of this as soon as possible.
As part of our involvement in the Neuro Diversity in Schools Project, I’d also like to remind all parents about the marketplace event which takes place between 5pm and 7pm on Thursday 29th January here in school. Parents who attend will have the opportunity to meet with representatives from various organisations in the community that can offer help and support for neurodiverse children.
Parents who attend will have the opportunity to meet with representatives from various organisations in the community that can offer help and support.
- Parent Carer Forum
- Embrace
- Leigh Leopards Foundation
- CAMHS
- SEND team
- MHST
- Preparing for adulthood team
- Direct payments team
Your child does not need a formal diagnosis for you to be to be able to attend this event.
Thank-you for your continued support.
Mr Davies
Message from the Headteacher
Dear Parents & Carers,
It has been a very busy and focused two weeks for students in Year 11. There was anticipation and excitement from the students in equal measure when they received their results on Mock Results Day. The event was facilitated by Mrs Ward and students opened their results during an excellent assembly which encouraged the students to reflect on their emotions and their next steps once in receipt of their grades. Nobody has yet passed or failed but the students’ learning from this exercise will be a critical and formative stage in their journey towards the final exams this summer. We hope that you as parents found Year 11 Parents’ Evening useful and I’d like to thank you for your attendance and support.
A huge thank you to all parents who attended the Neuro Diversity in School’s Coffee Morning which took place on Wednesday. A follow up meeting is being arranged and we will share the details of this as soon as possible.
As part of our involvement in the Neuro Diversity in Schools Project, I’d also like to remind all parents about the marketplace event which takes place between 5pm and 7pm on Thursday 29th January here in school. Parents who attend will have the opportunity to meet with representatives from various organisations in the community that can offer help and support for neurodiverse children.
Parents who attend will have the opportunity to meet with representatives from various organisations in the community that can offer help and support.
- Parent Carer Forum
- Embrace
- Leigh Leopards Foundation
- CAMHS
- SEND team
- MHST
- Preparing for adulthood team
- Direct payments team
Your child does not need a formal diagnosis for you to be to be able to attend this event.
Thank-you for your continued support.
Mr Davies
Things to celebrate
- Last Friday our Year 11 students received their mock examination results in a special assembly which was designed to support them through this process. We have been incredibly proud of the way in which our students responded to the assembly and their results.
- On Wednesday we held our first Neurodiversity coffee morning in school. This provided parents and carers with a forum to discuss concerns and expert advice on how to support their children at home and in school.
- A brilliant new project delivered as part of our partnership with Curious Minds launched in English this week called ‘Rhyme and Reason’ that explores the power of poetry through links to wellbeing, resilience and positivity. This involves a visiting artist working with Year 8 students for a term to develop skills and explore their own creativity. The students really enjoyed their first session and are excited for where it may take them.
- On Thursday this week we welcomed parents and carers of Year 11 into school for our Parent’s Evening. It was superb to see so many of you there.
- It has been wonderful to see so many of our students taking up the offer of extra-curricular activities at Freddie’s. Please encourage your child to get involved.
- Last week we celebrated our Freddie’s Focus Stars. This is our fortnightly shout out to students who have really excelled in certain subjects. We are also delighted with the number of Headteacher nominations that we receive weekly. Please praise your child if they were a winner last week.
- Today we welcomed our local Member of Parliament Jo Platt into school. She met with Mr Davies and discussed and observed what we have on offer for our students.
- 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
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.
Year 7 to Year 10
100 HoY Mug/Earphones/Water Bottle/Skip the queue pass
175 MTA Power Bank/Skip the queue pass/Calculator/£5 Amazon voucher
250 MTA £10 Amazon voucher/Skip the queue pass
350 PDA £15 Amazon voucher/Skip the queue pass
Year 11
100 HoY £5 Amazon voucher/£5 off Prom
150 MTA £10 Amazon voucher/£10 off Prom
200 PDA £15 Amazon voucher/£15 off Prom
How to support your child to become an independent learner
O.S.C.A.R
Organisation, Selection, Creativity, Association, Repetition
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 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.
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.