Freddie's Focus
For Parents & Carers
- Issue 120
- April 25, 2025
Freddie's Focus
For Parents & Carers
- Issue 120
- April 25, 2025
Message from the Headteacher
Dear Parents & Carers,
Welcome back for the Summer Term of 2025. This week the students have made a positive start to the new term. I will take this opportunity, at the start of this new term, to raise the important issue of good attendance.
Concerns over low rates of school attendance continue to appear in national headlines and reveal the negative impact that low attendance is having on outcomes for students across the country. We see these patterns here at Freddie’s. In short, low attendance places a child at a significant disadvantage compared to their peers. It prevents a child from being successful in school due to gaps in knowledge caused by lost learning or reduced friendships due to time in school being irregular. The information in the following table is based on the DFE’s latest research into this issue (March 2025). It illustrates the correlation between low attendance and chronic underachievement for students in Year 11.
| Attendance Band | Likelihood of achieving Grade 5 in English and Maths (compared to the band below) | Key Impact and insights |
|---|---|---|
| 95-100% | 1.9x more likely than 90-95% | Missing 10 days can reduce success rates by 50% |
| 90-95% | 1.6x more likely than 85-90% | Significant gains can be made by moving to 95-100% |
| 85-90% | 1.3x more likely than 80-85% | At risk of becoming persistently absent |
| 80-85% | 1.3x more likely than 75-80% | Students may start to show signs of disengagement |
| 75-80% | 1.4x more likely than 70-75% | Students start to show signs of disengagement |
| 65-70% | 1.6x more likely than 60-65% | Students show signs of disengagement |
| 60-65% | 1.8x more likely than 55-60% | Students show significant signs of disengagement |
| 50 to 55% and less | Severely absent category (lowest likelihood of success) | Represents students who are chronically disengaged |
Thank-you for your continued support.
Mr Davies.
Message from the Headteacher
Dear Parents & Carers,
Welcome back for the Summer Term of 2025. This week the students have made a positive start to the new term. I will take this opportunity, at the start of this new term, to raise the important issue of good attendance.
Concerns over low rates of school attendance continue to appear in national headlines and reveal the negative impact that low attendance is having on outcomes for students across the country. We see these patterns here at Freddie’s. In short, low attendance places a child at a significant disadvantage compared to their peers. It prevents a child from being successful in school due to gaps in knowledge caused by lost learning or reduced friendships due to time in school being irregular. The information in the following table is based on the DFE’s latest research into this issue (March 2025). It illustrates the correlation between low attendance and chronic underachievement for students in Year 11.
| Attendance Band | Likelihood of achieving Grade 5 in English and Maths (compared to the band below) | Key Impact and insights |
|---|---|---|
| 95-100% | 1.9x more likely than 90-95% | Missing 10 days can reduce success rates by 50% |
| 90-95% | 1.6x more likely than 85-90% | Significant gains can be made by moving to 95-100% |
| 85-90% | 1.3x more likely than 80-85% | At risk of becoming persistently absent |
| 80-85% | 1.3x more likely than 75-80% | Students may start to show signs of disengagement |
| 75-80% | 1.4x more likely than 70-75% | Students start to show signs of disengagement |
| 65-70% | 1.6x more likely than 60-65% | Students show signs of disengagement |
| 60-65% | 1.8x more likely than 55-60% | Students show significant signs of disengagement |
| 50 to 55% and less | Severely absent category (lowest likelihood of success) | Represents students who are chronically disengaged |
Thank-you for your continued support.
Mr Davies.
Message from the Headteacher
Dear Parents & Carers,
Welcome back for the Summer Term of 2025. This week the students have made a positive start to the new term. I will take this opportunity, at the start of this new term, to raise the important issue of good attendance.
Concerns over low rates of school attendance continue to appear in national headlines and reveal the negative impact that low attendance is having on outcomes for students across the country. We see these patterns here at Freddie’s. In short, low attendance places a child at a significant disadvantage compared to their peers. It prevents a child from being successful in school due to gaps in knowledge caused by lost learning or reduced friendships due to time in school being irregular. The information in the following table is based on the DFE’s latest research into this issue (March 2025). It illustrates the correlation between low attendance and chronic underachievement for students in Year 11.
| Attendance Band | Likelihood of achieving Grade 5 in English and Maths (compared to the band below) | Key Impact and insights |
|---|---|---|
| 95-100% | 1.9x more likely than 90-95% | Missing 10 days can reduce success rates by 50% |
| 90-95% | 1.6x more likely than 85-90% | Significant gains can be made by moving to 95-100% |
| 85-90% | 1.3x more likely than 80-85% | At risk of becoming persistently absent |
| 80-85% | 1.3x more likely than 75-80% | Students may start to show signs of disengagement |
| 75-80% | 1.4x more likely than 70-75% | Students start to show signs of disengagement |
| 65-70% | 1.6x more likely than 60-65% | Students show signs of disengagement |
| 60-65% | 1.8x more likely than 55-60% | Students show significant signs of disengagement |
| 50 to 55% and less | Severely absent category (lowest likelihood of success) | Represents students who are chronically disengaged |
Thank-you for your continued support.
Mr Davies.
Things to celebrate
- Our annual Spain Disney trip took place over Easter. This is the largest residential trip that we offer. We hope that all of our students had an incredible time.
- Over the holiday we held our Easter football tournament. This event was supported by a number of our students who took part in a leadership capacity.
- This week we have celebrated our ‘Freddie’s Focus on the Stars’. Please ask your child if there received a shout out from one or more of their subjects.
Wider cultural experiences at Freddie's
At Freddie’s our staff offer a wide range of clubs, activities, trips and events for our students. Here is a selection of what is on this term, in addition to the range of clubs and activities.
At Freddie’s we offer our students a wide range of other extra-curricular activities. For further details, click here.
- 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
Did you know that you can read previous editions of Freddie’s Focus from this Academic Year? To do so, click here.
School Reminders
Did you know that you can read previous editions of Freddie’s Focus from this Academic Year? To do so, click here.
What we do at Freddie's and why we do it
At Freddie’s we want our students to develop as excellent learners who ultimately achieve the very best from their time at school. Below are the FLHS BEST Standards.
These standards are displayed in all classrooms and referred to as a constant reminder of the positive learning habits that we want all students to display.
‘Habits accelerate learning’
At Freddie's we want every student to become the best version of themself. We explicitly share what we believe are the values which help every student to become their very best.
Year 7 to Year 10
100 HoY Mug/Earphones/Water Bottle/Skip the queue pass
175 JWY Power Bank/Skip the queue pass/Calculator/£5 Amazon voucher
250 JWY £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 JWY £10 Amazon voucher/£10 off Prom
200 PDA £15 Amazon voucher/£15 off Prom
Homework and Independent Learning
At Freddie’s, there are six types of homework set in order to embed key knowledge and ensure that your child is equipped with independent learning skills. Below are the types of homework that we set:
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:
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.