Freddie's Focus
For Parents & Carers
- Issue 83
- April 26, 2024
Freddie's Focus
For Parents & Carers
- Issue 83
- April 26, 2024
Message from the Headteacher
Dear Parents and Carers,
Sadly, I had to write to all parents this week regarding some concerns about a minority of students and their poor behaviour in the community. It was reassuring, and I am very grateful, to have received the following in response to that email:
Good Morning Mr Davies,
I’ve just read the email about behaviour in the community.
I have been meaning to email for a while; I collect my daughter on Fridays and I have to say it’s an absolute pleasure seeing all of your students come out of school. I don’t think I’ve seen one child that wasn’t smiling, that’s clearly a reflection of the school.
I hope the minority do stop their behaviour.
To reiterate my message from earlier this week. Our students are continually reminded of the standards of behaviour expected in and out of school but unfortunately, it is the actions of a minority that will tarnish the reputation of all the students in the school community. Please can I ask for your support. Please stress with your children that poor behaviour in the community is simply not acceptable and to not follow the poor example that is being set by a minority. We are, where possible, increasing our staff presence in the area but we cannot police it all. We will deal with any student found to be behaving inappropriately. I must stress that this behaviour is out of school hours and away from the school site, despite us trying to increase staff presence to support the community, we cannot police the whole area. The responsibility for out of school behaviour ultimately lies in the hands of parents and carers. If you have any concerns please contact us.
Mr Davies.
Message from the Headteacher
Dear Parents and Carers,
Sadly, I had to write to all parents this week regarding some concerns about a minority of students and their poor behaviour in the community. It was reassuring, and I am very grateful, to have received the following in response to that email:
Good Morning Mr Davies,
I’ve just read the email about behaviour in the community.
I have been meaning to email for a while; I collect my daughter on Fridays and I have to say it’s an absolute pleasure seeing all of your students come out of school. I don’t think I’ve seen one child that wasn’t smiling, that’s clearly a reflection of the school.
I hope the minority do stop their behaviour.
To reiterate my message from earlier this week. Our students are continually reminded of the standards of behaviour expected in and out of school but unfortunately, it is the actions of a minority that will tarnish the reputation of all the students in the school community. Please can I ask for your support. Please stress with your children that poor behaviour in the community is simply not acceptable and to not follow the poor example that is being set by a minority. We are, where possible, increasing our staff presence in the area but we cannot police it all. We will deal with any student found to be behaving inappropriately. I must stress that this behaviour is out of school hours and away from the school site, despite us trying to increase staff presence to support the community, we cannot police the whole area. The responsibility for out of school behaviour ultimately lies in the hands of parents and carers. If you have any concerns please contact us.
Mr Davies.
Things to celebrate
- A number of our staff and students have recently completed Marathons in order to raise money for charity. We are proud of their achievements and would like to give a huge shout out to all of them!
- Last week we celebrated our Freddie’s Focus on the Stars. Well done to all of our students who received a FF star award.
- On Tuesday our Year 7 students took part in the National Careers Challenge. This was a superb event and hopefully provided our students with an opportunity to start thinking about careers and skills required as they progress through life.
- This week we welcomed our Year 7 parents and carers to their first Parents’ Evening. It was wonderful to see so many of you there.
- Sporting Success this week
Sporting Success this week
Extra Curricular Activities
Our PE department have changed their Extra Curricular Programme for the summer term. To see all of the new events they are offering during both lunchtime and after school, see below.
At FLHS we also offer our students a wide variety of other extra curricular activities, including STEM club, Music, Drama, Art and many more. For further details, click here.
What we do at Freddie's and why we do it
In lessons and in assemblies here at Freddie’s, we use something called ‘SLANT’ as a way of ensuring that we get full attention from your child. We don’t want any students to miss out on instructions or key pieces of information. Establishing full attention and avoiding distractions are vital in supporting learning. Below is an image that we present in all classrooms so that we can explicitly share what each part of ‘SLANT’ means. We also regularly remind our students why SLANT matters and why it is there to support their learning and success at Freddie’s.
Homework and Self-directed study
At FLHS, homework is viewed as a valuable part of a student’s learning. Effective homework can improve learning and help our students to develop lifelong skills. Our aim is for homework to be structured, meaningful and coherent for all concerned. Homework at FLHS should broaden, consolidate, extend or enhance the learning experience.
How you can help your child at home
Parents and carers can support their children at home to retrieve material learned in class so that it has more chance of sticking. Encouraging children to create their own mini quizzes based on their learning is a great way of doing this. It is even better if you then become the quiz master and test them on the questions they have created.
How learning happens
The video below will show you to a short clip which explains how learning happens.
Applications that we use for learning
The following applications are used by our students during their time at FLHS to aid with 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:
