Freddie's Focus
For Parents & Carers
- Issue 150
- January 30, 2026
Freddie's Focus
For Parents & Carers
- Issue 150
- January 30, 2026
Message from the Headteacher
Dear Parents & Carers,
One of the key areas of our work as a school is promoting the Personal and Social Development of our students. Our extra-curricular offer here at Freddie’s plays a significant part in this; however, this is only one part of personal development in school. Every two weeks, we have a discreet Personal Development lesson which is intended to engage students in a range of topical issues, and to help them navigate the complexities of modern Britain. Many of the themes we cover are a statutory part of the National Curriculum. Recently students have been exploring issues relating to drug and alcohol abuse; forced marriage; the importance of a healthy diet and exercise; understanding the importance of self-worth.
Our assemblies also link to the Personal Development of our students. The focus of our assemblies this week is particularly important in these troubled times. The 27th January marked Holocaust Memorial Day. On the 27th January 1945 Allied troops entered Auschwitz-Birkenau – the largest of the Nazi Concentration Camps: Over the course of the next few months, the world began to discover the true horrors of the Nazi regime. We remember the six million Jewish men, women, and children who were murdered, as well as the millions of others who suffered and died under Nazi persecution and we reflect, with our students, about what can happen when an ethnic group is demonised and when racism is left unchallenged. This is very much in keeping with the promotion of our key British Values of tolerance and respect.
Students engage well with PD lessons here at Freddie’s. We do have parents contact us about the PD curriculum. If any parent wishes to find out more about what we cover in this important part of the curriculum please visit this link.
Thank-you for your continued support.
Mr Davies
Message from the Headteacher
Dear Parents & Carers,
One of the key areas of our work as a school is promoting the Personal and Social Development of our students. Our extra-curricular offer here at Freddie’s plays a significant part in this; however, this is only one part of personal development in school. Every two weeks, we have a discreet Personal Development lesson which is intended to engage students in a range of topical issues, and to help them navigate the complexities of modern Britain. Many of the themes we cover are a statutory part of the National Curriculum. Recently students have been exploring issues relating to drug and alcohol abuse; forced marriage; the importance of a healthy diet and exercise; understanding the importance of self-worth.
Our assemblies also link to the Personal Development of our students. The focus of our assemblies this week is particularly important in these troubled times. The 27th January marked Holocaust Memorial Day. On the 27th January 1945 Allied troops entered Auschwitz-Birkenau – the largest of the Nazi Concentration Camps: Over the course of the next few months, the world began to discover the true horrors of the Nazi regime. We remember the six million Jewish men, women, and children who were murdered, as well as the millions of others who suffered and died under Nazi persecution and we reflect, with our students, about what can happen when an ethnic group is demonised and when racism is left unchallenged. This is very much in keeping with the promotion of our key British Values of tolerance and respect.
Students engage well with PD lessons here at Freddie’s. We do have parents contact us about the PD curriculum. If any parent wishes to find out more about what we cover in this important part of the curriculum please visit this link.
Thank-you for your continued support.
Mr Davies
Things to celebrate
- This week our Year 10 Construction students have completed their practical exam. We are really proud of the way in which they have conducted themselves during this period.
- On Wednesday a group of our BTEC and GCSE Dance students visited Winstanley College to experience Dance workshops and take a look at what the future could look like if they choose to study Dance beyond school.
- On Sunday, Freddie’s Brass band performed at St George’s Church with the Army Band Catterick. Well done to all those involved.
- 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
During the final week of this half term, four students from every form will receive a BEST Award. This is because they have demonstrated one or more of our character values seen above. We do this to highlight the importance of good character and to make sure that our students know that their positive contribution to our school is valued. Each award winner will receive five positive points and a certificate from their Form Tutor.
At Freddie’s, celebration, praise and reward are at the heart of all that we do. We want all of our students to strive for excellence.
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 ‘S’ stands for select. To support your child with this, the following questions and prompts may be useful:
- Have you checked ‘Satchel One’ to see what you have been set and what your priority is?
- Which subject/piece of homework are you going to focus on tonight?
- Which key pieces of knowledge will you focus on?
- If this is self-directed study, why don’t you focus on subjects or topics that you have forgotten or are likely to forget?
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.