Freddie's Focus
For Parents & Carers
- Issue 111
- January 31, 2025
Freddie's Focus
For Parents & Carers
- Issue 111
- January 31, 2025
Message from the Headteacher

Dear Parents & Carers,
I want to take this opportunity this week to thank parents who do their utmost to ensure that their children attend school everyday. In December we received a National School Attendance Award for the last academic year. So far this year, attendance at Freddie’s remains significantly above the national average.
Back in October, I shared the GCSE results of two different students from last year’s Year 11. One with almost 97% attendance and the other with 77% attendance. Student B’s attendance of 77% meant that he lost in the region of 44 days of learning across the academic year. His disappointing results are testimony to the impact of having significant periods of lost learning.

Message from the Headteacher

Dear Parents & Carers,
I want to take this opportunity this week to thank parents who do their utmost to ensure that their children attend school everyday. In December we received a National School Attendance Award for the last academic year. So far this year, attendance at Freddie’s remains significantly above the national average.
Back in October, I shared the GCSE results of two different students from last year’s Year 11. One with almost 97% attendance and the other with 77% attendance. Student B’s attendance of 77% meant that he lost in the region of 44 days of learning across the academic year. His disappointing results are testimony to the impact of having significant periods of lost learning.

Things to celebrate

- Last Sunday our Brass Band performed at St George’s Church alongside The British Army Band Catterick. This was an incredible experience for the students and staff involved.
- On Monday a group of our Year 10 drama students took part in a workshop in preparation for their examination with the professional Theatre company ‘Frantic Assembly’.
- Sporting Success this week
-
Netball
Year 7 and Year 8 played Netball at home against Bedford, with a win for the Year 7 team and great resilience shown by Year 8 against a very strong team.
-
Rugby
Well done to the Year 8 rugby team who faced challenging opponents this week at the Wigan Warriors rugby festival. It was great to see teamwork and determination in each game.
We are always excited to learn of any sporting successes outside of school so we can celebrate the student’s achievements. Please can parents 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
-
Netball
Year 7 and Year 8 played Netball at home against Bedford, with a win for the Year 7 team and great resilience shown by Year 8 against a very strong team.
-
Rugby
Well done to the Year 8 rugby team who faced challenging opponents this week at the Wigan Warriors rugby festival. It was great to see teamwork and determination in each game.
We are always excited to learn of any sporting successes outside of school so we can celebrate the student’s achievements. Please can parents email Mr Gregory with any information so we can share with everyone on Freddie’s Focus – gregoryi@flhs.wigan.sch.uk
Extra-Curricular Activities
Our PE faculty have refreshed their extra curricular activities for the Spring Term. All students are welcome to attend the sessions, and we look forward to seeing you.

At Freddie’s we offer our students a wide range of other extra-curricular activities. For further details, click here.
School Reminders
-
The Wiz
Our school show ‘The Wiz’ will take place Wed 5th February to Friday 7th February (see link below to book tickets).
-
Year 9 Parents' Evening
Our Year 9 Parents’ Evening will take place on Thursday 13th February. On this night there will be three options talks given by Mr Davies in the Main Hall at the following times - 5.15, 5.45 and 6.15pm.
-
Year 9 Options
Year 9 options meetings with the Senior Leadership Team will take place online on Tuesday 25th February or face to face on Thursday 27th February. Details regarding how to book an appointment will be send out in due course.
-
Half Term
School will close for the Half Term on Friday 14th February.
-
General Reminder
Can we please ask for your support in ensuring that your child does not wear jewellery to school other than an appropriate watch.
Did you know that you can read previous editions of Freddie’s Focus from this Academic Year? To do so, click here.
School Reminders
-
The Wiz
Our school show ‘The Wiz’ will take place Wed 5th February to Friday 7th February (see link below to book tickets).
-
Year 9 Parents' Evening
Our Year 9 Parents’ Evening will take place on Thursday 13th February. On this night there will be three options talks given by Mr Davies in the Main Hall at the following times - 5.15, 5.45 and 6.15pm.
-
Year 9 Options
Year 9 options meetings with the Senior Leadership Team will take place online on Tuesday 25th February or face to face on Thursday 27th February. Details regarding how to book an appointment will be send out in due course.
-
Half Term
School will close for the Half Term on Friday 14th February.
-
General Reminder
Can we please ask for your support in ensuring that your child does not wear jewellery to school other than an appropriate watch.
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

On the final Friday 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.

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
On the run up to the Musical ‘The Wiz’, students with 250 rewards (150 Y11) may opt for a free ticket to see the musical when they see Mr Whalley.
Homework and Independent Learning
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-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.
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. You 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. You continued support is invaluable to us.