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Year 10 Parent Update

  • February 11, 2025

Dear Parents and Carers of Year 10 students,

We are delighted to share that Year 10 students have made a promising start to their GCSE courses, building on the strong foundations of KS3. The vast majority are working hard and showing a positive attitude towards their learning in the classroom. With just under 10 school weeks remaining until our current Year 11’s final GCSE examinations, we are keen to communicate our priorities for Year 10 with you to best help your child succeed.

Priority 1: Attendance

Unfortunately, Year 10 students currently have the lowest attendance in school at 90.7%. As much as this figure sounds high, a student with 90% attendance has missed 114 hours of learning. This is a very significant number given how every lesson covers key GCSE content and contributes towards the final examinations at the end of Year 11.

We have been engaging the students in regular conversations about the importance of attendance, and we have been thrilled to see a recent improvement with the year group placing third with their attendance last week.

However, we want to keep improving this key area and would like to reach out to any parents or carers who would be willing to support us. We are looking to run a coffee morning for parents of Year 10 students to share the challenge of attendance, our strategies to support, and to ask for any input, ideas, or assistance that could help us encourage students to attend school regularly and maintain a positive attitude toward their education. If you would like to be involved, please email wardl@flhs.wigan.sch.uk. We’d be thrilled to hear from you.

Priority 2: Independence and Ownership

We are also working closely with the year group to develop their resilience and independence, insisting that they be responsible for their progress and own their learning. At times, some students present as rather passive in lessons, not participating nor giving their maximum effort. This puts them at risk of underachieving into Year 11, perhaps securing a grade 4 pass when it could easily have been a grade 6. We want every child to reach their potential and, as alluded to at the GCSE Launch night, it’s the hard work in Year 10 that secures the foundations of successful outcomes in Year 11.

To this end, we ask that students complete self-directed study, targeting areas of their learning that they need to review, practice, improve upon. We ask that parents/carers encourage this each evening – short bursts of revisits at home. Your child should be able to tell you what they’re aiming to have achieved/learnt in the time and this will support their learning being in their long-term memory. Teachers offer guidance on how this time can be utilised, and we teach students to use the OSCAR model. See here for more information on these strategies.

Furthermore, we ask that you encourage your child to be present in lessons – sitting up, listening to the experts, and completing tasks to the very best of their ability. The year group are so capable, and we’re excited to see what they can achieve.

Thank you for your continued support and commitment to your child’s education. We look forward to working together to ensure that every student in Year 10 has the best chance for success.

Yours Sincerely,

Mrs L Ward
(Assistant Headteacher)

Mrs A Hyslop
(Head of Year 10)

How Yondr Works

Frequently Asked Questions

We want our students to be engaged in their learning. A child at high school should not really have a reason to contact a parent during the day; however, if there is a genuine reason e.g. they have forgotten their packed lunch, a phone call can be made home from the school office. If a parent needs to contact their child in an emergency, they should contact the school office. If you need to contact your child during the school day, contact the main office on 01942 883796.

In case of a school emergency, we direct our students to safety first, following our school emergency procedures.

 

Students are in possession of their phone - in their Yondr pouch - for the entire school day. We will advise students to store the pouch safely in their school bag or blazer pockets.

If a student damages their Pouch or is caught on their phone, we will confiscate the phone and issue a sanction which is likely to be a suspension.

Note: Damage consists of any signs that the physical integrity of the pouch has been compromised, whether intentional or unintentional, as determined by the school or Yondr staff.

Damaged pouches will be charged to parents at a cost of £20.

They will be searched and wanded with a handheld scanner by a member of SLT. If they are found to have their phone on their person they will be expected to place it in their pouch. Refusal will be met with suspension.

If a student forgets their Pouch, their phone will be confiscated.

As per our previous mobile phone policy;

  • Confiscated phones will be taken to reception where the phone will be secured in the school safe.
  • Parents will be alerted to the phone confiscation via the school office.

Parents will have the option to collect the phone at the end of the day. If parents do not collect the phone, the phone will remain in school until the end of the week or until the student has their pouch.

In Yondr’s experience, this almost never happens. All students funnel past the unlocking stations at the exits, they want their phones back and don’t forget to unlock their pouches. If they do arrive home with a phone in a pouch, they can either come back to school to unlock it, or have a phone free evening!

The unlocking process is quick and takes under a second per student. 

As a privilege, Year 11 will be able to unlock their phones as they go off site at lunchtime; however, they will be expected to put their phones back into their pouches when they return to school for period 5.

Yes. There is an adapted version of the pouch which uses a Velcro fastener instead of a magnetic lock. This means the student still follows the policy, but the adapted pouch gives them easy access to their phone when required. If the student abuses this, they will face a sanction. We are already aware of these students.

Your Office 365 account username is your school network account username followed by @flhs.wigan.sch.uk 
The password is the same password that you use in school to access computers.