Hello,
We hope the first few weeks at school went well. Please see below for details of last year’s achievements; the new Sharing Shelf; our next events; and how to volunteer with FROGS.
We had our AGM last week, the members of the committee and the class reps this year are:
Chair: Léa Vice Chair: Erla Treasurer: Nicola Secretary: Caroline
Committee members: Pembe, Ruth, Jenn, Veronika, Luke, Nicola and Gill
Class reps:
Reception Magnus & Harriet – Y1 Kati & Lisa – Y2 Rob & Caroline – Y3 Gill & Simone – Y4 Lisa & Lindsey – Y5 Kati – Y6 Nicola
You will find the minutes of our AGM here and our latest financial statement here.
If you’re joining Grasmere this year, here is a letter for new parents and carers to explain FROGS’ role.
The next meeting will be via Zoom on Wednesday 2 November at 8pm.
Last year’s achievements:
FROGS’ Sharing Shelf
Here’s how to use our new Sharing shelf. We only accept books and food bank items on these shelves. If the shelves are full, please wait before you donate. Our volunteers will tidy them up from time to time. (To donate/request larger/other items, please see our Jumble sale info below, or ask your Reps for a link to the Grasmere noticeboard on Whatsapp.)
BOOK SWAP
Novels, reference books, activity/craft books all welcome.
Please donate books that are in good condition.
Please make sure you put the books on the correct shelf (by age).
Please donate only a few books at a time.
If you have lots of books to donate, please email frogs.grasmere@gmail.com or get in touch with the school, and we will sort them out for the library, the classrooms or the next jumble sale.
FOOD BANK
Donating items
We accept cereal; soup; pasta; rice; tinned tomatoes/ pasta saucel; lentils, beans and pulses; tinned meat; tinned vegetables; tea/coffee; tinned fruit; biscuits; UHT milk; fruit juice; baby food. Also needed are toiletries, nappies etc
Collecting items
Anyone who needs these items can collect them from the shelf in the mornings. The school will leave the hallway doors open from about 9.10 after the drop off crowds have gone. You can wait in the courtyard or come back – just ring the main bell on Albion Road and say Sharing shelves or Food bank and the office will let you in, no questions asked.
If you need more assistance, please get in touch with the school business manager Mel (Mon-Tue) to learn about how you can access the school’s Hardship fund.
Our next events:
Cake Sale, Friday 30 September 3.30pm
Year 6 is organising the first of our very popular Cake Sales on 30 September. They have years of practice, so it’s going to be delicious!
Pay by cash or card. Profits from the sale will go towards a class treat at the end of the year.
Everyone is included: Patsy at Reception keeps a small bag of change donated by FROGS for kids who might need it to buy a cake.
JUMBLE SALE, SATURDAY 08 OCTOBER, 10.30-12.30
We need your old stuff, and your help to sort it: please sign up via this link, that really helps us get everything organised in time. We’re also looking for cake and soup donations on the day.
People who help sort out the jumble on the Friday get first dibs on the good stuff; volunteers during the sale get free hot drinks, biscuits and soup.
AUTUMN FAIR & INTERNATIONAL EVENING,
THURSDAY 20 OCTOBER, 3.30-5.30
We’re joining forces with the school team and and organising an Autumn Fair and International evening after school on the last Thursday before half-term. Please save the date!
There will be a big table full of specialities from around the world (please talk to Pembe or Burçu if you can cook something), an exhibition of the children’s latest artworks, and a mix of free/paying/donate what you can stalls.
As ever this can only happen if we have enough volunteers, please sign up via this link if you can help, or email frogs.grasmere@gmail if you have any ideas for stalls or if you can help with decorations, or a world music playlist!
WINTER FAIR, FRIDAY 9 DECEMBER 3.30-5.30
We would love a volunteer or two to help organise this event, for which each class runs a stall such as gingerbread decorating, winter craft, teddy tombola, bingo… If you have any good stall ideas for the fair, would like to help decorate/run the Santa’s grotto, or anything else, please let us know!
Volunteer with FROGS:
Haven’t volunteered at an event yet? Please do! It’s very easy, and even just doing 1 hour shift this year would make a big difference – it would mean another parent volunteer has time to enjoy the fair with their children too. Most of the time (apart from the kitchen/bonfire stalls for example), you can take your kids with you – they love being little helpers! And the biggest reward as always is to see the kids’ smiling, happy faces.
If you’re not available on the day, you can do many other things, such as donate small prizes, drinks, paper cups, etc. We’ve started an Amazon wishlist here so you can see the type of things we need. To support our work, you can also set up a small monthly donation via our Kindlink page.
If you work for a big company, you might be able to help us double our takings. Many larger employers will match (up to a limit) any fundraising that you do for the FROGS. This means that the money raised from a jumble sale, cake sale, bar sales can be doubled without costing you anything except a bit of time. Another option is payroll giving: donations out of pre-tax salary that is matched by your employer. Please email grasmere.frogs@gmail.com for more information.
We’re also looking for volunteers to help with some of our projects, working in their own time:
organise our annual Christmas card appeal (with help from the current organiser)
look for grants that might help us improve the school, in particular transform the library cellar in a useable space such as a Makerspace where kids can learn about design, engineer and technology
find and cost various options to replace the library stairs
organise some tea towels with children’s drawings, or other products to sell on our online shop
help plan cinema nights and a disco later in the year
If you’re not sure how to help please ask your class reps or email us on frogs.grasmere@gmail.com
Thank you and take care,
FROGS