Dear Parents and Guardians/A Thuismitheoirí agus a Chaomhnóirí,

Super Trooper Journals
We have started the Super Trooper journals again this week! Each child should have received an activity journal which includes short activities to do each night as part of their homework. Every child also received a Family Activity Wall Chart to keep track of how active their family is and a letter explaining the program in more detail.

This program encourages children and their families to become more active and learn about healthy lifestyles. It includes short, fun activities around physical activity, well-being and nutrition. As we all know a healthy mind is just as important as a healthy body! For this reason, there are many opportunities in the booklet to allow for reflection on what makes us happy, how we are feeling etc. The booklet also contain healthy recipes to try out at home. While we would encourage the children to complete each reflection/healthy eating activity, you are under no obligation to make the recipes or snacks in the book. We understand home life is busy enough!

Please ensure your child spends at least 5 minutes doing an activity each night (Mon-Thurs.) Weekend activities are of course optional! The journals should also be singed each week by a parent/guardian. They will be checked by teachers each Friday. Please read & sign the promise on page 5 of the journals with your child to make the experience more meaningful for them.

Keep up the great work everybody and remember keep ACTIVE!
The Active School Team

Mighty Martin needs your help!!!
Martin will be in the school tomorrow, Friday from 9-11am to tidy the grounds before the Autumn Fair. If you can give him a dig out that would be brilliant.

Board Meeting with Parent Body
It was agreed at our Board meeting last night that we will have our annual meeting with Parents on the 14th November 2019. As mentioned before a new board being formed. Nominations and elections for parent representatives will take place on this night. We will forward details shortly.

Math’s Week
This week is Maths week. Children have been enjoying lots of different fun maths activities. Here’s a question for the adults:
Question 4
Last Thursday was the 10th day of the 10th month. 10 multiplied by 10 is 100, which of course is a square number. How many more times will this happen (ie. the product of the day and the month being a square number) before the end of this year?
a) 1
b) 2
c) 3
d) 4

Bikes & Scooters
Please collect all bikes and scooters from the yard before Friday as the Autumn Fair is on Sunday.

Upcoming Events
• Highlight of the Term: Awesome Autumn Fair Sunday 20th October 2019. Thank you to all the parents who are already working furiously on this, every bit of help reduces the load.
• ET One Day Together 24th/25th October: We will be doing a fundraiser for two events in the one day; Dress up for Trick ‘r Treat for Temple St. and One Day Together for Educate Together.

Frása na Seachtaine: “Cuir ort do chóta, tá sé fuar.” – Put on your coat, it’s cold.

Le meas,

_____________________________
Róisín Conlon,
Príomh Oide

AUTUMN FAIR – Sunday 20th October 2019, 12:00-3:00pm

With just 3 sleeps to go until Autumn Fair, sadly this will be the last piece in the newsletter before THE BIG DAY!!

So much preparation, time and thought has gone into this event, so we hope you can all come and join us for a fab day this Sunday 20th, to share in the joy that is AUTUMN FAIR. Just to remind you of all the entertainment we have planned for the whole family; there will be go-karts, a fire truck, Chris Judge doing illustrations and story telling, a huge Toy stall, beautiful women’s clothes and accessories, plants, lots of knitted creatures, homemade jams, fresh fruit and veg, and lots and lots of delicious food. So spread the word and bring your aunts, uncles, grandmas and grandpas, your cousins and friends, and join in the fun!

DONATIONS and SUSTAINABILITY:
Thank You once again for all the generous donated items. So many things are waiting for a new home. We will keep taking donations until the last minute, but if you could kindly bring in what you can by this Firday, it will help us in setting up the stalls then.

Thank you also, for being careful in what you’re sending in; can we just remind people that we are not taking children’s or men’s clothes, or electrical items. This year we are really working towards making Autumn Fair more sustainable and a huge part of this is waste management; so far we are doing quite well – let’s try and keep this up! Any items that are unsellable will have to be disposed of by us at the end of the day, through rented bins that cost money, so please, consider what you’re giving before giving it away.

We are taking: any toys in good condition, soft toys, bikes and scooters in good condition, bric-a-brac, handmade items and homemade food, books, women’s clothes and accessories, sports equipment, halloween decorations and anything you think deserves a new, happy home.

RAFFLE
If you can’t make the date you can still donate!

Family and friends can snap up tickets for the GETNS Autumn Fair raffle at http://tinyurl.com/getnsfair. More than forty great prizes including hotel breaks B&B, professional family portraits, restaurant vouchers, food hampers, concert and events tickets, hair and beauty vouchers, afternoon tea, luxury gifts and much more… Funds raised will go directly towards STEM and sports day equipment for the children at the school. 10 euro will buy 5 tickets, or 2.50 euro each. Raffle will take place on 20th Oct and all winners will be contacted.

We are also running a kids’ raffle: 50c for a strip or 3 strips for 1 euro. Lots of amazing prizes to be won to entertain the kids: bikes, soft toys, Lego sets, a beautiful fish bowl, books and lots lots more.

Please remember to return any raffle tickets – even if unsold – by Friday 18th October. There will be a prize for the class that sells the most tickets. Thank you!

FOOD DONATIONS:
We will be taking in non-perishable food donations from this Friday 18th. Drop them into the kitchen or with anyone from the Autumn Fair team who will be at the door. We are also looking for lots of yummy baked goods for Sunday: savoury bakes, tray bakes, cakes, biscuits, muffins, vegetarian food, vegan food, etc. If you can make it, and you think it’s delicious, share it with the rest of our community.

Freshly baked foods can be dropped in on Sunday morning before the fair starts. Please mark food with what ingredients and/or allergens may be in it. If you bring any trays/containers that need to be returned mark them with your/child’s name and child’s class and/or collect at the end of the day, on Sunday. If in doubt on what to bring, give us a shout.

AUCTION
We now have a beautiful sideboard for auction. If you would like more information about it, or you would like to have a look, this beautiful piece of furniture is adorning the entrance in our school (next to ALC). Please go and have a look, not to be missed. And make your silent bid; bids close on Sunday 20th at 2:50pm sharp!! You can pay by card or cheque on the day, or on Monday 21st October.

REUSABLE CUPS
Our fabulous tea/coffee cups are now in and ready to go! In keeping with our sustainability theme, reusable coffee/tea cups with our school logo will be available for purchase on the day. Cups are priced at €10 which includes free tea/coffee and cake.

We are also encouraging people to bring in their own cup – please make sure cup HAS A LID for safety reasons! Those who do will be given a discount on their coffee/tea. Could you please also make sure that your children have a bottle with them (non-plastic, and reusable ideally), for their own drinks. A little container for sweets etc is also encouraged.

HOLISTIC HAVEN:
Our calming team is offering the following on the day, and they are currently taking bookings:
• Acupuncture
• Reiki
• Chair Massage
• Mindfulness
• Tarot Card Reading:
For acupuncture: Paula: 086 845 7217 / [email protected]
For reiki, Chair Massage: Karen: 087 955 8997/ [email protected]
For Mindfulness and Tarot Card Reading: Karen: 087 955 8997/ [email protected]
Sessions run from 10 – 20 minutes and are limited.
Mindfulness and Tarot reading will be a drop-in service as well.
Grab a bit of ‘me time’ during the hectic madness of the Autumn Fair. Go on – you deserve it!

VOLUNTEERS:
Finally, it has been amazing making contact with so many lovely and helpful people, who have offered their time for the Big Day, and in preparation to it!! It’s great to see the school community coming together; well more than 150 people would have been involved in this endeavour by Sunday.

And if you are still thinking about whether you can help or not, you are still in time! There are always jobs that need to be done, and a few people still needed for Haunted House, Toys, Raffle and of course in the ever-so-busy Cafe. So if you have even an hour to spare on the day or tomorrow (Friday 18th) for setup, please get in touch. No little time is too little for us.

Setup will be happening tomorrow, Friday 18th October, right from 2:20pm. Please come to the Hall right away to see where help is required. We would also appreciate a few fresh hands for clean up at the end of the day on the 20th, from 3pm. Jobs at these two times will involve setting up rooms with tables, decorating, and at the end of the day clearing up, and putting things away. It would be helpful if for clean up we have some different parents to the ones who would have been on the stalls.

There are lots of dedicated parents outside the school every morning and at pick ups, providing information about Autumn Fair, recruiting volunteers, selling raffle tickets (for children and adults), handing out posters, and just being plain nice! So if you are still thinking about it, have a chat with them and see where you can help; no offers are refused. Or if you’d like to get in touch about anything Autumn Fair you can do so at [email protected].

Regular updates, a small selection of prizes, and more information about Autumn Fair can be found on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/GETNSAutumnFair Please like and share, and spread the word to make sure lots of people share in our event.

Thank You,
The Autumn Fair Committee