Introducing our brand new shop... and the Grasmere Cookbook!

Big news this week: our cookbook is at the printers, ready to be ordered… on our new online shop!

THE GRASMERE COOKBOOK 2020

Our new cookbook comprises over 50 recipes from our community, including 6 from local restaurants and bakeries The Flying Frenchman, Luminary Bakery, Belle Epoque, Perilla, The Clarence Tavern and Tranga. The print version is a full colour 116-page A5 paperback with photographs accompanying most of the recipes. For every book you buy, around £5 will go our charity. Also available are a PDF version, and matching tea towels!

PRE-ORDER NOW FOR DELIVERY 12/13 DECEMBER

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It is available to buy on…

FROGS’ BRAND NEW ONLINE SHOP

Please head to friendsofgrasmere.com/shop to see what we have in store. You’ll be able to pay via Paypal (you can pay with your credit card using Paypal even if you don’t have a paypall account).

You can order your Christmas tree (before Friday 27 November please); copies of the cookbook in both print or Pdf versions; and some cute little matching tea towels:

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Also available are some prints and a tea towel featuring the stunning new playground mural by Ivana Zorn:

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And finally, our Grasmere School activity pack – handy if you are stuck at home and have run out of ideas to entertain your kids!

Could you make something to sell in our shop to raise funds for the school?

We’re thinking Christmas wreaths, artworks, homemade gifts or cards, etc. There are a lot of great ideas to inspire you in this document from another school. If you have an idea and would like to contribute, let us know by emailing frogs.grasmere@gmail.com as soon as possible. Thank you!

FROGS CHRISTMAS UPDATE

Thanks to your generous donations, our FROGS elves are busy preparing a Christmas present for each Grasmere pupil. We will update you on their work very soon, but in the meantime, we’re sure you will be pleased to know that the gifts will be presented to the children on Friday 11 December by no other than Santa and the Grinch…

The donations will also allow us to give lovely presents to the entire staff.

We’re also busy planning a new mural, and some events for next year...
Please see the minutes of the last FROGS meeting here.

The next FROGS meeting will be on 13 January.

Thank you and take care,

FROGS

November 2020 Newsletter

Hello, 

Thank you so much to all who have donated on our Halloween Dress Up day, we raised £390 thanks to your generosity. Thank you also to those who took part in the Balloon Race (see below for results), which raised £160, and to those who have ordered some holiday cards, as we have raised over £200 with the scheme. 

We will make sure to spend this wisely on our many projects to improve the school facilities and organise fun events for the kids. 

Here's a little update on the latest FROGS projects. 

THE NEW QUIET ZONE PLAYGROUND

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We've transformed an unused area behind the hall, which was previously occupied by FROGS storage, into a lovely and bright Quiet playground for SENDS kids.

Designed and decorated by Grasmere parent Julie, the space features a mural by artist Ivana Zorn (a print of which will be soon available on our new online shop – watch this space!) and some colourful matching benches, made of 100% recycled plastic. Grasmere's very own caretaker Billy helped handbuild a fence to secure the area, which will be much appreciated by the Grasmere kids who really needed a quiet area during break times. The whole project cost us £1,150 – see our Projects page for more details and pictures.

AND THE WINNERS ARE…

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Congratulations to Kate, Tom and Leander, who have won the Grasmere Halloween Balloon Race. Their virtual balloons travelled the furthest from Romania, flying over Turkey toward Georgia. Each winner has received a £10 book voucher.

SHOP AT YIELD

The lovely folks at Yield on Newington Green are supporting FROGS by giving away 5% per of the value of each sale if you mention the name of the school when you buy their products (they also do gift hampers!).

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ORDER YOUR CHRISTMAS Tree now

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Last year we raised over £500 thanks to those of you who ordered their Christmas tree through our Trees for Christmas scheme. You will find all the info you need here – please fill in the form before 27 November and hand it back to your class teacher.

PARENTS VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Please put your thinking caps on and let us know event each class is planning on organising to raise funds for the school next year as soon as possible (ideally before our next meeting on 20 November).

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THE GRASMERE COOKBOOK

The Grasmere cookbook is nearly complete, thank you so much to all who have contributed. Comprising 50 recipes, including 5 from local restaurants and bakeries, it will soon be available to buy online (both as a print or a digital version) on our online shop, due to go live in the next few weeks. Keep your eyes peeled!

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A GIFT FROM FROGS

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We’ve offered a copy this book to each Grasmere class. It's illustrated by Axel Scheffler of The Gruffalo, and we hope that it will help teachers and pupils discuss the pandemic together in a reassuring way.

FROGS’ NEXT MEETING

The next Zoom meeting will be on Friday 20 November at 9.15, please join in (details to be sent on class Whatsapp groups) or email us at frogs.grasmere@gmail.com if you can’t attend but have any suggestions, questions, or queries that could be discussed at the meeting. 

Among other things we are planning to discuss the Albion Road pedestrian crossing, which many children and parents are finding unsafe, especially with the increased traffic on the road. If you have any experience of an incident on Albion Road, please email us or the school directly to let us know what happened, as it will help convince the council to improve things. 

We’re also planning a little Christmas gift bag to be distributed to each Grasmere pupil, so if you can help in any way with the contents by donating or sourcing affordable and eco-friendly things, please let us know.

Thank you all for your support,

FROGS

 

October 2020 Newsletter

WHAT’S COOKING? 

We hope you are all well and ready for half-term! Despite the difficult circumstances, the Friends of Grasmere have quite a few things planned for this year. Next up: Dress up day and the Halloween Virtual Balloon Race

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Also in the works: the Holiday card scheme, the Grasmere Cookbook and a discount scheme with local shop Yield. Plus, you’ll be able to order your Christmas tree soon and raise money for the school at the same time.

PARENTS VOLUNTEER NEEDED

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Over the last few years, we have raised thousands of pounds to transform the school into a more colourful, fun and welcoming place for our children. And this year more than ever, we need your help to keep up the good work!

Last year our various events had raised over £7,000 before lockdown, but this year with no jumble sales or fairs and we’ll have to to raise money differently.

Which is why we kindly ask each year group to organise one fundraising event for the school year. What will your year come up with? Other ideas so far include a Virtual Pub quiz; sporty challenges (such as relay race, steps challenge, yoga…); a virtual auction; and the summer fair.

Please let us know as soon as possible how you would like to help!

THIS YEAR’S MAIN PROJECTS

This year we are planning to focus our efforts on two main areas of the school with much-needed transformations:

 1. The KS2 Playground and garden

Now more than ever we need some flexible and sheltered outdoor space.

In the KS2 playground, we are planning to paint and furnish the new container pavilion; add some artificial grass and a deck/stage area with an awning; install a new basketball net; and finish painting some of the murals – including the main library wall mural by artist Rémi Rough (see our Current projects).

In the garden, we are hoping to build a large wooden gazebo that could serve as an outdoor classroom (we have applied to Tesco Bags of Help scheme for funding on this and are waiting to hear back from them), and are planning to install an outdoor music wall in the spring.

2. The Hall

We are also hoping to help transform the hall with new speakers, as well as a sound absorption system to help soften the aggressive acoustics in the hall, in order to improve the sound for future performances, assembly and events. We would also like to look into new play equipment for the space.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

To donate directly for these projects, write “Outdoor Space” or “Hall” in the Message section when you make a donation on Kindlink. We are also keen to hear from you if you can donate your time or your expertise; simply email frogs.grasmere@gmail.com.

You will find more ways to get involved here, and the minutes of the last FROGS meeting here.

Thank you for your help & take care,

FROGS

 

Wanted: tasty recipes!

Hello!

This month we are looking for your help to create our very own Grasmere School Cookcook! Please contribute, all recipes very welcome:

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Also, just a reminder that the next FROGS meeting is next week, on Wednesday 7 October at 8pm (Zoom meeting details to come).

UPDATE: The next meeting has been moved to Tuesday 13 October at 7pm (Zoom details to follow). Please join if you can, especially if you have Covid-friendly fundraising ideas or can help us produce the cookbook!

Thank you and take care!

FROGS

September 2020 Newsletter

Hello,

At last week’s FROGS AGM, we discussed among other things the positive impact of the new art room and laptops, the remaining work needed for the KS2 playground, and – virtual – fundraising ideas for the difficult year ahead. We welcomed new committee members and class reps, and also bid goodbye to our longstanding treasurer, Tom. You will find the full minutes of last week's AGM here.

Fundraising ideas

We are planning virtual balloon races, sport and yoga themed fundraisers, and hopefully a real-life auction and garden party at the end of the year. Also in the works are a community cookbook and artists’ prints and cards to be sold on the upcoming FROGS shop. Please get in touch if you can help with artworks, designs, photography or illustration for FROGS shop items. Further ideas, thoughts and suggestions very welcome!

Your class reps

Your class reps this year are :

Reception Caroline & Momina; Y2 Gill & Jenn; Y2 Léa & Lindsey; Y3 Anna Clara & Julia; Y4 Antoinette & Andrew; Y5 Sally & Megan; Y6 Ruth & Josephine

Please can in touch with them for any queries, suggestions, fundraising ideas, or contact us on frogs.grasmere@gmail.com.

We are also missing 2 class reps to represent the Nursery class, please let us know if you would like to help.

Next meeting

The next FROGS meeting will be Wednesday 7 October in the evening. We will then try and alternate morning and evening meetings to give people the best chance of being able to come along.

You will find provisional dates for future events and meetings here.

Welcome back

Hello !

The Friends of Grasmere School have a shiny new website:
friendsofgrasmere.com.

Please have a look to find out what we’re about, what we have achieved so far, and how you can help!

If you want to get involved, please come along to the FROGS AGM, which will be held on Wednesday 16 September in the evening via Zoom. Please email frogs.grasmere@gmail.com for the meeting details. Anyone interested in being a class rep or joining the committee is particularly welcome.

To follow our latest projects, scroll down and sign up to the FROGS newsletter.

For obvious reasons all FROGS events are on hold for the moment until it is safe for us to get together again. If you have any other ideas for fundraising or indeed any suggestions or comments generally, do get in touch via frogs.grasmere@gmail.com) or your class reps.

Take care!

FROGS

May Newsletter

Hello

Minutes of recent FROGS meetings
Here are the minutes of the March and May FROGS meetings.

For obvious reasons all FROGS events are on hold for the moment until it is safe for us to get together again. If you have any other ideas for fundraising or indeed any suggestions or comments generally, do get in touch via grasmere.frogs@gmail.com or your class reps. 

Your School Lottery
Click here for details of the latest Your School Lottery promotion. The lottery generates funds for FROGS and there is a Grasmere cash prize to be won every week along with a chance to win a much bigger national cash prize.

Take care!
FROGS

A big thank you

Parents and carers raised over £1,000 as a gift to the Grasmere staff in recognition of their work during the Covid-19 pandemic, keeping the school open for the children of key workers and helping the other parents and children with home learning. We hope they treat themselves to a nice party when all this is over!