It’s Maths Week!
Dear Mums, Dads, Pupils and Staff,
It’s Maths Week! The girls and their teachers have been celebrating in lots of different ways. On Wednesday, Fifth Class went to the Central Library in Lady Lane for a terrific workshop with the Museum of Mathematics of Catalonia. The girls did lots of puzzles to develop their Maths skills while learning about Leonardo Domes, Mobius bands, magic and much more.
On Friday, Fourth Class will visit Ferrybank Library for more fun and games based on Maths.
If you’d like to try some puzzles at home, why not check out the Maths Week website – http://www.mathsweek.ie/2018/ ? Go to the ‘Resources’ tab and click on ‘Puzzles for all ages’.
If you don’t have internet access at home, you could celebrate Maths Week by playing some board games – Snakes and Ladders, Ludo, Connect 4.
Here’s a little puzzle to get you started.
Horace was looking through the family photograph album, which had photos of each of his parents, each of his grandparents, all the way up to each of his great-great-great-grandparents. How many photos did Horace see?
You’ll find the answer somewhere else in this newsletter.

Slán go fóill,
_______________________________
C. Ní Raghallaigh – Príomhoide

What To Do If You or Your Child Has a Problem
Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, a problem will arise that needs to be sorted out. The procedure listed below has been agreed nationally and it is the procedure that we use in this school to sort out any difficulties. Thankfully, we very rarely need to go past No. 1 or No. 2 as most problems can be sorted out fairly quickly when adults sit down and have a reasonable conversation with each other. So, if you or your child has a problem, this is what you need to do:
1. Make an appointment to see the class teacher.
Problem solved? Yes – procedure finished No – Go to next step
2. Make an appointment to see the school principal
Problem solved? Yes – procedure finished No – Go to next step
3. Make an appointment to see the chairperson of the Board of Management
Problem solved? Yes – procedure finished No – Go to next step
4. Lodge a complaint in writing with the chairperson of the Board of Management
Problem solved? Yes – procedure finished No – Go to next step
5. Chairperson makes a formal report to the Board of Management
6. The Board determines whether or not the complaint is substantiated.
Problem solved? Yes – procedure finished No – Go to next step
7. The Board conducts an investigation
The Board makes a decision and informs the parent/guardian and the person against whom the complaint was made in writing of its decision. The decision of the Board shall be final.
Evacuation Drill This morning, we had an Evacuation Drill at the school. We practise evacuating the building so that we are all familiar with what to do in case on an emergency.
Reminder Girls, please remember that some parts of the school grounds are off limits, unless your teacher is with you. Please do not go behind the old building on the top yard or up the grassy area beside the convent avenue. As a Good Counsel Good Citizen, you have a responsibility to keep yourself safe.

Mayor’s Visit
On Monday 22nd October, the Mayor of Waterford Metropolitan District, will visit the school to present Attendance Certificates to any girl who had full attendance last year. Congratulations to Mia, Isabelle, Victory, Mia, Dara, Sophiat, Niamh, Julie, Sophie, Chi Chi, Dzesika, Fiona, Sarah, Dzesika, Sophie, Lorraine and Favour on your wonderful attendance.
The school will also give certificates to the girls who missed no more than three days during the last school year. We do this to recognise the great effort made by the girls to be at school every day. It is also to recognise the effort that you make as parents/guardians to get the girls out the door to school every morning. Every school day counts!

Mission Week
Our annual Mission Drive will begin on Monday, 22nd October. For those of you who are new to the school, Mission Week is one of the highlights of the year. Classes from Sixth to Third set up stalls and sell cakes, buns, unwanted toys, books, etc. to all the other children in the school. Please bear in mind that Good Counsel is a ‘Nut Free’ school. This year’s sales are as follows:
Monday 22nd October Mrs. Power’s Class
Tuesday 23rd October Miss Kissane’s Class
Wednesday 24th October Mrs. Ryan’s Class and Mrs. Burke’s Class

On Thursday 25th October we will have our Talent Competition, which is organised and judged by Sixth Class. All the money we raise is sent directly to a project in the developing world so that none of the money is spent on administration. It is a good idea for the small girls to bring along a ‘shopping bag’ to make it easy to carry the things they buy. There are usually lots of goodies for sale so the girls might not need to bring a lot to eat for small break during the Mission Sales.
We are always amazed at the generosity of the girls and their parents during Mission Week. Remember, a little goes a very long way in the developing world.
PLEASE NOTE: School will remain open until 3p.m. on Thursday
5th October. School will close on Friday 26th October as it is required as a Polling Station for the Presidential Election and the Referendum. The traditional ‘Mayors’ Half Day’ will be held over until February.

Peace Proms
The girls in 3rd and 5th classes will take part in the Peace Proms Concert on Sunday 10th February
@ 7p.m. We have received the links to all the wonderful songs that the girls will sing and we are all looking forward to hearing them practice.
Mums and Dads, tickets for the concert will go on sale on Monday 12th November, with a pre-sale on Monday 5th. We will let you know if there is any further update, but please be aware that tickets sell out very quickly, and tickets may only be bought through the Peace Proms website. They are not available from the school.
Bookville at the Library
On Friday the 12th of October , 4th class went to a workshop in the library to meet an author called Alan Nolan as part of Bookville. We have read one of Alan’s books in class, it’s called Conor’s Caveman. In the workshop, Alan taught us how to draw Ogg, our favourite character from Conor’s Cavemen and told us about his new book, Sam Hannigan’s Woof Week. He told us that he’s writing two more books, that will be coming out next year. We hope to get our hands on some! We had a very fun and enjoyable time with our favourite author. By Saoirse – 4th Class

How many photos did Horace see?
2 parents
4 grandparents
8 great-grandparents
16 great-great-grandparents
32 great-great-great-grandparents

2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 32 = 62 photos in all.