Alan Experiences High School Week

 Kia ora everyone. Well, some things have been a little bit different at school this week! If you are in years 5,6,7 or 8 you will have experienced a taste of what it's like to go to high school.Some things are the same as primary school and some things are different. For example you have different teachers for each subject you study and you go to different classrooms for each class. That means you have to keep your schoolbag with you all day and carry your books and equipment with you. So you learn to be extremely organised! It can all seem a bit scary and strange at first but high school is fun!

I only got to go to high school classes for one of the days but I loved it because every so often the class changed and I got to see a whole lot more of my Glen Taylor friends and you know that's my favourite thing - well, food is pretty terrific also....

- Alan 🐾

 

Alan Enjoys Cultural Festival Practice

Malo e lelei everyone. Yesterday, as you know, was one of the days we have practice for the up and coming Cultural Festival. Usually I seem to be with the Samoan group who are coming along very nicely, but this time I was with the Tongan group who are doing wonderfully as well. First I was with the junior girls who were working hard on their piece of the performance which looked quite tricky to me! I don't think I could do it but the girls had it sussed. I think it's a combination of hard work on the girl's part and the wonderful help they are getting from  Susana the lovely mum who comes to assist. Aren't we lucky to have such wonderful parents at our school?

Towards the end of the practice all the members of the Tongan group got together and we watched everyone demonstrate their skills. It was wonderful and I loved watching everyone.

The Cultural Festival is going to be amazing - I can't wait!!

- Alan 🐾

   

Alan Visits Tamaki College

 Kia ora tamariki ma. The day before yesterdayI had an exciting morning. The year seven and eight students go to Tamaki College on a Wednesday morning to study technology. They do extremely interesting subjects such as cooking and robotics! I am always hopeful I'll be able to have some of the food they cook on the walk back to Glen Taylor but they never seem to want to share it with me. ( Alan, you know you are not allowed to eat food that is meant for people to eat! - Mrs Cox) 

While they were working yesterday I met some new friends in the staffroom and got lots of pats but no treats unfortunately. Still, I had a lovely snooze which is always welcome. Finally we walked back to Glen Taylor - lots of interesting things to sniff and I love walking with all the students. When we got back to Glen Taylor I had to have a very big sleep because I was exhausted by my adventurous morning!

- Alan 🐾

   

Alan's Holiday

 Morena tamariki ma - guess what I've been doing? Well last week you may have noticed I wasn't at school very often. That was because Mrs Cox decided to go to Wellington for a holiday to see her daughter Jacqueline graduate from university. She says she had a wonderful time but I'm thinking I probably had a better time because I got to stay with Maia and Ryan! It was so much fun. I got to walk to school with them and then their mum Mrs McKenzie took me on some wonderful walks to places I hadn't been before so it was very exciting!! I took my toys with me so I enticed the family to play with me as much as I could. They have a very cosy bean bag that I decided was just my size so I appropriated it for myself. 

On Thursday Mr Herlihy phoned and needed me to work so even though Mrs Cox was away I packed my blanket and bone and took Mrs McKenzie instead. I'm always on call when I'm needed!

- Alan 🐾 

  

Alan Meets Patch

 Morena tamariki  ma -  look what I've been doing! I've made a brand new friend, Isn't she gorgeous? Patch is 15 weeks old and is hoping to be a guide dog when she grows up. She is a labrador retriever just like me but as you can see  she is a golden labrador. Can you tell why she was named Patch? Before she can become a guide dog she will have to spend approximately 18 months with her family learning to have impeccable manners (like me!) and learning some basic commands such as 'sit', 'stay' and 'lie down'. She has to learn to walk confidently in all sorts of places such as shopping malls even when she can smell tempting aromas ...it's not easy but I'm sure Patch will be successful. After she has mastered the basics she will have a trainer from Guide Dogs who will teach her the specific skills she needs before she can be matched to someone who needs her. 

It was extremely exhausting playing with Patch - she is a bundle of energy and every time I picked up a toy to play with she wanted it and tried to take it away from me. Of course, being so much bigger I had no trouble keeping hold of the toys but sometimes I let her have one so that she wouldn't become discouraged. 

After a while we were so tired we both lay down for a bit of a snooze,,,zzzzz

- Alan 🐾

  

Alan and the Power Cut

 Ata marie tamariki ma - guess what happened to me! Well, I imagine that you won't be able to so I'll tell you. Last night we had a power cut at our house! I'd never experienced one before...it was exciting but strange at the same time. All the lights in the house went out and I couldn't even see my paw when I held it in front of my face. The night was a black as my fur! The television had been on and the picture and the sound both suddenly vanished. All the digital clocks stopped and the washing machine which happened to be on at the time. 

Imagine a power cut at your house - what would it be like do you think? 

Luckily Mr Cox found a camping lamp and so we had a limited amount of light but not even enough to read by. It did become a bit boring but Mrs Cox took me for a walk so that was fun. We saw the workers from the power company working to fix the fault which was fun. I wagged my tail as I walked past so they knew I appreciated their help. Our walk was in the pitch black as even the street lights were not working. 

Finally after about three hours the lights came on - however it was bedtime so we turned all the lights off and went to bed!

- Alan 🐾

 

Alan Wears his Sunhat

Morena tamariki ma - gosh the weather has been marvellous over the last few days hasn't it? It's been so sunny and quite hot! In fact Mrs Cox has been walking me before school and at night mostly because the middle of the day is so hot, especially when you have black fur like me. We greatly enjoy walking at night and looking at the stars. I believe the smells are different at night too and the air is deliciously cool.

 I remember when we were at assembly Ms Wrack reminded everyone to start wearing their hats at break time. It's so easy to get burnt without realising it until later. Sunburn is awful and can hurt horribly so please put on those hats. Please put your name in your hat too - or ask a grown up to help you if you can't do it yourself.

 - Alan 🐾

Alan is in Training

Kia ora tamariki ma - I've decided that although I can't enter the Weetbix Tryathalon ( I can't manage the biking!) I am going to train for the running and swimming parts. It's hard to decide what age group I'm in as it's in human years not dog years but I've decided to aim for a 1.5 km run and a 100m swim - I'm pretty good at both those events! I do want to make sure I'm as fit as I can be so I can enjoy the event. (Alan you can't actually go in the tryathalon but perhaps we'll do our own one - Mrs Cox).Mrs Cox and I aim to walk 5km six days a week so 1.5 km should be fine for me. I'll have to visit some of my favourite parks to practise my swimming - it's going to be fantastic fun!! I'm looking forward to hearing about your training schedules - look on the official Weetbix Tryathalon site for tips: https://tryathlon.co.nz/ - Alan 🐾