Alan is Back at School

Morena, tamariki ma.  It's been the best week ever in my world!! I couldn't believe it when Mrs Cox told me that Mr Herlihy had said I could come back to school! How lucky am I? I had been missing everyone so much. I was so thrilled when we drove up the driveway and I could see some of my Glen Taylor friends looking very exciting to see me which was a lovely feeling. 

A special thank you to Team Kea for their stupendous effort in writing such excellent persuasive letters to Mr Herlihy convincing him to allow me to return to school. What a great initiative and what amazing writing. Tino pai! I was also impressed by Mr Herlihy's response. The message in his letter was so important and it certainly worked in this case!

If you want something to change you must do something to make it happen. Something that is mature, respectful and makes the person making decisions really think about why they should change their mind. 

I spent a lot of my day saying hello to everyone and being patted - it was such fun. I have to admit I was quite tired by the time we went home and fell asleep dreaming about my wonderful day....

Have a great week everyone!

Keep safe and be kind

ma te wa

-Alan 💙 🐾

Alan is a Busy Dog

Kia ora tamariki ma.  I can hardly believe it's term two! I'm very excited because I can come back to Glen Taylor School and see all my friends !! Do come and say hello - you'll make my day. I can't wait!! 

I've had another busy holiday going for walks and I also got to go to the hairdresser when Mrs Cox went to get her hair cut.  It was so much fun as I hadn't been there for ages! Everyone was so pleased to see me again and I got lots of pats and everyone kept saying how well behaved and gorgeous I was. I got to see Jacqueline my human sister when she came home for a visit which was wonderful because she plays with me a lot and sits on the floor with me when we are watching television.

I also got to go to Cornwall Park for a walk and we stopped at a cafe - there were two other dogs there a beautiful Labrador called Bacio (the Italian word for kiss) and a Vissler called Luna. It was a treat to have company while the humans had their coffee.

Even when we stayed at home there was plenty to keep me occupied - eating sticks, playing with my toy collection and of course dressing up for easter - don't you love my bunny ears?!

I can't wait to hear from you all!

Keep safe and be kind

ma te wa

- Alan 💙🐾

Alan is Nearly Seven

Morena tamariki ma, 

I hope you are all having a good week so far. I'm getting very excited because it's my birthday tomorrow! I'm really hoping that Mrs Cox buys me a present - I mean I don't need anything big (I'm not a greedy dog...) but just something little would be nice....perhaps a new toy? Or a piece of steak? A sausage or two? Or even a handful of dog biscuits....I guess I'll just have to wait and see...it's so hard waiting though! Do you get excited waiting for your birthday? I'd love to hear all about your birthdays and how you celebrate them - don't forget to write to me will you? One of my favourite things is hearing from my Glen Taylor friends. 

I thought you might like to see the video from my birthday when I was five - a very important birthday when you are a person because you get to start school! Dogs can go to puppy school but they don't usually get to go to a people school unless they are very lucky like me!

I hope you enjoy the rest of your week - I'll keep you posted about my birthday celebrations!

Keep safe and be kind

ma te wa

- Alan 💙🐾

Alan Enjoys a Day Out

Morena tamariki ma, I  am finding it hard to believe it's week six of the term! So great to hear from Mrs Cox that lots of students are at school. I'm missing being there but it can't be helped.

I had a wonderful day yesterday - Mrs Cox was at school and Mr Cox has gone off on a holiday so Mr Fairbairn the Chairman of the Board looked after me! Lucky me...he turned out to be excellent at looking after me and I had a lovely time. I took some toys to play with and a snack for my lunchtime, a bowl for my water and a towel to sleep on so I was all set. The trickiest part of the day was deciding where to lie down for my multiple naps. I did think Mr Fairbairn would play with me but apparently he had work to do..... Luckily for me he decided to take me for a walk at lunchtime which was a lot of fun - a new walk to find all the new smells - my idea of a very good time. The day went so quickly and before I knew it Mrs Cox was at the door to pick me up to go home. I tried to look invisible and sink into the carpet so I could stay but to no avail....I was spotted and had to say goodbye. A bit sad but then on the way home in the car I spotted three of my Glen Taylor friends walking home from school and they called out and said hello to me - I was so happy to see them!! All in all an excellent day.

I hope you had a lovely time at school or if you had to be at home you also had a good day - perhaps you did some online school work? I'd love to hear about it if you did so do write and tell me about it.

Keep safe and be kind

ma te wa

- Alan 💙🐾

Alan at Assembly

Morena tamariki ma, 

I hope your week has been great so far and you're having fun in your classrooms. It seems that you are, judging by Room five's brilliant assembly on Friday. Kai pai Room five! It was wonderful to see and hear about all the learning you have been doing. It was also so wonderful for me to see all those familiar faces online that I've been missing! Remember to write and tell me what you've been up to so I can keep up to date with what is happening at school while I'm not there.

       

AWARDS

HUGE congratulations to Room 11 this week. They scooped up both Alan awards - the Attendance Award and the Ready for Learning Award. I'm not sure I can remember this happening before! So impressed Room 11 - I wonder if other rooms can match that effort before the end of term? 

Anyway - enjoy the rest of your week - I hear the pool has been in action again - Big thank you to Mr Pete who has worked so hard to fix the issue with the water. So impressed with his excellent work - real example of perseverance.

Keep safe and be kind

Ma te wa

- Alan 💙🐾  

Alan Loves Swimming

Kia ora tamariki ma, 

I can't believe it's week three of term 1 already! Time is flying by and I'm so pleased that you're back at school and having lots of fun. I'm a bit jealous of you getting to swim in the beautiful - and now warmer - pool and so much wish I could too. 

Remember to pack your togs, goggles and towel on your swimming days and if you're not sure which they are just pack them every day and then you'll always be ready to go! I always keep my towel in the car just in case we go to the beach or somewhere like Orakei Basin or Churchill Park which are my favourite places to swim. I don't need goggles or togs though! 

I asked Mrs Cox if we could go swimming in the weekend and we did - it was so much fun. It's so important to learn to keep ourselves safe in the water as we are so lucky in New Zealand to have such a lot of beaches we can get to. 

AWARDS

I was so excited when Ms Wrack told me who was getting the Alan awards for week 2. 

Congratulations to Room 11 for winning the Attendance Award. Tino pai - fantastic to see our senior students setting a great example for the younger ones.

And congratulations to Rooms 8 and 4 for winning the Ready to Learn Award with both classes having everyone on time each day! A special mention to Room 4 for achieving this for the second week in a row!! It's also the first time that two classes have done this. Let's see how many classes can reach this goal next week! 

Have a wonderful week and don't forget to write and tell me what you've been up to!

Keep safe and be kind

Ma te wa

Alan 💙🐾

Alan is so Happy School has Started

 

Kia ora tamariki ma. I hope you all had a good break before you came back to school.  My holiday was lovely, mainly going for walks, going to the beach, hanging out with my family and of course I did get some presents for Christmas...mostly food which suited me perfectly but also some toys.  

It is so good to hear that school has started and so many students are back - over 75% of akonga last week I heard - tino pai! Hopefully even more this week - there is so much going on at school. The swimming pool is open and has beautiful sunshades and is a bit warmer than usual! So bring your swimming togs and a towel - your teacher will know when your time for swimming is. If for any reason you are unable to swim let your teacher know why. The bike track is open - Mrs Cox says she's seen lots of enthusiastic cyclists zooming around. 

I wish I could be at school to see you all but at the moment I'm at home keeping Mr Cox company as he is working from home. Luckily Mrs Cox keeps me updated with all the happenings at Glen Taylor and of course I love it when students write to me so please write and tell me about the fun you're having at school.

AWARDS

The Alan awards for attendance at school and being ready to learn have started up again I'm pleased to see. The winners for week one were:

The Alan Award for Attendance : Room 9. Attendance 92% 

The Alan Award for being Ready to Learn: Room 4. Not one person was late to school in week one!

Tino pai to those classes - I'm looking forward to see who gets the awards for week two and the rest of the term!

I hope week two is wonderful for you all.

Keep safe and be kind

Ma te wa

Alan 🐾  💙