Doggy Training

Molly the dog has graduated from her Puppy Kindy, I'd like to say with flying colours but she always manages to disgrace herself. Tonight she took offence at a lady's furry boots. Took me a while to work out what she was barking at!

So in August she can go up to Dog obedience training. Heaven help us till then.

That said she has got really good at sit and down, is reasonable at fetch and is having fewer accidents in the house. She is teething so isn't eating much and is able to go all night without a toilet trip ( generally) but all night means 11-6!

Still I love her and Ant is tolerating her!

Sunday update

Another busy week in the Ashcroft household...

Jo is gutted that Chelsea lost in the Champions League final to THAT team!

Anton went jet skiing today as it was a really nice day, and C is annoyed that he keeps going on about it!

The netball team lost again, this time 13-8 to Sunnyvale Panthers, but played really really well, especially in the second quarter. Caitlin was awarded player of the week, so gets to be captain next week.

We went to see Indiana Jones and the kingdom of the crystal skulls on Thursday. 'It was funny but a bit.... '( Caitlin).' It was rubbish' ( Anton). It was great except for a few parts' (Roo). 'I liked the juxtaposition of the 1940's Indy character with the pristine and artificial recreation of the 1950's McCarthy era!' (Jo)!!! Actually it was a good romp but Lucas, Spielberg and Ford need to retire gracefully and never utter the words ' I have a bad feeling about this' ever again.

Caitlin went to her leadership conference, Anton auditioned for a New World advert, with speaking and everything!

C Leadership Conference

On the 21st of may I went to a leadership conference.11 people from my school who had shown leadership skills were chosen to go to a conference in Manakau. At the start of the day we had to get up at 6.30, and had to be at school by 7.30. We got into the cars and started the drive that lasted for an hour that lead us to the auditorium in Manakau. When we got there we found our seats and sat down, and the rainbow balls came out! (big blow up balls that were thrown into the audience, and we had to hit them in different direction). The two hosts came out. They were called Danielle and Charlie. They brought out a person from the audience who was pretending to be the first speaker to see how loud the audience could clap. Then they brought on the first speaker, who was Nick Tuitasi- He was a police officer, one of the highest in Auckland. He received the person of the century award. He was interesting. Then came on Temepara George, who is a Silver Ferns netball player. She told us we should always go for our goals and never stop believing in ourselves. Then came Michael Chunn. He is a musician. He was a bit boring. My favourite was Michael Inglis. He was the first man to climb Everest with artificial legs. He was interesting and I learnt a lot about how he managed it. He told us he kept on trying. He told us that the best language is a smile.On the way back our driver told me alot about a school I might be going to,which was a bonus. This was a long story made short alot more happened but I don't know how to tell you so I told you my main points.

Schools

As Caitlin is in year 6 this year we are having to think about where she goes next. In NZ you spend two years at Intermediate school and then go to college. Seems a strange arrangement to me but there you go!

The local intermediates, Glen Eden and Green Bay are not terribly well regarded and Blockhouse Bay, which is seemingly fine, is rather further afield, is on no bus route and is considering bringing in a catchment area. Most of Caitlin's friends seem to be going to the first one, inspite of its reputation.

We had heard tell of a new independent school in Henderson, about 20 minutes away from here. One of Laingholm's teachers sends her daughter there and said academically it was great but that the sporting side left a little to be desired. If we wanted c to go there, she would have to take the scholarship exam and that was to be on the 28th of May. We'd missed their open day, due to netball commitments, so I decided to call in, having warned everyone that we might have an application form to fill in. I wanted to be impressed, and let's face it I knew what to look for.

I was so disappointed. The staff seemed surly, the Head's PA who offered begrudgingly to show me round didn't listen to the fact that my daughter was in Year 6 so showed me the primary end and not the senior school. Only one room contained children, doing ICT and they were silent. There was no noise anywhere, no smiles, no happy faces, hardly any children's work and it all seemed too much trouble. The PA said she was very busy, but as I was leaving she admitted she was going back to empty the dishwasher. No one asked my name, no one shook my hand, no one will ever know whether my daughter sat the entrance exam because they have no record of our interest.

They seriously need to get their marketing sorted out. They did nothing to sell the school to me today. That does mean that C will not have to spend her pocket money on uniform as she suggested she might have to, having seen the prospectus, and a blazer costing $270.

I really need to stick to my principles. I have always said I didn't hold with private education and I feel vindicated!

C is off to the Young Leaders conference tomorrow so has to be in school bright and early in her ' school' t shirt. I must remember to take a photograph

The greatest little school in the universe

Just so that you can see why the children love school so much, here is what the teachers get up to....







They usually try this at morning tea on a Friday, with a full staffroom!!!!