St Thomas a Becket Catholic Primary School

Dear children,

My pack and I lived in Arctic Siberia when I was a young cub. We lived happily alongside the Chukchi people, helping them by pulling their sleds from place to place through the thick snow. We played with the children and kept them entertained, watching over them and keeping guard. More than this, we were their friends and companions.

One bitterly cold morning, I was given news that I really had not been expecting; we were going travelling to a place called Alaska in Canada! At first, I was a little bit worried about the idea of going somewhere new. I didn’t know where this ‘Canada’ place was, nor what we would do there or what my life would be like. I started to become a bit nervous: my paws began to shake and I felt my heart beating really fast. I started to panic and felt a tear run down my furry face, when it suddenly dawned on me. I had been looking at this all wrong. So badly wrong! This was a chance to try something different. A new feeling replaced the old one; I was suddenly full of excitement and anticipation.

When I first arrived in Canada, I didn’t really know what to do with myself. I was talking to some of my oldest packmates when suddenly it occurred to me: I would become the greatest ever Husky Sled Racer. I told them my new dream and waited for their response. One said “You? A racer?” Another cried “But you don’t even know how to race!” Whilst another chuckled “You do know how much you’ll have to train for this, don’t you?” I paused and smiled at them. “Practice makes perfect. If I don’t try then I’ll never know. If I was afraid of something going wrong, I would never do anything at all!”

On the first day of my training, I was speeding along the icy-cold surface as fast as my paws could take me. I was on top of the world, the wind billowing through my fur, when SMACK! I tripped and somersaulted head first into a pile of thick snow. I was truly a humiliated husky! For a split second, I lay there, wondering if I would ever be good enough to be taken seriously for my racing. Pulling myself to my paws, I shook the snow off my body and started again. And again. And again. With each fall, each mistake, I learnt how to be a better racer.

Five years on, now look at me. Through my hours of effort I have now become so successful I was even part of a film about my racing! 

Thanks for listening to my story! I hope you don’t mind, but I’m quite enjoying my summer holiday in England; d’you mind if I stick around for a bit? I was hoping to stay on my warm perch, guarding the classroom like I used to back in Siberia, keeping an eye out for anyone Having a Go…

My wise mother husky used to tell me this poem every morning to start the day, so I hoped you might start each day this week saying it too…          

To learn what lessons life has in store,

You must be willing to open every door

If you don't try you'll never know

All you can do is have a go!