On patrol with Bailey

Learning activity

Bailey the museum dog out on patrol on the waterfront wearing his yellow life jacket safety vest. He is pictured on the deck of the vessel TU DO.

Meet Bailey, former Assistant Director of Seagulls at the Maritime Museum!

Bailey is a rescue Border Collie, and he was one of our favourite employees at the Maritime Museum! His main job at the museum was to chase away seagulls from our ships and wharves.

He is now retired and happily living on a farm outside Orange, where he is enjoying plenty of sunshine and fresh air. He has made friends with some other dogs and even some cows - but definitely not any seagulls!

Find out about the work Bailey did at the Maritime Museum.

Bailey’s daily patrol

Come with Bailey on his patrol as he shows you how he looks after the museum from above, near, far, on, in and under the water.

Hello or Woof, My name is Bailey and I am the Assistant Director of Seagulls at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney. You could say I am a V.I.D, a very important dog and every day I have a job to make sure that pesky Sam and his seagull buddies don’t come to the museum.

The seagull gang aren’t very nice to our visitors. They steal their food and they really make a mess around the museum for my museum friends to clean up. You say they are poo monsters!

Today come with me on my patrol as I show you the how I look after the museum from above, near, far, on, in and under the water

The first place I go on my patrol, is up the museum lighthouse. From there I can see any seagulls flying in towards the museum from above the water. They sometimes bring other flying friends.

Oh no! I can see Pesky Sam and buddies flying above the water heading towards the museum. Lets get moving!

Sam and his buddies have sat down on the wharves near the water and are planning their mischief. I will tell them to go away.

I have shooed them away from the wharf and now I can see Sam and the seagull gang standing on one of our ships. “How do they do that? They make it look so easy!” “Go away Sam”, I think I need to tell him some more!

Goodness can you see that? There are seals hiding in the water. Did you know that seals are called dogs of the sea? Why is that? Because they are so friendly! We often get seals visiting the museum and Sydney Harbour.

I’m really not allowed in the water while I’m on patrol but I can show you a video of me swimming with my friends in the water on the weekend. Do you like to go in the water?

What else do you think might be above the water?

While Sam and the seagull gang hasn’t actually come to the museum from the under the water, some other sneaky visitors have, and I wouldn’t want to be unprepared. Submarines can travel under the water and the museum has a special drone that goes under the water. My museum friends can use it to check under the vessels, but I use it to make sure that there is no sneaky business.

From my office, my super spy camera and computer helps me keep an eye on Sam while they are far away from the museum. It helps to know where they are, even if they are in their hideout. Look at those pesky seagulls, they have no idea I'm checking them out!

My patrol is over, its been a busy one today. I have chased those pesky seagulls from above the water as they flew to the museum. Near the water when they were sitting on the wharves. I showed you some seal visitors that were in the water. I even checked under the water and now I am keeping an eye on them through the computer while they are far away.

I think that Sam and his buddies have got the message to go and bother someone else today. Now I need to go and spend some time helping the rest of the team.

But I will keep an eye out and stay alert, ready for the next raid by those pesky seagulls. You never know what mischief they are planning!

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Writing activity: Bailey's daily patrol

Use the photographs of Bailey to write a recount of Bailey’s daily patrol.

Drawing activity: Bailey’s daily patrol

Draw Bailey on a ship that is near a wharf. Add Sam the seagull above the water, add some fish that are in the water. Can you think of something that might be under the water?

Toy Bailey: Near and Far

Bailey's soft toy friend Toy Bailey (TB) came for a visit and we took photos of him showing In, On, Above, Under, Near and Far in the garden.

Challenge: Create your own In, On, Under, Above, Near and Far pictures. Take some photos or draw pictures of one of your toys showing In, On, Near, Far, Above and Under. Write a sentence under each one or even turn the pictures into a story.

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Sam the Seagull

What do you think that Sam the Seagull thinks about Bailey?

Pretend you are a reporter for The Flying High, Seagull News (it could be a newspaper or TV news) and you are interviewing Sam.

Below are some ideas to think about. See if you can think of some other questions and how Sam might answer them.

Are you scared of, or worried about Bailey?
Why do you think Bailey doesn’t want you to come to the museum?
Why do you keep coming back to the museum?
What do you like about the museum?
What do you tell your friends in the seagull gang, do you tell them to come to the museum or stay away?

Write a sentence/s or film your answers.

Bailey Says!

Play the game "Simon Says" but use Bailey’s name instead of Simon.

Choose one person to be 'Bailey' and the others are the players. Standing in front of the group, 'Bailey' tells players what they must do. However, the players must only obey commands that begin with the words "Bailey Says."

If Bailey says, "Bailey says touch your nose," then players must touch their nose. But, if Bailey simply says, "jump," without first saying "Bailey says," players must not jump. Those that do jump are out!

For this activity, Bailey would like you to try to use the words: on, near, in, far and under.

For example, Bailey says:

stand on a square, on a chair
move near the tree, near the table
in the garden turn around three times, in the bath
move far away, hop to the far end of the yard
to go under the table, go under the tree

These are only some ideas to get you started, see what other ideas you can come up with!

Bailey’s world

See Bailey on patrol chasing pesky seagulls and go behind the scenes in his office!

Watch the video and answer these questions

What problem do the seagulls cause at the museum?
What does Bailey like doing when he's not working?