Our School Dog

School Dog Risk Assessment_Hamsey CP School.pdf

Meet the newest member of the team at Hamsey Community Primary School: Minnie the Labradoodle! Minnie lives with Mr Dean and his family.

Labradoodles are known for their intelligence, loyalty, trainability, affectionate nature, low-shedding hypoallergenic coat, level-headedness and sociable personality.

At Hamsey, we believe there are many benefits to having a dog in school, including, but not limited to:

• Cognitive – companionship with a dog stimulates memory, problem-solving and game-playing.

• Social – a dog provides a positive mutual topic for discussion, encourages responsibility, wellbeing and focused interaction with others.

• Emotional – a school dog improves self-esteem, acceptance from others and lifts mood, often provoking laughter and fun. Dogs can also teach compassion and respect for other living things as well as relieving anxiety.

• Physical – interaction with a furry friend reduces blood pressure, provides tactile stimulation, assists with pain management, gives motivation to move, walk and stimulates the senses.

• Environmental – a dog in a school increases the sense of a family environment, with all of the above benefits continuing long after the school day is over.

• Reading – reading to dogs has been proven to help children develop skills and build confidence, through both the calming effect the dog’s presence has on children as well as the fact that a dog will listen to children read without being judgemental or critical. This comforting environment helps to nurture children’s enthusiasm for reading and provides them with the confidence to read aloud.

We understand that it is not possible for all families to have a family dog and therefore we hope that this is an opportunity for children to have a ‘share’ in a dog, gain from a relationship and contact on a regular basis as well as learning how to look after and behave safely around dogs.

Welcome to Hamsey, Minnie!