Pets as Therapy Dogs
We are so fortunate to have a Pets As Therapy(PAT) dog at St Mark's who visits our school every Thursday. Her name is Jess and she is a labradoodle. Her owner, Mrs Nicholls, brings her into school and another member of staff always works with them as well. Some of the tasks that they do include being with children who have celebrated a birthday that week. The children love their additional birthday treat of being able to give the dogs a bit of a smooth!
Children also have the opportunity to work with the PAT dogs if they receive the 'star of the week' trophy in Achievement service. These children see spending time with the PAT dogs as a real bonus!
Jess, as well as her owner, is a really good listener. She loves to settle down and listen to child after child read their reading books to them- sometimes she even nods off to sleep. The children's confidence in reading really improves when they are reading to our PAT dogs.
Jess has also improved the confidence of children who are normally a bit scared of being around dogs. Spending time with adults they trust and dogs they trust is making a tremendous difference to them.