Meet the Therapy Dogs

Across the PIT partner schools of Lewis Street and Alder Brook we have three Therapy Dogs. Freddie and Sunny (Cockapoo puppies) and Bobbie (King Charles Spaniel). Research has shown that in a school environment, Therapy Dogs can help:

• Increase school attendance;
• Improve children's confidence;
• Decrease learner anxiety and related behaviours leading to improved learning outcomes, and improve reading and writing levels;
• Positive changes towards learning amd improved motivations;
• Enhanced relationships with peers and teachers due to experiencing trust and unconditional love from from a therapy dog. This in turn helps studentant learn how to express their feelings and enter into more trusting relationships.

Therapy dogs can particularly help support children with social and emotional learning needs. They are also great for staff wellbeing too! This BBC news report suggests that an increasing number of schools are seeing the positive results that adding a therapy dog to their staff team.