Our School Dogs

Our School Dogs

The idea to have a school dog came from an Ambassadors meeting over 10 years ago. We investigated and found another school in Southampton who had a school dog at the time. Mrs Ward contact the school's headteacher and learned all about what is necessary and good practice for keeping a dog in a school environment, both for the staff and pupils, and for the dog themselves. We conducted a through risk assessment and selected a breeder who had already bred labradors for the role of autism-friendly dogs. We selected Bramble from the litter due to her calm nature. Bramble joined us in September 2015, at only 14 weeks old. Now Bramble is nearing retirement, the Governors agreed that having a school dog was of great benefit to us all in school, and Olive was selected from a breeder who works with Sheffield University Mental Health Team as well as running Puppy Yoga at her local high school. Olive joined us in September 2024 and is currently attending Puppy Foundation training.

Our school dogs live in Mrs Ward's office, behind a gate. They have their own safe, comfortable space away from the hustle and bustle of school in which to sleep, play and relax. They love to watch the children walk by and go on visits to classes.

We have had many positive comments about having a school dog, have inspired other schools to get one themselves, and they have even wowed Ofsted. Bramble has been mentioned in our last two Ofsted reports!