During this term we are lucky to have Therapy Dogs, Honey and Otis in school on Thursday afternoons. This project is aimed at helping children with their mental health and wellbeing and is proving to be a great success.

It can help children improve their self-esteem, confidence, communication skills, social skills, emotional regulation, levels of empathy and improve mental health.

Animal assisted therapy is particularly helpful for children as one to one therapy sessions can often seem intimidating.

Incorporating animals into sessions changes the atmosphere, helping children relax, creating a stronger desire to attend and increasing the level of trust with the therapist.

The children have the opportunity to chat to the fully qualified therapist whilst interacting with these very special dogs who have a very calming affect on the children.  Honey and Otis will also sit with the children during reading sessions which is proving really popular with the children whilst also developing their reading skills.