A Hereford special school about to expand in the city says “school dogs” are a key part of its appeal to children who struggle in mainstream education.
Squirrel (black, female) and Woods (chocolate, male), “really benefit the kids”, according to Ian Saunders, director of special education provider Pathway Schools.
For children initially reluctant to enter its school in the Rotherwas industrial zone which opened last year, “they are a hook to bring them in the door”, he said.
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The school in a former light industrial building is near to its capacity of 25 pupils aged eight to 18.
“Between 13 and 18 is when they are most likely to get bitten by a dog,” head teacher Rach Ballance said. “In ‘dog education’, they learn dogs aren’t toys and that there are different ways they communicate, which children may get quite wrong.”
Fortunately the two labrador crosses “are biddable and like to please”, she said. “They even seem to understand when a student needs their help.”
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It is all part of an unconventional approach to readying young people who may have disengaged from school for the world beyond.
And despite the higher cost-per-head of such schooling, Mr Saunders said: “We can give them life chances and get them into the world of work.”
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Besides two small classrooms – no classes are larger than four – the school has activity and breakout spaces, a large indoor sports hall and an outdoor area to the rear which the children are taking a lead on planting up.
And, as well as GCSEs, it takes pupils through “unit awards” in practical skills such as cooking and even fishing.
While the location, in the Rotherwas Industrial Zone, may seem surprising for a school, “all this industry gives them ideas of what they might do next”, executive headteacher Bec Kenny said.
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Pathway now plans to take over and adapt a similar building on the other side of town, at Harrow Road off Plough Lane, on which a decision on planning permission is due imminently.
If approved, this will take up to 20 more children, and have more of an arts flavour compared to the sports focus in Rotherwas, Ms Kenny added.
One of the two dogs will then join the new centre. Fortunately, according to Mr Saunders, they are happy to be split up.
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