Meet Bella – Our School Dog! 🐾

We are delighted to introduce Bella, our school dog. Bella is a Cavapoochon, a gentle and friendly breed known for being low-allergy due to her non-shedding coat. She has quickly become a much-loved member of our school community.

School dogs like Bella can offer a wide range of benefits, from helping to reduce anxiety and promote emotional wellbeing, to encouraging empathy and providing a calming presence in the school environment. Bella is used to educate about welfare and training, provide therapy and listen to children read. It has been proven that working with a dog improves children’s social skills and self-esteem. Many studies have been undertaken that give credit to the benefits of dogs in the school.  We also place great emphasis on using dogs to educate children about how to approach, act around, meet welfare needs and training. There is no better place to educate our children on how to treat animals than that of the school environment. Animals in schools can encourage children to respect all life, teach responsibility, motivate those children who find it hard to engage, help calm children down and improve academic achievement.

In addition to this, if children are wary of dogs, they can be supported in approaching, handling and gaining confidence in managing their fears, through the presence of a specially trained dog in school. It's important to us that no child will ever be expected to interact with Bella – involvement is entirely optional. For those who do choose to spend time with her, Bella is always ready with a wag of her tail and a friendly face.

Bella’s wellbeing is a top priority. She has regular rest breaks throughout the day and quiet spaces where she can relax. We ensure her time in school is enjoyable, safe, and never overwhelming.

We're thrilled to have Bella with us and look forward to all the moments of joy, comfort, and calm she brings to our school.

Bella has been fully risk assessed and has been a school dog since 2020, but if you have any questions, concerns or reservations then please do contact the school for further information.